Customer Reviews

Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt (Marvel Premiere Classic)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This may well be my favorite Spider-man story of all time. This has always been regarded as a fan favorite and high water mark for Spider-man tales and definitely as dark as his adventures have ever been. The story is phychologically gripping and frightening. Most of it is seen through the eyes of Kraven the Hunter who is spiraling into severe madness. The art from premier artist Mike Zeck is spot on in this dark, gothic tale. If you are new to Spider-man and are looking to explore some of his past great stories, or just looking to re-read a classic... you found a winner.

"Kraven's Last Hunt" is a true masterpiece of the comic book medium, and it still stands as the best Spider-Man related graphic novel to date.

This story alone should be proof enough that J.M. DeMatteis was the best author to ever be put on the Spider-Books, and the artwork by Mike Zeck complements the writing wonderfully.

This a book that must be read by all those interested or seeking an interest in comics, and of course all those interested in the greatest superhero of them all, the amazing Spider-Man.

The mysterious yet exhilerating gloom of "Kraven's Last Hunt" makes for one hell of an entertaining read, supported by spotless characterization and an incredible insight into the minds of Peter, Mary Jane, Vermin, and of course, Sergei Kravenoff, the man known as Kraven The Hunter.

There's no question about it, this one's a must own.

I read this story when it first came out as a cross-over storyline spanning all the Spider-man titles at the time. I was hooked! I eagerly awaited the next instalment till it came.
This brings the story together (four or five issues worth) in one book.
It's hard to tell for whom to root for. The knee-jerk reaction, of course, would be Spidey. But yet, Kraven The Hunter, for a villian had both honor and integrity. You gotta respect that!!

The story is told from both Spidey and Kraven's point of view.It shows what's on the mind of Kraven. And that is COMPLETELY defeating Spider-man.
Without spoiling the ending, the reader is left asking themselves "Who REALLY won??"

My tastes run a bit eccentric in my comics. I tend to like comics that take super heroes that have been around for a while and giving them an existential twist. Spiderman goes along this route and knocks the ball right out of the park.

The story centers around the lesser known spidey villain: Kraven, a sport hunter who lives for the thrill of the chase. As the title suggests, Kraven feels his time is coming to an end and seeks to end his ways by besting the strongest of all, Spiderman! Spidey has his own problems with a cannibalistic man rat named Vermin terrorizing the city.

This book has a lot of themes, but the major crest is the duality between comfort and fear. Fear is a human trait that each of the characters experience and their unique experiences serve as ways to re-examine the issue. Mary Jane seeks out friends, Peter gives in to the comfort of nothingness, Kraven hunts and Vermin hides. Each character has something haunting them and their confrontations with themselves are the crux of the story. There is barely any dialogue at all.

This is one of the best graphic novels I have read in a long time. If you are a fan of this book, I would also recommend Incredible Hulk: The End written by Keith David and The Sentry graphic novel written by Paul Jenkins.

One can only imagine the frustration that ate away at that crazed Russian. For Sergei Kravenoff, notoriously known as Kraven the Hunter, it's always been about the hunt. He couldn't care less about material riches or power, or rather the sort of power often sought by other villains. Kraven the Hunter had prided himself on his natural ability to stalk and capture the most dangerous of game. Until he set his sights on Spider-Man. The wallcrawler, crafty and elusive, would prove to be the one prey who would always evade his grasp. It's enough to push Kraven the Hunter over the edge. In 1987, a consumed Sergei Kravenoff lays out his final snare. And he catches Spider-Man. And beats him. He beats the Spider.

In the wake of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and WATCHMEN, comic books everywhere strived to become darker and grittier, and the Spider-man titles followed suit. KRAVEN'S LAST HUNT demonstrates that J.M. DeMatteis, when not sneakily planting whoopee cushions with Keith Giffen, can craft a nerve-wracking psychological thriller. This tale of insanity and terror chronicles the final and most harrowing encounter between Spider-Man and Kraven the Hunter. And although there would be other incarnations of Kraven to follow (which would include his revenge-minded daughter), this original, definitive version remains dead and gone to this very day. So shame on Bucky Barnes and Barry Allen.

