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by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey   Writer- J.M. DeMatteis Artists- Eder Messias Belardino Brabo Marguerite Sauvage Travel Foreman Colourists- Dee Cunniffe Neeraj Menon Marguerite Sauvage Letterer- VC's Joe Caramagna Cover artist- Ryan Brown Designer- Carlos Lao Editor- Danny Khazem Published by Marvel Comics (15/02/2023) SynopsisMary Jane attempts to pull Peter back from the brink of Takhar-induced feral madness, whilst Takhar's mother, Aja Orisha, reminisces on her past like the morose old drunk your local. Get yourself a hot beverage, a biscuit, and strap yourself in. Dave What do you make of the cover to this issue? Kev I quite like this cover. It’s a nice image of Takhar and Spidey locked in combat, with a giant, ghostly, floating head of Aja Orisha looming over them in the background. Looking at them somewhat disapprovingly, I might add. Dave Yeah, I quite like it as well. It’s quite crisp and clear, and it sets up for the ongoing feud. Nice kick by Takhar, and of course, good evasion by Spidey as well. And the regular splash page on page 1 is also another good page. I like the colouring as well, it’s not overbearing at all. Peter is looking more and more like Vermin. Was that intentional, do you think? Kev Well, Vermin is a DeMatteis co-creation, so I think you might be right, it could very well be intentional, yeh. It's another arresting splash panel on page 1, alright, with Peter looking possessed, and like he has fully succumbed to “The Spider” at this point. He looks like one of ‘The Lost Boys, actually.’ The Joel Schumacher, vampire ones, not the Spielberg ‘Hook’ ones. Dave He does have ‘The Lost Boys’ look going on. Kev "Cry, little sister." "I still believe!" Dave "People are strange, when you're a stranger". Yeah, that dude with the saxophone will pop up next. Kev Ha, ha! We can but hope. Kev I did find it quite amusing though that, right in the midst of all this heightened psychological drama, Peter still tries to stick to a wall in his and M.J.'s apartment, but just falls off it. Ha, ha! Dave Yep, true. He's still assuming he has his powers. Kev He's definitely having trouble letting go of them, that's for sure. Dave This wastes no time in going into the backstory of Aja. I’m not always a big fan of backstories, to be honest, if it's done in bulk. Kev Me neither, really, but this almost feels more like something out of a novel, or at the very least a TV show, where it is quite normal to use a whole chapter, or a whole episode, to explore the backstory of, and give a bit of context to, one of the characters. It’s not something that’s done quite as often in comics, but I’m loving how DeMatteis has done it here. It never feels superfluous, or boring. It works really, really well. Dave I’ve got to say; the artwork and colouring on the first three pages is superb. Especially the colouring on page 3. Kev Yeh, I particularly like that second panel on page 3, of Aja Orisha putting out the psychic feelers for Peter, across Portland, as she is perched atop that needle on the bridge.  Like mother,.... Dave It is also necessary for the story too. I love that big panel on page 5, so full of detail and colour. It's rich and striking. Very basic, but very powerful as well.  "Wakanda forever!" Well, not forever, just until Aja leaves to wander the earth. Kev Yeh, the artwork in this issue is superb. By the whole team, in fact. And it is a real team effort on this issue. Some excellent panels of a young Aja in Wakanda on pages 5 and 6. Kudos to Marguerite Sauvage on these ones. Dave To be fair though, Aja looks like she could have easily been a backing singer for Boney M with her hair on that panel. Kev Hey, it was the '70's. Afros were the do. Does that make Pete ‘Daddy Cool?’ Dave I wonder. He's certainly, ‘Crazy Like A Fool.’ I like how the next panel shifts to Pete and M.J. It's almost like they are in a prison. Certainly a prison of anguish and torment. Kev It does look like a bit like a prison, yeh. The two weeks that Aja was buried as part of the Yansan-An ritual, is the same amount of time that Kraven buried Spidey for in Kraven’s Last Hunt. Both experienced a “resurrection” of sorts, and it's Interesting that Aja’s meditation on her decision to leave the Balu Aye and Wakanda lasted for 40 days, as Jesus Christ spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert being tempted by the devil.  Maybe Peter has a magic eye style tattoo on his back with the blueprints of the prison hidden within it. Dave Good spots there, never thought about that. Kev “I saw people enslaved and humiliated by colonising sadists. Saw wars waged, millions slaughtered, so that one flag could supplant another…..I discovered something else - - beyond the cruelty and barbarism: a kind of grace. A striving for greatness. For truth, hope, and meaning. And a vibrant love made stronger by adversity.” And that is the human condition in a nutshell. Bravo, Mr. DeMatteis. Bravo. Dave And again that sudden shift back to Pete and M.J. is a good change that breaks it up well. “For two weeks she lay buried...” And here's me thinking David Blaine was the first one to do that. Kev Maybe Blaine is a Hunter. Dave Could be a follow up to this story ‘Blaine: The Hunter.” Kev Ha, ha! Jeez, could you imagine? Yeh, those little returns to Pete and M.J. break up Aja's backstory sections