Amazing Spider-Man #617 Review

Gauntlet: The Rhino

I have been greatly enjoying The Gauntlet so far since it started. Like many, I was down on Brand New Day for a while. Not just because they broke up Peter and MJ. I wouldn't have even cared that much if they got divorced or something, but to have a lame retcon via a deal with a demon was incredibly uncreative and lazy.

Further, the new characters and villains introduced in BND were boring. Menace, Jackpot, Mr. Negative, Carlie Cooper etc, who cares! One of the things that makes Spidey great is his distinguished rouge's gallery and cast of characters, and these new folks were not up to snuff.

However, the recent appearance of classic villains in the Gauntlet has been great. This week, it's Rhino's turn. I know Rhino is not considered an A-list Spidey villain, but I've always liked him. As we start off, Aleksei Systevish, aka The Rhino, in his modest apartment in Yonkers with his wife, Oksana. Since the time of the Superhuman Registration Act and Civil War, he has reformed and is living a normal civilian life. His wife even cooks him up a heart-shaped sausage for breakfast. Adorable.

We then see some gangsters talking to an Asian woman, and making derogatory comments to her, in some sort of underground lab. They are asking her about some weapon that they want to buy and how powerful it is. That weapon turns out to be: a new Rhino! In some sort of robo-rhino suit and wielding a sickle with a rhino horn for a blade. He gores one of the gangsters, as the Asian lady makes a smart-alecky comment. New Rhino is later shown speaking to an unknown person, asking where "someone" is.

Finally, we see Pete and his crazy roommate/sometimes lover Michelle Gonzalez burst into his room wielding a shotgun, since Pete screamed after waking up from a nightmare and she thought it was a burglar. Makes sense. She tells Pete to be out of the apartment on New Year's Eve since she has a date coming over, something he does not have for said holiday. Later, Peter is at the Front Line offices where Ben Urich offers him a full-time gig as a pohotog. He says he'll think about it. Norah, however, prematurely claims Peter as her personal photographer and tells him to get ready for their first assignment together.

This leads us back to Yonkers, where the young couple is attending a media event at the Empire City casino at Yonkers Raceway. Quick aside: the writer and artist of this issue have never been to Empire City, as they do not portray it accurately. In the comic, Pete and Norah are seen at a craps table, a roulette table, and she mentions playing Texas Hold em. Well Empire City HAS NONE OF THOSE THINGS! All it has are slot machines and video poker, and it's a depressing place.

Well, as it turns out, Aleksei is now working as a security guy at Empire City. The new Rhino then, conveniently, attacks as Peter and Norah are there. Apparently, the person he was looking for was Aleksei. He decided he had to defeat him in order to ascend and become the one, true Rhino. Peter uses the commotion as a chance to tangle with the new Rhiney, and they smack each other around for a while. Eventually, new Rhino escapes and Aleksei gives a report of what happened to the police.

At the end of the issue, Peter confronts Aleksei on the street. He is thinking of getting his old Rhino suit back to the kill the new Rhino, because he won't let anything hurt his wife. Peter begs him not to, telling him he will just revert back to a life of crime if he puts on the suit again, and to let him and the police handle this. He agrees, and walks into the arms of his loving wife. Lastly, the Kravinoff clan, who are behind this whole gauntlet thing, are shown talking to the new Rhino and telling him to have patience. they're also torturing Madame Web, the poor old lady. We also get a touching back up story about how Aleksei first met his new wife. I liked it.

Grade: 7.0 out of 10. The issue was kind of light on action, but I really enjoyed the parts with Aleksei and his wife. I also liked the backup story, which details Aleksei's release from prison and reform and his meeting with Oksana. The next issue features Mysterio, so I don't know when we'll see more of either Rhino.