"THE VULTURE'S PREY"
Writer: Stan Lee/Breakdowns: John Romita Sr./Penciller: Don Heck/Inker: Mike Esposito/Letterer: Artie Simek/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: The Vulture, eager to maintain his winning streak in battle, takes on an injured Spider-Man above the streets of New York, as a horrified crowd watches on...
Review: First things first; we have to talk about that cover. Simply gorgeous; these two Vulture issues have featured some of the very best artwork of the high-flying villain ever seen, and this rather simplistic but highly effective cover is yet another example. The use of black and white for the background whilst Spidey and the Vulture are highlighted in bold colour really makes the characters pop and makes the action that much more intense.
The issue itself is largely one massive fight between Spider-Man and the Vulture. Normally I'm really not a fan of this sort of thing, as I prefer my Spider-Man stories to feature more of a balance between the mundane and the fantastical, the yin and yang of Peter's personal life and his activities as the wall-crawler, but here, I make an exception, because this fight scene is just executed so well. Incredible, dynamic action poses where you feel the impact of every single blow, every bead of sweat on the characters' foreheads. Huge panels showing just how strong Romita's figure work is, and you'd be forgiven for thinking Romita had provided the entire pencilled artwork for this one, as it really does look identical to his usual style, but Don Heck's name is on the credits, so I'm assuming he had something to do with this. If so, then hats off to him - and Mike Esposito as well - because this is a truly phenomenal looking book. I also feel that the battle is a great showcase for each of the combatants. It shows off just how powerful and deadly the Vulture can be as he pummels Spider-Man again and again, but it's likewise a fantastic demonstration of Spider-Man's resilience and determination, that willpower to just keep going and hold out a little bit longer; it's stuff like this that makes Spidey the hero that we love.
Whilst the action's going on, we get some top notch moments for Jameson and Robbie, who are watching the battle unfold from the rooftop of the Bugle. When Robbie is hurt by a cascade of falling rubble, the anger in Jameson's voice sends chills down my back, and honestly had tears welling up in my eyes; this is the first time we see how much Jameson truly cares about his beloved city editor, the closest thing the old goat has to a best friend, despite how much they may disagree about Spider-Man. Jameson's so enraged, he retaliates by pinning Spider-Man's arms behind his back so the Vulture can hurt him some more; we don't often see Jameson go full-on crazy like this, and I'm gratified that it happens here as a result of Robbie being injured.
There are two detours from the fight scene: one to Aunt May and Anna Watson, who are visited by Mary Jane sporting an absolutely hideous - and thankfully, short-lived - new haircut, and another to Gwen and her father, who informs his daughter that he now conveniently remembers that he was brainwashed by the Kingpin and so Peter didn't really mean to hurt him back in Issue #60. Gwen is overjoyed, though we won't see any real payoff for this until a couple of issues' time. These scenes are certainly welcome, but they do feel as if they're just here to pad out the page count, particularly the Aunt May and Anna Watson stuff, which serves no purpose other than to introduce MJ's ghastly new look. I assume this decision was taken to try and visually differentiate her from Gwen, as the two had very similar hairstyles up to this point, but it just leaves MJ looking unrecognisable as the same character.
ASM #64 is another fine instalment in the life of our favourite web-slinger, and even though the Vulture ends the issue in defeat - not to be seen again for quite a few years - we leave Spider-Man himself unconscious and at the mercy of the crowd that is eager to unmask him. It's a cracking cliff-hanger, and a great way to end the issue. As said, one-big-fight issues rarely hit the mark for me, so I can't quite give this full points, but if you are going to do a one-big-fight story, this isn't a bad way of going about it.
Rating: 4.5/5
Next time, Spider-Man is taken into police custody and sent to prison, where he must plan the impossible escape...
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