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Marvel Knights: Spider-Man (2004)
The Sensational Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Feral
Join new creative team Angel Medina (Spawn) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (MK 4, Nightcrawler) as they take everyone's favorite wall-crawler on a blood-curdling journey into the heart of darkness. Strange changes are coming over Spidey's animalistic foes - including Dr. Curt Connors, John Jameson and Felicia Hardy - awakening the beast that dwells within them all. Sure, Spidey's beaten the Lizard, Man-Wolf and the Black Cat before, but they've never been more vicious than they are now! Collects Sensational Spider-Man #23-27.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
3 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
460 books476 followersRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an American playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the television series Glee, Big Love, Riverdale, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. He is Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics.
Aguirre-Sacasa grew up liking comic books, recalling in 2003, "My mom would take us out to the 7-Eleven on River Road during the summer, and we would get Slurpees and buy comics off the spinning rack. I would read them all over and over again, and draw my own pictures and stuff."
He began writing for Marvel Comics, he explained, when "Marvel hired an editor to find new writers, and they hired her from a theatrical agency. So she started calling theaters and asking if they knew any playwrights who might be good for comic books. A couple of different theaters said she should look at me. So she called me, I sent her a couple of my plays and she said 'Great, would you like to pitch on a couple of comic books in the works?'"
His first submissions were "not what [they were] interested in for the character[s]" but eventually he was assigned an 11-page Fantastic Four story, "The True Meaning of...," for the Marvel Holiday Special 2004. He went on to write Fantastic Four stories in Marvel Knights 4, a spinoff of that superhero team's long-running title; and stories for Nightcrawler vol. 3; The Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2; and Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing.
In May 2008 Aguirre-Sacasa returned to the Fantastic Four with a miniseries tie-in to the company-wide "Secret Invasion" storyline concerning a years-long infiltration of Earth by the shape-shifting alien race, the Skrulls,and an Angel Revelations miniseries with artists Barry Kitson and Adam Polina, respectively. He adapted for comics the Stephen King novel The Stand.
In 2013, he created Afterlife with Archie, depicting Archie Andrews in the midst of a zombie apocalypse; the book's success led to Aguirre-Sacasa being named Archie Comics' chief creative officer.
Aguirre-Sacasa grew up liking comic books, recalling in 2003, "My mom would take us out to the 7-Eleven on River Road during the summer, and we would get Slurpees and buy comics off the spinning rack. I would read them all over and over again, and draw my own pictures and stuff."
He began writing for Marvel Comics, he explained, when "Marvel hired an editor to find new writers, and they hired her from a theatrical agency. So she started calling theaters and asking if they knew any playwrights who might be good for comic books. A couple of different theaters said she should look at me. So she called me, I sent her a couple of my plays and she said 'Great, would you like to pitch on a couple of comic books in the works?'"
His first submissions were "not what [they were] interested in for the character[s]" but eventually he was assigned an 11-page Fantastic Four story, "The True Meaning of...," for the Marvel Holiday Special 2004. He went on to write Fantastic Four stories in Marvel Knights 4, a spinoff of that superhero team's long-running title; and stories for Nightcrawler vol. 3; The Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2; and Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing.
In May 2008 Aguirre-Sacasa returned to the Fantastic Four with a miniseries tie-in to the company-wide "Secret Invasion" storyline concerning a years-long infiltration of Earth by the shape-shifting alien race, the Skrulls,and an Angel Revelations miniseries with artists Barry Kitson and Adam Polina, respectively. He adapted for comics the Stephen King novel The Stand.
In 2013, he created Afterlife with Archie, depicting Archie Andrews in the midst of a zombie apocalypse; the book's success led to Aguirre-Sacasa being named Archie Comics' chief creative officer.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
September 16, 2017
Maybe not best Spidey's tale ever, and artworks by Medina/Crain are far better than storyline, but if you have to choose reading between this volume and all others published after the "One More Day' continuity reboot, just don't think twice and pick this one.
And the Iron-Spider is one of best Spider-Man's suits ever, just saying.
June 24, 2020
This is a pretty good Spider-Man story, set just before the series of massive reboots that made the character unrecognizable. A magic rock turns several spider-adjacent characters into more bloodthirsty versions of themselves. Peter wears a Stark-designed Iron-Spider suit that's kind of amusing. The book is a pleasingly self-contained narrative and is well written. It collects issues 23-27 of the comic magazine with art by Medina on four issues and by Crain on #26. The styles are very different and are quite jarring to the story flow; the characters don't resemble themselves from one to the other. Crain has a painted, foggy look that's quite striking, whereas Medina uses a much more traditional action comics style with odd viewpoints that I like except when an extreme close-up is done that makes it difficult to tell what you're seeing. They're both quite good on their own, but don't mesh. Man-Wolf, Black Cat, Vermin, and Lizard are the main guest stars.
