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by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey   Writer- J.M. DeMatteis Penciller- Eder Messias Inker- Belardino Brabo Colourists- Neeraj Meron & Cris Peter Letterer- VC's Joe Caramanga Cover Artist- Ryan Brown Designer- Carlos Lao Editor- Danny Khazem Published by Marvel Comics (09/11/2024) SynopsisStruggling to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer Spider-Man, a recently powerless Peter Parker continues to risk his life each night by leaping across rooftops, which, understandably, concerns his pregnant wife, Mary Jane. However, the years of battling demons are not over as, prompted by powerful forces, his past continues to haunt him, preventing him and M.J. from settling in their new home of Portland, Oregon. Dave Here we are, getting a bit more up to date with stuff, 'Spider-Man: The Lost Hunt' issue 1. Kev This is the most modern thing we’ve looked at in the 8 years we’ve been doing Ben-Day Dots, isn’t it? 8 years! Can you believe it? But yeh, this is a mere two years old. Dave I think we have gone so far into the nostalgia rabbit hole, that this is a good change of era for us. Kev Definitely. It'll be a bit of a break from the norm of us doing stuff that's 30-40 years old. Dave The cover is quite interesting; it has a Gothic look, with the menacing Kraven figure looming over Spidey. It appears more like it's been painted, with its more muted colours, mixed with the bright Spidey outfit. Kev Yeh, I think Ryan Brown's cover is okay. It’s suitably gloomy, with the reds and blues of the Spider-Man costume popping off the page, but like a lot of modern comic artwork, it looks a little too digital for me. He says shaking his fist at a cloud. Dave And J.M. DeMatteis returns to writing duties also. Kev Yeh, this is essentially the latest chapter in J. M. Dematteis’s Kraven Saga. The third part in a trilogy, perhaps? Dave For me, not having read any comics since the early '90s, I was completely lost on what happened to Spidey, so I'm glad there was a little prologue giving me a heads-up. Kev How do you feel about Mike Zeck not providing the artwork? It almost makes it feel removed from the previous two instalments, which is unfortunate, but as Zeck was retired by this point, there’s nothing that could have been done about it, I suppose. Dave I didn't realise Zeck was retired. To be fair, I think the cover is quite good. It's always good to get another artists spin on the material. Kev Zeck's are some big shoes to fill though. This is an interesting gap-filler of a story, which is set in the '90s, during the never ending ‘Clone Saga,’ when Peter has been led to believe that HE is the clone, he has lost his powers, and Mary Jane is pregnant with their child. And, without revealing my hand too soon, I feel that it is these story elements that make this story what it is. Dave The first couple of pages waste no time getting straight into it. That splash page on page 2, of Sergei emerging from his grave is good. Although, he looks like a buffed-up Jesus Christ. There's a lot of attention to detail in his muscular definition for sure. Kev Definitely. Kev Ha, ha! He does like "Jacked Jesus," yeh. Kind-of like Aaron Taylor-Johnson does, fittingly. Dave True, way before he was cast, as well. That bottom panel on page 3, of Peter running along the rooftop, is eye catching as well. I do like the close up on the 3rd panel of Peter on the next page. Even he's buffed-up. Maybe we should rename him "Peter Parkour."  'Jump Portland.' Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, that is an excellent panel. Lots of nice detail in there. Dave That's a bit of a modern movie jump-from-building-to-building on page 4. Kev I thought that too. That's a superhero first-getting-their-powers cliche at this point. Or superhero-first-losing-their-powers in this case. Dave There's a hint of a manga/anime character look on that panel. Kev A lot of western comic book art has a manga influence to it these days, yeh. There’s some strange timeline stuff going on here with Kraven’s resurrection. “Yes, I killed Sergei - - but that was nearly a century ago.” Dave I always get confused with the coloured caption boxes, when it comes to figuring out who's who. Kev Yeh, we've spoke about this before with caption boxes, haven't we? Dave We have. Such is the way with these. Kev Green is our mysterious resurrector. Like the RZA in Gravediggaz. White is Peter. Red is MJ. Orange is Gregor. Dave I do like those two pages without any dialogue, just visuals. It needs no captions to tell us what is happening here. Kev You can't beat a good bit of purely visual storytelling in comics. Dave Typical M.J. though, she's completely on the ball when it comes to Pete trying to sneak about, and catches him.  