Some Spider-Man tales mix love, horror
WORD BALLOONS
Today is Friday the 13th, a day known for horrific happenings. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, a day noted for love and romance.
If you’re a comic-book character, sometimes the two are closely intertwined.
Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, married in “Amazing Spider-Man” Annual No. 18, found their marriage undone and history rewritten in the storyline “One More Day.”
While Peter’s again a swinging single in current issues of “Amazing Spider-Man,” Spider-fans who preferred the romance and marriage of Peter and MJ can seek out several stories that celebrate the relationship – and some feature horror and peril, as well.
“Spider-Man: Carnage in New York,” a 1998 novel by David Michelinie and Dean Wesley Smith, features the escape of the horrific, mass-murdering Carnage, one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes.
Carnage was the spawn of Venom, and both spawned from the alien symbiote that Spider-Man brought back from the Beyonder’s world in “Secret Wars.” When Spider-Man rejected the symbiote, it bonded with Eddie Brock, a reporter who hates Spider-Man. Later, a piece of the symbiote merged with Brock’s cellmate, the murderer Cletus Kassady.
Michelinie created both Venom and Carnage in the pages of “Amazing Spider-Man,” and wrote the issue that married Peter and Mary Jane. He and novelist Smith capture Carnage’s horrific nature in the novel.
But there’s also room for love – as Peter’s Aunt May faces losing her house, Mary Jane must stand strong with love for her husband and family.
A newlywed Peter Parker took on another of his greatest villains, Kraven the Hunter, in the storyline “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” written by J.M. DeMatteis and drawn by Mike Zeck. “Last Hunt,” considered one of the great Spider-Man stories, has both elements of true horror and true love, as Spider-Man’s love for Mary Jane sustains him through one of his greatest challenges.
“Kraven’s Last Hunt” was reprinted again last year in trade paperback format by Marvel, collecting “Web of Spider-Man” Nos. 31-32, “Amazing Spider-Man” Nos. 293-294, and “Spectacular Spider-Man” Nos. 131-132.
By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment