SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #14 - March 1997

Deluge Part Two - Higher Ground
Credits:  Todd Dezago (writer), Mike Wieringo (penciler), Richard Case (inks), Gregory Wright w/GCW (colors), Comicraft (letters)

The Plot:  A Fall People elder explains the legend of Chtylok to Ka-Zar and Spider-Man.  After the tribe is again moved out of harm’s way, Ka-Zar shows Spider-Man one of Roxxon’s relay units.  Spider-Man realizes that the unit is actually increasing the temperature, and acting as an oil rig.  Ka-Zar races off to confront the Roxxon employees, but is ambushed by Roxxon guards in armored suits.  Spider-Man tries to help, but their fight is interrupted by Stegron, who emerges with an army of dinosaurs under his command.

The Subplot:  The Hulk investigates the exodus of beasts from Monster Island and discovers Chtylok.  Their fight takes them to the tunnels underneath Monster Island.

*See _________ For Details:  Stegron was frozen outside of the Savage Land in Thunderstrike #20.  

Review:  Unlike the rest of the internet, I don’t have an ironic appreciation of Stegron.  I’ve never cared for the design, and can’t think of any stories featuring Stegron as the main villain that were particularly good.  Stegron in small doses is fine, though, and luckily this story treats him as just another one of the crazy menaces you might run into in the Savage Land.  And while this issue covers much of the same ground as the previous issue, there is a genuinely touching moment during the Fall People evacuation scene.  It’s easy to dismiss the characters as generic native warrior clichés and to play the older members of the tribe as a joke, but Dezago does a great job in merely one page detailing just how hard it can be for anyone to leave their home behind.  As for the art, it’s another issue of Wieringo drawing dinosaurs and giant Marvel monsters, so it’s great.  I will point out, however, that this issue is one of the more egregious examples of Wieringo drawing Spider-Man’s eyes and head inconsistently.  It probably shouldn't bother me as much as it does, but I think it's a major reason why it took me a while to appreciate Wieringo's Spider-Man.