PicoBlog

I have a confession to make. When I first came up with the “You’ve Never Read…?!” gimmick last year, it was with this particular comic book run in mind. J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema are two legendary comic book creators. Just looking at their Marvel bibliography prior to their run together on Spectacular Spider-Man (which began in 1991) is astounding. DeMatteis had already had successful runs on Captain America and Defenders, and he wrote the “Fearful Symmetry” story (better known today as “Kraven’s Last Hunt”) that stretched across all three Spider-Man titles in 1987 that is widely regarded as one of the greatest Spider-Man stories ever written. Buscema had been the primary illustrator on titles like Incredible Hulk, Avengers, New Mutants, Sub-Mariner, and even Spectacular Spider-Man dating back to its debut issue. That’s not even including their work at other publishers.

The point is that these were two creators who had established themselves as two of the best in the industry, so it should come as no surprise that their work together on Spectacular Spider-Man in the early 1990s when the character was at arguably the height of his popularity was also critically acclaimed at the time and still revered by many (myself included) today. The run stretched across twenty-six issues (Spectacular Spider-Man #178-203) from 1991-93. Despite having such a lengthy and celebrated run, only eight of these issues are currently available digitally or collected in trade. Needless to say, this is a travesty as it makes it incredibly difficult for fans to read unless they find the individual issues in long boxes at their local comic shop. Fortunately for you, I have this entire run in my collection. Now I get to tell you all about them!

The first arc they worked on together really sets the tone for the entire run. It’s a story called “The Child Within” that stretches across six issues with a seventh issue serving as an epilogue. It ostensibly follows three different men who have experienced familial trauma and how that trauma shapes their lives and relationships. Peter Parker is married to Mary Jane at this point, and it’s established early and often that he is still haunted by the people he has failed to save as Spider-Man (Uncle Ben, Gwen Stacey, and even Norman Osborn). Harry Osborn is attempting to live a normal life with his wife Liz and son Normie while trying to put his past as the second Green Goblin behind him, but he is terrorized by visions of his late father who abused him in life and continues to berate him in death. Lastly, there is Edward Whelan. Edward was subjected to heinous experiments at the behest of the despicable Baron Zemo that turned him into a vicious rat-like humanoid known as Vermin. We know very little about Edward’s life at the start of this story, but “The Child Within” fills in plenty of gaps as it progresses. I should also note that Vermin was created by DeMatteis and Mike Zeck in Captain America #272 and played a key role in “Fearful Symmetry/Kraven’s Last Hunt” by DeMatteis and Zeck. This is a character that DeMatteis clearly has a fondness for writing.

The story begins by showing us that Vermin has escaped from Ravencroft (Marvel’s version of Arkham Asylum) and is on a horrific killing spree in New York City as he tries to find his home. To make matters worse, he has a young child in tow. Spider-Man is determined to find him and stop him before he causes more death and suffering. Simultaneously, Harry Osborn is haunted by visions of his late father commanding him to be just as severe and ruthless as he was. DeMatteis and Buscema utilize inventive storytelling techniques and panel layouts to draw parallels between Peter and Harry.

Peter is consumed with a righteous anger and determination to prevent more killing while Harry is consumed with fear that he might be destined to become the same monster as his father. Meanwhile, Vermin successfully finds his childhood home with his parents asleep inside. They are…not pleased to see him. His father grabs a gun and fires a grazing shot that causes Vermin to flee into the night. Vermin returns to Ravencroft and his doctor (Ashley Kafka) seeking help. What he gets instead is a brutal fight with a seething Spider-Man.

This is a perfect time to highlight Sal Buscema’s art. No one conveys kinetic action as well as Sal outside of Jack Kirby. You can feel the impact of every punch jumping off the page. It’s very dynamic and radiates energy. There are plenty of dramatic moments in this run that require a kind of stillness, and Buscema is excellent at conveying these moments as well. But it’s the action sequences that really give him an opportunity to shine and elevate the material.

Back to the story at hand, Harry Osborn is having a fight of his own with his personal demons in the form of his father. Harry finally surrenders to those demons when tears apart a family photo album. He kisses his sleeping wife and son goodbye, dons the Green Goblin costume, and flies off into the night to seek out Spider-Man.

