Taking a break from BND...
Thirty-two issues after BND, I still can't get used to being forced-fed this new status quo into my mouth. However, this issue, Marvel lets us take a breather. Instead of focusing on the sub-plots that orientate the readers on the new life of Peter Parker, the pace slows down to a flashback issue, where Flash (no pun intended) Thompson reflects on the impact our friendly web-slinger had on his war-time actions.
I have to admit that I was a bit peeved at the end, not by the twist of the story, but by the plug-in message regarding the commemoration of American soldiers fighting in the Iraq War. The best thing about fiction is that we could disrespectfully debate about the philosophies in the stories without disrespecting anybody in real life. Though I'm not an American myself, I don't have very positive views about the America's war effort in Iraq. Nevertheless, this is a sensitive subject, and the readers shouldn't have to feel uncomfortable by having the story acting positively or negatively towards the subject; in this case, by showing a positive image of the 'brave and noble' American soldiers that fought in the war.
However, a few subtle aspects of the story did save it from becoming preachy. First of all, the song by Billy Joel, "Christmas In Fallujah", that was inserted at the beginning of the story. The lyrics left things on an ambiguous note at the beginning, especially these lines: "But I am just a solider; I do what I am told." Then, there's the fact that this is a simple story comparing Flash Thompson's heroics with those of Spider-Man's - and very effectively, if I may add. It was a straight-forward telling that doesn't drag, which adds to the overall impact of the story. And most of all, I think it's the simplicity of the story that really makes it such a satisfying story to read. It's just a man, a soldier, who felt compelled by his childhood hero to do heroic things out in the battlefield. Or as Flash eloquently put it: "To do the right thing."
I could only hope that the stories that come after this issue has the same effective self-contained focus on a singular subject instead of multiple ones, but that's probably wishful thinking.