Stillanerd Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 No. 19 review

Spider-Man has a tough time convincing the bad guys trapped with him to work together as “Hunted” reaches the half-way mark.

Amazing Spider-Man No. 19 (LGY No. 820)

“Hunted, Part 3”

Writer: Nick Spencer

Artist: Gerardo Sandoval

Color Artists: Edgar Delgado and Erick Arciniega

Covers: Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado; Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho (Connecting); and Niko Henrichon

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There comes a point during a multipart story like “Hunted,” especially after two issues heavy on action, where things must slow down. Characters must be brought up to speed about what they think is going on. Readers need to check in on other characters to see what they’re doing. Plus, things become too predictable and there should be a few, but not very major, twists involved. As the exact midpoint of “Hunted,” Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 No. 19 (LGY No. 820) follows these guidelines to the letter.

Credit: Gerardo Sandoval, Edgar Delgado, and Erick Arciniega (Marvel Comics); from Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 No. 19

One can only elaborate so much on a plot centered around costumed folks with animal motifs pursued by killer human-piloted androids in a sealed-off Central Park. That’s when characterization becomes essential, something which [Nick] Spencer fortunately has down pat.

For starters, writer Nick Spencer reminds readers just how dire the situation is, as we’re shown Spider-Man holding the dead body of the Gibbon, surrounded by corpses of other villains. Naturally, the surviving bad guys are feeling rather desperate, enough that they’re considering joining forces under the leadership of the Vulture. Nevermind that he tends to betray others like the grade-A villain he is, they have no other options. After all, it’s not like they’re going to trust Spider-Man, not after all the times he’s put them away, right?

Meanwhile, there’s time enough for a few subplots. Despite everything going to plan, Kraven’s clone/son still questions his “father” about his true intentions. Elsewhere, Black Cat attempts to escape, along with Dr. Curt Conner’s son, Billy. And speaking of the Lizard, Taskmaster makes good on his promise to bring him in as part of Kraven’s hunt. Just the fact Taskmaster accomplished this off-panel should affirm that Amazing Spider-Man No. 19.HU—which focuses on the Lizard according to its solicitations–will also be required reading.

Credit: Gerardo Sandoval, Edgar Delgado, and Erick Arciniega (Marvel Comics); from Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 No. 19

As for the story itself, perhaps the reason why it still feels as though not much happens comes down to the basic premise of “Hunted.” One can only elaborate so much on a plot centered around costumed folks with animal motifs pursued by killer human-piloted androids in a sealed-off Central Park. That’s when characterization becomes essential, something which Spencer fortunately has down pat. The Vulture, for instance, using his fellow villains’ fear, ignorance, and mutual hatred for Spider-Man to his advantage–and Spider-Man’s underestimating his persuasiveness–feels genuine. The same goes for Spider-Man trying to help the villains escape simply because he “doesn’t want to see any more people die.”

Black Cat is also well characterized here, and the scene where she tricks the guard to her and Billy’s cell is the definite highlight of the issue. What’s even more impressive about it is how Spencer plays upon and subvert readers expectations, making us believe it’s a stereotypical “seducing someone as a distraction” scenario when, in fact, it’s something else. The only downside is there are elements involved which only seem to exist solely for plot-related reasons.

That’s the one downside with Spencer’s script. With the exception of the Rhino turning on Spider-Man, there are too many instances which occur only because it’s convenient for the story to progress. This includes Spider-Man overhearing conversations while supposedly unconscious, or being told crucial information by a certain character right when he needs it. Instead of coming off as organic, it feels more as though Spencer making up for lost time on the previous installments.

Credit: Gerardo Sandoval, Edgar Delgado, and Erick Arciniega (Marvel Comics); from Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 No. 19

Amazing Spider-Man No. 19 makes for a decent enough middle chapter, though it’s not the kind of comic that will “wow” a reader, either, especially impatient ones…At least this story seems to have stopped relying so much on transparent “Kraven’s Last Hunt” callbacks in order to tell it.

What’s more, the replacing of Humberto Ramos with Gerardo Sandoval feels artistically jarring. While they share similarities, Sandoval does attempt–not all of them successful– in making his illustrations have greater anatomical consistency. Unfortunately, Sandoval lacks Ramos’ dynamism, and he tries making up for this with extreme foreshortening as if presuming the readers can only look at his panels with 3D glasses. Moreover, he applies far too much ink. While this may make sense in that the story takes place at night with minimal lighting, it gives certain images a muddy, unpolished look. At least you can still tell what’s happening on the page.

