If you’ve ever said, “I’d like to see more Kraven Bot love and perhaps more Gibbon,” then are you in luck because this issue has it! Spidey, Gibbon, Vulture, and a whole bunch of losers vs. Kraven Bots with credit cards! This is Mighty Marvel Mayhem at its finest, folks!
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Story Title: Hunted Part 2
Writer: Nick Spencer
Penciler: Humberto Ramos
Inkers: Victor Olazaba
Colorist: Edgar Delgado and Erick Arcinega
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga
Cover Artist: Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado
Hunted Logo: Jay Bowen
Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki
Editor: Nick Lowe
Published: March 27, 2019
Remedial ASM 101
Kraven’s got a new son (a la Jango Fett style) and is passing on his legacy to him. Central park is under the dome and trapped inside are all the animal themed villains along with our very own Spidey. Hunting them in this dome is not Kraven or Kraven87, but rather a bunch of Kraven bots!
*NOTE* MJ is listening to some music to cope with this, so thanks to our very own Mohammed (who we like to call DJ Moo Moo), you can listen as well as you read this review. Just open this link in a new tab and run it in the background!
The Story – Pay Attention, This Will Be on the Test
The mighty Stegron is the first to turn and face the Kraven Bots, and he doesn’t even deem them orthy to use his tail on. Most of the others are just trying to get away. Two of the Kraven Bots seem to be about ready to make out, leading Spidey to wonder what is going on? Flashback time (uggh) – Arcade and Kraven have developed a way for these hunters to hunt the villains and stay safe. The hunters are operating the Kraven Bots via virtual reality. So who will be the first to step up and try out the system? Meet Bob. Bob has a lot of pent up aggression and takes it out (rather brutally) on Iguana with an energy club, killing him. Meanwhile, MJ is either dancing or spatial warping to cope with Peter being in danger. This would be a good time for the Look Ups, but she decides to deal with it internally. Meanwhile2, the villains aren’t faring too well. They won’t work together and they are out gunned. It doesn’t show anyone getting killed specifically, but with some of those hits, there must be some fatalities here. Spidey tries to help out the Gibbon, but Vulture convinces him not to trust a hero. Then Vulture betrays Gibbon in order to get away. Taskmaster betrays Black Ant (Ants are animals, after all) and we end with Mary Jane with a centipede in her hair. In contrast to her reaction to the rat in KLH, she lets it go. We see that Centidemon is watching her in her apartment.
What Passed
The Kraven Bots – I loved how you could, for a price of course, upgrade your bot with weapons and visuals.
The Plot Juggling Was Minimum – Spencer likes to juggle lots of plot threads, but this issue dealt with three things – Spidey and villains running for their lives, the hunters going after Spidey and his less than amazing friends, and Mary Jane coping with Peter gone.
Centidemon – His watching MJ is so creepy!
OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)
On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), BOOM rates a 5. I bump it up for the way it is written and for that really weird shape that Spidey is in. Are you supposed to pronounce the second O differently due to its size?
What Failed
Mary Jane – Well, not MJ exactly, but the way she is drawn here! At first I thought she had gone through the Inhuman mist and got embiggen powers like Ms. Marvel.
Taskmaster – I thought better of him. I really thought he was going to put money aside for the sake of his friend. However, since Black Ant is essentially the Irredeemable Ant Man, he would probably not hold it against Taskmaster. We could see them together again later. I’m holding out hope. I also think that Taskmaster will change his mind and later re-enter the field to save his buddy.
Analysis
In this issue, not much really happens. I’m guessing we progressed maybe twenty minutes further in the Hunted timeline. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I do feel this would be better read in a trade or binging the story on Marvel Unlimited.
I do not fully understand Kraven’s motivation. He created Kraven87 to create the ultimate hunter and then goes this route. There is a plan in mind. Why would Kraven feign to spend his time helping these rich hunters? Surely it is not the money. Is he hoping to give them the taste of real hunting, thus changing their poaching ways? Is he hoping to use this to get Spider-Man to kill him? If so, I don’t see how this is leading him in that direction. Is he going to turn on the hunters? If so, this is an elaborate means to do so, and quite costly.
