Once again it’s on. ASM 612-637, Web of Spider-Man V2 2-7, Black Cat V2 1-4. The Gauntlet, and then Grim Hunt, which might as well be part of the Gauntlet. Spider-Man faces, well, a gauntlet of classic villains amped up or replaced with lame imposters (And Mr. Negative and Paper Doll), as Kraven the Hunter’s extended family prowls around behind the scenes, having kidnapped a bunch of Spider-People (“Spider-People”) and apparently using Madame Web to influence or encourage all the events of the Gauntlet, tho this concept is introduced right at the end and feels forced. One tragic turn of events after another bring Spider-Man low enough for them to strike, first resurrecting dead original retconned Kraven child Valdimir as a lion monster by sacrificing Mattie Franklin, then Kraven himself by sacrificing Kaine the Spider-Clone, who they believe to be Spider-Man at the time. Then Spider-Man beats them all up and saves the remaining Spider-People, only for the Kravinoffs to escape. Meanwhile, Black Cat gets wrapped up in a bunch of heists as an unwitting part of a scheme by a Kravinoff family servant to impress daughter Ana, and hijinks ensue. Also Kaine lives somehow. Elsewhere, Aunt May discovers Mr. Negative is her boss, and he does his mind control thing to make her forget and be really mean to everyone for a long time, Peter Parker loses all his jobs, Flash Thompson accepts his disability with the help of Betty Brant throwing him a big party (Where Jason Ionello and Tiny McKeever appear for the first time since Untold Tales of Spider-Man), Peter Parker and Carlie Cooper go out to lunch in what they later decide was Peter’s first actual date since his marriage disappeared, Harry Osborn and Mary Jane become roommates after Aunt May kicks him out of the old house while being mean, and Peter and his roommate Michele finally stop beefing after some very stupid events in previous comics.
Before I’d finished reading the comics, I started thinking about how I was gonna deal with this. I thought up a few layouts for Spider-Man vs. 100 villains, and then the cover of ASM 141 popped into my head:
I decided to do an homage to it. I think this ended up being a pretty fun idea. So some of it is referencing the master John Romita, Sr., but I had to add way, way more stuff beyond his original composition. I even did the lettering by hand for some reason. I actually quite like this one. My last 2 in a row have wound up some of the best I’ve done.