Amazing Spider-Man (1963–1998): The Massive Re-Read, Interlude Four — Parallel Lives and Soul of the Hunter

I briefly mentioned Charles Vess’ Spidey graphic novel in the previous post, but it’s worth doing another interlude post to cover two other Spider-Man graphic novels that I re-read.

Parallel Lives is very much Gerry Conway’s definitive statement on Mary Jane and Peter’s marriage, or at least their relationship. It doesn’t so much drive their marriage forward as reinforce the foundations it was built on in Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz’s Amazing Spider-Man #259 — literally drawing parallels between MJ and Peter’s lives, leading up to their wedding.

The Doc Ock subplot feels almost unnecessary, if not for the fact that superhero comics need to superhero, really.

Alex Saviuk’s art captures a very Romita feel, which does a good job of tying this story back to those classic issues where Peter and MJ first met.

All in all, a nice enough one-off.

Soul of the Hunter, however… this is an interesting one. Created by the same writer/artist team that did “Kraven’s Last Hunt”, it is a story whose core message I disagree with completely — that suicide is the coward’s way out.

While I get that this was written to very firmly show that “Kraven’s Last Hunt” was not intended to glorify suicide, I also feel that the story swings too far in the other direction, shaming those that feel they have no other choice but to take their own lives.

Don’t get me wrong though. The comic itself is beautifully put together, thanks to the return of Mike Zeck, with inks by Bob McLeod. And, the core message of the story aside, it works very nicely as a post-script to “Kraven’s Last Hunt”, thematically — having Spider-Man fight for Kraven’s soul, and bringing their relationship to a place of peace and resolution, in a sense.

But it still has Spider-Man calling suicide a coward’s way out. And, as much as I respect JM DeMatteis, that’s something that just doesn’t sit right with me.

(Originally published on 22 April 2018.)