The
Sensational Spider-Man #26
Title: Feral Part 4: Hunter’s Moon
Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Penciler: Clayton Crain
Letterer: Cory Petit
Background: Some sort of mysterious force is making New York’s inhabitants somewhat more animalistic. The Lizard turned his son into a second Lizard and the two lizards fought Black Cat and Spider-man. At the end of the battle Billy was injured and the Curt Lizard made its way into the sewers. Also Man-Wolf shows up at the Avengers mansion and Aunt May and Mary Jane are only saved by their quick wit and Iron Man’s robots. On top of that, Vermin comes back to town and is now trailing the Lizard. It is clear to all that the animal force is real and not just in their imagination, thus Spider-man decides to attack the problem head on. He intends to find out what he can from Madame Web.
Plot: Spider-man approaches Madame Web in her new apartment. Before he lets out a word she tells him that she saw him die and reborn, Spider-man acknowledges this reference to the recent “The Other” crossover story line. She asks him about the costume, and he begins to explain but she cuts him off. Spider-man was going to tell her why Tony gave him the new costume, and of course she already knew, but does he? Our wall crawler ignores this lead in and desires to get straight to the point; he wants to know where the Lizard is and what is going on. To the latter Madame Web explains that the tapestry of life has been polluted and everyone is beginning to become more feral. The pollution is effecting all of them but less so Spider-man because his core nature is good. However, Madame Web warns, unless he finds the source he will not be immune for long either. Spider-man asks her where to find the source, but she decides for our hero that finding the Lizard is more important at the moment and sends him out to go “to where’s natures thickest” a.k.a. Central Park.
Elsewhere Black Cat is on a rooftop feeling the full brunt of the feral nature. She feels like she must fight someone and luckily for her Puma is on the very same rooftop encouraging her to fight him so that the feral nature will be released a bit. Puma has been tracking her for a while to find her and it is clear that he does not want to do this only for her sake but also for himself. They fight a bit and then feel much better.
Meanwhile a recovering Billy Connors and a locked up John Jameson are interacting with Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman in the Fantastic Four’s home. Mr. Fantastic is concentrating on the problem of the feral nature that is intensified in people this night. He deduces from a scientific standpoint that radiation is the culprit.
We now return to the Black Cat and Puma. Puma tells her his story. He was in New York on a business trip and found himself suddenly transforming into the Puma. Now the thing about Thomas Fireheart (a.k.a. the Puma) is that he can transform into the beast whenever he chooses to as well as transform back. Today however he began to change into the Puma without desiring to and could not change back. Also, Fireheart tells her that he has been having this urge to keep moving uptown and Black Cat confesses to having the same. Some force is pulling them there.
Further uptown the Lizard emerges from the sewers and Vermin pounces him. The Lizard and Vermin fight, Vermin fights with the intention of killing and eating the Lizard. Vermin is close to achieving his goal too but the Lizard gets a surge of will power when he thinks of Billy that allows him to even the odds. The battle takes a new turn as Spider-man arrives gliding downwards towards them. The Lizard is the first to jump at Spider-man and Vermin after a brief hesitation decides to help out his former potential dinner. Spider-man has a plan however; he uses his momentum to launch the three of them into the lake. Spider-man isn’t worried about drowning because thanks to his new costume he can now breath underwater and his extra arms help him get out of the water. Essentially Spider-man drags Vermin and the Lizard along to the source that is pulling them all towards it. What is the source? A large building, an army of dinosaurs, and the one and only Stegron.
Likes:
- This issue we got a new artist and a fairly distinct one at that. Clayton Crain is the best artist I’ve ever seen on a comic book…ever.
- Of all the random old school characters we saw this story arc Puma is one I actually got excited about. Unfortunately his appearance was a little irrelevant though…maybe he’ll contribute next issue.
- Three way between Lizard, Vermin, and Spider-man a nice bit of action
- The cliffhanger at first made me laugh and then intrigued me. Stegron has never been much of a villain but there’s always a first time.
Dislikes:
- Again I felt the padding as Madame Web summarized this story arc for a page and Puma had a fairly simple story to tell the Black Cat which lasted two pages. I agree that I may be being a little too picky here, and it really wasn’t too painful due to the great art, but I felt it.
