"THE WINGS OF THE VULTURE!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: John Romita Sr./Inker: John Romita Sr./Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: After the old Vulture seemingly dies in a prison hospital, his cellmate, Blackie Drago, dons his old wings and takes to the skies as the new Vulture...
Review: Issues #47-49 form a bit of an odd trilogy, one that's essentially comprised of two standalone stories - one featuring Kraven and the other featuring the new Vulture - and then the conclusion features both villains together. There's not exactly much in the way of a running storyline other than the presence of these two villains, but hey, they're good fun, so who's complaining? This middle chapter may well be my favourite of the bunch, but I'll have to reserve judgment on that until I re-read Issue #49. Suffice to say, this is an improvement on the previous issue, and features one of Romita's finest fight scenes between Spider-Man and the new Vulture.
Having a new character take over the alias of an old one was nothing new in superhero comics by this time. DC had given us two versions of the Flash and Green Lantern, and for villains, they'd birthed the new Clayface by replacing knife-wielding serial killer Basil Karlo with the shape-shifting Matt Hagen. Marvel themselves were no strangers to it either; Johnny Storm was the second figure to bear the name Human Torch, inheriting the moniker from the Golden Age character, and heck, even the Vulture wasn't a new name when Adrian Toomes' original debuted in ASM #2; there was an earlier villain from the Golden Age who bore the same title. So, creating a new Vulture for this new era of Spider-Man has precedent and makes total sense. That doesn't mean I think it entirely works.
Now, don't get me wrong; I like Blackie Drago as the Vulture. Drago is a pleasingly ruthless and nasty character, causing an 'accident' to befall the original Vulture, just so the old man will finally cave and, with his dying breath tell Drago where the wings are stashed. I'm in two minds about the helmet Drago designs for himself; it's not a bad look, but I can't help but feel it's an entirely unnecessary addition to the costume, and one that actually has the side effect of concealing Drago's youth, which kind of defeats the object of creating a younger, stronger Vulture, but in all honesty, I'm not so keen on that decision anyway. Reportedly, Stan wanted to retire the Adrian Toomes version of the character because he felt it made Spidey look cruel beating up a frail old man. I understand his reasoning, but personally, I think he missed the point of the Vulture, the point being that he isn't a frail old man. He may look it, but he's just as shrewd, and sharp, and dangerous as someone several decades younger. Also, in replacing him with a younger model, you've removed the whole youth vs. age conflict that Spider-Man/Vulture battles represented. It seems the readers felt the same way I do, as within a year, the old Vulture was revealed not to have died and was brought back, effectively ending Drago's high-flying criminal career and leaving him as a curious side-step in the history of the Vulture.
I may have mixed feelings about the new Vulture but I don't have mixed feelings about the artwork; John Romita has excelled himself once again and given us page after page of gorgeous art. The whole Drago prison break sequence is absolutely exquisite, with the snow falling, the car speeding through the prison gates, Drago finding the Vulture's wings buried underground; it's a beautiful scene and really feels like watching a movie play out before your eyes, Romita's storytelling is that good. He does a similarly fantastic job with the big Spider-Man/Vulture fight; lots of great aerial action that leaves you feeling the impact of every single blow, and with Spider-Man suffering from a raging fever, the battle becomes that much more intense. The final panel, showing a defeated Spider-Man unconscious and freezing to death on a snow-covered rooftop, is truly impactful, and I bet readers were just itching for next month to roll around when this first hit the stands.
ASM #48 is lighter on the character moments that dominated the previous issue, and is more focused on the action - if anything, I feel the new Vulture gets more to do in this issue than Spider-Man, and I suppose that makes sense considering Lee and Romita are having to introduce a new character. Even if we do get less of the soap-opera goodness that we had last issue, I feel this is an improvement in plot, artwork, and practically everything else. Romita paints us such a beautiful snowy landscape, which can either be a cosy winter wonderland when Peter and Harry are driving onto ESU campus, or a stark battleground for Spider-Man the Vulture to go toe to toe. This is a fun issue, despite some of my misgivings about replacing the original Vulture, and hey, we got him back before too long.
Rating: 4/5
Next time, Kraven and the new Vulture team up as Spider-Man still battles his fever...
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