Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt

AUTHOR: DeMatteis, J. M.

ARTIST: Mike Zeck (illustrator); Bob McLeod (inker); Ian Tetrault (colorist); Rick Parker (letterer)

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION: 1987

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 1989

Publication History

Kraven’s Last Hunt is the name given to a six-part story, known as “Fearful Symmetry” in its original serial form, that ran across all of the comic books starring Spider-Man in late 1987: Web of Spider-Man, issues 31-32; Amazing Spider-Man, issues 293-294; and Spectacular Spider-Man, issues 131-132. Although the practice of having a story arc span several comics in a short period of time is now fairly common, this early experiment generated reader excitement by allowing the intense story to play out over two months rather than six. In this way, the story represents an early example of comics being marketed through an event.

For some time, DeMatteis, a writer who had already proven himself adept at both cosmic-level and street-level superhero stories, had wanted to explore a story in which a hero was seemingly killed and buried. Eventually finding a long-running but somewhat second-rate villain named Kraven the Hunter, DeMatteis produced one of the darkest of all Spider-Man tales. Artist Mike Zeck had drawn the Secret Wars (1984-1985) miniseries (in which Spider-Man first appeared in his black costume) and had enjoyed a long partnership with DeMatteis on Captain America.

Plot

In Kraven’s Last Hunt, a longtime Spider-Man villain succeeds in his maddened quest to defeat his nemesis. Not satisfied with simply killing his foe, Kraven assumes Spider-Man’s mantle in order to prove he is superior.

In part one of six, “The Coffin,” Kraven completes a series of exercises and rituals in preparation for his final confrontation with Spider-Man. Among other activities, this involves Kraven devouring live spiders in a special tank. After a brutal fight, Kraven shoots Spider-Man with a rifle and buries his dead foe.

In part two, “Crawling,” Kraven begins his impersonation of Spider-Man. Newlywed Mary Jane Watson Parker worries about her missing husband, Peter Parker (Spider-Man), and goes out on the rainy streets to look for him. Her search creates a sense of danger within the text because the agitated Vermin has started hunting. Mary Jane is attacked by muggers. Although she is saved by Spider-Man, the brutality of his counterattack leads her to realize this is not the man she loves.

Weeks pass before the story picks up in part three, “Descent.” During the past several weeks, Kraven has mounted increasingly savage attacks on the underworld. Despondent, Mary Jane visits Robbie Robertson, Peter’s editor, but is too worried to confide her real fears to him. Vermin’s killing spree continues until Kraven defeats him, the one thing that Spider-Man was never able to do alone.

Part four, “Resurrection,” focuses on Spider-Man’s fate. In a hallucinogenic dream state, Peter sees himself as a spider climbing up through soil. Ratlike creatures claw apart the spider, from which Peter emerges. Eventually Peter digs himself out of his grave and discovers that Kraven had used drugs to keep him in a deathlike state. Although he reunites with Mary Jane, Peter realizes that he must stop Kraven.

The confrontation between Spider-Man and Kraven in part five, “Thunder,” takes an unusual turn, with Kraven refusing to fight. Kraven’s madness has brought him to a serene state. He explains to Spider-Man that he is now superior to him. Kraven eventually sets Vermin loose, knowing that Spider-Man will have to go after him. After Spider-Man leaves, Kraven commits suicide.

Part six, “Ascending,” centers on Spider-Man’s capture of Vermin. Vermin is dangerous enough, but Spider-Man must chase him to the sewers, which reminds him of being buried alive. After capturing Vermin, Spider-Man returns to Mary Jane for a happy reunion.

Characters

•Spider-Man, a.k.a. Peter Parker, the protagonist, wears a black costume with a white, stylized spider emblem and a mask with white eyes. Bitten by a radioactive spider while in high school, Peter was instilled with the proportionate abilities of that spider. Haunted by a tragic mistake that lead to the death of Peter’s beloved Uncle Ben, Spider-Man continually proves that with great power comes great responsibility. After many years of crime-fighting, Peter has recently wed Mary Jane.

•Kraven the Hunter, a.k.a. Sergei Kravinov, the antagonist, is a dark-haired, bearded hunter who frequently wears animalistic garb. Thanks to mysterious jungle herbs and potions, he looks younger than he is. While his family escaped the Russian Revolution (1917), hard times in the United States prompted him to seek honor as a hunter. He has long sought to defeat the one prey that continually eludes him, Spider-Man.

•Vermin is a humanoid with a ratlike physiology. Mutated in the past by the evil Baron Zemo, he is now a confused and tormented figure, dwelling in the sewers beneath the city. He survives as a cannibal, attacking unsuspecting citizens. A vicious physical opponent with the ability to control rats, he was defeated by the combined efforts of Spider-Man and Captain America.

•Mary Jane Watson Parker is the attractive, redheaded wife of Peter Parker. A successful model, she is assertive and resourceful.