Favorite Quote: Spider-man then Madame Web: “Got upgraded by Tony Stark. He thought…” “I know what he thought young man but… do you?”
Rating: 4 out of 5 webs. For the first time in this entire story arc there is an overall purpose of some sort. This plus the great art, earns this issue that score.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
Sensational Spider-Man #25
Title: Feral Part 3: Hunter’s Moon
Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Penciler: Angel Medina
Inker: Scott Hanna
Background: Some sort of mysterious force is making New York’s inhabitants somewhat more animalistic. The most major case is probably the Lizard who has injected his own son and turned him into a Lizard as well. Meanwhile John Jameson shows up at Avenger’s Mansion and starts killing people. Spider-man and Black Cat fight the two lizards and some old man shot Billy Lizard who turned back into a boy.
Plot: Spider-man and Black Cat carry the bleeding Billy Connors to the Fantastic Four’s home. Mr. Fantastic puts Billy in amniotic fluid…basically Billy is going to be ok. Black Cat asks Invisible Woman where the Human Torch and the Thing are and she tells the Cat that they are out fighting one of the Mole Man’s monsters. Mr. Fantastic wonders if the Mole Man’s monster appearance is related to the Lizard resurfacing. Black Cat admits to the fantastic couple that she is having some sort of bloodlust so Mr. Fantastic demands that she stay for some tests.
Meanwhile at Avengers Tower, Mary Jane awaits John Jameson’s arrival at the top floor. Arrive he does, but as Man-Wolf. Mary Jane whacks him a little but Jameson is furious. The Man-Wolf pins her to the ground and Mary Jane is only saved by Aunt May whom hits Man-Wolf on the head with some teacups. Back in Fantastic Four HQ, Spider-man feels like something’s wrong at home, and abruptly leaves. Mary Jane and Aunt May do not really need Spider-man’s help right then though because Aunt May has called in three Iron Man bots to take care of Man-Wolf. When they knock him out, Aunt May and Mary Jane come out, and Spider-man comes back to find the situation under control.
In the sewers the Lizard is tormented by the memories of injecting Billy with the lizard formula. Lizard lets out a roar that Vermin, who is somewhere else in the sewers, hears. Vermin is in the middle of eating some guy but isn’t having a great meal of it, so he decides to stalk after the Lizard. Meanwhile Black Cat sneaks out of the Fantastic Four’s home and at Avengers mansion Peter puts on his new Iron Spidey suit. Our “ironed out” Spider-man takes himself to a certain apartment housing Madame Web.
Likes:
- It was about time for Spider-man to start wearing his new suit in the pages of Sensational Spider-man. The suit was introduced two months ago in Amazing Spider-man and one month ago in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man.
Dislikes:
- I was actually hoping for Billy to get killed off…his father too while we’re at it. Now I really wasn’t expecting my wish to become reality but the way that Billy was saved was little I don’t know…simple. They just sent the kid to Mr. Fantastic and at that point one does not even have to wonder, Mr. F will just pull off some scientific impossibility at a moment’s time and all is well.
- The Mole Man’s monster inclusion was really unnecessary
- I think the only thing I hate more than covers showing nothing but Spider-man posing around are covers that just flat out lie about what will happen inside. This cover shows Spider-man fighting Man-Wolf but as readers know, everyone got a piece of Man-Wolf this issue except Spider-man. I think this would be a good time to note that for the first time in Spider-man history Aunt May got in more fighting than Spider-man.
- Madame Web is old again. What the heck?! This writer has a tendency to ignore whatever details he sees fit. First there was the complete dismissal of what Paul Jenkins did to the Lizard’s character, and now the Gathering of Five is ignored. Aguirre-Sacasa seems to have a genuine infatuation with the old school Spider-man characters but not one with respecting their developments over time.
- This story has gone practically nowhere this issue, I’m beginning to feel the padding big time.
Favorite Quote: Aunt May to Man-Wolf before whacking him: “Tea is ready. One lump or two?”
Rating: 2 out of 5. Padding, Plot holes, and a generally weak plot are doing real harm to this story arc.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
Sensational Spider-Man #24
Title: Feral Part 2: Cat Scratch Fever
Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Penciler: Angel Medina
Inker: Scott Hanna
Background: Last issue we found out that some sort of mysterious force is making New York’s inhabitants somewhat more animalistic. The most major case is probably the Lizard who has injected his own son and turned him into a Lizard as well.
