Walk The Savage Land!

As Spider-Man busts up yet another bank robbery, J. Jonah Jameson meets with his fellows at the Daily Bugle to try to find a quick way to bring profits back to the Daily Bugle. When they happen upon a news report about an explorer named Mr. Calkin who's traveled to the Savage Land, and hear his stories about a strange gigantic creature out there, Jameson figures this is the scoop that the Bugle needs to stay afloat and decide to bring some of his staff to the Savage Land in order to snap pictures of this elusive beast.

When Joe calls Peter to secure him for the expedition, Peter instantly agrees as he needs the money. This upsets Gwen, and Peter decides to take her to the Bugle with him. When he arrives there, Jameson sees what he has thought was missing from this expedition to begin with: A woman's perspective, and asks Gwen if she'd like to come. In spite of Peter's reservations about the idea, she agrees to come along.

Traveling to the Savage Land, the group almost has a disaster when their helicopter almost crashes into a pterodactyl. After exploring around for a bit, they come across a statue built by the natives with a giant gong on the front. When Mr. Calkin hits it, it summons the savages who built it, plus the creature they worship, the immense alien creature known as Gog.

The creature grabs Gwen and leaves, Peter tries to stop the monster but is swatted away and lands in a nearby river. Gwen is then taken to a man who's "adopted" the monster, it's none other than Spider-Man's old foe, Kraven the Hunter. As Caulkin and Jameson go after the monster, they run into Ka-Zar and his sabertooth tiger Zabu and enlist his aid in trying to find Gwen.

Meanwhile, Peter has changed into Spider-Man and begins his own search for Gwen as well. After fighting off a giant snake, Spider-Man makes a misstep when he accidentally jumps into some quicksand.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Kraven the Hunter, Gog, Ka-Zar, Zabu, Gwen Stacy, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson

Continuity Notes

• The appearance of Mr. Calkin appearing on the Dick Cavett show should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

• When Peter asks why there hasn't been a series of reports about life in the Savage Land, only to hear that it had already been done. That occurred in Astonishing Tales #1.