Death Week Mega-Post - Kraven's Last Hunt

[alexanderlucard]

This has always been my favourite Spidey story of all time, so I figured what better time to post it than during this week.

Beneath the cut are 28 pages from the 146 page Marvel Premiere Classic hardcover or specifically, seven pages from Web of Spider-Man #31, four pages from Amazing Spider-Man #293, four and a third pages from Spectacular Spider-Man #131, six pages from Web of Spider-Man #32, and six pages from Amazing Spider-Man #294.





























































Suggested Tags: Char: Spider-Man, Char: Kraven The Hunter/Sergei Kravinov, Creator: J.M. DeMatteis, Creator: Mike Zeck

Comments

[qob]

let me be the first to say Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? That aint the Kraven the Hunter I remember.

[sherkahn]

Kraven wanted to go out on top of his game... with all the scores settled and every challenge he set himself to completed. Anything else from that point on would be a diminishing of himself as a man and a hunter, and he took himself out.

"And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer." - Hans Gruber, Die Hard

[proteus_lives]

That quote fits.

[silverzeo]

WTF?

[scenesaroundjackson.wordpress.com]

still a fucking classic
esp when spidey crawls out of his own grave with the power of only three words: "I love you."

[jcbaggee]

Mary Jane and Peter loving each other and begin supportive, with Mary Jane's memory being what drives Peter to live. A villain with an arc, a plot and a memorable personality, and a powerful end that doesn't feature gratuitous violence and/or rape?

Oh bullshit, who'd want to read that.

(On a more serious note, I do love this story so much.)

[jcbaggee]

And while there's more blood in Kraven's death than I remember, it drove the story forward and works within the context of the plot. Ergo, not gratuitous.

[alexanderlucard]

If I had been alloted a few more pages I'd have done the few where Mary Jane is attacked by a gang and is saved by Spider-Kraven or the set where she gets this sensation that Peter is dead and then kills a rat in their apartment.

[jcbaggee]

But again, not gratuitous, as those moments serve to further characterization and overall plot, and aren't just GRIM!DARK!RAPE!SEX!DEATH

[alexanderlucard]

Agreed. I don't really see Kraven's Last Hunt as GRIMDARK. I mean, through it all it's primarily a love story between Mary Jane and Peter, along with a really strong character analysis of Kraven the Hunter. Kraven even points out he is over seventy at this point and looks far younger than he really is due to herbs and jungle tonics. I always viewed Kraven's narrative as an elderly man who may possibly be bi-polar and his descent into dementia (partly from his age, partly from bi-polar being a genetically inherited mental disorder, and partly from the drugs kept to keep his body young and vital).

You have this ultimate hunter who always viewed Peter Parker not as a man, not as even Spider-Man but as a SPIDER who walked like a man and through this entire six part arc, he comes to realize Spider-Man is a MAN who happened to be spider-esque. He finally caught his ultimate game and unlike some hunters who kill their prey simply to kill, Kraven did a "catch and release" on Spidey, and having achieved his ultimate goal in life, killed himself before madness/dementia could claim his mind. Euthanasia if you will instead of having what would remain of his mind trapped in a very healthy but slowly (if at all) aging body.

[proteus_lives]

Loved, loved this story.

They take Kraven from crazy-tits Tarzan wannabe to a character with real depths and goals.

True story-telling.

[alexanderlucard]

Agreed. I think a lot of younger readers who only know JM from JLI (My favorite comic run of all time) should read his runs on Spidey, Defenders and I, Vampire.

[starwolf_oakley]

By a funny coincidence, just yesterday I was listening to a podcast that discussed this story. They said the only real flaw was Vermin, a character DeMatteis had created himself in either CAPTAIN AMERICA or MARVEL TEAM-UP, as the villain Spider-Man couldn't defeat on his own. They said using Vermin was a little self-serving.

After this story, DeMatteis seemed to run himself ragged with stories that said "Suicide is bad, Mkay?" KRAVEN'S LAST HUNT might be the comic book equivalent of "Seven Pounds" or "'Night, Mother." Don't read it if you're depressed.

[okkult3000]

In the old TP I had, DeMatteis said that the editors wanted him to show that, on no uncertain terms, Kraven was insane when he killed himself. They thought that otherwise, the story would glorify suicide.

[thehefner]

I should hate this story out of principle, as Spider-Man is the last character who should be getting the grim 'n gritty treatment. Nope, still a masterpiece. Or at least, up there with the very best that DeMatteis has written.

Now, McFarlane's TORMENT, that's a shitty grim 'n gritty Spider-Man story...

[okkult3000]

Man, Torment pissed me off. I got it for my birthday once, and read it in one sitting. It was AWFUL.

[skalja]

I think the reason this story succeeds is that the grim n' grit serves a narrative purpose, instead of being the narrative purpose.

[okkult3000]

I've always had fond memories of this story, because I read it during a near-month long series of snow days in middle school.
While it's a lot darker than I prefer my Spider-Man stories, I think it's good enough to justify its existence.

[baihu]

It's one of the most read of my completely uncoordinated and unorganized comic pile. Heck, I just read it about a week ago from this post! Bloody intense, from start to finish!

[big_daddy_d]

Brilliant stuff. Just brilliant.