Plot: The story begins with a detective investigating a murder and mutilation at the Natural History Museum. It does not take them long to realize that Curt Connors is back to being the Lizard. Meanwhile Spider-man finally arrives at Curt Connor’s house after getting a distressing phone call from Curt. Spider-man enters and is attacked by the Lizard. He tosses the Lizard over his head but gets a mean slice from behind him. Spidey turns around; there is a second Lizard. Our webbed hero does his best against the two Lizards sending the Curt Lizard through the wall of his apartment building into the hallway where an old beer-bellied man peeks from his door but is not at all terrified, instead asking his wife to hand him a gun. Spider-man who worries for this old fool, decides to high tail it to the roof hoping that the two Lizards will chase him, and they do. He climbs on the side of the building until he arrives at the roof where he finds Black Cat. The two ex lovers banter a bit, but the Curt Lizard has made its way to the roof. Black Cat, who has been looking forward to a fight all night, volunteers herself to charge right at him.
Meanwhile John Jameson arrives at Avengers Mansion and asks to come in. His reason for coming is that he has the scarf MJ dropped at the Daily Bugle. Aunt May allows him entry. When John Jameson kills the attendant at the lobby of the tower, Aunt May and Mary Jane remain the only other people in the entire tower that night. Mary Jane who does not know about the murder that occurred in the tower a second before, expresses to Aunt May how suspicious John Jameson’s visit is.
In another part of town, a pimp is about to hit one of his hookers because he thinks she stole money from him. That does not end up happening though; Vermin eats him.
Now we return to our Lizards battle. Spider-man battles Billy Lizard as Black Cat battles Curt Lizard. Spider-man notices as he’s fighting how much Black Cat seems to be enjoying her fight. At that moment however, the old man arrives at the roof with his gun and shoots Billy Lizard in the back. Curt Lizard sees what happened to his son and loses his momentum in his battle with the Black Cat. The Black Cat begins to brutally beat him without mercy. With a final kick, a bleeding Curt Lizard falls to the street below but survives and heads for the sewers. Spider-man then loses his temper over the level of brutality Felicia displayed. She yells back, but the exchange doesn’t last long. The old man grabs Spidey’s attention, Billy Lizard has turned back into simply Billy, and Billy is bleeding to death.
Likes:
- Nice bit of action this issue. Black Cat, Spider-man, and two lizards. Fun.
- John Jameson is the psycho killer loose in Avengers mansion. Some suspense is generated here and we begin to worry for MJ and Aunt May
- The Old man was kind of funny
Dislikes:
- I don’t really care about Vermin, and kind of hoped to never hear about him again
- I never liked the Lizard as a villain. I had hopes that Billy will just die and that so will Curt. If this arc manages to kill the entire Connors family it will gain a 5 out of 5 score.
- Wait…how does Aunt May know John Jameson on a very personal level?
Favorite Quote: Spider-man: “Lizards have rubbery bones, but something inside him breaks.”
Rating: 3.5 out of 5. Not a particularly impressive issue but not too bad either. Its holding onto the suspense that it created pretty well until now but I think its time to get to the point or some point at least.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
Sensational Spider-Man #23
Title: Feral Part 1: Cold-Blooded
Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Penciler:
Angel Medina
Inker: Scott Hanna
Background: ALL-NEW CREATIVE TEAM! ALL NEW TITLE! The only thing not new here is the numbering from Marvel Knights and points for Marvel for not making another #1 issue! Now lets see what Aguirre-Sacasa and Medina are made of…
Plot: Mary Jane
wakes up from her slumber to find herself alone in bed. She tiptoes
across the floor, looks out the window, and sees Peter perched on the
porch. She walks out in a bathrobe and asks Peter what he’s doing up.
“Couldn’t sleep,” he says. He tells her to go back to sleep, he is
working tonight.
The next day Peter, Mary Jane, and Aunt May gather around
the dinner table. Peter has had a long day; he can hardly keep his eyes
open. In flashback we see Peter’s night. Spider-Man and Vulture fought
last night, each getting in a few hits.
