Alford’s Notes: ASM #17/818

This issue has it all!  Kraven!  Kraven87! And more Kraven-bots than you can shake a stick at!  All this and White Rabbit too?  Wow!  Spencer pulled out all the tricks here, so we followed suit and pulled out a CIOOTIC!  What is that?  Read on, friends!

 

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Story Title:  Hunted part 1

Writer: Nick Spencer

Penciler: Humberto Ramos

Inkers: Victor Olazaba

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga

Cover Artist:  Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado

Designer: Anthony Gambino

Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki

Editor: Nick Lowe

Published: March 13, 2019

 

Remedial ASM 101

Kraven has cloned himself 87, but only one remains.  He is training him as his rightful heir.  Black Ant and Taskmaster are rounding up all animal-themed villains for Kraven to trap in Central Park for a bunch of rich hunters.  Black Cat is among them and so is little Lizard Billy and Spider-Man is determined to find them.

The Story – Pay Attention, This Will Be on the Test

Kraven’s home alone, so he’s walking around naked, just like he did on his famous Last Hunt.  There are animals too, but they are stuffed.  Kraven’s bored – and not just bored like, “There is nothing on TV”, but bored as in, “Being dead is more exciting than life now.”  Meanwhile, Spider-Man is sick, but swinging out in the rain anyway because he’s hoping to find Billy. Speaking of Billy, Black Cat’s biological clock seems to be ticking as she connects with the lizard boy while they are captive in the Plaza Hotel.  Kraven87 is stalking Spider-Man and they fight (very loudly I might add).  Spider-Man sees colored gas everywhere and still breathes it in, because what is the worst that could happen?  Well, drugged with some sort of hallucinogenic drug that gives him disturbing glimpses of Mary Jane is what could happen.  This distraction is enough for Kraven87 to go in for the kill – but he doesn’t.  Spider-Man wakes in Central Park surrounded by villains – many of whom want to kill him, and would succeed too, if not for the army of Kraven-bots (complete with mechanical mustaches!) shooting at everyone.  Trust me – it works better than it summarizes!

What Passed

The jokes – while not many this issue (this is not a story for jokes), when they appear, they are well timed and just enough to contrast to the darkness of the rest of the comic.

The fight scene – we have gotten very little of these for the last several years.  This one is primed for Friday Night Fights!  Kraven87 proves his worth as he takes his lumps and then delivers some of his own.  Sure, Spidey is drugged, but as that is part of Kraven’s schtick, it is allowed.

The return of the black suit – While I am a classic red and blue fan, I love seeing the black suit return for a while.  I liked it when he switched off between the two.

We are just going to leave Neil to discuss the fact that Kraven87 stripped Spidey down to change his suit.

OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)

Folks, we’ve got a plethora of onomatopoeias here!  So I’m showing you nine of them and letting YOU decide which one should be the OOTI in our very first Crawlspace Interactive OOTI Challenge! (CIOOTIC!)

 

What Failed

I’ve got nothing!  I loved this issue!  It is hokey, to be sure, and when you start to write out the plot, the words Kraven87 and Kraven-bots and shield over Central Park all seem…well…like an issue I would hate.  But it works!

 

Analysis

The Tribute – This arc is obviously a tribute to Kraven’s Last Hunt and Spencer even tweeted out that we should re-read the original before reading this one.  I’m glad I did.  This isn’t just a knock-off of the original story.

It is a follow up on the story.  Ramos spares no expense in recalling the imagery of the original while Spencer contrasts it with how Kraven is different now.

You have the colored smoke, the Kraven caption font, the same animals (literally the same as they are now taxidermied), and even naked Kraven (although I could have done without that).  In the original, Peter is thinking about death after Ned Leeds and Joe Face (a small-time hood that Spidey sometimes shook down).  This time he is dwelling on the death of Flash Thompson and Ned Leeds 2.0.    We even get a return of the black suit!  The only thing we are missing is the twisted version of William Blake’s poem “Tyger”, though I am hopeful we will get to it next issue.

Make sure you petition Brad to have us add a Romantic Poets column to the site.  I wouldn’t mind expounding a bit more and Blake and friends. (We could call it “Spyder Spyder”!)

Peter’s Psychic Vision – Kraven87 reveals that sometimes people get visions of what is to come in the mists.  We have no reason not to believe him and he even seems to be expecting it.  Kraven87 is excited, so I wonder what it is that he sees.  Peter’s vision of MJ, however, is much more intriguing.  The first vision has her screaming “Peter!” after crying out.  It looks like a cry for help, but it looks more like she is in fear of/for Peter.  This vision is followed up by what appears to be MJ lying amidst broken glass and blood.  Two take aways from this: 1. We are not certain that it is MJ lying in the glass.  We see a female hand and some red hair.  It probably is MJ, but if I see someone else with red hair appear in this arc, I am going to assume that it is her instead of MJ.  2. Spidey is wearing his red and blue suit, so this vision happens either at the end of this arc or it is a set up for a later story Spencer is planning on telling.

 

 

Spencer shines when he features a bad villain.  Today we’ll give you a crash course in the White Rabbit! Spencer seems to love here.  She has featured fairly prominently in the background for Hunted and she was a major player in the Boomerang/Bar with No Name story.

Lorina Dodson was born rich and bored.  She read way too many Alice in Wonderland books as her escape fantasy.  Her parents married her off to a rich old man (age 82).  When she became 25, she was so tired of the rich life (aren’t we all) that she murdered her old man (ha!).  Using all of his (now hers) money, Lorina buys all sorts of high tech gadget in order to live the much more exciting life of a criminal.

She’s teamed up with several individuals, including Walrus and Speed Demon.  She even dated Arcade and helped him to capture Black Cat and Wolverine to be hunted by rich hunters (sound familiar?).  Their relationship ended with him calling her stupid for wanting to save a goat from a T-Rex, but maybe their relationship has mended and she is really an inside plant or maybe Arcade will mess things up to save her.  That’s the power of love, you know.

What makes her powerful? – Her gadgets.  She has a giant robot rabbit, mutated killer bunnies, an umbrella that shoots carrots (some sharp, some explosive, ‘natch), and rocket boots.  Plus whatever the writer wishes to give her.

 

Extra Credit

Nick wants you to re-read the original Kraven’s Last Hunt, so I’ll throw in some bonus points for you if you do so.  You can read it on Marvel Unlimited.

Final Grade

I so enjoyed this issue.  Bad villains, mysterious visions, black suit, good art, and a killer KLH homage!

A+

 

Your Turn

What grade do YOU give it?

 

What’s Next?

Kraven’s plan begins to unfold in CENTRAL PARK! He lets the prey loose and the hunt begins. But Kraven isn’t the hunter this time. Who has Spider-Man in their crosshairs?!

 

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”.  Unless your name is Chi-Town Spidey, if you get published, make sure to draw our attention to it!

 

 

 

‘Nuff Said!