So I've been going through my old PP:SSM series lately and have rediscovered some great ("Owl/Octopus War") and not so great (Razorback??) stories and finally got around to committing to revisiting the entire 7-part original Carrion saga (#25-32).

I am not sure how many of you have read this story but I am guessing very few of you, if any, read it when it first was published in the late 1970's as I did. The story held a fair amount of suspense and shock value back then: was Carrion a resurrected Norman Osborn? After all, he knew Peter's ID (back when only he and Harry did), he had a man-purse and seemed hell-bent on revenge! The way this series also focused much more on Pete's college life and cast was also a refreshing change from the Jonah/Aunt May dynamic in the main book. But....the concept of Carrion was contrived even by comic book standards and, frankly, the story didn't warrant 7 issues. And, in the end, the conclusion seemed oddly rushed and anti-climactic considering all the build up.

Still, it is worth a read and was pretty ambitious of a young Bill Mantlo who went on to write some much, much better stories. Thoughts??