Rocketing to Earth from the creative team of Benjamin Percy, Marcelo Ferreira, and Frank D’Armata, Predator vs. Spider-Man is an interesting beast. In some ways it offers readers healthy doses of the elements that fans of both franchises expect and enjoy, but it also ends up being a weird mish-mash of tones. The right ingredients are all there, but the final product feels a bit rushed and unfocused in a number of areas.
For one thing, this is easily the most violent Spider-Man comic I’ve ever read. We’ve got decapitations, flayed bodies, a subway car flooded with blood, and more. This book doesn’t hold back when it comes to the R-rated violence of the wider Predator universe, and it’s all fantastically rendered by Marcelo Ferreira and Frank D’Armata. And somehow, the high level of violence doesn’t really keep this from feeling like a Spider-Man story. Ben Percy has a strong grasp of Peter Parker’s inner monologue and sense of responsibility, casting him in the role of a detective on the trail of a new alien menace in the back alleys of New York City. Pete’s certainly no stranger to serial killers, so it makes sense he’d be working to track this one down as quickly as possible.
It’s a lot of fun to see Pete putting together the history of the Yautja on Earth and then presenting it to a disbelieving J. Jonah Jameson. Meanwhile, Kraven gets to hunt the ultimate game and Mary Jane Watson gets to step up and become a hero after her subway train is attacked by an unseen monster.
Marvel
Where things fall apart for me is the fact that Spidey is always several steps behind the primary antagonist of the tale, a wickedly depraved outcast of the Predator species who calls itself Skinner. Unfortunately, I feel like the story’s multiple threads largely fray after the first chapter of the story and never quite loop back around to a satisfying whole. MJ’s storyline devolves into her and the other survivor from the subway massacre being subjected to one gross indignity after another and eventually stumbling to safety. Kraven eventually monologues his way to a confrontation with Skinner, whom he dispatched in a hasty and jumbled confrontation (seriously, it’s like three issues of build-up for a one page fight). Spider-Man bafflingly assumes his girlfriend is safe and doesn’t bother looking for her, plays no role in the defeat of the main villain, and is largely ineffectual in the (admittedly entertaining) showdown with a separate cadre of Yautja. The wrap-up also feels like it barely closes the book on anything, instead adding more set-up for the next crossover into the last few pages.
Your mileage may vary – and I know there are folks who enjoyed this story a great deal – but this miniseries is a real mixed bag for me. At its best, Predator vs. Spider-Man feels like a fun schlocky throwback to the early days of inter-company mash-ups, giving the wall-crawling hero a new threat to untangle and allowing for a cool spotlight of some of his supporting cast. However, it falls short of the clever crossover thrills found in Percy’s Predator vs. Wolverine or the precise character work of Ed Brisson’s Predator books.
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