Bob. Wow! I’m a little concerned for Spencer here. Did anyone else get the sense that Bob’s brutal beating on Iguana was maybe some writer therapy? Nick – we’re here for you, pal!
Speaking of, let’s have a moment of silence to commemorate the late Iguana.
Centidemon – we have another piece of the Centidemon puzzle here as he creepily watches MJ while she sleeps. Did the centipede just crawl into her hair, or was Centidemon stroking her hair while she slept? Chi-Town and I have decided to go through all appearances of Centidemon and figure out exactly who this is. Be a part of this! List in the comments section anyone you think should be considered. It doesn’t mean that the person you list is who you want it to be, or even think it is. We are just covering all possibilities. I’m putting out there right now that it is the Aunt May that died in #400. Sure, it was just an actress, but maybe in death, she is condemned to continue the part. Being an evil person in life (she could have been), she now is bent is some demonic evil scheme. Yeah. I’m sure that’s it.
Real Name: Martin Blank
This mutant wished to be Spidey’s partner, but Spidey just laughed at him (much like poor Bob in this issue), so he turned to the Dark Side by taking an herbal broth from Kraven that enhanced his animal nature. He is the epitome of the loser villain. He tried forming a Spider-Man revenge squad with other such A listers as Grizzly and Kangaroo, but they are now known in the MU as the Legion of Losers.
He did try and turn hero by helping Spidey stop the White Rabbit’s bank robbery. He got an action figure out of the deal. He married Stilt-Man’s widow, but is now separated. He got a chance to shoot the Punisher, but Gibbon is just not a killer, and Frank Castle just told him to go home.
For a while, Gibbon fell into an inter-dimensional rift into a planet like earth, but run by apes. Unfortunately, poor Gibbon got stabbed by a character known as Itsy Bitsy and may have died. There is another person running around in a Gibbon suit, but is unnamed. Which one is the one in Hunted? Looking at how he abandoned Spider-Man’s help just to get betrayed by the Vulture makes this seem a lot like Martin to me.
I found this reading order for all Gibbon appearances, to get you ready for the Gibbon .HU!
Extra Credit
I already gave it out earlier, folks. I want your list of anyone who should be considered for who Centidemon really is.
Final Grade
What’s not to like? Bad villains! Kraven Bots hot for each other! And the Gibbon too!
A-
Your Turn
What grade do YOU give it?
What’s Next?
“HUNTED” PART 3
- Something horrible happened last issue that’s galvanized all the villains!
- Spidey desperately needs to get out of this horrible situation, but there are lives (innocent and otherwise) at stake and…well…he’s Spider-Man.
But before we come back for #19, catch the .HU review featuring the Gibbon!
“HUNTED” TIE-IN! Spider-Man’s most dangerous villain, THE GIBBON, is back and – He’s not Spidey’s most feared foe? Then why are we…? You want me to read the script? Oh man. That’s INSANE.
Nick Lowe has asked people to let the Spider office know how they are doing by sending an email to spideyoffice@marvel.com and to make sure you mark it “OK to print”. If you get published, make sure to draw our attention to it!
‘Nuff Said!
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None of the clues fit Ned Leeds. He was never actually the Hobgoblin, and he was never in anyone’s shadow (he was a successful reporter, Peter was only a freelance photographer).
@Adam Schingle – Interesting. Fits the goblin references, living in another’s shadow, and knowledge of Peter. I’ll run it through my clues list and see what happens.
