Hunted (comics)
"Hunted" | |
---|---|
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Publication date | February – June 2019 |
Genre | |
Title(s) | |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | Nick Spencer |
Artist(s) | Humberto Ramos Ryan Ottley |
"Hunted" is a 2019
Synopsis
Prelude
In a prelude to "Hunted,"
Main plot
Spider-Man is swinging throughout New York, still weakened because of the flu. He arrives at the place where Black Cat is supposedly held and falls into a trap where there are green gases that make Spider-Man disoriented. Black Cat is in a hotel room with Billy Connors, where she was captured by Taskmaster and Black Ant due to them double-crossing her. Kraven arrives to see Black Cat, and it is revealed that Black Cat and Billy are bait for Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Spider-Man gets dizzier when he sees the Last Son of Kraven. Spider-Man manages to get the upper hand, but hallucinates Mary Jane dying, which causes the Last Son of Kraven to beat him senselessly. Spider-Man wakes up in Central Park in his black suit where he is attacked by Scorpion with the rest of the Savage Six,
Spider-Man is helping the Savage Six, Armadillo, Beetle,
Spider-Man comes across Gibbon's corpse and grieves over him. As Spider-Man stays by his side, Gibbon reflects on his life where he even came to the conclusion that Princess Python never loved him.[4]
Spider-Man is caught by surprise by a couple of Hunter-Bots and Spider-Man listens to their conversation about Arcade, realizing that the hunters are just robots. Spider-Man webs the Hunter-Bots up and while swinging he sees arrow signs all over Central Park, and heads toward a location where the Savage Six are located. The arrows are revealed to be v shapes and it was for the Vulture. Vulture creates a lie to the rest of the Savage Six, Armadillo, Constrictor II,
It is revealed that in order to save his son and his wife from disintegrating (due to the events of "
Black Ant tells Spider-Man that the only way to escape the Central Park is to leave all the villains and by turning small. Taskmaster frees Lizard from his binds and Lizard tells Taskmaster that the poison will wear off in 24 hours. Black Cat is sneaking around with Billy still crying when Black Cat is attacked by Hunter-Bot. Last Son of Kraven is impatient with the Great Hunt and wants to hunt the animal-themed individuals. He also deduces that Kraven hasn't entered the Great Hunt because he's afraid of Spider-Man and walks away. The Hunter-Bot sees Billy and shoots, but Black Cat jumps in the way. The Hunter-Bots plans to finish off Billy. Upon seeing him as a kid, the Hunter-Bot decides to quit hunting. Billy helps Black Cat on her feet and they slowly walk away with Black Cat bleeding out. Lizard finds the cage that Billy was in, but Last of Kraven finds Lizard and beats him up. Last Son of Kraven realizes that Lizard can't fight and declares that he will kill Billy in front of Lizard while dragging him away. The Hunter-Bot tries to disconnect, but he can't. It is revealed that the moment the individual connects to the Hunter-Bot and if is destroyed, then the individual is killed which is what happens when Vulture destroys Bob's Hunter-Bot. The Hunter-Bots are then attacked by the Savage Six, Armadillo, Black Mamba, Dragonfly, Frog-Man, Hippo, Lady Octopus, Puma, Razorback, and Toad when they try to target White Rabbit. Kraven plans this from the beginning to punish the hunters for killing animals for sport. Black Ant tells Spider-Man that Kraven is located in a castle, but Arcade tells Spider-Man that Kraven is busy and releases the Vermin clones.[7]
In a flashback, Kraven has Arcade tell Vulture that there is a chance to break the forcefield by killing more Hunter-Bots. In the present, Vermin is being kept captured by Arcade who found him due to Taskmaster and Lizard showing Arcade his location. Vermin bites Arcade's finger in defiance. In fear of being killed by Arcade, Vermin reveals that Lizard and Taskmaster are working against Arcade. Arcade puts a serum into Vermin's skin causing him to spawn clones of him in the cage.[8]
As the Savage Six, Killer Shrike, Lady Octopus,
Kraven finally lets Spider-Man from his bonds, but Spider-Man sees dead guards. Kraven meets Spider-Man and he slashes Spider-Man up with his knives. Kraven tries to get in Spider-Man's head by saying that it is his fault that the guards are dead, as Spider-Man was willing to risk Curt's life in order to be free. Kraven reveals that if Spider-Man kills Kraven, then the forcefield will be down as well as the Hunter-Bots being deactivated and Black Cat and Billy will be saved. Before Spider-Man blacks out, he remembers Mary Jane and starts beating up Kraven. Lizard saves Billy in the nick of time and briefly reconciles with Billy before wandering off allowing Last Son of Kraven to escape. Spider-Man tells Kraven that he will never be like Kraven because Kraven will do anything to