Hey, how about that. A few weeks after I complained that it was getting a little ridiculous, the “Brand New Day” logo has disappeared from the covers of Spider-Man. Glad to see I’m finally being taken seriously around here!

After a few looser stories, Brand New Day’s next arc – I think it’s Guggenheim’s third for those keeping track – introduces yet another new villain, though this time with a more familiar edge. It’s a new, female Kraven. Dangerous territory, because the death of the original Kraven is considered a classic story and has been left alone long enough now that it probably shouldn’t be touched again – although that said, the second Kraven, the “Grim Hunter,” already trampled that grave, so this can’t be any worse.

I’ve been pretty fond of Guggenheim’s arcs so far, and this one easily wins me over – not least because I’m a hopeless fan of Jimenez’s MacFarlane-inspired, giant-eyed, spindley-limbed Spider-Man. There’s a great bit of misdirection employed, and it’s genuinely amusing to see that despite her fierce conviction and calculating nature, the new Kraven (since, although it isn’t said in the issue, I’m assuming that’s who she is) has actually made a bit of a foul-up. Especially interesting will be seeing how this affects Vin’s already-strained relationship with Peter, should he begin to suspect the truth.

The opening scene, guest-starring Daredevil, quickly re-establishes the pair’s friendship post-OMD, although this version of Daredevil is far lighter than the one in his current title, and like ny time someone from Peter’s past returns, it just raises up more continuity questions that become distracting.  It’s pretty clear that this is heading towards a classically-inspired “costume switch” for Spidey and Daredevil, though the next issue teaser suggests it might have a slightly new twist.

After a few issues flipping between some excruciating Gale stories and a disappointing couple of issues from Slott, this issue re-establishes the title’s momentum for one arc – it remains to be seen if that’s going to feed into anything more long term, though with the Venom story arc coming up shortly, the title’s going to get itself a genuine boost one way or another.

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