This trade reprints the acclaimed story arc, collecting WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #31-32, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #293-294, and SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #131-132. It features the artwork of Mike Zeck, one of my favorite artists when it comes to Spidey in his black threads (no, not the alien costume). If nothing else, Mike Zeck made his mark in comic books with his dynamic stuff here and in SECRET WARS. KRAVEN'S LAST HUNT is one of the two most hard-hitting, street level story arcs written in the 1980s (the other being "The Death of Jean DeWolff"), and I remember my jaw dropping to my lap a few times as DeMatteis introduced one shocking moment after another. Around this time, newlyweds Peter Parker and Mary Jane were still in their honeymoon phase, and so it's an even more brutal punch to the gut, what happens next.

I didn't really think that Spidey had gotten killed when Kraven shot him. But it sure made for killer suspense. Kraven buries the wallcrawler and then assumes the Spider-Man identity, to prove that he can be a better Spider than the original. He's certainly a more savage one. The next few days, the good citizens of New York City are watched over by a seething webspinner. In this guise, Kraven even goes after and beats the crapdoodle out of Vermin, this sewer-haunting half-rat, half-human mutant. It's a boost to the old ego for Kraven, having accomplished this solo, whereas, a while ago, it required both Spidey and Captain America to take Vermin down.

Days later, Peter Parker claws his way out of his grave. A hell of a powerful moment.

But this isn't a Spider-Man story as much as it is a Kraven the Hunter one. We certainly don't see Spidey cracking with the jokes. We do see Sergei Kravenoff off and on muttering about how "They said my mother was insane." and this is what we call foreshadowing and also final last words. And yet the dark psychological exploration isn't confined to Kraven. Mary Jane Watson's fear becomes manifested reality. She's always harbored this concern regarding Peter's costumed alter ego, and in this arc a terrified MJ tries to keep herself together as she copes with her missing husband. J.M. DeMatteis really tightens the screws. And then, for the finale, he does something different. Instead of the expected brawl between the Hunter and the Spider, we get something else, something off the beaten path, something not safe. In the end, we get a triumphant Kraven the Hunter. This story was so original back in the day. J.M. DeMatteis took a villain I didn't much care for and rendered him fascinating. KRAVEN'S LAST HUNT is a gripping read, and haunting and so very cool. And Mike Zeck rules all.

It has been two decades since I read the six comic books that made up "Kraven's Last Hunt." This is because once upon a time my brother and I divided up my comic book collection and he became responsible for procuring and storing all of the Spider-Man titles. But there was an end of the year inventory reduction sale at my local comic book store and when I saw this on the shelf I decided to pick it up. I almost did not recognize it, because the last time I saw this trade paperback it had a cover where Kraven is cradling a gun; it turns out that art is now on the back cover and the front, as you can see, has a blood red picture of Spider-Man emerging from his grave.

"Kraven's Last Hunt" is written by J.M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Mike Zeck, whose pencils were inked by Bob McLeod. Looking back now I can still remember how unusual it was to have a six-part story told in a two month period by telling it in the three Spider-Man titles. That is why this collection brings together issues #31-32 of "Web of Spider-Man," #293-294 from "Amazing Spider-Man," and #131-32 of "Spectacular Spider-Man." For this edition DeMatteis has written an introduction entitled, "Confession: I Didn't Write 'Kraven's Last Hunt,'" which tells how his idea of a story wherein a superhero is buried alive and emerges from their grave was originally intended to be about Wonder Man and his brother, the Grim Reaper. That did not pan out and then DeMatteis tried to make it a Batman and Joker story, only to be thwarted because DC already had a pretty good Batman and Joker story in production, namely "Batman: The Killing Joke." The story continues and DeMatteis lays out how in the fullness of time Spider-Man became the story's hero, Kraven its villain, and Vermin became a necessary part of the tale.

I always thought that Kraven was a second rate villain, and that was on a good day. He certainly was not in the same class as Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin. Ironically, this is part of what makes "Kraven's Last Hunt" so great, because it deals quite dramatically with the inherent ineptitude of Kraven as a villain. In fact, Kraven/Kravenov appears on more pages of these six issues than does Spider-Man/Peter Parker. This is not surprising when you consider that Spider-Man is buried alive for two entire issues. DeMatteis and Zeck had created Vermin as a villain for Captain America, while working on that title, which explains why they decided to throw him into the mix with Spidey and Kraven. This proves to be another masterstroke because nobody in the pantheon of Spider-man villains that was extant at that time was going to produce the visceral reaction of Vermin, which was critical to the line that the story draws between Spider-Man and Kraven. DeMatteis and Zeck also have the added advantage of this being the final Kraven story, which certainly heightens its dramatic impact as well.

