THE SPIDER PB: Scavengers of the Slaughtered Sacrifices [Paperback]

Don McGregor (Author), Gene Colan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2002

Richard Wentworth has investigated the grotesque slaying scenes: Xinda, Barbarian Queen crucified atop the Chrysler Building; a deadly re-enactment from hit animated series, North By Northwest Park at the Lincoln Center. The killer, a Satanic demon called Slaughter-house Skeleton, appears to be inspired by the foe from another popular TV series, Tiffany, the Werewolf Whacker! It isn't until Wentworth--as his masked renegade alter ego, the Spider invade the private estate of Steven Streisand that both realize how incredibly far-reaching and utterly devastating these brutal acts will become. Who is behind them and why?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Don McGregor is the well-known writer/creator of mystery graphic novels including Detectives Inc., Alexander Risk, and Nathaniel Dusk. PAUL BISHOP (Author of Tequila Mockingbird and Head of LAPD's Sex Crimes Unit) writes, "(McGregor's) characters resonate with hardboiled legacy Raymond Chandler twisted by Jim Thompson. Don McGregor is the crowned king of the graphic noir novel." Don's mysteries have been enthusiastically reviewed in ELLERY QUEEN MAGAZINE, MYSTERY MAGAZINE, and by distinguished mystery authors: ED MCBAIN, PETER O'DONNELL, STUART KAMINSKY, BILL PRONZINI and MAXWELL GRANT. Gene Colan is the grand naturalist illustrator of comics and graphic novels. In his 50 year career, Colan has added considerable drama to the exploits of Daredevil, Batman, Tomb of Dracula, Howard the Duck, Dr. Strange, Nathaniel Dusk, Wonder Woman, and is the co-creator of Blade which has spawned, to date, two major motion pictures staring Wesley Snipes. Gene's beautiful pencil techniques give the characters of The Spider, breath and bone.

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: VANGUARD PRODUCTIONS (November 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887591427
• ISBN-13: 978-1887591423
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,784,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful art, lousy story, January 16, 2003

By 

Raymond W. Neal (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: THE SPIDER HC: SCAVENGERS OF THE SLAUGHTERED SACRIFICES (Hardcover)

Oh, lordy, where to start? I know: the good. Gene Colan is still a master. This book features beautiful black and white art by Mr. Colan. Quite nice stuff. The packaging is quite nicely designed. Quality crafting there. Now, the bad: This is absolutely one of the worst written graphic novels I've read in many a moon. Why? Because the writer, Don McGregor, is usually a man I trust. I bought this thing with no reservations, thinking that there was no way that this team could disappoint me. McGregor (who does get a little verbose even in his good stuff) really needed an iron-fisted editor here. The preaching tone of the dialogue (censorship is evil!) is the primary problem. The parodies of pop-culture figures are amusing for a while but get tiresome. This book reads like someone's parody of bad fan fiction. The format keeps bouncing back and forth between the traditional comic style (captions/word ballons) to more of an illustrated novel style. This concept can work when properly executed, but it sure didn't here.

It's rare that I get this worked up over a disappointing comic, but considering that I lost [$$] and much of my time on this thing, I have a right to gripe. I want my money back!! Actually, I want Don and Gene to try this again and do it right!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars SPIDER CAN'T OVERCOME MEANDERING SCRIPT, August 23, 2005

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: THE SPIDER HC: SCAVENGERS OF THE SLAUGHTERED SACRIFICES (Hardcover)

I've been a fan of the Spider for a long time. The pulps were wll before my time but I've been able to find a number of the paperbacks and also enjoyed the old Eclipse comic series. I was very excited about this all-new graphic novel, especially because it featured the art of one of my 1970's favorite artists Gene Colan. The story was in the seemingly capable hands of Don McGregor, another regular Marvel writer from the 70's and 80's.

The story starts out well enough as the Spider is investigating a series of brutal murders which have all been inspired by scenes in popular TV shows of the day. That's right I said TV. Rather than keep the Spider set in the 1930's, mcGregor elects to set his story in modern times and parody the names of popular TV shows such as "The Why Files" and "Tiffany the

Werewolf Killer" or some such thing. The fiend behind the murders is called the Slaughterhouse Skeleton (which IS a name right out of the pulps) and he somehow knows the Spider's true identity.

Unfortunately the script really bogs down after a strong opening. McGregor seemed to have a good idea but just didn't know how to fill it out and thus we get a couple of good bookends but the middle is slow and tedious and lacks the intesity and terror of the pulp stories. Colan's art is done strictly in pencils and has a gritty, unfinished work that works well with the character, but probably isn't best suited to the more modern setting.