Scarlet Spider #3 - Spoilers and Discussion!

[Seto Kaiba]

It initially bothered me that Kaine unmasked himself so easily and no less than three people in Houston know who he is. Then it hit me. Kaine has no reason to have a secret identity for the most part. He has no loved ones that he holds close...at least not yet. Plus he doesn't have to worry about running into anyone who knows Peter. I'm sure as the series goes on, he'll gain his own supporting cast and loved ones (Something I CANNOT WAIT for)

[refrax5]

It initially bothered me that Kaine unmasked himself so easily and no less than three people in Houston know who he is. Then it hit me. Kaine has no reason to have a secret identity for the most part. He has no loved ones that he holds close...at least not yet. Plus he doesn't have to worry about running into anyone who knows Peter. I'm sure as the series goes on, he'll gain his own supporting cast and loved ones (Something I CANNOT WAIT for)

I think that's going to be a big part of his development now that he's quasi-sane. I think coming up with an interesting and likable supporting cast is probably one of the hardest things to create from scratch on a booklike this and I'm pretty impressed with the job Yost has done so far. Hell, I'm impressed with the entire series so far, top to bottom. I probably look forward to this more than anything else on my pull list each month.

[Xenon]

Is it still amazing? Yep, still amazing.

I'm afraid even mentioning this will may unleash the term bigot, but is anyone surprised at how many gay characters are being introduced (or coming out) recently?

Ha! I'm not Surprised, per se, as pushing progressive ideals is common in most entertainment media, but it was unexpected that it's being pushed in so quickly, I suppose.

It took me out of the book for a second, primarily because Texas doesn't recognize or sanction gay marriage, but I figured that regardless of what the law may recognize, the Doc may still consider him his husband, so I moved on.

Two things. One, it seems odd that anyone would recognize Kaine, what with the loss of facial scars and body mass.

Yes, it IS a little odd. Meh.

Second, I was right! Houston is a lousy town to web swing in.

Spider-Man's mode of transport is very city specific. =p

"And I'm pretty sure that's how Spider-man would have handled things." LMAO!!! What a great line! Love this book!

This.

[Kymeric]

Without skyscrapers would a spider-guy just jump more? Bouncing roof to roof like the Hulk, while getting a web swing in here and there when possible to pick up speed?

[Xenon]

Without skyscrapers would a spider-guy just jump more? Bouncing roof to roof like the Hulk, while getting a web swing in here and there when possible to pick up speed?

I'm not sure you need skyscrapers, just buildings of decent height. I suppose it's a question of how high he really needs to go to do it. Hmmmm.

[Venomous Mask]

I'm loving this series.

Can someone remind my where the Assassins' Guild play into Kaine's past? I know he was a player in the Great Game.

[classicgmer]

I'm loving this series.

Can someone remind my where the Assassins' Guild play into Kaine's past? I know he was a player in the Great Game.

Up until this issue he didn't....It's something Yost is retconning into his character history.

[kitonok]

Up until this issue he didn't....It's something Yost is retconning into his character history.

He did. It was shown during Grim Hunt, that he was hired to kill Kraven, which he did.

[classicgmer]

He did. It was shown during Grim Hunt, that he was hired to kill Kraven, which he did.

Wait a minute now I read that same story where he was hired to kill Kraven but I don't recall anything about the Assassins' Guild being mentioned...You could be right though as it's been a bit since I've read that story & don't have in front of me for reference.

[Kymeric]

Implied? Idk, Kaine being an assasian makes sense he had some relationship with the Assasians Guild. Where else would he find jobs.... craigslist?

[David Walton]

It's a logical addition that fleshes out Kaine's backstory, since he was working as an assassin when he first came onto the scene.

People tend to forget that Kaine was an assassin because

A) He dropped the profit angle pretty quickly to chase after MJ's future killer

and

B) His most popular incarnation, The Lost Years, covers the days before he became an assassin.

I look forward to seeing where Yost goes with this, since the interim between TLY and his first appearance during the Clone Saga have never been explored in depth.

[Dr. Chaos]

Good issue. Peter doesn't have good history with red heads, if Kaine still had spider-sense, it would have went off like crazy at the bar.

It's a shame all the Gwen clones are dead now. With Kaine back, they could have probably found a new arc for one of them.

Would have made for a kind of weird but interesting love interest for Kaine at some point.

[ZeoVGM]

First things first: as a giant fan of Ben Reilly and his Scarlet Spider, I was slightly disappointed that this would star Kaine, even though it made sense. The fan in me who got into comics with Web of Spider-Man #117 (the beginning of the 90's Clone Saga) still wants Ben back eventually. However, it was Friggin' Yost and there was no way the book would suck.

And wow, did it exceed my already high (but cautious) expectations. I'm so happy the book is doing well. I love the idea of Spider-Man having a "family" much like Batman and I think that Marvel, after years of trying to make it happen, finally has succeeded thanks to this book and Venom. Now we just need to get a successful Spider-Girl/Woman book and the "family" will be complete. (I'll also settle for a Spider-Ham monthly.)

Just a damn good book. Kaine officially belongs in this world alongside Peter and I hope to see it run for a very long time.

Nobody new sees him without his mask on in issue 5! It's a first. He's largely out of costume in issue 6, then in 7... well, things happen. He's out of costume and out of his clothes.

But from there on out, it's all pretty secret. Very soon, he's going to run into someone who personally knows Peter Parker. We'll see if he can keep his mask on.

Haha, I was thinking the same thing but I actually thought it would be very interesting for Peter to confront Kaine about his recklessness when the time comes for them to meet again. Could be argumentatively funny.

"Dude, I have SOMEHOW convinced people that I make tech for Spider-Man but that I'm not actually him. Meanwhile, you're me with a buzz cut and taking your mask off every five seconds. That's like wearing glasses as a secret identity. Not cool."

[refrax5]

That would be funny.

I always get the impression---and maybe this is just all in my head---that, even now, Kaine is still a bigger, rougher looking version of Peter. He looks taller and more full-bodied and buff and like he's got a bit more mileage to his face. Not that people wouldn't notice it if they were standing next to each other or if they looked closely, but still...

[TheGreen1]

That would be funny.

I always get the impression---and maybe this is just all in my head---that, even now, Kaine is still a bigger, rougher looking version of Peter. He looks taller and more full-bodied and buff and like he's got a bit more mileage to his face. Not that people wouldn't notice it if they were standing next to each other or if they looked closely, but still...

I agree. Then again, Stegman has been the only one drawing Kaine in Scarlet Spider so far. He looked just as fit as Peter did during the couple conclusion issues of the Spider-Island arc.

However, I think that yes, Kaine seems to be buffer, stronger than Peter is. Salamander looked like a monster bodybuilder and Kaine beat him like a drum.

One thing that Kaine does that Peter really doesn't, is only use one hand to lift someone up. Peter seems to use both when threatening someone. Kaine still uses the "Mark of Kaine" and holds him up with one hand on the face.

Kaine also fights completely different than Pete does even excluding Spider-Sense and including those stingers that he doesn't seem to use yet. He fights as though he has claws on his fingers. Like Sabertooth. I'm pretty sure he's using his biomagnetism to pull off bits of skin with each swipe. He's also less about acrobatics, more about strength. In this issue, when he climbs up the building with perp in one hand, his foot actually makes an indention in the building he's climbing on. Like, it goes in a few centimeters to an inch maybe.

Plus, he's got a six-pack most superheroes would be jealous of. Especially Peter.

This is my analysis though from the first three issues.