In the Natural History museum, Dr. Curt Connors studies when
he gets a phone call. He promises the man on the phone that he will take
a look at the rock he wants him to see.
Elsewhere Peter with press pass at hand arrives at the zoo
where there have been strange occurrences. For instance the monkeys
went berserk and killed each other. This reminds Peter of another
strange animalistic upsurge that occurred the night before in the fight
with Vulture. The Vulture told him that he tried to kill the people
Spider-Man saved because he needed them dead so that he could eat them.
Peter goes to the next animal cage where he sees two dead rhinos, the
night before they repeatedly ran into the wall until they broke their
necks. One of the zookeepers informs Peter that it was not only the
monkeys and rhinos, it was all the animals on the premise.
At the Daily Bugle John Jameson is waiting to talk to his
father. He sits in the waiting room with one leg over another; in his
lap lies a suitcase. His hands tremble and as they pass over his
suitcase, visible marks are etched onto the object. Coincidentally Mary
Jane is also at the Bugle looking for Peter, John spots her and they
have a short simple conversation and as she leaves she drops her scarf
accidentally. John Jameson picks it up because him and Mary Jane will
meet up later…for dinner or something.
Peter decides to take the subway home and strangely a dog
sets off his spider-sense. Meanwhile across town Curt Connors is in
horror of what he has done. Back at Avengers mansion Mary Jane is
talking on the phone with Peter as Aunt May knits. Peter tells MJ about
the incident on the subway with his spider sense and MJ tries to tell
Peter about John Jameson but before she gets a chance Spider-Man gets a
call on the other line, a call he needs to answer. Mary Jane goes back
to Aunt May; she asks her if she likes living in Avengers mansion. Aunt
May turns around to see Mary Jane holding a knife. Both women are
shocked at this.
Meanwhile Spider-Man is talking to a quickly morphing Curt
Connors. Spider-Man hustles to get there and encourages Connors to hold
in his transformation until he gets there. It is too late though before
Spider-Man can arrive Curt Connors becomes the Lizard…and he is not the
only Lizard in the room.
Likes:
- Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa gives a new flavor to Spider-Man which sets Sensational Spider-Man apart from the other titles. From what I’ve been able to gain this is what most fans want: They want each title to be original and different but at the same time for the titles to respect each other’s plot developments. For instance when JMS brought back Mary Jane in Amazing Spider-man Volume 2 #50, this development was not followed up on in Peter Parker Spider-Man. The fans complained about such occurrences and Marvel realized that the fans wanted more synchronization between the titles, but what they gave us was a little too close for comfort: a 12 part crossover (A really bad 12 part crossover). So first the porridge was too hot, then too cold, now it’s just right.
- Angel Medina’s art has a very retro 1990s feel that I personally have missed a little.
- The story is captivating…we get the regular Spider-Man needs to help Lizard story but under a mysteriously eerie background.
Dislikes:
- I did not like the conversation between Mary Jane and John Jameson because it was made out to be as if they have had some sort of complex relationship. This was clearly an instance of a Spider-Man movie (the second one) leaking into the comics. It shouldn’t be this way, the comics were supposed to impact the movies and not the other way around.
- I know that to get from Spectacular Spider-man #14 to this issue is technically possible without a plot hole, what Paul Jenkins tried to do with the Lizard in his story arc was something new and interesting. In this issue the Lizard is back to square one in a way…
Favorite Quote: Vulture: “I was hungry Spider-Man. I was hungry and vultures only eat dead things.”
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
Marvel
Knights Spider-Man #22
Title: The Other – Evolve or Die Part 11:
Destiny’s Child
Writer: Reginald Hudlin
Penciler: Pat Lee
Inker: Dream Engine
Background: Part 11 of the OTHER now…the crossover between Amazing Spider-man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man, and this title. If you don’t know what it is check out ASM #525-527, FNSM #1-4 (FNSM #4 being last issue), and the last three issues of this title…or you know, you could just not read this crossover, in which case you would be doing yourself a favor. A large part of what made this crossover a pass over is Marvel Knights Spider-man (more so than the other two titles by much). Let us see if it gets any better.