Harry successfully tracks down Peter, and the two engage in a brief fight. Peter is clearly holding back and not wanting to harm his friend, but this only leads to Harry getting the upper hand and subduing Peter with some knockout gas. Harry then proceeds to dose Peter with hallucinogens in order to torment him with guilt over all of the deaths that have happened since Peter has been Spider-Man. This plan ultimately backfires as Peter snaps and begins lashing out at everything around him, knocking out Harry in the process. As a delirious Peter flees his captor, we see that Vermin has returned to his family home with the intent to kill his father.

It’s at this point that two things are revealed: Vermin’s father abused him as a child (the implication is that it was sexual abuse), and the child Vermin has been taking around everywhere is a subconscious manifestation of his childhood innocence in the form of what he looked like as a child. Vermin is extremely conflicted in this moment. His Vermin persona desperately wants to kill his father for what he’s done, but his Edward persona doesn’t want anyone else to die. While dealing with this internal conflict, police officers had begun amassing outside preparing to take down Vermin should this de facto hostage situation turn violent. Before it can come to that, a weakened but more coherent Spider-Man shows up to try and bring the situation to a bloodless conclusion. Unfortunately, the sight of Spider-Man sends Vermin into a murderous rage as he lashes out at his costumed foe. The two engage in a ferocious battle on the roof of the house while Vermin’s army of rats (have I mentioned how Vermin can also mind control rats?) attack the police officers below.

When I say this is a ferocious battle, I mean it. Vermin attacks Spider-Man with the ferocity of a cornered animal. These fights take on the characteristics of something you would expect more from a Wolverine-Sabretooth matchup than you would Spider-Man and one of his more traditional rogues. Vermin ultimately gets the better of Spider-Man and flings him into the brick chimney on top of the house, knocking him unconscious. As Vermin moves in for the kill, an energy blast strikes him from behind to render him unconscious as well. Hovering above the two fallen foes is the Green Goblin, and he’s giddy at the opportunity to deliver the killing blow to Spider-Man.

Fortunately for both Spider-Man and Vermin, Green Goblin wastes a bit too much time monologuing and gives the two enough time to regain consciousness. Spider-Man manages to knock Vermin off the roof before one of Harry’s pumpkin bombs can kill him. He then goes through the effort to put up a shield of webbing to prevent the police from killing Vermin as well, and Vermin is successfully subdued and apprehended. With Vermin off the board, Spider-Man is able to turn his full attention to Green Goblin. The two square off in an unpopulated area to avoid any collateral damage, but it’s clear that Peter has no intention to hurt Harry. He views him as a friend in need of help and not as a true enemy. Peter ultimately tells Harry he refuses to fight him and tells him that if he really wants to kill him, then he should just go ahead and do it. Presented with the opportunity to do what he claims he wants, Harry can’t bring himself to actually strike down his old friend. Still filled with rage, Harry tells Spider-Man to stay away from him. He issued one final threat before departing: if he dares to try to “help” him by involving psychiatrists or police, he’ll expose Peter’s secret identity to the world.

The epilogue to “The Child Within” sees how characters are dealing with the fallout of the previous six issues. Spider-Man informs Molten Man (Harry’s brother-in-law and a former supervillain in his own right) that Harry has resumed his Green Goblin alter ego and is a danger to himself and others. Meanwhile, Harry accidentally reveals to his wife and son that he is the Green Goblin once more. Horrified by their terrified reactions, Harry once again flies off into the night. Lastly, we see that Vermin is once again at Ravencroft. In a positive development, it seems that Vermin is able to temporarily revert back to his Edward persona for brief periods of time. It provides a glimmer of hope that he might one day be able to live a normal life. The issue ends with Spider-Man combing the city hoping to find Harry and help him. What he ends up finding is so much worse…

How’s that for the start of an extended run? “The Child Within” is a great example of a story balancing mature themes and melodrama with some high octane superhero action. Next up? Frogs, Rabbits, and Vultures galore!

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