Jeez, talk about arrested development, eh, M.J? Kev Yep, I think this is where DeMatteis really shines; when he’s writing M.J. and Peter and MJ’s relationship. Dave He still captures the spirit that she has. She was always portrayed as seemingly being more outgoing and extroverted, while Peter was more obviously internally conflicted. Kev Yeh, DeMatteis writes Mary Jane about as well as anyone. And here we get into what will be the theme of the story; Peter’s trauma. If 'Fearful Symmetry' was about Kraven’s suicidal thoughts, and 'Soul of the Hunter' was about Peter’s trauma as a result of being buried alive, then this expands upon that, and is about Peter's trauma from being Spider-Man for all those years. Dave I thought the writing was a real standout, delving into the theme of trauma, and really exploring it throughout the issue. Again, a mature approach to writing, and very well executed. It's a great theme in itself; how would Peter deal with being, to all extents and purposes, a "normal person" again. To have had all this power, and suddenly no longer be able to use it. That must be a head fuck in itself. Especially since Pete mentions he has had his powers since 15, and what age is he now in this? Kev 27ish, you reckon? Oh, absolutely. It must be identity crisis inducing. And I love that Peter is self-aware enough to realise that, it's only now that he's had a second to stop and think, that all the trauma descends upon him. Dave So there you go, twelve years of this, just gone. Although, I'm not sure how long he has been without his powers for here. Kev Not long, by the sounds of things. Dave In some ways he's still child-like, needing a comforting figure in his life, and luckily he has M.J. "...comforts me as only she can..." He's still used to a caregiver figure. Kev That's interesting. I always thought of it that Peter was forced to grow up, and take on a disproportionate amount of responsibility after his Uncle Ben's murder, but you make a good point there; what if Peter's development was actually arrested with Ben's murder, and rather than forcing him to grow up prematurely, it instead froze him in some sort of perpetual adolescence. Dave I think we may be opening up a Jeremy Kyle special (if it hadn't been taken off the air) on this one. It's all just a matter of perspective. They are really going for the splash pages in this issue. Page 8 is another interesting one.  Remember that one time you said that one cringey thing at that one party? Kev I think page 8 is absolutely superb. It really sums up this entire story for me. Dave It's leaning into a certain moodiness of tone, and not going for the horror elements so much, like in 'Last Hunt.' It's more like a deep, psychological thriller. The demons in his head indeed. Kev Yeh, DeMatteis would struggle to write these stories without caption boxes, as so much of it is internal monologue. He really needs the reader to have access to the minds of the characters for these stories to work. Dave I also liked those thought captions written by DeMatteis. Again, more insight into his understanding of her character, and her relationship with Peter. Kev Messias is downplaying how attractive M.J. usually is here though, I think. She doesn’t look quite like the supermodel she was portrayed as being in the late 80's/early 90's. Which was the style at the time. She’s more pregnant-girl-next-door-pretty here. Which has relevance later on, AND makes her a bit easier to relate to, I suppose. Dave Yeah, I kind-of struggled with the M.J. look in this one, just because of how I remember her from before. Kev In what ways did you think that she looked different? Dave I don't know, I'm still just a bit unsure if making her look too plain works. I get it as well, just bring her to a more normalised look, instead of being this stunning model type. Kev I've got a bit of a theory as to why they did that, but we'll get to it in a bit. Dave I do like how she still has her blunt sarcasm towards Peter. Kev Me too. She's written like a real person. She's supportive of her husband, but not afraid to call him out. She's anxious, hot-headed, loving, insecure, she's a proper three dimensional character. Dave Yeah, DeMatteis has captured the essence of a real person, and all the good qualities and flaws they have, just in daily life and how we relate to each other. I do remember M.J. hiding a lot of insecurity behind the large persona that she projected for others to see though, including Peter in their early stages of meeting each other. Through time she was able to be more herself with him. Kev We're definitely seeing a more mature M.J. here, yeh, I agree. Dave I got to say, the art and colouring has been good so far. It has a good mixture of colour palettes, and this helps to set different moods to particular scenes. It's not all in one grainy colour, so it can get darker and lighter in tone, and I actually like its tonal changes throughout the story. Kev I'll be honest, man; this one faced a bit of an uphill struggle with me. I'm such a big fan of the original, and I was quite critical of certain aspects of the follow-up, 'Soul Of The Hunter,' plus, this one didn't have Zeck, McLeod and co. on art duties, so there were multiple elements that were stacked against it winning me over. However, this has surpassed my expectations on just about every level, so far. Dave That first panel of Gregor on page 13, looks like he's taking going to 'Build A Bear' a bit too far. And what is it with these "hunters" that they've got to stroll around their mansions in the buff?  