really well. They tie in thematically, and they are a reminder of the main narrative too. It's all very well constructed by DeMatteis. Dave Pages 8 and 9 are excellent, especially when Aja goes off on her wanderings. There are some great visuals there. Kev Yeh, Sauvage is killing it in this issue. Her section, the Aja backstory segment is beautiful to look at. Dave This kind-of puts me in mind of ‘Interview With The Vampire.' How she's telling her story, and how it is taking place over a great period of time. Kev Ah, that's a really good point, yeh, right enough. I like that panel in the center of page 10, of Takhar sitting atop the rock outside the zoo, psychically calling to the zoo animals to rise up and join him in his quest. In fact, that entire page is excellent. The panel composition is really interesting, in that it’s almost like Takhar is “The Spider” sitting in the center of a web, it’s a nice callback to the panel I referenced earlier, of his mother searching for Peter, and also, Messias can draw animals particularly well. Stellar stuff.  ..... like son. Dave The artwork in this series has been excellent, and has not slipped at all. Eder Messias can create powerful images in both people and animals. The bottom panel on page 11 of Takhar is good, he looks possessed and demonic. Kev Yeh, for all my reservations about this one not being pencilled by Zeck, I've been proven wrong over and over again by Messias. And the rest of the art team on this, to be fair to everyone involved. “I’d built an impressive fortune in my years of wandering - - and it allowed me into the highest echelons of New York society. But for all their honeyed words, I knew it was the wealth alone that drew those self-styled elites to me. A black woman who wasn’t a servant? Who didn’t cater to their every whim? To them, I was an oddity. A curiosity.” “ endured it, endured them, in the name of business. But when I sought true community……I went to Harlem…” There’s a lot of very nice historical, and socio-political commentary going on here by DeMatteis. I really like the idea that Aja found a home, a sense of community, and inspiration in Harlem. Particularly during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Dave It's quite a tragic backstory, really. Kev It really is, isn't it? Dave Travelling through the different eras, and social and political backdrops, adds to the enrichment of her character. And of course we find out about Takhar being born. Then that jump back to how M.J. tells Pete about how he helped her find her real self. Kev M.J.’s getting a bit purple with her “cord of light” promo that she’s cutting on Peter, in an attempt to bring him back from the brink of darkness here though. I like that panel on page 13, when Aja is describing her first meeting with Sergei Kravinoff, in which the spectre of his mother is literally hanging over his head. It isn’t exactly subtle, but it’s effective, and is very much in keeping with the themes of this story, and Kraven as a character too. As he is now the spectre that hangs over THIS story. Ah, generational trauma.  Anna Makarova cheated death and returned as a Force ghost. Dave Yeah, it's a great panel as well. It's also interesting, in those Pete and M.J. panels, how the colouring has literally changed from a blue background to represent the darkness, and then as Pete starts to come around the light is showing in the background. Kev M.J. is definitely his light. Leading him out of his dark night of the soul. Certainly as morning is breaking. Literally. To be honest, as much as we are spinning (no pun intended) dual narratives here, and I suppose, at the very least, Peter Parker has to be in an issue of a Spider-Man comic book, as this is a story that has had no Spider-Man in it (certainly not so far), I could probably be doing without it cutting back to Peter and M.J. for a panel every few pages. That’s how much I’m enjoying, and am invested in, the Aja Orisha backstory. Dave The both of them are leading each other, maybe not right at this moment where Pete is concerned, but by the way she's talking, he certainly has done so before. I quite like the cutting back and forth to Pete and M.J. I get the feeling their relationship still needed to feel prevalent through the story. Kev No, I agree. You're right. Those scenes were probably necessary to keep us tethered to the main narrative. I’m just loving Aja’s origin story so much. I also like that when Aja is describing her attempt to help Sergei with the Yansan-An ritual, she says, “He should have remained in the dark, in the dust, for two weeks, but he lasted only four days. Were his demons too fierce, too wrathful, too wild……or was he simply too weak to confront them? To make peace with them?” This has been the theme with Kraven under DeMatteis’s pen. A hubristic man. One who cannot admit his weaknesses. One who hunted lesser creatures than himself “for sport,” then came mentally and emotionally unglued when he encountered a man he could not successfully hunt. A man he could not best. It threw a mirror up to his shortcomings, and therefore, his inner demons consumed him. The same way his mother’s did her, perhaps? Dave They could have easily done a graphic novel on the backstory of Aja, Kraven and Gregor. Kev Definitely. DeMatteis has made them all fascinating, intriguing characters. Dave Sergei really looks crazed in that panel of him holding down Aja, with his eyeballs near enough popping out. Or has he just had a visit to Mars, ‘Total Recall’ style.  