•Robbie Robertson is the white-haired, pipe-smoking editor of The Daily Bugle. Robbie often assigns Peter photographic work for the newspaper. Although never explicitly confirmed, Robbie has possibly deduced that Peter is Spider-Man. If this is true, he has decided not to reveal this secret.

Artistic Style

Faces are the most notable elements of the art of Kraven’s Last Hunt. This is a story of epic danger, terrifying choices, and a descent into madness, all of which is illustrated through many close-ups. In the final page of the first part, as Kraven’s madness is defined, his face goes from worried reverence to jubilant triumph while burying Spider-Man’s casket. A furrowed brow is often the difference between Vermin as sympathetic innocent and Vermin as cannibal killer.

Zeck’s male figures tend to be broad-shouldered and athletic. Even a sewer dweller like Vermin is built like the most devoted gym member. Kraven appears as an Adonis, his physical form a direct contrast to the increased age the narrative reveals him to be. There is room for fantastic imagery among this realism, however, the most disturbing example being the way Kraven’s pit of spiders transforms into a giant spider creature.

Throughout the story, figures are lit from unusual angles, with illumination often coming from below to create a sense of strangeness. In some shots, the black-costumed Spider-Man seems like an otherworldly shadow; only his white eyes and emblem suggest human detail. In other shots, such as when he claws his way out of his own grave, lighting brings a shine to the costume, doing more to define musculature. Rain effects and shadows further add tension to the tale.

Themes

As the archetypal hero of Silver Age comics, Spider-Man is no stranger to dangerous moments and a highly melodramatic personal life. That said, as a tale of revenge and madness, Kraven’s Last Hunt takes Spider-Man to surprisingly dark places.

On the surface, Kraven’s journey seems to bring him peace, but this serenity leads to the ultimate insanity of suicide. Although William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” (changed to “Spyder, Spyder”) is paraphrased throughout the story, the struggle with unknowable design and purpose defines Kraven’s condition. In a land that has destroyed his and his family’s honor, Kraven wants to become what he both fears and secretly admires. Achieving that goal destroys him.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man must come to understand his identity in relation to his opponent. Spider-Man has lost the battle and dies. His struggle from the grave is a rediscovery of his humanity, a play on the link between great power and great responsibility, which is a theme that has always made the character significant. Spider-Man capturing Vermin is framed as sympathetic aid, an attempt to bring the character some assistance.

Finally, there is a surprising theme of mysticism in the tale, something unusual in Spider-Man’s adventures. Throughout the story, Spider-Man, Kraven, and Vermin seem connected. As Kraven plans, Spider-Man feels a sense of dread and Vermin experiences panicked agitation. There are also moments of clarity, surprising for a superhero comic. Is the gestalt spider that attacks Kraven real or a figment of his deranged imagination? That is never explicitly determined, making the scene even more intriguing.

Impact

Curiously, dying was one of the best things ever to happen to Kraven. The dark themes of this story helped distinguish the character from the rest of Spider-Man’s extensive gallery of rogues. Although superhero comics in general and Marvel Comics in particular are legendary for resurrecting dead characters, the urge to bring Kraven back was resisted for a surprisingly long time. He did not return until 2010’s Amazing Spider-Man story collectively titled “The Grim Hunt.” Commercially speaking, it would have been more profitable to bring Kraven back sooner, but the story seemed to have respect among fans and creators alike.

Of course, an inviolate status does not keep comics creators from playing with the characters. Kraven’s legacy features strongly in “Torment,” the collective title for a 1990 story arc running in Spider-Man, issues 1-5, by Todd McFarlane. In this tale, Kraven’s lover, Calypso, seeks revenge upon Spider-Man, ensnaring the Lizard into her plot with jungle potions and magic. Kraven was also added to flashback tales, such as a 2001 fight against the original team of X-Men in John Byrne’s X-Men: The Hidden Years, issues 16-17.

Similar thematic elements of this story were featured in writer J. Michael Straczynski’s controversial run on The Amazing Spider-Man from 2001 to 2007. Straczynski explored the idea that Spider-Man’s powers were also mystical in nature, suggesting that Peter Parker received his powers not so much by accident but rather according to the plans of a magical Spider entity.

Finally, the success of Kraven’s Last Hunt encouraged a number of multipart crossover events for Spider-Man. The best known of these is “Maximum Carnage,” a fourteen-chapter story that ran across the Spider-Man family of comics in 1993.

Further Reading

Byrne, John. X-Men: The Hidden Years (2001).

Kelly, Joe, et al. Spider-Man: The Grim Hunt (2010).

McFarlane, Todd. Spider-Man: Torment (1990).

Bibliography

Blake, William. “The Tyger.” Songs of Experience. 1794. Reprint. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover, 2011.

DeMatteis, J. M. Introduction to Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt. New York: Marvel Comics, 2006.

Mondello, Salvatore. “Spider-Man: Superhero in the Liberal Tradition.” Journal of Popular Culture 9, no. 1 (Summer, 1976): 232-238.