RDMacQ on the message board has this interesting theory:
“I’m going to throw this one out there… Ned Leeds. As is, the original Ned Leeds. The guy killed off. Or, whom we assumed was killed off, but in reality he was just severely injured. A slit throat wouldn’t necessarily be fatal. And it would take him a long time to recover. Which could also justify his anger at Peter, feeling that it was his association with him that got him caught up in the Hobgoblin’s mess. And why he is so “protective” of those close to Peter. It may also explain his strange voice. It’s distorted due to the fact that it is being spoken by someone with a severe throat injury. AND, it could also explain why we haven’t gotten the name for this bad guy yet. Because it’s not a new bad guy with a new name. It’s an OLD villain with a NEW look. This isn’t the Centi-Demon. This is the return of the Hobgoblin.”
@Jack Brooks – I’m adding Daniel to the mix. There is some possible intrigue there. Near the beginning, there was a lot of goblin inference, and to make it a Kingsley would tie it into the other great villain mystery in Spidey history. I have a few more theories as well, but like the others, they hit well with some but not all and some require stretches to get them there. Take Harry Osborn – dead, knows Peter, one time knew his identity, one time blamed him for his super-life having destructive effects on others – then after the deal he’s back alive with no explanation? Could be that the _real_ Harry stayed in hell becoming more and more corrupted as he watched Peter throw away everything. Or, there is the possibility that there is more than one Centidemon, all working together for a common purpose. I am going to go through the issues and take a screenshot of each appearance to see if there appears to be a difference between them. Looking for a different hand dominance, stature, etc.
I don’t know. I feel it must be someone we are supposed to know, but again, no ONE person fits it all! So frustrating and fun at the same time.
@ Evan – Yes. Tiny screen, no glasses, fat fingers, and autocorrect. Not the best mix.
@ Jason – Michael Fisk added to my list of candidates, though he doesn’t seem to have the familiarity with Peter needed. I’ll run him through my list.
@ Magic Spidey – Mattie Franklin added to my list of candidates – I will say that Macendale does not hold up as well when you compare him to all the clues as I thought he would.
@Mark — I just read issue 18, and I re-read the Centidemon narrations for ideas. Whoever it is, it’s someone familiar with philosophers (Hobbes). It’s also someone who *agrees* with Hobbes, that socialized civilization is just a thin veneer covering a core savagery, and all it takes is for someone to “light the right spark” to set the savagery off. The character’s *tone* seems erudite and sophisticated. The character also recognized mercy in MJ’s decision not to squish the centipede.
I wonder if it’s Daniel Kingsley, rather than Roderick Kingsley. Daniel would have lived in Roderick’s shadow his whole life. He and his brother used to work for Kingpin. He’s dead, having been decapitated by Phil Urich. Kingpin could have bowed to him because he recognized that he was, you know, a returned dead man, and Kingpin thought that was the most diplomatic move at the time. He and Roderick were both sophisticates. I can’t see Carlie Cooper waxing philosophic about Thomas Hobbes, but I can imagine the Kingsley brothers doing that.
Out of all the theories on the table now, Macendale is the best one. But, wouldn’t one think his first item after escaping hell would be to go after the original Hobgoblin (I.e., guy that killed him)?
I was thinking Michael Fisk (aka The Rose) or maybe one of the Hobgoblins.
What about Mattie Franklin? Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing ever done with the character.
@Mark — You wrote, “…but denied existence since the desk was made…” You meant, “deal,” right? Just checking… 🙂 Maybe the Centidemon is Annie. Just putting it out there to add with the others.
@Jack – Also, Carly is in the mix too. Her sudden appearance seems suspect that she must be there for a reason.
@Jack Brooks – In order for it to be either Baby May or some other child they would have had, you’d have to say that the soul of that child was created, but denied existence since the desk was made, and it languished in hell or something. A bit of a stretch, but not outside the realm of possibility since we’re talking comics.
@Magic Spidey – Silvermane’s existence is certainly up in the air. Last I saw, he was a head on an RC car, but all the events in Sup Foes is subject to how much of that story was made up by Boomerang. At the end, we saw that Boomerang was telling the story at the bar, so all is suspect, though I want it to be canon. I will throw him into my considerations.