Amazing Spider-Man No. 19 makes for a decent enough middle chapter, though it’s not the kind of comic that will “wow” a reader, either, especially impatient ones. With five more installments of “Hunted” left counting the “.HU” issues, and in light of this comic’s last page, readers should start having some idea where Kraven’s plan is heading towards. At least this story seems to have stopped relying so much on transparent “Kraven’s Last Hunt” callbacks in order to tell it.

Stillanerd’s Score: 3.5 out of 5

Stillanerd’s Nerdy Nitpicks (with spoilers)

Credit: Gerardo Sandoval, Edgar Delgado, and Erick Arciniega (Marvel Comics); from Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 No. 19

• Gee, Felicia. Isn’t describing how “restless” and “afraid” the animals are in the Central Park zoo are right as we see a crying Billy Conners a bit on the nose?
• That entire scene between Kraven and “son” has some serious foreshadowing going on, doesn’t it? First, it looks this entire hunt is another elaborate attempt by Kraven to commit “suicide by Spider-Man.” And two, Kraven Jr.’s will very likely turn against his “father” over how “soft” he’s become.
• “Mad-Dog. Gazelle. Mandrill.” What a second? Mandrill was killed, too? We had an entire page showing Iguana’s death, an entire issue devoted to Gibbon’s death, and we see the bodies of Man Bull and others. But Mandrill? Not only isn’t there a corpse, there hasn’t been a single appearance of him during this entire event. And you know what they say about not showing a body in comics, right?
• “But man, [the VR headset] gives you a headache after a while.” Remember in Amazing Spider-Man No. 18 when Arcade said the headset “connects directly to the cerebral cortex”? That offhand comment by this would-be hunter seems like more foreshadowing. In this cast, that there’s a permanent connection between host and drone, and that destroying the drone kills the host. That or this guy needs water and ibuprofen.
• Hey there, Razorback! Nice to see you part of this menagerie…even though you’re a superhero and not a villain.
• So the Vulture saying the Kraven bots are “stronger than the mighty Stegron,” huh? Sure, he’s lying, but it’s also really hard to tell whether he just gave Stegron a compliment or an insult.
• Isn’t it interesting how everyone seems to have forgotten that Vulture and Kraven are founding members of the Sinister Six, and thus one more reason why he shouldn’t be trusted? Isn’t also interesting how, given some of these bad villains probably know the Gibbon, aren’t questioning the Vulture’s depiction of him whatsoever. Finally, isn’t it very interesting how the Vulture pulled that Kraven’s bots head literally out of nowhere.
• Sheesh, Felicia. I thought you were all done with using your bad luck powers to kill someone by proxy. Though points for using those powers to free a leopard. Talk about sticking with your cat motif.
• Hmm…so Arcade didn’t think they’d see Taskmaster again after double-crossing Black Ant. Taskmaster then comes back with the Lizard after failing to capture him before. Is this a Trojan Horse play using a Lizard instead of a horse?
• Okay, when Black Ant first speaks to Spider-Man, the dialogue in his word balloon is normal-sized font, suggesting someone of ordinary size. Then Spider-Man sees Black Ant, and the dialogue in his word balloon is, appropriately, a smaller font size. Except after that, Black Ant’s words go back to a normal-sized font, but he’s still a couple of inches tall. Seems like a small thing, but can you just stick with one font, comic?
• And this is why Taskmaster double-crossing Black Ant was a big mistake. Because if you double-cross a fellow bad guy, especially someone with insider knowledge of the mastermind’s evil plan, they’ll likely double-cross you.
• “Just trying to stop you from doing something you’ll regret.” Yeah, those rich patrons definitely feel pain whenever the Kraven Bots are damaged, aren’t they?

For those reading this comic: now that we’re half-way through “Hunted,” what do you think of it so far? What do you think Kraven is really planning? Is the Vulture leading the other villains on a suicide mission or a trap? Or this all a part of Kraven’s plan to lure those piloting the Kraven drones into a trap? Also, with Amazing Spider-Man No. 19.HU coming up, how do you think Taskmaster really captured the Lizard?