"IN THE HANDS OF THE HUNTER!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: John Romita Sr./Inker: John Romita Sr./Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: Kraven the Hunter is out of prison and is on the hunt for Norman Osborn, who Kraven knows from his previous dealings with the Green Goblin...
Review: This is a bit of a controversial issue, and I can fully understand why, despite enjoying it myself. In this story, Stan and John essentially posit that we didn't get a full picture of events back in ASM #34, and that in that particular issue, Kraven was not fighting Spider-Man out of a desire for battle, but rather because the Green Goblin had offered to pay him for it. Now, on the one hand, I applaud Stan for adding a bit of retroactive continuity to make a fairly simple story a bit more complex and intricate. The problem is that it weakens Kraven's character in hindsight, and we lose what made Issue #34 special and significant: it was the first time that Kraven truly hunted Spider-Man out of a desire to best him in combat, not because he was allied with anyone else, and now, with this issue, that independence the character was given has been removed, which personally, I'm not a fan of.
This is a completely separate problem from the fact that the retcon just doesn't really work. If you go back and read Issue #34 again, you can see that there's no place for any dealings with the Green Goblin to fit in, and that Kraven is clearly working alone, and for his own reasons. As well as not really making any sense, the retcon also leaves this issue feeling a bit garbled, as Kraven's goal seems to flip-flop from scene to scene. He wants to take down Spider-Man as usual, but he also wants to get the money he's owed from Norman Osborn - who he met through his previous dealings with the Goblin - and these two ambitions are constantly shifting priorities in Kraven's mind, leading to a very confused plot that doesn't really make any sense. It does at least give us a glimpse at how well Norman and Harry's relationship is doing now that the shadow of the Green Goblin has left them, and even having Norman in the comic at all now comes with a bit of extra tension; the scene where he meets Peter for 'the first time' is actually a rather chilling one, even if Stan doesn't play it as such. Kraven's involvement does also give us his absolutely hilarious new nipple lasers as well, so that's a nice bonus.
The thing is, even though all the stuff with Kraven doesn't really work, that's never the thing that first comes to mind when I think of this issue. ASM #47 is probably Lee and Romita Spider-Man at the peak of its light teen soap-opera phase, with a good chunk of the issue dedicated to Peter and the gang going to Flash's leaving party, and all the associated emotions that go with that. Namely, we get a lot of Peter's silent regret over not getting to know Gwen when he first started at ESU and she might still have been interested in him, and I love all of these scenes because they feel so genuine and like they're being written from a place of experience. John Romita also gets to go to town with this issue - in fact, I wonder if this story was crafted just so he could have a fun time drawing lots of young, attractive people having a ball. He certainly gets a kick out of drawing gorgeous young women in this one, with both Gwen and Mary Jane boasting so of their most memorable outfits. I do have to question Harry's choice of analogy in one scene, however, where he compares Gwen to a car; in fact, there's a lot of rather casual objectification of women from the male characters in this issue, but at least Romita knows how to draw attractive women tastefully as opposed to the juvenile renderings of the likes of Todd McFarlane, which feel as if they've been dreamed up by a horny teenage boy.
As with the previous issue, we get another lovely parting scene for Peter and another character; this time it's Flash's turn. It may only be confined to one panel at the end, but the sight of the two of them shaking hands after all the bad blood that's marred their interaction over the years is genuinely wonderful, and whilst they may not exactly be friends yet, it's clear that they've developed a grudging respect for each other, and I absolutely adore Flash telling Peter to "take good care of the chicks" whilst he's away in the army; I just rather like the fact that he tells this to Peter and not to Harry. The final panel as well is a really beautiful one, with a silhouetted Peter walking home and wondering how Flash will make out, and if he'll return home safely. It's an absolutely gorgeous moment, and whilst it would be a little while yet before the more controversial aspects of the Vietnam War were covered in the pages of Spider-Man, this is a tantalising glimpse into the anxiety of contemporary Americans whose friends and relatives were going off to fight a war in a country that - most likely - they hadn't until then heard of.
ASM #47 is an interesting issue, in that the main superhero plot is actually pretty garbled and incoherent, whilst the Archie comics-esque teen stuff is a lot of fun and easily the highlight, but then, Spider-Man has always been a character that entertains just as much with his civilian life as with his superhero activities. The battle with Kraven is fun, even if it's not quite as good as the Shocker fights from last issue, but the real draw for me is all the character stuff; as said, I particularly love Peter's introspective musings about his love life, and I also really like seeing Betty and Ned together at the party, and the way Betty refuses to leave Ned's side when he goes to phone in the story of Kraven's attack to the Bugle. It's a mixed bag of an issue, but it's got enough life and soul - particularly during Flash's exit scene - that I can somewhat look past its shortcomings.
Rating: 3.5/5
Next time, the Vulture returns, but not in the way you might think...
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