Review: Amazing Spider-Man #19.HU, PT. 4

So there are these neat little things that a lot of comics have been doing recently that feel almost like an in between that isn’t an actual in between; meaning that these things are pertinent to the action but the story itself seems like a sort of side one. It doesn’t detract from the main action, merely just tells us a bit more about what is actually happening with the rest of the story in ways that takes the scenic route back into the story and this issue of the Hunted, written by Dan Jurgens, is much of this. It didn’t feel so much like a continuation of the story as much as a mix of past leading into present.

These little semi-interludes actually take me back to a time of older comics and those fun little asides in ways that really sort of tickle the part of me that really ever got excited about comics to begin with. To be fair, a vast majority of this title is very dark. Not in the, something grave is happening currently kind of way, but in the way that most drama is; gritty, somewhat tortured, but not so much so that it lacks the ability to have a few shining moments of levity thanks to one Taskmaster.

Also, can I just scream a minute about the fact that Chris Bachalo worked on this title? Don’t get me wrong, I very much love Sandoval’s work. It’s brilliant…but I’m also a long time fan of Bachalo’s artwork from back in the days that he was working on X-Men titles. His faces are utterly beautiful and the life that he brings to this incarnation of the Lizard is no less so. Kurt’s look here is worth mentioning as it differs from our traditional idea of who and what the Lizard typically looks like, which no doubt fits into the underlying message of this title.

The beautiful colors by Erick Arciniega is much of the same; muted. Restrained. Earthy and somehow rich without ever being overbearing. There’s a reflective somberness here to the palette that echoes the story that, in its own, is somewhat heartbreaking. We learn a lot about Kurt that changes him from the sometimes bloodthirsty predator to a man of flesh and blood. Someone with regrets and flaws that had made him into a creature we so often know is incapable of feeling but with reason. There’s a hint of atonement behind all the pages that makes me catch my breath and wonder what might be next for this little title. Will we see the Lizard rise or fall in a game where humanity has fallen by the wayside and emotions are so very much more like baggage? I know that I look forward to the next part of this 4 out of 5 star title to find out. Do you?

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(W) Nick Spencer (A) Chris Bachalo (CA) Greg Land