January 21, 2019
Achei uma história bem "OK". Já vi melhores (muitas) e já vi algumas piores.
July 15, 2024
Firstly, Medina’s art was the star of this volume. I found myself not to be a huge fan of Crain’s. The story was interesting enough to have my attention, but everything felt a bit rushed. I was intrigued with what was going on, but the explanation ultimately left me a bit dissatisfied.
October 21, 2021
This book manages to be a serviceable JMS-era Spider-Man story without doing anything particularly special.
The plot centers on the more animalistic of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery becoming much more aggressive and going on rampages throughout the city. It starts to affect everyone else, too: even Mary Jane and Aunt May start to see themselves becoming surprisingly volatile. Peter is able to bring in a decent measure of his tertiary supporting cast, including Madame Web and the Fantastic Four, for some neat appearances.
Overall, the definite highlight here is Clayton Crain’s issue on the art. It’s not often we get to see his work on a whole issue of Spider-Man, so that’s definitely a neat point in the book’s favour. For the most part, though, it’s just an average five-issue arc of a secondary Spidey book.
The plot centers on the more animalistic of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery becoming much more aggressive and going on rampages throughout the city. It starts to affect everyone else, too: even Mary Jane and Aunt May start to see themselves becoming surprisingly volatile. Peter is able to bring in a decent measure of his tertiary supporting cast, including Madame Web and the Fantastic Four, for some neat appearances.
Overall, the definite highlight here is Clayton Crain’s issue on the art. It’s not often we get to see his work on a whole issue of Spider-Man, so that’s definitely a neat point in the book’s favour. For the most part, though, it’s just an average five-issue arc of a secondary Spidey book.
January 23, 2022
The next step down marvelguides.com Road to Civil War places us firmly in Spider-Mans web.
Being a massive Spidey fan from a young age (I can remember the original movies and the telly series that went with it), I was looking forward to this read. And, on the whole, I was not too disappointed. Aguirre-Sacasa has a terrific idea, what if a meteorites radiation can alter animals temperaments, making them angrier and meaner? And what if this also changes animal-based superheroes and villains? And so we get Feral.
The concept of Feral offered so much scope, and it got crammed into five issues. The story deserved to be at least double in size and scale. There would have been a stronger story arc for Conners Jr and Sr. More depth to John Jameson. Relationship expansions between Peter and M J and Aunt May. And a better reason for Vermin's return to the city, which feels bolted-on to drive the story. That said, though, Feral is still a decent tale and an enjoyable one at that.
Though my one niggle was the swap-out of artists for #26. Crain took over on pencil duty from Medina. Crain, for me, is the better artist. I much prefer his style over Medina's. Medina loves oversized muscles and stylised faces and forms, and though it looks great, and I would have been happy enough to view his artwork throughout, Crains more realistic approach fits my idea of Spidey best. Though I have to ask, what was Crain thinking about when he gave Madame Web Sylvester Stallones jaw? Medina rocked Madame Web.
All in all, Feral is an entertaining and enjoyable read. I would gladly recommend it to all comic book and graphic novel readers alike. Just wished it were longer.
Being a massive Spidey fan from a young age (I can remember the original movies and the telly series that went with it), I was looking forward to this read. And, on the whole, I was not too disappointed. Aguirre-Sacasa has a terrific idea, what if a meteorites radiation can alter animals temperaments, making them angrier and meaner? And what if this also changes animal-based superheroes and villains? And so we get Feral.
The concept of Feral offered so much scope, and it got crammed into five issues. The story deserved to be at least double in size and scale. There would have been a stronger story arc for Conners Jr and Sr. More depth to John Jameson. Relationship expansions between Peter and M J and Aunt May. And a better reason for Vermin's return to the city, which feels bolted-on to drive the story. That said, though, Feral is still a decent tale and an enjoyable one at that.
Though my one niggle was the swap-out of artists for #26. Crain took over on pencil duty from Medina. Crain, for me, is the better artist. I much prefer his style over Medina's. Medina loves oversized muscles and stylised faces and forms, and though it looks great, and I would have been happy enough to view his artwork throughout, Crains more realistic approach fits my idea of Spidey best. Though I have to ask, what was Crain thinking about when he gave Madame Web Sylvester Stallones jaw? Medina rocked Madame Web.
All in all, Feral is an entertaining and enjoyable read. I would gladly recommend it to all comic book and graphic novel readers alike. Just wished it were longer.
February 2, 2025
This collects together a 5 issue arc from Sensational Spider-Man, circa mid-2000’s, and although readable isn’t quite the epic it thinks itself to be.
