In Amazing Spider-Man #103, Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy accompanied J. Jonah Jameson on a Daily Bugle investigative trip to the Antarctica's tropical Savage Land, where they hoped to find a giant creature that had been spotted in the area. Well, they found this monster - a sort of cross between an ape and a dinosaur called Gog. And Gog is under the command of Spider-Man's old enemy Kraven the Hunter! Kraven orders Gog to kidnap Gwen, who went along to be a swimsuit model (don't ask). As Spider-Man searches for her, he falls into a pool of quicksand.

So this issue begins with plenty of questions: How did Kraven get connected with Gog? Who will save Gwen? And will Spider-Man get out of this death trap? Thankfully, the answer to the last question is "Yes!" Ka-Zar, the jungle lord of the Savage Land, swings in on a vine and pulls Spidey out of the muck. Letterer Artie Simek's sound effects ("Splug!") get bonus points here. Ka-Zar and Spider-Man traded blows back in Amazing Spider-Man #57 before realizing they didn't have any reason to fight. But now, they are on the same side in trying to save Gwen. "Zabu (Ka-Zar's Sabretooth tiger) can track down the monster we seek," he tells Spider-Man. "But the way lies through the death-infested swamp." Sounds like an adventure waiting to happen to me!

Kraven the Hunter has the bikini-clad Gwen held hostage. He intends to force her into marriage and make her his queen. We never get a good explanation as to why a guy like Kraven, presumably a man of wealth and stature, feels the need to kidnap a college girl in order to get a date. He explains to Gwen that boredom brought him to the Savage Land, where dinosaurs, mastodons and other prehistoric creatures still live. "I am mightier than Ka-Zar. I'm the greatest huntsman of all! The hidden jungle must be mine -- and mine only!" he says. But when Kraven arrives in the Savage Land, he stumbles across a wrecked space ship as he searches for Ka-Zar. Inside, he finds Gog, then only as big as a squirrel, and takes the creature as a pet. Gog begins growing rapidly, doubling his size in just a few days. Before long, he is a giant. Kraven says, "He is merely a lost and lonely child..a child I named Gog, after a Biblical giant...a child who would now do anything for his adoptive father...including conquering a world!" Spider-Man and Ka-Zar overhear Kraven's rant. Spidey swings in and distracts Gog, while Ka-Zar tackles Kraven. The two men rumble for several pages, with Kraven using some sneaky tactics to gain the upper hand, only to have Zabu turn the favor back to Ka-Zar. Kraven wraps a noose around Ka-Zar's neck. When the jungle lord desperately tries to kick the villain away, Kraven takes a tumble off the edge of a cliff to his apparent death.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man is running for his life from Gog. To make things worse, a Tyrannosaurus Rex nearly catches him, too. "Flake off, big fella," Spider-Man says. "Didn't your mother ever tell you spiders are bad for the digestion?" Gog and the T-Rex battle - as writer Roy Thomas so eloquently describes it "This battle-to-the-death 'twixt the great scion of a far-flung star and a towering time-lost titan!" Gog ultimately kills the dinosaur and returns his attention to Spider-Man. Spidey doesn't want to hurt Gog, who is little more than a scared animal and not truly evil. But he lures the giant into the same pit of quicksand that nearly killed the Wall-Crawler earlier in the issue. Gog quickly sinks to his death. "Funny, this is the time I usually make like a wise guy..but somehow, I just feel -- sick," Spider-Man says.

Ka-Zar brings Gwen back to camp, where Jonah has to tell her that the love of her life, Peter Parker, fell off a cliff to his death (or at least that's what Jonah thinks.) However, Peter quickly changes back into his civilian clothes for a happy reunion with a relieved Gwen. "Anyone got a kind word and a cup of coffee for a slightly mussed shutterbug?" he says. Just before Peter steps out of the jungle, there's a funny scene where Jonah catches a glimpse of Spider-Man out of the corner of his eye. He figures he's just imagining things, though. And good thing - because if he had seen Spider-Man in the Savage Land, he probably would have deduced that Spidey and Peter are the same guy!

As I said in the review of the previous issue, the plot of this two-part story (which clearly was intended as a nod to the legendary film "King Kong") didn't do much for me. The idea that the Daily Bugle would launch a trip to the Savage Land to turn around newspaper sales doesn't make much sense. Plus, I didn't like the portrayal of Gwen Stacy as a pin-up model. It didn't ring true to her character. However, I enjoyed this issue more than the first part, as some great action (Gog chasing Spider-Man, Ka-Zar and Kraven brawling) made up for the plot deficiencies.

It's interesting to see Kraven portrayed as such a sneaky coward and to hear him say, "I do not believe in honor, Ka-Zar -- only in expediency!" That is a 180-degree difference from the way he has been portrayed in subsequent issues, including Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man # 65, where Kraven has an opportunity to kill Spider-Man but doesn't because he realized his ally and lover Calypso has drugged the Web-Slinger and says killing such a weakened opponent is dishonorable. Very different portrayal. We don't have to wait long for Kraven to reappear, as he next turns up in Amazing Spider-Man #110-111, when the master hunter enlists the aid of the Gibbon in his battle against Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Spider-Man teams up with Ka-Zar and Zabu again in Marvel Team-Up #19, when the heroes tackle the menace of Stegron the Dinosaur Man! And, yes, we have a review of that issue on the Web site. As for Gog, he isn't seen again until Astonishing Tales #17-18, and not in a Spider-Man title again until Spider-Man #22-23.

Next issue: Spencer Smythe is back and he's got an all-new, all-deadly Spider-slayer!

Reviewed by Bruce Buchanan.

Reprinted In:
Marvel Tales #82-83
Marvel Selects #5