survive including killing his own kin like he did with Sasha, Vladimir, and Alyosha. However, Spider-Man counters that everyone needs some other person to support and care for another in order to survive. Kraven laughs and tells Arcade to deactivate the force field and the Hunter-Bots. This enables the Savage Six, Armadillo, Frog-Man, Hippo, Kangaroo, Owl, Panda-Mania, Puma, Scorpia, the Serpent Society, Squid, and White Rabbit to get out of Central Park. Kraven tells Spider-Man to save Black Cat and when Spider-Man hesitates, Kraven promises to never hunt again. Kraven goes to his casket where he retrieves the black Spider-Man suit and dons it once more. Last Son of Kraven sees "Spider-Man" and mistakenly kills Kraven, breaking his curse. It was said that Kraven must die by the spider and since Kraven wore the Spider-Man suit, this causes Kraven's "son" to kill him. At the end of the issue on the casket is a photo of Kraven and the Sons of Kraven all happy.[10]
Aftermath
After attending his funeral of his "father," Last Son of Kraven went to the Kravinoff estate, rips off his clothes, and trashed it out of frustration. Swinging through Central Park, Spider-Man sees that the Great Hunt is over. Though Armadillo, the Serpent Society, and the unidentified animal-themed villains are shown engaging the police. Luckily, the
Reception
The storyline received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the plot, art, and ending. However, the epilogue of the story did receive some criticism.
According to Comic Book Roundup, Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5 Issue 16 received an average score of 7.1 out of 10 based on 14 reviews.[12]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 16 H.U Tie-In received a score of 7.2 out of 10 based on 4 reviews.[13]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 17 received a score of 8.4 out of 10 based on 12 reviews.[14]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 18 received a score of 6.8 out of 10 based on 12 reviews.[15]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 18 H.U Tie-In received a score of 8.1 out of 10 based on 8 reviews.[16]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 19 received a score of 7.9 out of 10 based on 10 reviews.[17]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 19 H.U Tie-In received a score of 8.3 out of 10 based on 6 reviews.[18]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 20 received a score of 8 out of 10 based on 9 reviews.[19]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 20 H.U Tie-In received a score of 6.8 out of 10 based on 4 reviews.[20]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 21 received a score of 8 out of 10 based on 10 reviews.[21]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 22 received a score of 7.6 out of 10 based on 13 reviews.[22]
According to Comic Book Roundup, Issue 23 received a score of 7.3 out of 10 based on 13 reviews.[23]
Collected editions
Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|
Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer Vol. 4: Hunted | Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #16-23, 16.HU, 18.HU-20.HU | July 2019 | 978-1302914349 |
Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer Omnibus Vol. 1 | Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #1-43, 16.HU, 18.HU, 19.HU, 20.HU, Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle, material from Free Comic Book Day 2018 (Amazing Spider-Man/Guardians of the Galaxy) | October 2022 | 978-1302946098 |
References
- ^ a b Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #16. Marvel Comics.
- ^ a b Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #17. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #18. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #18.HU. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #19. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #19.HU. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #20. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #20.HU. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #21. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #22. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #23. Marvel Comics.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #16 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #16.HU Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #17 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #18 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #18.HU Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #19 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #19.HU Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #20 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #20.HU Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #21 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #22 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #23 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.