Plot:
Continuing from last issue the creature that came from Peter’s body has
escaped right through the wall. Spider-Man chases after it and even
tries to communicate with the thing but it merely continues flying away
silently. It stops at the ledge where Spider-Man tells it that he’s not
trying to hurt it, and where the thing (from now on referred to as the
Other) delivers the line, “One lives…other must live. One Dies…other
must die…All Good.” After this line Spider-Man shoots his stingers at
the Other and the Other explains to him why he even has stingers
(Spiders evolve later to have them). The Other also explains to him
that a cosmic entity was angry when the Great Weaver brought Spider-Man
back to life, which is why the Other is around. After this explanation
the Other jumps off the building and into the gutter in spiders form.
Thus ends the encounter between Spider-Man and the Other (yes, for the
entire crossover).
Now our wall crawler returns home and all of the New
Avengers are gloomy. Oh, and Jarvis decides to be angry at Peter for
seemingly no reason. Later Iron Man and Captain America tell Spidey
that they need to run some tests on him to figure out what happened.
Even later Peter is in bed when Wolverine comes in and tells Peter that
he feels like Peter has changed in some way since dying. Before we even
get a conversation around this, MJ comes in and Wolverine leaves on
Que. They reflect on that day in the hospital when Peter killed Morlun.
Peter can’t remember much of anything about it, and MJ doesn’t feel like
talking about it today. She tells him he needs to get some rest.
Later at Dr. Strange’s place the sorcerer supreme informs
Peter that he is in the center of a web, but don’t worry it’s not just
any web…it’s a COSMIC web. Spider-man asks if he is the spider or the
prey in this web and Dr. Strange offers that it depends on your
perspective and that it could be either or both.
Even later Peter is on the porch and talks to Aunt May.
Peter feels like he’s cheated death and should not be alive and Aunt May
says it’s a second chance and that it is a blessing.
Now we pan into an old building (church?) and peer inside
the window to see…The OTHER inside his very own giant web cocoon.
Likes:
- Spider-Man talks to the Other. This whole crossover has been named after her it was nice to have her, you know, cameo in a bit.
- We get some sort of explanation for why Spider-Man has stingers now, not exactly mind blowing but it’s a little bit of something
- This was Pat Lee’s last issue on Marvel Knights Spider-man (soon to be Sensational Spider-man)
Dislikes:
- Not very much happened outside of wrapping up last issue’s cliffhanger.
- Why is Jarvis pissed off at Spider-man?
- We basically had Peter talk with the rest of his crowd for a whole issue…none of it was new. Iron Man and Captain America need to run more tests on him? Alright, whatever. Wolverine feels like Spider-Man is different? Of course, the guy has died! And how about Mary Jane trying to make Peter feel better while refusing to contribute anything to his knowledge on what happened the night Morlun was killed. Or Dr. Strange giving some vague mambo-jumbo (translation: nothing) to add in to what the Other already told Peter. How about Aunt May talking about how Spider-Man is special because he got a second chance? We covered that one pretty thoroughly in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man #4. So Ultimately we are given nothing all around.
- Oh god…Pat Lee. Take whatever I said last issue about him and it still applies. Somehow it even felt like his art sucked more than usual this issue. For instance after finishing this horridly drawn issue I spent about three minutes trying to figure out what the heck he was trying to draw for the cliffhanger. Its honestly the worst drawn panel I have ever seen in my life, made all the worse by the fact that it was a full two page spread. Anyhow like I said in the Likes section, this is his last issue…so out of respect for that I’ll stop ranting.
Favorite Quote: The OTHER: “As you evolve…I evolve. Evolve or Die.”
Rating: 1 out of 5 webs. The one is for using the Other. I am happy to say however that the Hudlin and Lee team has improved since their last (and only other) team up. In issue 20 they received a zero, now they received one…that means they improved by 20%. To be sure Marvel Knights Spider-man #20 might be the worst comic ever…Enough on that. Here’s what is coming next. Marvel Knights Spider-man will be rid of Hudlin, Pat Lee, The OTHER crossover, and even its title. Next month: a brand new start with Sensational Spider-man #23!
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
Past Reviews
Marvel Knights Spider-Man # 13-21
Marvel Knights Spider-Man # 6-12
Marvel Knights Spider-Man # 1-5