Why You Should Read "Scavenging"

The bird and the bug...

The Vulture is one of Spider-Man's oldest foes...literally. However, he is not exactly the most intimidating. In "Scavenging", Spider-Man faces off against a new Vulture who is the stuff of nightmares. 

Some context, this story is part of an elaborate gauntlet of challenges for Spider-Man devised by the daughter of one of his classic foes, Kraven the Hunter. In this gauntlet, Spider-Man fights against upgraded and new versions of his most dangerous enemies like the Chameleon, the Rhino, Mysterio, and, of course, the Vulture. 

In "Scavenging", Spider-Man is again annoyed and threatened by J. Jonah Jameson, only this time, Jameson is the mayor of New York City and has more power to use against the 'masked menace' Spider-Man. Tired of Jameson giving him a hard time, Spider-Man decides to confront the new Mayor, but Spidey is not alone.

The new Vulture, who Spider-Man faced off against in a previous storyline, also has a beef with J. Jonah Jameson but has more lethal intent than Spider-Man. As "Scavenging" shows, this new Vulture used to be a Jimmy Natale, a member of a powerful crime family, Maggia, until he is used for an experiment that turns him into a monster. 

The Vulture blames Jameson for his transformation, since at the time, Jameson was trying to come up with some sketchy ways to get rid of Spider-Man, like the Spider-Slayers. But, Jameson might not have had anything to do with this new Vulture...

Besides trying to protect Mayor Jameson from the Vulture, Spider-Man also has a duty to preform as the press photographer, Peter Parker. With this information about Jameson's shady past, he has a duty to shine light on this dark truth, even if the consequences are disastrous for New York City.

Mark Waid is the writer of "Scavenging" and though I know him more for his work on Flash stories and 52, I think Mark Waid is a great Spider-Man writer who understands how to balance the comedy and drama of the character. 

I also really enjoy the art of Paul Azaceta. His work is not really flashy or colorful, but it has a kind of old school vibe that is really clean. I would probably call Azaceta one of my favorite Spider-Man artists.

If you want a cool Spider-Man story with a really disturbing version of the Vulture, "Scavenging" is a great story to pick up. I think that new fans can appreciate this story, but I think a devoted fan will enjoy how this one story plays to the larger gauntlet.

ISSUES: The Amazing Spider-Man #623-624 (2010)

Writing	Art	Character Development	Overall Enjoyment
8	8	8	9