You’ve Never Read Spectacular Spider-Man by DeMatteis and Buscema?! Part 5
Part V: The Death of Vermin
Happy New Year! The first official post of 2023 sees a return to the DeMatteis and Buscema run on Spectacular Spider-Man. Gotta give the people what they want, and what they want is more of that sensational arachnid person. The last arc dealt with the underutilized Puma, and this new arc focuses on a DeMatteis favorite: Vermin.
Spectacular Spider-Man #194-196 encompasses “The Death of Vermin” storyline. It begins with Vermin under observation at Ravencroft (where he’s been since the conclusion of “The Child Within” arc). We see that he’s now able to change back into human form as Edward when he manages to get his Vermin persona under control. I’d call that progress! Unfortunately, Edward is also hearing voices calling for Vermin to come out. The implication seems to be that his subconscious Vermin persona is manifesting as these voices, but the issue ends with an army of actual flesh-and-blood mutates storming into Ravencroft to snatch Vermin and bust him out. Not content with having Vermin, they also abduct Dr. Kafka (his psychiatrist at Ravencroft). This seems like a problem. Of course this is all taking place as Peter is trying to spend more quality time with Mary Jane and foster a healthy marriage. The poor guy sees that Vermin has gotten loose on the news as he’s in the middle of serving Mary Jane breakfast in bed. There’s that Parker luck!
The following issue opens with Edward and Dr. Kafka imprisoned and at the mercy of the horde of monsters that had captured them. They successfully provoke Edward into transforming back into Vermin. It’s at this point that they reveal that they were created through experiments by Baron Zemo, just as Vermin had been created previously. They sought out Vermin to be their leader and help them get revenge on their creator. Much to the chagrin of Dr. Kafka, Vermin agrees and unleashes the horde on the streets of New York to hunt for their query.
As you might expect, an army of mutates causing chaos in New York City quickly gets the attention of Spider-Man. He leaps into action in an attempt to subdue Vermin and his newfound army. Despite his best efforts, he’s quickly overwhelmed by the mutates and captured. They intend to kill both Spider-Man and Dr. Kafka, but Vermin reverts back to human form and manages to deescalate the situation. Just as it appears that we’re headed towards a peaceful conclusion, a shot rings out as one of the mutates is killed. Baron Zemo has arrived, and he intends to reclaim his “property.”
Baron Zemo has enjoyed some mainstream popularity in recent years thanks to his portrayal by Daniel Bruhl in Captain America: Civil War and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in the MCU. The comic book version of the character is significantly different from his live-action counterpart. Baron Helmut Zemo (son of Baron Heinrich Zemo who was a high ranking Nazi scientist in World War II) is a German aristocrat and brilliant scientist who fervently adopted his father’s Nazi ideology. His experiments have led to him finding a way to drastically slow his own aging (helps explain how he’s seemingly in his thirties despite having a father who was an adult in the 1940s), and he is frequently seen as a member of the fascist terrorist organization known as Hydra. He was also horribly disfigured during a fight with Captain America, and no one draws him more horrifically than Sal Buscema (who also co-created the character).
The important takeaway here is that Baron Zemo is the worst. To further drive home that point, it’s revealed that he has a device that allows him to control the mutates that he has created. While Spider-Man sees them as people, Zemo is quick to refer to them as being less than beasts. They’re just fodder for him to conduct his cruel experiments. It’s very much in line with his nonsensical master race ideology. He uses his command over the mutates to subdue Spider-Man, and he has him unmasked so he can wear it himself and taunt our hero. This pushes Vermin over the edge, and he manages to turn into an amalgamation of both his Edward and Vermin personas. This allows him to break free of Zemo’s control which subsequently frees the minds of the other mutates as well. As Edward/Vermin struggles to control his bloodlust and desire to murder Zemo, Dr. Kafka manages to get through to him and he “kills” his Vermin persona for good. Zemo tries to escape while the focus is on Edward/Vermin, but fortunately we are treated to Spider-Man delivering an all-timer of a Buscema punch to take him out of commission.
With the villain defeated and Edward firmly in control of himself, we’re treated to a little epilogue where we learn Dr. Kafka is working diligently with the mutates while Matt Murdock has agreed to take Edward on as a client (on account of his Vermin persona murdering and eating numerous innocent people). It’s an honest to goodness happy ending. You love to see it. Next up in Spectacular Spider-Man, DeMatteis and Buscema try to help get some exposure for an obscure group of characters by giving them a guest appearance in a three issue arc. It’s some team called the X-Men.
Haven't read this story within the run yet. Hope it comes out in collected edition in the next couple of years. Looking forward to your take on #200!