Sensational Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Feral [Paperback]

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Author), Angel Medina (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: 4 and up

Join new creative team Angel Medina (Spawn) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (MK 4, Nightcrawler) as they take everyone's favorite wall-crawler on a blood-curdling journey into the heart of darkness. Strange changes are coming over Spidey's animalistic foes - including Dr. Curt Connors, John Jameson and Felicia Hardy - awakening the beast that dwells within them all. Sure, Spidey's beaten the Lizard, Man-Wolf and the Black Cat before, but they've never been more vicious than they are now! Collects Sensational Spider-Man #23-27.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Marvel; Direct Ed edition (April 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785121269
• ISBN-13: 978-0785121268
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Despite One Problem, It's Still Among The Very Best Spidey Stories In Quite A While, February 22, 2007

By 

Stephen B. O'Blenis (Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sensational Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Feral (Hardcover)

Reprinting Nos. 23 - 27 of the current Sensational Spider-Man ongoing, "Feral" kicks the new creative team's run off with a bang in a riveting, action-packed and character-strong arc that reminds me of the very best Spider-Man stories from the late 80s through the mid 90s. It's one of the best Spider-Man stories of recent years (and one of the last stories to take place before the major changes in the great, Marvel Universe-wide "Civil War" crossover) and could have grabbed a five-star rating if not for a single, but fairly significant, flaw in the latter parts of the story.

As it begins, a phenomenon is in the early stages of beginning to take shape in New York - people are getting more aggressive. Not just aggressive; something seems to be drawing out the violent and (as the collection's title would imply) feral, in a lot of folks. Among those first affected - and most severely affected - are many of the members of New York's superhuman population whose powers have a connection with predatory animals - Curt Connors aka The Lizard; John Jameson (sometimes known as the Man Wolf), etc. As the city begins to erupt into more frequent violence and chaos, Spider-Man and his allies are pushed to the limits not only to try and control the outbreaks but to get to the source of it all. In the ally department, this story brings in a lot of characters and is really a great book for highlighting how Spidey and his allies - both his 'support crew' and the other superheroes - operate together both in a crisis and in a broader sense. The most important members of the 'support crew' are Mary Jane and Aunt May - they certainly can't fight like Spider-Man or someone can (on the other hand, as has been demonstrated a number of times in recent years, they're not always as helpless as one might think in a dangerous situation), but they're vital. Vital not just as characters, but as bona fide parts of the team. For a long time they've been very, very important to the Spider-Man books (no ongoing series has ever been good for long if it tries to turn itself into a one-man show, no matter how good the guy or girl who's got their name on the cover is), but they've emerged more recently as essential elements to the whole 'team Spider-Man' concept; much in the same way as non-combatant Alfred Pennyworth is essential to the Batman's operations. On the 'fellow superhero' front, the Black Cat, the Fantastic Four and the Puma are brought in on the action to help deal with the deluge of villains who wreak havoc in Feral.

The dialogue is cool and believable. The characterization is great - MJ and May get a lot of page time, and as for Peter, the way he's so desperate to help Curt Connors (who as the Lizard has tried to kill him on many occasions) not just because he wants to prevent the Lizard from emerging and raising hell but because he's formed a bond of friendship with Curt that's completely unhindered by all that's gone down between Spidey and Lizard, is a pretty good summation of who he is as a person.

The art is great. Angel Medina handles main art on four of the issues presented here, with Clayton Crain handling things on number 26. Angel's art is dynamic and intense, including a truly frightening interpretation of The Lizard. Clayton Crain's though - No. 26 has arguably the Best art I've ever seen in a Spider-Man comic. Just astonishing.

Before I get on to the book's one negative, just a random observation: Spider-Man's comment to Vermin on page 16 of issue 26 is one of the best quips in comic book history.

Now the one flaw. The ending of the saga is just so, so abrupt. The events in # 27 should have been spread over at least two issues if not three. After all that happened in the first four parts of "Feral", the ending of # 26 (part four) had it feeling like we were just entering a whole new level to the story, but in issue 27, after flashbacks and before the epilogue, there's time for little more than WHAM! CRASH! And We're Done! Well, maybe it wasn't quite That bad, but it was a bit anti-climactic, and that's a shame. I think that with Civil War looming, they felt they had to wrap things up. I love Civil War (I'm not all the way through it yet; trying to follow so many comics leaves me constantly lagging behind) but I wish "Feral" could have started a month or two earlier so it could have had time to be all it could be, too.

Despite the quickness of the ending, I still think this is one of the better Spider-Man collections you could pick up. It's a great tale, and having so many heroes and villains - both classic and more obscure - show up in a story where they fit and it doesn't feel like they're just trotting in for a cameo for the sake of saying 'hi', is a great treat for longtime Marvel fans.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not "Feral" Enough..., June 7, 2007

By 

Richard Lee (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sensational Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Feral (Paperback)

I really didn't like this series. Throughout the story, many times I felt the story was rushed and then slowed down. The story itself wasn't even exciting. I mean, come on, a scientist (not going to mention who) discovers a rock that literally brings out the "beast" in people. The art wasn't even up to par either. The art style was way TOO exaggerated that I didn't even recognize any of the characters (except for the Lizard and Vermin). If you're not a die-hard fan of comic books, stay clear of this one. Not worth the $12.

1.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't get past the first story for the art, March 30, 2010

By 

danny boy "dbswongv" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sensational Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Feral (Paperback)

This Spidey story is unreadable to me - the artwork has just too many squiggly lines to make trying to read this a pleasant experience. It's drawn so that one has to do double takes now and then merely to identify characters and context.