The Hunt- Part Three Credits: Todd McFarlane (story & art), Greg Capullo (art assist), Tom Orzechowski (copy editor & letterer), Steve Oliff & Olyoptics (colors)
Summary: Wanda learns from Granny Blake that Al Simmons recently spoke to her. Before she can react, a phone call informs Wanda that Terry is missing and two dead FBI agents are on her lawn. Jason Wynn has already reached her neighbors, so no one speaks out for Terry or helps Wanda when she arrives. Meanwhile, Spawn runs from Sam and Twitch when he learns Overt-Kill is attacking Terry. Twitch shoots Spawn in the kneecap, but the bullet has little effect. Twitch’s sharpshooting eventually chases Overt-Kill away, although both Spawn and Terry are unconscious after the battle.
Spawntinuity: Twitch shoots Overt-Kill in the ear, which damages his programming and sends him after Badrock for some reason (his story is continued in Youngblood #7).
Review: I thought the last issue had a wordy opening, but McFarlane really outdoes himself this time. It’s a recap page, reminiscent of the summary gatefolds Marvel will later try, establishing all of the major characters and explaining how Terry Fitzgerald got into this position. I guess McFarlane took the old “every issue is someone’s first” rule more seriously than the other Image founders, and he does at least have Tom Orzechowski to letter all of this exposition.
While most of the issue is dedicated to Overt-Kill smacking Spawn and Terry around, some ongoing threads are continued, as Sam and Twitch finally catch up with Spawn, and Wanda learns of Spawn’s previous visit with Granny Blake. This issue was promoted with the tease that someone would learn Spawn’s identity, which perhaps was a case of McFarlane getting ahead of himself. Wanda does get her first clue that Al might be back, but no one figures anything out yet. If Wanda was intended to be that “someone,” it’s odd that McFarlane keeps Wanda in the dark for years (actually, I have no idea if Wanda ever discovered the truth about Spawn). Regardless, McFarlane is still maintaining a level of suspense, and I like the combination of his art with Capullo’s, even though the credits are vague on just how much Capullo is contributing.
Lord, that is one badly drawn, ugly cover. But I guess it appealed to early/mid 90s fans of 'kewl' shots, huh?
ReplyDeleteOne thing is interesting, McFarlane was ahead of his time in having covers which were just pin-ups by this point, not really a reflection of the issues plots. Not sure if it was just him, or the other image guys were doing the same thing also. Of course, with the printed plot differing from the solicitations, who knows? Still. Joe Q would be proud of this cover policy.