Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider #14 was written by Peter David with art by David Williams, Ray-Anthony Height, Scott Hanna, and Rachelle Rosenberg.
In somewhat of a trend I’m noticing from Marvel over the last few weeks, the image on the cover of this issue (expertly rendered by Khary Randolph and Emelio Lopez) is not something that happens in this issue. What does happen in this issue features a hippopotamus named Mrs. Fuzzy Lumpkins, so lets get to it.
Bruce Campitti, starting quarterback for the Las Vegas Gold Chips, claims he was just beaten up by a hippo. It turns out that Kaine Parker’s friend/potential romantic interest Terry has a brother named Kerry who is the backup quarterback for the Las Vegas Gold Chips. Kaine decides to keep an eye on the guy just in case it turns out somebody is gunning for him, which turns out to be a really good idea.
The Hippo, who was a a male hippo named Mrs. Fuzzy Lumpkins that was evolved by the High Evolutionary, has been hired by someone named Marlowe to take out the Golden Chips’ quarterbacks because he had a lot of money riding on the game. Kaine takes him out in fairly quick fashion, but vows to take down this Marlowe person.
Meanwhile, Ben Reilly has gotten word that Quinten Beck, aka Mysterio has currently taken up residence in Las Vegas. He goes to check out what his old foe is up to under the guise of being from the neighborhood watch. However, he shows up in a ski mask in 80 degree weather, which is totally logical & non-threatening.
One has to wonder why he wouldn’t just put on his Scarlet Spider outfit and sneak into the house. Perhaps he assumed that Mysterio wouldn’t be expecting someone to just knock on the front door. He ultimately forces his way in and grills him about what his plans are, to which Beck swears that he’s up to nothing and just wants to live a quiet life. Ben, having recently turned a corner in his own life, decides to give him a chance to do just that. You can always trust Mysterio, right?
Comicdom Wrecks! 