It's bad enough that Spider-Man has to battle someone who isn't responsible for their actions. But it's even worse when that person is a immensely powerful superhero who wants to kill our favorite Web-Slinger! But that's just the case Spider-Man and the Angel find themselves in at the start of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #18, as a brainwashed Iceman is doing his best to put our heroes in the deep freeze.

In Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #17, Peter got an assignment from the Daily Bugle to fly to Los Angeles and cover the dissolution of the Champions, a West Coast-based superhero team consisting of Angel, Iceman, Black Widow, Hercules, Ghost Rider and Darkstar. The group's own title ended abruptly -- so abruptly that writer Bill Mantlo had to tie up the loose ends in a flashback here in this two-part story. In short, the team members went their separate ways, leaving the Angel (AKA billionaire mutant Warren Worthington III) to sell the team's unfinished skyscraper headquarters. However, Peter noticed that the Angel was acting suspiciously and decided to check things out as Spider-Man. It's a good thing he did, because he found the Angel was being blackmailed by a wheelchair-bound villain named Stuart Clarke and a mute, stoic armored villain called Rampage. Spider-Man battled Rampage, despite Angel's efforts to end the battle. All the battle succeeded in doing was in revealing Rampage's true identity. He is none other than the Iceman, who is under Clarke's mental control. Now, he doesn't even need the Rampage armor -- as Iceman, he is ready to kill for Clarke.

"He's got us good," Spider-Man thinks. "We can't fight back because we don't dare hurt him, though he doesn't even know it!" Spider-Man and Angel retreat behind a security wall. It won't hold forever, but it gives Angel a chance to fill Spidey in on some more back-story. After the Champions' break-up, Iceman went to the hospital to check on Clarke, the original Rampage, who was badly injured after a failed attempt to kill the Champions. Despite Clarke's crimes, Iceman genuinely was concerned for his well-being. That decency proved to be his undoing, as Clarke sprayed him in the face with hypnotic chemicals. Clarke orders the hero to take him from the hospital, where he plotted his revenge against the Champions, particularly Angel. And as long as he had Iceman under his control, Angel couldn't strike back.

Before long, Iceman breaks through the wall and the battle resumes. "It's as if Clarke's murderous intentions have fused onto Bobby's mind like a post-hypnotic suggestion without affecting his fighting ability or mannerisms," Angel thinks. "He still sounds like my best friend...but he's out to take my life!" Sure enough, Iceman grabs Angel and starts to lower his body temperature to dangerous levels. "Flap away, Angel! Maybe if you flap hard enough, you'll make it to Heaven!" he says, tauntingly. Spider-Man makes the save, though, and smashes both of them out the window. "You need an exorcist more than you need me!" he says. And he finds one in the form of a nearby car wash. Spider-Man swings through the carwash while carrying Iceman. The hot water and steam negates Iceman's powers and the sudden shock of the temperature change breaks Clarke's mental command. Iceman passes out and when he revives, he's his old self again, with no memory of what has happened since his visit to Clarke's hospital room. Afterwards, Angel gets Clarke back to the hospital, Iceman decides he has to go on alone and Spider-Man heads back to New York. Unfortunately, his belt-camera was smashed in the fight, meaning he won't have any exclusive photos to take back to the Daily Bugle. Poor Peter; it seems like he's got a permanent black cloud over his head.

The story ends with a bit of Peter's supporting cast. Flash Thompson and Sha Shan are both studying at Empire State University, following Sha Shan's rescue from the Man Beast's Legion of Light in the classic Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #12-15. It appears they are falling in love. Also perhaps finding love is fellow student Hector Ayala (AKA the White Tiger, the Puerto Rican superhero introduced in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #9), who has just had a chance encounter with a young woman named Holly Gillis. We'll see more of them in the issues to come. As Peter flies back over Attica State Prison, he sees a bolt of lightning. "This may sound crazy but that 'lightning" struck from the ground!" he thinks. Down at the prison, a prison cell has been completely destroyed, while light bulb slowly dims back to its normal intensity. "The whole cell is...gone!" one of the guards yells. "Disintegrated from the center outward! There's no sign of the inmate who occupied it!" Hmmm...who could have been? The light bulb is a hint!

Overall, it's a fine way to wrap up this two-part story. I actually preferred the previous issue, since it was more focused on building the mystery, while this issue is more about action. But you need both and, read back-to-back, you get a nice little story here. It also brings some closure to the ill-fated Champions series without getting too bogged down in their back-story confuse readers who weren't familiar with that book.

For characters who have been around since the early 1960s, Spider-Man hasn't had much contact with either Iceman or the Angel. Spider-Man guest-starred with (and fought) the original X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #35. In Amazing Spider-Man #92, another misunderstanding lead Spider-Man to fight Iceman. Later, in Marvel Team-Up #4, the X-Men helped Spider-Man defeat Morbius the Living Vampire. Angel and Iceman, of course, would eventually return to Marvel's X-books (most notably X-Factor) once Mutant mania took off. After this issue, Spider-Man next encounters Angel and Iceman (and the rest of X-Factor) in Amazing Spider-Man #282.

Next issue: Spider-Man battles his old foes the Enforcers, plus a newer, far more deadly, enemy returns for a rematch!

Reviewed by Bruce Buchanan.

Reprinted In:
Marvel Tales #229