READING BETWEEN THE PANELS

Let’s now get ready, Sherman, to hop into the Way, Way Back Machine to the late Eighties. 1987, to be precise. It’s here that I’ll tell you about one of my first comics: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #131. It just so happens that Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #131 was the third part of a six-part story only later titled \"Kraven’s Last Hunt\".
In 1987, I only ever got the third part of this story. I, being all of eight, was at the mercy of my merciless parents when it came to getting comic books. The only place I knew to get them was a Waldenbooks in the mall that was a couple of towns over, and we rarely made the half-hour trip. All that aside, this comic differed from my expectations of what a Spider-Man comic was. This story-- which, again, I was jumping into the middle of-- was dark, fairly bleak, and about a thousand times more violent and bloody than anything I would’ve imagined! Spider-Man wasn’t quickly quipping one-liners as he webbed up baddies. In fact, it wasn’t even Peter Parker under the mask! I really had no idea what the hell was going on in this book. All I knew was that it was dark, violent, and very cool.
Flash forward to about four years ago. I’ve finally got a little money in my pocket to blow, and I’m looking to complete some of the storylines in my collection that I only had one or two issues of. By now I’ve found parts five, six, and four (in that order), and I’m standing in my local comic shop holding parts one and two in my hands. I pay six and nine dollars for them, respectively-- a far cry from the 75-cent cover prices-- and go home to read the entire series.
The story, written by J.M. DeMatteis, is great. Every character in the story is thoroughly exposed. For every single character in the book, even minor ones, there is sanity (or insanity) tested to the limit. It truly saddens me that I can’t find more of this guy in comics or on the Internet today. Every story I’ve read of his (even through the early Nineties) was well-crafted, and always had this deep exploration into what the characters were going through amidst all the super-powered bravado.
And the art by Mike Zeck is phenomenal. Zeck is one of those classic artists that gives his figures the presence they deserve. Great, dynamic characterization and atmosphere. Zeck is still around-- though I don’t see him doing a lot of comic book work; some covers, mostly-- and you can check out his website here.
Lastly, I’m also going to take this little space to pimp out my new site: jmilillustration.com, the art of J-Mil. Please check it out. Thanks!