We are back to the annuals of Web of Spider-Man, having skipped a year. And a lot has changed between then and now. Just the cover gives us hints of what is to come: "The Evolutionary War" is written below our title, and the cover shows an impossibly, cartoonishly fat man. A caption explains that this is a man who is bigger than the Kingpin, and that he is the crimelord of Miami, while a separate circle on the cover tells us we will witness the debut of a whole new Marvel Super-Hero.
This issue was written by Steve Gerber, and illustrated by Cynthia Martin, who at that time was mostly known for drawing the Star Wars comic. The book opens with Peter Parker, on a book tour, in Florida, promoting his book "Webs", a book of photos he took of himself as Spider-Man. Back in his hotel room, his spider-sense is sent reeling by his housekeeper, a seemingly innocuous Hispanic woman. So some spoilers here: this woman is the new super-hero, a single mother immigrant from Cuba who fights crime in a fishnet/leotard combination, seemingly with the help of some type of alien entity. We are then shown two new avenues of conflict: the Kingpin and "The Slug" are in a telephone call about problems in cocaine trafficking, while the High Evolutionary's armor-suited agents are ransacking Man-Thing's swamp. After finding out more about Cecilia's domestic life, we then return to Spider-Man (this is, if you might remember, a Spider-Man comic book), who is tracking down a stash of drugs, and stumbles into a battle between drug dealers and the High Evolutionary's soldiers and also the Man-Thing. Also, Cecilia (whose Super-Hero name is apparently "Poison") is fighting the High Evolutionary's soldiers somewhere else. Then everything is wrapped up and Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are having a PG-13 rated scene in his hotel room.
Uh..okay, to be honest, it made more sense before I started trying to write it out. There are five major players in conflict here, Spider-Man, The High Evolutionary, Poison, The Kingpin/"The Slug", and the Man-Thing, and in the 33 pages of the main story, we mostly just have to guess at their motivations. The cover depicts Spider-Man confronting The Slug, but in fact they never meet. Any one, or even two, of the factions fighting in this comic could be taken out, and the story would probably make sense. But this is the way Marvel works, at times. The previous two Web of Spider Man annuals I read focused on character development and street level stories. This issue managed to combine "street level" stories, with the cocaine trade and organized crime, but also included Marvel's cosmic element in including the High Evolutionary's soldiers, and also Marvel's magic and horror side with the inclusion of the Man-Thing. Also, as mentioned, trying to include a new hero with social relevancy. (Latina refugee single parent seems like a good start---but they also made her a housekeeper and put her in fishnets, so, mixed results there). Oh, and Spider-Man. This is a Spider-Man comic book, after all, although as is often the case, Spider-Man had more of a supporting role here. If I had to describe this story in one word, it would be "sprawling". Whether getting the full blast of the Marvel Universe's cosmological and mystical structure in what should be a story about Spider-Man fighting criminals is a good thing or a bad thing depends on your perspective.
That was the first story. There are actually three more. The first shows the origin of Cecilia/Poison, who sadly doesn't seem to have much of a role in Marvel after this. Somehow they couldn't find a way to sell "Sexy vigilante in fishnets" to their audience. The third story is a review of Spider-Man's year. This comic came out right after what is one of the most artistically and commercially important runs of Spider-Man ever, featuring such stories as his marriage to Mary Jane Watson, the "Kraven's Last Hunt" storyline, and the first appearance of Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #300. This was a successful time for Spider-Man, in large part because they were willing to do stories that mixed together different levels of storytelling. And finally, the issue concludes with a short recap of the history of the High Evolutionary, for the reader who was trying to make sense of the overall "Evolutionary War" storyline.
Some of my descriptions here might seem at first a bit mocking, and I do think the issue could have done with a little more connection between its stories, there is something to be said for storytelling at disparate levels, and including plot aspects that expand the story beyond what is expected.