In Spider-Man #88, Norman Osborn framed Spider-Man for murder. The results of that frame up make up the four issues that constitute the first line-wide Spider-Man crossover since Peter Parker returned. (It hasn’t actually been that long.)
As far as Norman Osborn’s evil plots go, killing a criminal and making it look like Spider-Man did it is pretty mild. Especially considering all he did during the horrible Clone Saga.
Anyway, there’s a five million dollar bounty out for Spider-Man and so a bunch of villains and bounty hunters are looking to collect, while some Spider Friends are helping.
Like Punisher helps against Shotgun.
He’s actually hired by Norman Osborn to stop the same people who are bounty hunting. Why? To save his grandson Normie. Because Normie has been kidnapped.
You see, Spider-Man has to dodge all these bounty hunters while taking action to find Normie Osborn, who has been kidnapped by a new Green Goblin. See? The Spider Hunt title is a double-meaning: Spider-Man is both being hunted and hunting the Goblin. And now Norman has to protect Spider-Man long enough for Spidey to find his loved one.
The scene where Goblin takes Normie is good.
We see Normie thinking this GG is his dad because, you know, his dad was Green Goblin. Plus we the readers don’t know who this new Goblin is yet, so it’s kind of a misdirect.
I know it’s not sophisticated or anything, but I thought it was a nice touch.
The whole thing comes to a head when Green Goblin demands the $10 million Norman put up for Spider-Man as a kidnapping ransom. When Goblin goes to collect, Spider-Man gets involved and saves them. New Green Goblin escapes.
And, of course, Norman Osborn admits nothing.
We’re shown that Osborn knows how the new Goblin is, and has him in his employ at the end.
And after all that, Spider-Man is still a wanted criminal. So the “Spider Hunt” really was just Spidey hunting for Normie–because that’s all that gets resolved.
There’s also more of the whole crime families stories with Rose and Black Tarantula.
I wish it were being handled better. Once Tarantula learns Spider-Man is trying to save a kidnapped child because, you know, he may be a mass-murdering criminal but he has standards.
This story is fine for what it is, it just lacks a little drama because we know it’s not going to end with Normie dead or Norman exposed (or Spider-Man dead).