This is the shortest volume of the title yet, at five issues, and the main story itself is only four. But those four pack an emotional punch at a level unseen in this book so far, which is really a feat given the focus Bendis has put on the characters so far. It’s quite excellent stuff throughout, even if the plot lightly strung behind the character drama is a bit thin at times.
This volume opens with a single issue story, intended as a light humour piece that explains exactly how Peter gets out of his daily situations to go off and fight crime. There’s a lot of good here. The best scene is when Aunt May pops up at school because a teacher is concerned that Peter’s attention is drifting. There’s another strong scene where Peter runs into a distraught Gwen, upset that her mother walked out on the family. The villain Peter is after here is the Ultimate version of the Rhino, who makes his first appearance in a rushed way, similar to the Shocker and Electro. Still, this is an enjoyable issue, even if it feels out of place with the high drama of the remaining four issues. The rules of the trade paperback world dictate that single issue stories, even those intended as intentional breathers between arcs, like this one, don’t always fit seamlessly into collections. That’s certainly the case here, but, in monthly format, it makes sense that Bendis would allow for a light-hearted break between the anguish of the previous and following arc. And he certainly can’t be accused of ignoring the supporting cast in this issue.
The wider plot of “Public Scrutiny” has a Spider-Man imposter performing minor robberies and crimes around New York. J. Jonah Jameson runs with this story, as Ben Urich tries to 
prove this is the work of an imposter. This story never fully clicked for me or felt like the problem it should be for Peter. Quite frankly, it very quickly gets overshadowed by the various personal events in his life. In the end, it serves as the place where Peter gets his anger and tension out after recent personal events. He relentlessly beats up the imposter, who ends up being a guy just looking to making some money, getting out his frustrations over everything that has been happening. The plotline serves a dramatic purpose in that sense, but it’s certainly one of Bendis’ lesser storylines so far.
Thankfully, everything going on in Peter’s life is riveting, and some of the most compelling work Bendis has done yet on this title. It wholesale takes over as the main plot, and displays how well Bendis has crafted this world for Peter and his friends and family.
Once again, Bendis makes the book shine when he focuses on Peter as a young, inexperienced hero. Peter’s initial reaction to the imposter leads into an inner monologue where his mind wanders through mistakes he’s made, starting with telling MJ that he’s Spider-Man; in other words, an entirely human reaction to a crisis. The somewhat less-interesting imposter story is immediately livened up when Peter is shot while trying to apprehend him. This propels the story into an exciting new direction, where Peter must deal with a real wound. He calls MJ for help and evades being discovered while getting himself to a hospital. The moment where MJ finds him hiding under a pile of trash is particularly effective. Peter’s initial reaction to the injury and his breakout from handcuffs had me on the edge of my seat. This reminded me of some of the best parts of The Ultimates – seeing the true devastation behind their fight with Hulk and a funeral for victims of that fight. Peter’s gunshot wound is treated with equal realism. This Peter is completely in over his head in the whole hero endeavour and this incident acted as a harrowing, taut reminder of that, with an underlying tone of despair for his situation.
There’s one bit here that builds on what happened in the previous volume, when Nick Fury confronted Peter. Here, the Wasp is sent to tend to his gunshot wounds. This is adding an interesting layer to the book and it doesn’t come off as a cheap resolution to the gunshot story that it might sound like. In fact, Bendis did such a good job presenting the wounded Peter as in over his head, that I kept expecting something bigger than him to arrive to help. It doesn’t feel like a cheap deus ex machina; Fury is monitoring Peter’s activities, but the latter is still given free reign to make mistakes. The remainder of the story pivots around Gwen Stacy, in several ways. First, her mother walks out, and her father asks May to let her stay with the Parkers. This creates a nice moment where those two adults connect over what they’ve lost, with faint hints of an attraction between them through the art. It also brings out jealousy in MJ, who is, frankly, a bit annoying in these scenes – yes, Gwen is no saint, but MJ apparently can’t see the trouble she’s in and why it’s good for her to live under May’s roof.
Gwen’s police officer father then gets caught in an altercation with the imposter Spider-Man and is killed in the process. This is of course happening much earlier than it did in the main Marvel Universe, but it works here as a shocking moment. The fallout leads Peter to brutally attack the imposter, questioning his own actions and anger afterwards. As I mentioned, that’s the part that works best about the imposter story. The rest of this has May deciding to take Gwen in permanently, resulting in some scenes of great strength from her and a very nice part where she formally invites Gwen to stay at the Parker home.
Of course, this all pivots back to
the Peter and MJ relationship, which deteriorates as Gwen takes a larger role in the story. Another running thread here is that MJ is still traumatized by her abduction by the Green Goblin, constantly reminding her of the danger Peter puts himself in. It’s a realistic direction to take and weaves its way in naturally throughout. This tension culminates in a fairly raw and emotional breakup scene, where it’s the stress of Peter’s lifestyle that causes Mary Jane to break up with him.
So, just as Bendis showed guts in having Peter reveal his secret id to someone so early, he’s equally skilled in showing how Mary Jane would cope with this knowledge and the dangers that come with it. Where volume 4 ended on a gut wrenching emotional note, with Peter and MJ surviving the Goblin fight, the breakup scene ends this volume in an equally painful way. Even with some questionable plotting choices, the character arcs were fantastic and really sold this volume for me. Combined with strong art, it’s another stellar collection of this series.
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