Do we know Silvermane is still with Shocker? We haven’t seen him in months.
@ Magic Spidey: I think Silvermane is still a cybernetic head in a bottle. Shocker was lugging him around in “Superior Foes of Spider-Man.”
@Magic Spidey
WOW. Web of Spider-Man #80. That brings back memories as that issue came out the month I started collecting comic books – Amazing #350 and Spider-Man #13. Good times.
Could it be Silvermane? Mantlo’s ’80s plotline connected him to Kingpin & Black Cat. He went after Peter and Mary Jane around Web of Spider-Man 80. He is also a character Spencer likes and we haven’t seen in a few years. That weird tablet de-aging story could be the link to turning demon.
It would be very amusing to me if Centidemon turns out to be Carlie. I joked somewhere once, years ago, about Carlie turning out to be a secret daughter of the devil, or something like that. And that pic of Centidemon grinning down at MJ did look an awful lot like one of Ramos’ Goblins — or “Monster”.
Except that Carlie never lived in Peter’s shadow. She lived in -MJ’s- shadow. There was also no connection between her and Kingpin.
@Jack
Good point.
@Mark
Cool. I look forward to either. Sometimes I forget what I did last week, let alone try to remember something I read last year. *LOL*
How could Centidemon be Baby May, if Baby May never existed in this altered timeline? Peter and MJ never married, she never became pregnant.
@Jason – I believe Chi-Town, BD, and I are going to do a podcast examining the clues sometime soon. If not, I’ll write up a Cobwebs post on it. Maybe we can get all it readers to go to other forms and use the term Centidemon until it becomes so mainstream that Marvel just gives in!
@Mark
I actually haven’t heard the demon being referred by any other name, but have seen Centidemon repeated in other forums. Perhaps those people also read these reviews. Now I’m curious what previous references I’ve missed. Could be worth a post to bring others up to speed. A what we know so far of this mysterious demon.
With Peter and MJ being brought back together and pieces of the curse shattering (Peter’s identity reveal to Felicia), it seems only natural the powers that be have some sort of story line re-addressing the deal with Mephisto.
@Jason – I just made Centidemon up so I had a name to refer to him. He appears to be a demon and has a lot of centipedes, so it sounded right enough. Peter Norbot got a letter printed in the letter pages where he used that term (although spelled incorrectly) and they didn’t correct him, so I’m hoping they like it and it gets made canon! What other names have you heard it going by?
@Jon- I’ve been looking at all the clues in the part 18 issues and there does seem to be some connection to the marriage, or at least this is coming as a result of that deal. However, nothing send to for ALL the clues. So frustrating and fun at the same time!
@Jason: The character’s name hasn’t been revealed yet. I think it was actually Mark who made up that nickname for him.
Who is this Centidemon? Is this just a name fans made up? I see no internet reference to this character other than this thread and a couple others.
Nick Spencer is a breath of fresh air. I’m really loving Spider-Man again now that Slott is gone. The dialogue flows much better and is more detail oriented. The same with the narrative boxes.
I’m still holding onto the theory that the Centidemon is somehow related to the deal Peter/MJ made with the devil and that its in some way an embodiment of their marriage.
@Mark — With the new live-action Aladdin releasing soon, I don’t think it’s a coincidence.
@ Evan – It’s a whole new world….
Whoah, in the onomatopoeia panel, Spider-man looks like Magic Carpet from Aladdin.
Interesting point, Yvonmukluk! What was his/her purpose in involving Stromm? I’ll have to consider that.
Adam, I don’t know, but I will have to look into that!
I’ll have an answer by this weekend! Chi-Town and I are going to compare notes and between the two of us, I bet we can much it up some more!
I just remembered another factor for the baby May theory – Centidemon makes a deal with Mendel Stromm then kills him off in the first arc. It seems oddly counterproductive – it doesn’t really seem to accomplish much, if anything. Why’s that important? Because when MJ was in labour with May, Peter was prevented from being there because he was tied up fighting Gaunt, AKA…Mendel Stromm (who also weakened Ben, setting up his ‘death’). Perhaps May-gik bore a grudge against him for this, so she decided to take revenge.
