{"id":19140,"date":"2023-11-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/comicsfromspace.com\/spiderman\/?p=19140"},"modified":"2022-06-12T21:28:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T01:28:09","slug":"to-the-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/comicsfromspace.com\/spiderman\/2023\/11\/24\/to-the-death\/","title":{"rendered":"To The Death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here we have an extremely hyped, doomed to disappoint stunt so intense it comes square bound to indicate its importance: The reunion of Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr.! Perhaps the best Spider-Man team ever? Certainly top 2. Just like in the old days, Stan couldn\u2019t actually be bothered to come up with a story, so just like in many 80s and 90s comics where Stan deigned to write some dialogue, Tom DeFalco provides the script. This could be somewhat offensive, considering Jazzy Johnny did a fine job of plotting even Spider-Man comics he didn\u2019t draw in the 60s, but one assumes he was busy and didn\u2019t want to by 1997. Dan Green inks and Steve Oliff colors. I wish with all my heart I could say this is a masterpiece, but it\u2019s just a kind of ok comic by 2 legends who, let\u2019s face it, are past their prime. But that being said, it\u2019s still them, so it\u2019s still fun on some levels, and I sure ain\u2019t gonna say no to a one-shot full of new Romita art. However\u2026 Kinda wish they\u2019d let someone ink it a little heavier. We\u2019ll see what I mean shortly. Our story begins with some dudes stealing some stuff out of a warehouse, as dudes are prone to do, when they\u2019re lit up by the Spider Signal coming from Spider-Man\u2019s belt. But then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Couldn\u2019t have done that in the 60s! Has Spider-Man turned killer? Wouldn\u2019t it be wild if that really happened in a random one-off by (DeFalco) Lee & Romita?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zoltarro! What a name! It sure feels and looks like the 60s with Zoltarro in the mix. So, like, Dan Green is a fine inker, but Romita is doing a sketchy, spidery line in this book, and I wish someone willing to be more bold in finishing him had been assigned this. Or, alternatively, that Johnny hadn\u2019t insisted it look like this, if that is, indeed, what happened (Very possible!). It looks slightly unfinished. Would love to have seen Scott Hanna or Klaus Janson get this gig. Also, Steve Oliff is giving the book a sort of washed out look. Which, again, maybe that was very intentional, but I think the whole package could\u2019ve popped a lot more with colors by Christie Scheele or Gregory Wright or Kevin Tinsely. Ah, well. Spider-Man goes on a straight up killing spree, killing arious mob figures, and JJJ is ecstatic. Robbie says Spider-Man\u2019s never used guns before, and JJJ says he\u2019s never gotten a tattoo before, but could get one tomorrow, which is a bit I liked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now, come on, Peter was there when Robbie found out about this, why would he be so surprised?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Again, this is classic Romita, but it looks unfinished. I wonder if the thin line was an attempt to seem more contemporary. When Romita inks himself in this period, his stuff still has bold lines. Just look at the cover of this, even. Maybe I\u2019m obsessing too much. At any rate, Human Torch\u2019s \u201cshoot first\u201d approach is echoed by a barrage of celebrity guest heroes, as Spider-Man is pursued across the city by such supertypes as Captain America, Reed Richards, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine, Cannonball and Luke Cage, most of them kind of shown in a montage to just get the idea across. Spidey\u2019s having a rough night. He finally drops down into an alley to become Peter Parker to avoid anymore conflict, just in time for Ben Grimm to fly by and as if he\u2019s seen Spider-Man. Peter decides he\u2019s got to do everything he can to clear this up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So it\u2019s that simple, an army of fake Spider-Men juiced with the drug du jour. That doesn\u2019t explain how they all have webs and spider signals. Kingpin really shelled out for the authenticity. The next day, at the law offices of Nelson & Murdock, Foggy\u2019s boss tells him to reach out to Daredevil to reach out to Spider-Man to get him to let them defend him (A lady was in charge of them in this time, but I don\u2019t really know who she is. She looks a like like Vanessa Fisk). In another room, Foggy\u2019s partner is getting into his Daredevil outfit, thinking he\u2019s the only one who can help Spider-Man clear his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Is that mummy Mysterio? Who\u2019s the guy above Ock? Why does The Jackal have wings? Weird page! Peter drops MJ at her train, then his Spider Sense leads him to a waiting Daredevil which\u2026 doesn\u2019t quite add up, but whatever. DD asks if he killed those men, Peter says no, DD can tell he\u2019s not lying, and they\u2019re off to clear his name. And of course, DD\u2019s first stop is beating up people in Josie\u2019s Bar. At The Bugle, Ben Urich insists to Robbie that Zoltarro is the real story, but Jonah\u2019s not letting anyone do anything that isn\u2019t related to Spider-Man: Murderer. Elsewhere, info from Josie\u2019s leads to a warehouse, where DD hears people talking about Zoltarro, Kingpin, and the fake Spider-Men, and notices 4 of the participants have wildly elevated heartbeats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Low blow to DC there. Spidey realizes the drug has gotten into DD\u2019s system via  cut on his shoulder, and then Daredevil vanishes. This is because the mad scientist has run back to Kingpin to tell him what happened, and Hornhead was right behind him, launching himself into Kingpin\u2019s office and Kingpin himself. Back at the warehouse, Spider-Man is looking for an antidote to the Death Arrow when he sees it start to kill the guys who were dosed earlier (That seems kind of fast), and in Kingpin\u2019s office, Fisk notices DD is way stronger than he should be, and deduces he\u2019s on the stuff, himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DD\u2019s in trouble, but Spider-Man\u2019s found the antidote. He just doesn\u2019t know where his partner went. But he mentioned Zoltarro, so Spidey does what he always used to do and calls The Bugle for help. Ben Urich just happens to have heard where Zoltarro is entering the country, and wants Peter there to take pictures. He\u2019s trying to get to the spot, but cops see him and open fire. Eventually, all parties converge on a waterfront warehouse at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zoltarro throws a slight wrench in Kingpin\u2019s plan by blowing up his car. He tells his goons to go back for his case full of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spider-Man arrives on the scene and sees DD isn\u2019t weak yet, so he still has time to administer the antidote. He jumps into the battle, but DD\u2019s out of his mind, and is soon attacking his would be savior. Zoltarro sees a chance to flee when it\u2019s presented and does so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spider-Man dives to save the vial, and does, barely. Then DD starts to weaken, so Spidey kicks his friend in the face so he can\u2019t fight back and jabs him with the antidote. Elsewhere, Zoltarro is stopped by a bloody and furious Kingpin, who notes he wasn\u2019t in the car when it blew, and proceeds to choke Zoltarro to death. Don\u2019t mess with The Kingpin, buddy. Ben Urich rushes over to the heroes to say he saw the whole thing, and Spider-Man won\u2019t get away with attacking Daredevil, which is pretty uncharacteristically clueless on his part. Spidey tosses him the antidote, saying DD will tell him what\u2019s going on when he wakes up, and we jump ahead to paramedics arriving and DD doing just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unsurprisingly, Spider-Man\/Kingpin: To The Death! doesn\u2019t end with either of them dying. Even that mad doctor lived somehow. But that\u2019s how it goes. Not exactly essential, but who could resist a book pairing Lee and Romita again? Certainly not me. There\u2019s a sketchbook section with notes by Romita, and then both of them write \u201cintroductions\u201d which wound up being the last page. Hey, what can ya do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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