Spectacular Spider-Man 4 & 5


Somebody Give The Vulture His Own Series




While watching the Vulture go through his paces in these two issues you might notice his obvious old age coupled with his rather surprising physicality. Not only does he lift people time and time again, but he is able to sustain hits from both Spidey and the Hitman. Long time Spider-Man readers need no explanation, but for those of you unfamiliar with the Vulture, its worth mentioning that he has super-strength and increased vitality as a side effect of the electromagnetic harness he uses for flying. According to the ever handy Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe the Vulture, also known as Adrian Toomes, can lift 500 pounds.

What I like about this story is that the Vulture, a villain I'm rather fond of, is up against the mob. Vulture I like, I hate organized crime (unorganized, dumbass crime is the best, don't you think?). I love how the mob muscle and then the mob boss try to shakedown Adrian Toomes only to find out that the Vulture is nobody's victim. So the mob hires the Hitman to ruin the Vulture's day by killing Spider-Man and robbing Toomes of his revenge (as opposed to simply offing the Vulture; this plot device is a bit of a stretch); and just like that, we get reminded of the Punisher. Apparently the Hitman is the mob's answer to the depredations of the Punisher - Spidey is even reminded of Frank Castle while the Hitman is shooting at him. Outside of the twist introduced by the addition of the Hitman, the core of this story is a good old-fashioned battle between Spider-Man and the Vulture; and it is fun to watch. 

Posted by  Pete Albano - May 6, 2011

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Other Spectacular SPIDER-MAN Stories

1-3 : Tarantula, Lightmaster, Kraven

4-5 : The Vulture

7-8 : Morbius the Living Vampire

17-18 : The Angel and Iceman

21 : The Scorpion

22 : Moon Knight

26-28 : Daredevil

47-48 : Belladonna and the Prowler

61 : Moonstone

64 : Cloak and Dagger

67 : Boomerang

69 : Cloak and Dagger

72 : Doc Ock's Greatest Fan

80 : J. Jonah Jameson - Reporter

83 : Punisher

85 : Hobgoblin

87 : Spider-Man unmasks before the Black Cat

89-90 : Black Cat powers

91 : Unus and the Blob

99 : The Spot

103 : Blaze

104 : Rocket Racer

113 : Thugs break into the Parker house

114 : The Spider-Man costume gets stolen

116 : Sabretooth

117 : Dr. Strange



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