Now, I do not know if they were part of the previous trade paperback edition, but included in the back are Zeck's original pencils for all six covers (full page) and the first two parts of the story (done four to a page). I have always had fond memories of Zeck's artwork for this series, but that is nothing compared to seeing his original pencils because they are even more impressive. If anything, I sort of wish they had never been inked. I have seen plenty of original pencils by comic book artists that have half as much detail and shading as what Zeck does on these pages. As I reread this story again, I was wondering if I would still think of it as being one of the Top 10 Spider-Man story arcs of all-time, and the answer is, yes, it is still that good.

This was a very entertaining read. The story was very good and the art was even better. It does a great job of putting you into the mind of Kraven. You really get both sides of the story which really makes you have to pick either Spidey's or Kraven's side. Great read.

Lured in by the fantastic reviews I picked this up expecting a masterpiece, the best Spider Man story ever.

It isn't.

(25 year old spoilers follow)

It starts with a brutally effective scene, Spider-Man trapped in a net with Kraven aiming a gun at his head. Spider-Man even stops to think about how Kraven is just going to drag him back to his lair, rant and rave a while and then Spidey can escape. And then Kraven shoots him. And takes his body home. And buries him.

After that the story is uneven. There are brilliant moments as Kraven tries to prove he is the better man by wearing Spider-man's costume and fighting crime in it. There are mad moments when he eats spiders to gain their power. But there's also a lot of nonsensical psychobabble and grim defeatism. That's probably what bugged me the most, this would be a fine Batman story but it has none of the humor or joy of a great Spider-Man book, Spidey in fact does almost nothing and spends most of his time as a pawn of Kraven.

It's not a bad story by any means but I think it's not a great one.

Think of a cornerstone superhero comic arc and the usual suspects come to mind. The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Ed Brubaker's Captain America run... But few people will mention Kraven's Last Hunt. This can be attributed to Comics' overcrowded pool of stories and lore. But I must say the main culprit could be due to the fact J.M Dematteis isn't exactly a household name. It doesn't matter because Kraven's Last Hunt's one of the most poignant of Spider-man stories, past or present. It has everything one could ever expect a Spider-man story to have; ambiguity, villains, tight fighting, moral conflict, heartbreaks and Mary Jane...

Dematteis has always had an unconventional style of constructing his stories, both in the overall and the page-by-page flow of the issues. He starts off by getting to his main villain right away with one of the most allegorical sequences for a starting scene. Kraven fights hand to hand with a panther and a gorilla. The scene couldn't be done better as it achieves within it three things. Kraven has always been a hunter. That's one. He has never shied away from bloodshed and violence. Two, he is a superb fighter, a ferocious competitor with no small tenacity. And three, it is a prelude to the inevitable struggle that is to come, the one against Peter.

And the scene that follows further expresses the ominous fact that the fight against Spider-man would be what the title says: Kraven's Last Hunt indeed. What could be said for such a plot that highlights more the struggles of the villains than the heroes? But that doesn't mean there's no struggle on Spider-man's part (an absurd idea from any angle, which Spider-man story worth its salt doesn't have an impossible situation for Peter to deal with?). He does have rat-like villain Vermin to deal with, that's one, but the struggles Peter deals with here aren't physical but psychological. Finding a group of thugs grabbing Mary Jane is one such struggle, more emotion wrecking for Spider-man rather than physically taxing. The book has tons of inner conflicts like these, which makes one wonder if anyone can tug at the heartstrings as tightly as Dematteis. He is the master of creating tension and conflict.

But the fights aren't knockoffs certainly. Spiderman's fights against Vermin are exciting and the captions of Kraven's thoughts, how he himself will be exacting terrible pain to the web slinger when the time comes, overlapping the action reads as appropriately as any caption from the beginning of the arc. It all reads very dense which is exactly the kind of story to read after reading, say, Watchmen? Surprisingly enough, the details, right down to the motivations of the characters, never goes out of line.

In a sentence, Kraven's Last Hunt could be described as one of the most beautifully written Spider-man stories of all time. And one of the most beautifully illustrated as well. Mike Zeck has that knack for creating dirty, realistic art that still manages to look lush and attractive. Dematteis could write as well as anyone.

If you are looking for a darker story told mostly through a villians eyes, then this is a story for you. The forward by the author is interesting and you can tell that events in his life shaped the mode of this story. The art is well done, definitely has an 80's vibe but it works well. I don't know much about Spiderman lore but this story makes Kraven a top notch villian.