The Pulse #3
Background
Jonah Jameson recently set up "The Pulse", a Daily Bugle supplement covering in-depth stories related to the super-hero crowd. Featuring Bugle Staff Writers Ben Urich and Kat Farrell, it also employs former private eye (and ex-super-hero) Jessica Jones as a consultant.
The happenings at The Pulse are quickly overshadowed when new Daily Bugle reporter Terri Kidder goes missing. Those of us who read last month's issue know that she got wind of some mysterious disappearances at Oscorp, and tricked her way into an interview with Oscorp CEO Norman Osborn, with fatal consequences. Her body washes ashore the next day. Jameson is not pleased.
Story Details
The Pulse #3
| Editor: | Andy Schmidt |
| Writer: | Brian Michael Bendis |
| Pencils: | Mark Bagley |
| Inker: | Scott Hanna |
Jameson gathers his staff, and tells them he wants the Bugle to "take care of its own". He wants to beat the police to finding out who killed Terri, and so he sets his team to work. Jessica meanwhile is struggling with her boyfriend (and father of her unborn child) Luke Cage. Cage doesn't want the high profile that will come from Jessica taking the job - but they need the health care, and he relents.
Kat Farrell goes sniffing down the morgue, and learns that Terri was strangled by a tall strong man, and then dropped from a great height. That makes it look like a super-powered case.
Ben Urich manages to catch a voicemail to Terri from her friend Sheryl, Terri's friend who put her on to the Oscorp story. Sheryl hasn't heard about what happened, but she has cold feet and wants Terri to back off before she gets in trouble. Oscorp. Osborn. Ben knows who Norman really is.
Urich picks up the phone and calls Peter Parker. "We need to talk... it's important. It's about Norman Osborn."
There's a long silence at the other end of the phone. For years, Ben knew Daredevil's secret identity. Just how much does Norman know about Peter Parker?
General Comments
Pulse is slow and steady. Bendis doesn't necessarily achieve less with a single issue than other writers... but he does tend to invest the time in the key parts of the story. Where other writers will fill pages with mindless side-encounters, Bendis will use dialog, and time-lapse silent sequences to set characterisations and establish mood.
Overall Rating 
I like it. This is a sound comic. Four webs.