Kraven didn't feel anything after the first pill. The second resulted in him taking his shirt off in the club like a dick. Kev Ha, ha! “Get your ass to Mars.” Maybe it's just the, "Two weeks" thing. Dave "Consider that a divorce." Maybe that was what he was uttering. That's seems to be Kraven’s weakness, his inability to conquer his own demons. Kev Absolutely. Sergei Kravinoff could give Andrew Tate a run for his money on the poster-boy-for-fragile-male-ego-and-toxic-masculinity front. As could Takhar, to be fair. There really is some fantastic artwork by Eder Messias, Marguerite Sauvage, Travel Foreman, Neeraj Menon and Dee Cunniffe in all of these flashback scenes. Not least of which, the fourth panel on page 17, of Aja watching from the balcony, as her son, “Gregor,” leaves her behind to follow Sergei. Excellent stuff.  "Every breath you take, and every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you." Dave Maybe he was always, not-so-much destined for villainy, but his quite stoic demeanour was his way of coping with his demons, but really all this was always festering underneath. The can of worms had merely been opened. Kev I've always been curious as to the implication that Kraven's mental health issues were genetic, and handed down to him from his mother, as certainly has been suggested over the years, not least by DeMatteis himself. “But if his triumph was so great - - why, then, did Sergei follow his mother’s ill-fated path……and take his own life?” Why indeed, Aja? Why indeed? Was it really just a case of something as simple as genetics? Dave Possibly. It's certainly a troubled family backdrop, both past and present. And the Sergei, Takhar and Aja family problem is certainly worthy of a Jerry Springer special. The whole Kraven backstory comes full circle with his encounter with Spider-Man, burying him for two weeks, and so forth. ‘The Toxic Kravinoff Legacy.’ That’s a good title, indeed. ‘The Toxic Kravinoff Legacy: Memoirs Of My Life With Kraven,’ available from all good bookstores. Kev It's got bestseller written all over it. That four panel top tier at the top of page 19, of Aja emerging from the water and “striding purposefully” to complete her mission is also brilliant. That is one hell of a look of determination that she has on her face in the fourth one.  Aja Orisha's audition for a role in the upcoming 'Secret Wars' movie. Dave Oh yeah, that panel is excellent, again, the background colours blending in nicely and not overpowering the image of Aja. So many questions are running through Aja’s head. Could she truly have saved Kraven? And yet M.J. is currently saving Pete. That juxtaposition again. Kev Yeh, that theme is certainly running concurrently across the two timelines. The colour work by Dee Cunniffe, Neeraj Menon, and Marguerite Sauvage is outstanding. And we end with another cracking cliffhanger of a splash page. “Gregor” and his zoo posse have arrived to start some shit. Dave Haha! “The Zoo Posse!’ Nice one. Now I've got that song by Intelligent Hoodlum in my head from the ‘Posse’ movie. Kev Love that tune. That was a Yo! MTV Raps staple back in the day. Dave It's building to a climatic showdown again. Kev Yeh, we're all set up for the grand finale now. I couldn’t help but notice that the animals in “Gregor’s” gang are the animal kingdom equivalents of some of Spidey’s rogues gallery from earlier in this story. Dave Yep, I noticed that; the Sinister Six, plus a Gregor. Kev Ha, ha! The Snidey Seven. The Shitehouse 7. Dave The Table For…..7? Kev Ha, ha! Dave It's a cracking final page though, as far as striking images go. Kev Totally. It certainly gets you amped for the final issue. I’ve really enjoyed this one. Oddly enough, it’s had no Spidey, very little Peter in it, and yet it’s been my favourite of this story thus far. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that my one criticism of it might very well be that the Peter and M.J. stuff was a little bit rushed, and resolved a little too easily, I think. Maybe it could have played out a bit more in an issue other than this one. That’s me nitpicking, perhaps. But either way, the table is very well set for the big finale next issue. Dave It certainly has a very high word count in this issue, with plenty of interestingly written backstory. And, as I say, the artwork has not faltered. It’s always been to a high standard. There's a lot to tell in this story, with so many complexities of human relationships, and self doubt, insecurities, love, and so forth. I get the feeling DeMatteis thrives on writing these complex, interconnected stories. Kev Yeh, I reckon those are probably the things that draw DeMatteis to certain characters, and make him want to write stories featuring them. Dave This issue also stayed away from the horror element that has taken place over the previous issues really, and instead has delved deep into the very recesses of human psychology that all of us struggle with. Minus the ‘Total Recall’ eyes. Also, I think DeMatteis really enjoys writing couples’ relationships. It's a very grown up, maturely written, story that can appeal to a wide range of ages. Much in the same way ‘The Dark Knight’ was a comic book film for all ages to enjoy. (D) & (K)  Lion.....Queen?
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