Is Jeph Loeb Responsible for ASM's Gauntlet Storyline?

A few days ago, I was in my local comic book shop and came across a bundle of single issues for Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Spider-Man: Blue for $6.99. I had heard the story was excellent and as trades usually run in the price range of twice that, I had no qualms about throwing it into my pile and heading home. I had the opportunity to sit down and read the story and while I thought it was a very fun and solid story, something about it and its relationship to the current ASM storyline was bothering me. A day or so later in the shower I realized that the reason Blue felt so familiar to me, was because of how similar they two storylines are. Everyone has heard the phrase “there are no more original ideas” at least once in their life and as I began to count the coincidences, I have to on some degree acknowledge that Jeph Loeb may in some ways be responsible for ASM’s “The Gauntlet” storyline.

Spider-Man: Blue is the re-telling and re-purposing of some older issues of Amazing Spider-Man and the Silver Age love story of Gwen Stacey and Peter Parker. The project has all the features of an enjoyable Loeb tale, emotion, solid dialogue and both a diverse cast and a multitude of situations for the lead character to participate in as the story evolves. These situations are rarely developed in a significant way, and in the case of Blue, are primarily action sequences to give Spidey some monologue time. It was a quick six issues that told a great story and was over with.

The Gauntlet: Beginning with Amazing Spider-Man #600 and running into June of 2010, Spider-Man’s gallery of villains have been returning, one after another, re-tooled and deadlier than ever to make Peter Parker’s life a living hell. The stories themselves have been fantastic, original, deep and have made the book probably the best it has ever been.

SPOILERS FOR BOTH SPIDER-MAN:BLUE AND THE LAST 40 OR SO ISSUES OF AMAZING-SPIDER-MAN BELOW

In summary, Spider-Man: Blue IS the story of how Gwen Stacey and Peter Parker fell in love, but against the back drop of a larger story. Across six issues, Spider-Man is forced to face several of his villains, who either receive help during the battle, or are set free by a mysterious figure who is revealed to be Kraven the Hunter. Kraven has been studying Spider-Man’s battles to prepare himself to eventually hunt and kill Peter Parker, fulfilling a contract given to him by the Green Goblin. It should be noted that Blue’s timeline has been liberally re-arranged and Kraven’s role in the story modified for Loeb’s goal.

The Gauntlet is the story of Kraven’s family, desperate for revenge against Spider-Man and his allies, preparing themselves for Kraven’s potential return in The Grim Hunt story that is set to occur shortly. Like Spider-Man: Blue, Spidey is fighting these battles one after the other with very little time to rest. He is also unknowingly dealing with the Kravinoff family who has abducted Madam Webb and is using her foresight to ensure Peter is constantly losing battles or experiencing pyrrhic victories. In a sense, The Gauntlet is all about taking the story in the opposite direction than what audiences have been trained to expect from their plotlines.

What kicks off both stories, are encounters with Norman Osborn. Blue hits a story point early in Amazing Spider-Man, around issue thirty-three or so, when Osborn briefly loses his memory and forgets that he in fact is the Green Goblin and that Peter is Spider-Man. The Gauntlet was preceded by the Goblin story, “American Son” where Norman wanted Harry to join his Dark Avengers, and Spider-Man was forced to go undercover to try and help Harry. Both stories get Osborn off the grid for a time, freeing up Harry to be part of the cast and develop his friendship with Peter.

The first villain to appear in Spider-Man: Blue is the Rhino. Set free by Kraven, the Rhino goes on a rampage in downtown New York, looking to get revenge against Spider-Man. During the battle, Spidey manages to break a piece of the Rhino’s hide free and with the help of Curt Connors, creates a modified webbing that allows him to remove the Rhino’s costume and ultimately defeat him.

The Gauntlet’s two-issue take on the Rhino is a similar but very different fashion. More in-depth and focusing primarily on skin/hide as identity rather than power, Joe Kelly introduces a second Rhino that is being funded and trained by the Kravinoffs. In order to prove himself, he is convinced he must defeat the original Rhino and take his “skin” in order to ascend and earn the right to be called the Rhino. Despite Spidey’s best efforts to keep Aleksei Sytsevich out of costume and away from this new Rhino, tragedy wins out and the two Rhinos die in a final battle.

This panel stands out nicely, especially when contrasted with this one from Spider-Man: Blue:

Although featuring Vultures instead of Rhinos, Blue also features a take on legacy villainsn with the inclusion of Blackie Drago’s origin as the Vulture. Poisoning Adrian Toomes in order to find out where he has hidden his wings and armor, Drago escapes from prison and while nearly defeating Spider-Man, fails to kill him, which prompts Kraven to save Toomes and allow the two to battle for the right to be The Vulture, eventually involving Spider-Man.

With Curt Connors’s appearance in the story, it was almost guaranteed that the Lizard would appear in Blue. Maintaining the formulaic story of a one armed doctor trying to re-grow the limb, keep his family together and find scientific success turning into a monster, Blue keeps the story lighthearted. With Spidey’s help, Connors returns to human form in the nick of time, preventing his family from seeing him as a reptile.

The Gauntlet specifically avoids that story by acknowledging the formula exists:

With Madam Webb in their possession, the Kravinoffs are able to obtain knowledge of the future and take action to turn events towards their favor. A story that should have ended normally, if not happily, instead takes a terrible turn that ends with the actual consumption of Billy Connors.

Even some of the minor story beats feel familiar. During Spider-Man’s first battle with Drago, he passes out in the snow and winds up sick, having to go into battle ill a few days later:

The Grim Hunt looks like it will feature a similar moment, as some leaked preview art shows an unhealthy Peter Parker answering a knock at the door:

In the end, my implications here may just be coincidence. It is certainly hard to compare 6 issues versus 36 issues and not expect any overlap. But given the thematic similarities and the involvement of many of the same characters, it is certainly worth taking a look at the two series side by side and mulling it over. Many consider Loeb to be a hack these days, but it is certainly curious to wonder if he unknowingly laid the ground work for one of the best years of Spider-Man ever.