InsaneJournal

Spider-Man #15: "The Mutant Factor"
I found myself thinking of this old comic (oh, good god, this was eighteen years ago) for no good reason earlier today, and went ahead and dug it up.

As far as I know this is one of the first comics to be both written and drawn by Erik Larsen. "The Mutant Factor" appeared in the adjectiveless Spider-Man book, which at the time was a showcase for Todd McFarlane. Larsen's story was a fill-in between arcs for McFarlane; he'd go on to do a six-issue Sinister Six story that features guest appearances from pretty much every character Larsen's ever liked.

The set-up's pretty simple. Peter and Mary Jane are talking about whether or not they should have kids, but Peter's a bit concerned about the potential risks. After all, Sue Richards nearly died every time she's gotten pregnant. With that in mind, Peter goes to ask Hank McCoy for more information.






I pretty much posted this for the silent panel at the end of the second page. Larsen's art has its ups and downs, and his writing's a bit rough in this issue (the fight scenes are pretty awful, and every woman wears a thong in Larsen Country), but he really nails the characters.