Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #55
Story 'End Hunt'
Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #55
| Editor: | Danny Fingeroth |
| Writer: | Howard Mackie |
| Pencils: | Mike Manley |
| Inker: | Josef Rubinstein |
| Cover Art: | Tom Lyle |
Ben is still groggy on the roof but all of a sudden there's a foot of snow down (where the hell did that come from, Mackie?!) The Grim Hunter and Kaine are fighting above Pete's apartment. Ben checks Peter and MJ aren't home (they're not).
Eleswhere, Seward Trainer has returned to New York and returned to a lab.
Scarlet is ready to get in the middle of The Grim Hunter and Kaine but collapses on his way to them. He does get a tracer on Kaine though. Ben struggles back to his apartment where Seward is waiting for him. Ban tells him Kaine has reappeared.
Kaine has another vision of MJ dead and says he must find her. The Grim Hunter is in Central Park and picks up Kaine's scent which is following him. He says it must end tonight. They begin to fight and Kaine says anything to do with Spider-Man is his business because "His life is mine". Ben has tracked them both down and there's three-way rumble.
Ben, who shot Kaine with his 'stingers' earlier reveals they induce muscular paralysis and Kaine collapses into a pond. Ben can't find him and The Grim Hunter runs off. He runs straight into Kaine who ends up snapping his neck. He is left dying while Gregor - from Kravinoff's estate - cradles the body.
General Comments
This story isn't bad - it just doesn't really go anywhere. We don't know much more about Ben than we did before and the slow-burn of Detective Raven and his investigation together with the secrets of Kaine and Seward, not to mention Judas Traveller have barely moved on at all.
As usual Mackie's consistency is all over the place. Goodness only knows where that foot of snow came from in the final part. The annoying thing is that it's just laziness. There's really no need for such avoidable mistakes.
Ben's individual identity is building better than the other aspects of the story. His fascination with Betty is a natural one considering the memories he has and that in particular works well.
Overall Rating 
This four-parter is quite drawn out and not much gets advanced in it - certainly not enough to take four issues.