Gregor likes to wrestle his taxidermy in the nude. Don't you dare kink-shame him. Kev Ha, ha! I do like the callbacks to 'Fearful Symmetry' though. Dave Yeah, you need to have those references, they are a pivotal part of the story and the themes explored within it. Kev One of the elements where I initially felt this story fell short, was Gregor as the main antagonist. I didn't think he was as compelling as Sergei, but as I read on, and particularly as I've had some time to live with the story a bit now, I'm wondering if that is kind-of the point that DeMatteis is making. Gregor seems like a poor photocopy of Kraven in a lot of ways. A photocopy of a photocopy, even. Which ties into the whole Clone Saga though, I suppose, as, at this point, Peter believes himself to be a clone of Ben Reilly. I also feel that DeMatteis might be making a comment on fandom with Gregor here. The whole "stan" culture that arose from the internet, good old fashioned hero worshipping, and how destructive it can be. Particularly if one does not choose one's heroes wisely. Dave Actually, the 2nd last panel on page 13, of Gregor grinning, with his demonic looking eyes, is quite interesting. Also, the top panel on page 14 is a good one as well. Gregor is very much a tortured soul, and we can see this clearly in these couple of pages.  Rogues Gallery. Kev Yeh, man. I've been very impressed with Messias' artwork. It's VERY different from Zeck's stylistically, but despite my expectations and prejudices, it won me over pretty quickly. Dave I do like page 15 with him setting "Spidey" alight, then the big splash page on 17. 3 splashes in 17 pages! They are really going for the big "wall art" in this issue. Gregor looks a bit like Thanos on the bottom of page 16. Even on the splash on page 17, I see a hint of manga character design in Gregor's pose. Kev That's a good point as well. These splash pages are certainly dramatic, that's for sure. I suppose we've had access to manga for so long now in the west, and it's so widely available, even mainstream these days, that it's not surprising its influence has found its way into so many contemporary artists' styles. This scene does beg the question of who that poor bastard in the black Spidey costume is though. Well, who that poor bastard in the black Spidey costume WAS, rather. Dave I agree manga will have influenced so much, in terms of artistic styles and preferences. Some very poignant writing by DeMatteis in M.J.'s acting class lesson, showing how much she has developed a good understanding of the hero and villain psyche from first hand experience. That panel of those miserable looking drama students is funny. Kev Does it remind you of drama classes yourself? Dave Haha. A bit, but I never come across any miserable looking drama students. Kev I like this Tracy Makeba character. Intelligent, beautiful, and charming enough to justify M.J.’s pregnancy insecurity, which is what I was referring to earlier, when I mentioned M.J. looking a bit more girl-next-door, rather than supermodel. Particularly considering Tracy Makeba and Peter seem to click, and hit it off almost immediately. Unless, of course, she is using spooky shit on Peter, just like Gregor is. Dave That's a good point also; with age, and being more comfortable in a relationship, M.J. is less focused on her appearance. I see a bit of flirting with Pete and Tracy here as well. This is another good tonal change in the story, and the colour palette helps reflect this mood. Kev I took it that they had to have Tracy be attractive enough to be considered a legitimate threat to Pete and M.J.'s currently strained relationship. Plus, M.J. looks relatively heavily pregnant here, so she might not exactly want to be teetering around on a pair of high heels, or to to use certain beauty products due to the chemicals in them. She's a "natural beauty" anyway, is M.J. Dave I can see the potential threat to M.J. here, what with Peter being perfectly at ease with Tracy's company as well. Kev Yeh, she's stunning. As are her professional and academic accomplishments too. Dave It’s also interesting that Peter still has that quiff on his hair. A trademark look for Mr. Parker. Kev Yeh, Peter's got fantastic hair. I'm pretty jealous, if truth be told. I feel for Peter, obviously, but he is being a bit of a dick to M.J. here. His luscious hair won't get him a pass on that one with me. Dave Yeah, there's definitely brewing tension between Pete and M.J, as he loses his cool with her, true. Those demonised images of Rhino, Vulture, Lizard and Venom (not so much Venom as he always looks a bit demonic) make for an interesting panel in Peter's hallucination. This is, for sure, about the psychological breakdown of Peter, and it is built up throughout this issue, so far. Gregor’s war on him is relentless.  