The concept, of characters with animalistic powers starting to turn feral and aggressive, is quite promising, but it ends up feeling over-written to me. The wrap up is a little underwhelming too.
The art, by Angel Medina, is like Todd McFarlane on steroids. Over-drawn, overly exaggerated layouts, and just too much on each page. The one issue Clayton Crain art is, by contrast, understated and excellent, though it does jar with Medina’s art.
Nothing wrong with anything, I just wish it was all done a little bit better.
The concept, of characters with animalistic powers starting to turn feral and aggressive, is quite promising, but it ends up feeling over-written to me. The wrap up is a little underwhelming too.
The art, by Angel Medina, is like Todd McFarlane on steroids. Over-drawn, overly exaggerated layouts, and just too much on each page. The one issue Clayton Crain art is, by contrast, understated and excellent, though it does jar with Medina’s art.
Nothing wrong with anything, I just wish it was all done a little bit better.
May 1, 2023
This is basically about our nature as beast coming out. Black Cat going full on, well, cat Like, vermin becoming a actual rat like monster, Lizard becoming full on lizard creature. And even Spider-man loses himself to become more vicious. The reveal is kind of lame, and the dialogue iffy at points, as is the art, but overall a serviceable, little darker, Spider-Man tale. A 2.5 out of 5.
August 21, 2017
Letdown
Not as good as I hoped. I'm a big fan of the author's work and this was his first disappointment that I read
Not as good as I hoped. I'm a big fan of the author's work and this was his first disappointment that I read
April 24, 2018
Leída en edición Salvat
Simplemente, terrible. Pobre guion de Sacasa y cuanto menos hable del dibujo de Medina, mejor
Simplemente, terrible. Pobre guion de Sacasa y cuanto menos hable del dibujo de Medina, mejor
October 28, 2020
Le daría 4 estrellas por el dibujo y por el Annual del final (y otro número de antes). El resto sin más.
February 10, 2021
Interesting setup, but the second half of this was weird and annoying. 3 stars for Mary-Jane, Aunt May, and the twist about who Felicia was actually fighting on the roof.
July 26, 2021
A pretty good Spidey tale.
Read
October 30, 2024It was really good and I think you would only like it though if you read graphic novels.
August 9, 2025
1,5 - 08.2025
December 26, 2025
Excellent start. A nice, dark turn for a Spiderman read. But the ending was pretty rushed and killed the vibe a bit. Overall good fun.
February 9, 2014
The animal side of Spider-Man's enemies come out to play in this Spider-Man collection. Exploring the bestial side of the rogues, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa sends Peter on a collision course with devolution. A mysterious event is sweeping through New York, bringing out the feral nature in everyone. Curt Connors forcefully becomes the reptilian Lizard, Felica Hardy extends her claws as the Black Cat, John Jameson bares his teeth as the Man-Wolf,and Thomas Fireheart return to his feline nature as the Puma. As Spider-Man digs deeper into the mystery - aided by both the visionary Madame Web and his new Iron Spider suit - he must defeat the saurian mastermind behind the plot. The idea of the volume is fantastic, as it offers a chance for the animal-themed enemies to truly embrace their inner creature. Unfortunately, players like Rhino, Scorpion, Doctor Octopus, and Tarantula, are left out of this equation; others like Vulture, Vermin, and Puma are shoe-horned in with little development. Angel Medina and Clayton Crain offer two distinct styles in the volume, which can be both good and bad. Medina creates a loose, violent, and crisp imagery that flows better with the animal action than the human portrayals. Crain displays his trademark textures and shadows, but is often relegated to showcasing the discourse rather than the flowing violence that is better suited to his design. Overall, Feral is a beastly read that reminds readers of the animal nature of the Spider-Man universe.
June 26, 2011
Awful. I'm glad this wasn't the first thing I've read by Roberto Aquirre-Sacassa, because I've enjoyed some of his other stuff and after reading this, I would have avoided it. Angel Medina's art looks like someone aping Greg Capullo without learning basic drawing first.
July 14, 2012
Read this back in January but didn't recognize the cover when I took it out of the library again in July.
No change in rating: Visually amazing and the storyline's not bad albeit a little childish.
No change in rating: Visually amazing and the storyline's not bad albeit a little childish.
August 16, 2007
Solid Spidey story.
October 15, 2009
Love the art by Angel Medina (cover) and Clayton Crain.
November 18, 2013
Lizard, Black Cat, Man-Wolf, Puma, Vermin, Stegron. Everyone goes Feral. Amazing art.
February 27, 2021
Miniserie que luego se incluyó también en la colección definitiva del personaje.
February 5, 2019
I couldn't get into the storyline. All of the half-animal/half-human characters were a little too much. The art completely changes in one issue, which was a little odd, but overall the art is good.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews