WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #309 by Chip Zdarsky, Chris Bachalo, Livesay, Al Vey, Tim Townsend, Victor Olazaba, Wayne Faucher and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.
One of the more entertaining additions to Marvel's roster of monthly comics has been Chip Zdarsky's Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man. Originally seen as a companion title to Amazing Spider-Man, this new volume of Spectacular Spider-Man quickly displayed its importance by reintroducing Peter's long-lost sister Teresa, along with Peter revealing his secret identity to his most vocal detractor, J. Jonah Jameson.
After a time-travel adventure that included the "Advanced Suit" from Marvel's Spider-Man video game for the PlayStation 4, Zdarsky and artist Chris Bachalo have teamed up for a two-part story featuring the Sandman, titled "Cracked Hourglass." The story saw the Sandman near death while being haunted by a voice in his head that claimed to be him from the far future. Though Jameson didn't believe in Sandman's request for a peaceful death, Spider-Man went out of his way to help his former rival.
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However, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #309 revealed the Sandman's flesh body to be dead, but his essence still alive and under the control of his future self, a strand of sand that traveled to the present day through an open hole from Spider-Man's multiversal travels mentioned above. The good Sandman was able to separate himself from his evil counterpart long enough to save Spidey, but the two still needed a plan of attack.
When Sandman did have a human body, it had the power to control his sand parts. Using the last of his concentration, Sandman passes this power over sand to Spider-Man, allowing them to team up for a sand-on-sand beatdown of epic proportions.
Spider-Man uses his new power to form an oversized sand creature to take on the Evil Sandman, as the two clash through the streets and buildings of New York City. The fight eventually makes its way to a body of water, but Evil Sandman learned to overcome its weakness to liquids. Just when things look bleak, the Human Torch Johnny Storm swoops in to save the day with Mister Fantastic's Multisect, sending the villain back to its proper reality.
Sandman and Spider-Man made for an interesting pairing, and it makes us wonder what it would be like if more of the web-slinger's classic villains loaned their powers to him temporarily. For example, the Vulture could offer up his wings for flight, or Scorpion's stinger tail would make it either more difficult or easier to swing through the city. Fans could say they've seen a variation of this with Doctor Octopus' Superior Spider-Man -- Otto Octavius' mechanical arms with Peter Parker's cloned body.
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