The big finale! I mean, kind of. Hard to top your principal villain shooting himself in the face, but there’s still the matter of Vermin running around, and also Spider-Man doesn’t know Kraven is dead yet. Last issue, Zeck & McLeod were credited as “artists,” and this issue, Zeck is breakdowns and McLeod is finishes. I guess the schedule was out of hand. Zeck wasn’t able to finish Secret Wars, either. But, like I said before, McLeod is a great penciler in his own right, so he’s making the transition very smooth as we enter the home stretch.
Spider-Man trudges through the sewer looking for Vermin. In his mind, he’s reliving being buried alive as he goes, the dark tight space… sort of similar, I guess. Not as small, and wet, but whatever. This comparison is making him pretty scared, but he presses on, and we begin cutting to the same gravedigger from before working on a new one next to Spider-Man’s for Kraven.
Gonna need to get a shot. Not really in the headspace to be out superheroing, but Spider-Man can’t walk away, even when the situation doesn’t involve cannibalism. Vermin’s army of rats appears, and Spidey leaps up onto a wall to avoid them while continuing to relive his recent horrors. Meanwhile, some cops have arrived at Kraven’s building.
Nice and tidy. Can’t have Kraven’s bodycount on Spidey’s head going forward. Back in the sewer:
Every time Vermin manages to pull Spidey under the water, he flashes back to clawing out of the grave. Not really a 1-to-1 comparison, but ok. They wrestle for awhile, Vermin constantly trying to drown Spidey, until he gets some leverage against a wall and kicks them both into the water, hard. When Vermin pops up, he can’t locate Spider-Man. Spidey’s up in the shadows now, collecting himself, while Vermin begins to freak out. Spidey webs him to a wall, and tries to convince him he doesn’t want to kill him, but also threatens him not to call his rats again.
Vermin doesn’t want to go up into the light, and around then, Spidey just loses it. He runs away, thinking he just wants to be with his wife. Vermin becomes far more aggressive as Spider-Man begins to look like prey and chases him. But when he finds Spider-Man has gone up to the surface and decides to follow, things don’t go so well for him. He’s paralyzed by the light, and about to get hit by a truck.
The cops are amazed that he’s so compassionate after all Kraven did to him, and then we see today’s Bugle is out. “Kraven’s Confession!” is the headline. So Spider-Man’s in the clear for sure now. And just like that, he’s Spider-Man again, his internal monologue reading like it normally would, thinking Kraven will probably have disappeared when he goes back to check that townhouse, as he swings for home.
And that’s a hard reset. Sun’s shining, it’s daytime, happy couple, all’s well. Back at Kraven’s estate, his grave is ready, and all his grim, silent, still very uncomfortable black servants lower him into it.
One last hit of that ridiculous poem, and we’re out. Guys, we made it! This goofy little grim-dark bid for legitimacy is over. I think the fact that it resets so cleanly is maybe its most damning characteristic. Put Spider-Man through hell, bury him alive for 2 weeks, but don’t worry, he’s fine in time to be crackin’ jokes again next month. I dunno, man. I think this has a lot in common with fellow famous grim-dark late-80s story Batman: Arkham Asylum over at DC. Both stories require you to just accept that no one in them acts like they have in any previous appearance before they can go anywhere. That’s a hell of a buy-in. This kind of thing is not for me. I just don’t think this sort of wallow in misery is suited to Spider-Man. People have done plenty of dark superhero comics before and after this one, and some of them are good. Even Spidey has had some pretty intense stories over the years that worked. But this kind of thing… I just don’t think it’s what Spider-Man is for. I know at least one person who’d sharply disagree, though, and unfortunately for me, he’s got years and years of Spidey stories ahead. DeMatteis musta loved all this “I am The Spider” crap, because he will revisit it when he takes over ASM full time in the future. Yeah, man, look forward to that! But that’s for later. Come back next time for something completely different.
This is one of the most famous Spider-Man stories not made in the 60s. I’ve had it in trade for decades. I assumed it would be tough to get the singles. I got the whole story for $9. Part 3 alone had a $5 price tag on the bag. Ebay, man. Crazy.