In my review for the previous issue of Spider-Verse, I mentioned how the $4.99 price for a comic of such lackluster quality was almost insulting. Thankfully, they’ve dropped the price to the customary $3.99, but I have to keep wondering what this story is actually doing to make me want to keep spending the money on it. While the writing isn’t as bad in this issue, and the artwork is slightly better, it still feels like this story exists as little more than a reason to part readers with their money by grabbing as many Spider-characters as possible and throwing them all together for an adventure that, frankly, doesn’t excite me.

Since it’s been established that all of these characters are suffering from some form of amnesia, undoubtedly somehow tied to the fallout from Secret Wars, they’re now making moves to find one another and figure out what’s going on. We see Gwen making brash decisions and barreling out of Oscorp with Spider-Ham in tow; Spider-Man India carrying on about how everyone is connected through the Web of Life — and it still hasn’t been explained how he has knowledge of that while still having memory loss; and we see everyone assembling when Noir joins the fight against Tombstone and Carnage.  It’s a little more action-packed and developed than the events in the first installment, but it’s still got a long way to go in terms of pulling me in and holding my interest.

As in the previous issue, the most interesting character is Norman Osborn, who gets very little usage in this part of the story. After making an uncharacteristic call when Gwen escapes, it leaves you wondering just what iteration of this character we’re dealing with, and how he’ll end up affecting the narrative for our heroes. While I’ve seen this kind of bait and switch too many times to buy him being a helpful, positive force for these characters, I have to admit it would be interesting to see him play that kind of role at least once.

There are a few interesting character moments, such as Gwen’s enthusiasm for a talking pig in a Spider-Man costume, and Noir’s arrogance during his introduction to the team, but they’re still undercut by the narrative’s tendency to gloss over plot points rather than explain them. Glib revelations, like Gwen’s recollection of Spider-Ham as almost like an imaginary friend she once had, try hard to disregard the narrative flaws in this story instead of trying to explore why these characters are feeling like they almost-but-don’t-quite know one another. By the time the reveal on the final page of this issue takes place, I really don’t find myself caring about what happens next.

Andre Araujo’s line work isn’t as hard to look at as it was in the previous issue, but he still has a long way to go. While his faces are a little more consistent and balanced, Carnage looks lazily drawn and Anya Corazon still looks barely recognizable as herself. Rachelle Rosenberg’s colors are again a help, but only go so far in helping carry off the visual style of this issue.

In spite of a price drop and a slight improvement in the writing, there’s still not much to commend about this mini-series. Like the larger arc of the same name from previous months before it, there are simply too many inconsistencies, unexplained developments, and pacing issues for me to really understand or care what’s going on. I really do hope things pick up soon, but in the mean time still can’t really recommend this story to readers.