Rogues Gallery 2. Kev It's definitely a personal vendetta for Gregor, that's for sure. Those demonic versions of Spidey's rogue gallery certainly lean into the psychological horror aspects that you referenced earlier. Dave Yep, it's not going for gore at all, or even scares. Just deeply rooted torturing. Kev Yeh, DeMatteis does these dark, psychological character study superhero stories about as well as anyone I can think of. Dave DeMatteis is going deep into Peter's psyche. In fact, this issue is a psychological study of all of our central characters, but I’m glad that the bulk of the focus has been on Pete and M.J, and not overly focused on Gregor. Another splash on page 25. But this time, broken up somewhat, by two additional panels. Kev Definitely. And another page that relishes the horror of this story as well. Dave What do you make of the big spider metaphor? Kev "The Spider" is a motif that DeMatteis has carried over from 'Fearful Symmetry,' and I like it. It's way over the top, but it illustrates the duality within Peter. The anger, rage, and all the other negative aspects of his personality that he represses to be a decent human being. A good man. A hero. Dave Plus, how he has always been at odds with himself throughout his life. He struggled as teen before he got his powers, with always being picked on, and after getting his powers, dealing with the realities of leading a double life. The spider can also represent the part of his psyche that still feels fearful, massively overwhelmed, and dominated. Kev Definitely. And I'm assuming it's no coincidence that Peter's shrink is called Kafka, considering Franz Kafka's most famous work is 'The Metamorphosis,' a tale about a man, named Gregor, of course, who wakes up one morning, only to find that he has turned into a human-sized insect. Dave Right enough. Good spot there. It's been a long time since I read ‘Metamorphosis,’ but I wonder how much of an influence it plays in this scene with him and the giant spider hallucination. Kev I would imagine that it was on DeMatteis's mind when he was writing these Kraven stories. Hey, that four year English Literature degree, with two years studying Philosophy as well wasn't a complete waste of time after all. I've been able to use it to pick up on higher art literary references in low art fare like superhero comics. In saying that, it's nigh on 30 years since I read it as well. Dave So much past literature plays a big part in current literature, it's just being able to spot it. Hell, look at Shakespeare; a lot of his stories were borrowed from older literature from before his time. Kev Yeh, they reckon he was heavily influenced by Chaucer. Plus, they say there are really only a handful of stories to tell, don't they? And that everything is mere variations on these basic premises. Dave Interesting that it's in the very same panel that we get the breakthrough Peter has in his hallucination, where he realises it's himself that's The Spider, and M.J. also becoming aware of her actions as she walks in the rain. Is this to illustrate how strong their bond and connection is? Kev I would imagine it is, yeh. And I love that bond between them. I love them as a couple. Dave However, when Peter comes back to reality, and his hallucination wears off, is probably not the best time for M.J. to return home. It's a good panel of a broken man sitting amongst the wreckage of his rampage around the house though. I guess he didn't like the TV home makeover on his apartment.  Kev's gaff, after the slightest, most trivial of life's inconveniences. Kev Ha, ha! No, apparently not. He needs her to comfort him at this point though. Again, showing the strength of their relationship. Dave It's like M.J. said earlier in one of her thought caption boxes; she knows her husband. Kev She does that. I like how she always reassures him that they'll deal with all this together. She's never abandoned him. No matter how messed up, physically, mentally, and emotionally he may be. Or how much danger him being Spider-Man put her in either. Dave And this issue finishes off with another character being introduced to us, Mishkin. Which doesn't sound too far off "munchkin.” Just saying. Kev Ha, ha! I'm not going to be able to get that out of my head now. Thanks for that. Dave They are making good use of the constant rain again near the end of this issue, which was another strong aspect of the Kraven story. Kev Ah, I hadn't thought of that. That's a good catch as well, man. Dave For a first issue, I found this to be an enjoyable read. The pacing was really good also. That is down to the writing skills of DeMatteis though, and him not flinging in too much at one go. Also, we got to spend a significant amount of time with Pete and M.J. as well, so the character development and relationship dynamics were there too. Kev Yeh, I've got to admit that I wasn't sure if I'd like this when I started reading it. It's been a long time since 'Fearful Symmetry,' there's no Mike Zeck here, and I had my issues with 'Soul Of The Hunter,' but this really exceeded my expectations, and made me eat a healthy slice of humble pie. Turns out I really quite enjoyed it. The issue, not the pie. That's what I get for doubting DeMatteis. Dave It has surpassed my expectationsn as wll, so this will hopefully turn out to be an interesting story to cover. If it keeps up like this, then it will, for sure. There's a real maturity in DeMatteis' writing, and his understanding of the complexities of human relationships. (D) & (K) Next: Mismatch. There are levels to this. 
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