This is really an obscure guess, but is the foreigner still alive? If he were dead, he’d fit the criteria. Maybe he died, brought back with demonic powers by Mephisto, to get Pete and Mj for violating the one more day deal?
These are some great Centidemon guesses! I’m having a hard time finding one that meets all requirements.I’m going to put together all the hints and figure this thing out with a little help from my friends, of course! Here are some of the guesses I’ve heard so far:
Jason Macendale
Betty Brant
Carly Cooper
Walter Hardy
Jean DeWolff
Baby May Day
The marriage
Mephisto
Another Demon/Devil in conflict with Mephisto
What else you guys got?
Oh, and my indisputable theory – the Aunt May actress that died in #400 🙂
I like the theories that the Demon is Carly or Betty, but if so I can’t explain why the Kingpin knows the voice. This is why I dismiss the MJ’s subconscious arguement.
It’s someone who the Kingpin knows, who could be jealous of Peter sharing his identity, and presumably someone who was already empowered around the time Mysterio was brought back the dead (circa Civil War?)
I can’t wait to find out.
It’s a male, villainous, who Kingpin used to phone for some reason. He feels … protective? … of Black Cat for some reason. Someone suggested Felicia’s father, Walter Hardy. He hates Peter Parker. Felicia said that her father’s ghost used to visit her.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hardy
Regarding the Centidemon – My outside odds are on baby May Parker – having been erased from the memories of her parents, I could see Mephisto having turned her into a tool the same way Magik was by Belasco. Like Magik, she might have slipped her bonds (Mephisto definitely got dethroned from hell at least once between OMD and the present, for example). She most likely would have problems (to say the least) with her parents for selling her to Mephisto (even if they had no idea it was a side-effect of selling their marriage), hence why she might want revenge (it’d also explain why she refers to Peter as ‘Pete’ instead of ‘dad’ – their relationship would definitely count as estranged) – and why she’d choose when her parents got back together as the impetus to do it. There was that brown-haired girl that appeared in the background of one of the issues of the early run (I think it got called out on the podcast), which might have been her spying on her dad (like she’s stalking MJ in this issue).
The fact they’re putting out a True Believers reprint of What If? 105 just before the arc focusing on Centidemon might just be coincidental, but it does seem rather strange why they’d pick that issue to put out – unless it’s to remind the readers of her existence before the big reveal.
But maybe I’m just reading way too much into things.
I really like how Spencer has characterised the big game hunters here (especially Bob), showing them to be a bunch of insecure losers who need to kill to satisfy their egos. They come across as so despicable and realistic (outside of using robots and hunting supervillains) that it’ll be great to see them get their comeuppance in the end. I must say, Gibbon might have made the dumbest move imaginable by trusting the Vulture, a supervillain known for being a dirty backstabber, over Spider-Man, the virtuous hero who had JUST saved him! To be fair though, he was never the brightest penny in the fountain. I think Taskmaster showed some regret about capturing his bro, with his ‘I need a drink’ comment, I think he’ll probably come back for him in the end. Centi-demon’s appearance was the most chilling he’s been so far, and I really look forward to seeing what he does here. I was expecting him to not show up in a major capacity until the next big arc, but I hope this means we get answers about who he is soon. I think he has to have some connection to Mephisto, unless all this demon stuff is an elaborate trick (which I doubt.)
I kind of dreaded seeing Ramos’ art once again, but I have to admit, I thought he did a decent job overall, some of the characters looked a bit off at times (that MJ panel was definitely the worst), but I wasn’t bothered for the most part. He’s definitely progressed a lot, and while I don’t think I’ll ever be a fan of his, I have to commend him for that.
I give the issue an A+, great work once again by Spencer. I’ll even commend Ramos on his art, he did a brilliant just with it, even with Mary Jane.