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This is the first volume of the Marvel Premiere Hardcover Classics which is up to Vol. 12 as of this writing. It collects great, classic, modern age stories that have long been out of print to bring to the masses once more. The first volume was the reprinting of Kraven’s Last Hunt, a legendary story which I heard tons of good things about (in fact, when I bought this at my Local Comic Store, or LCS for short, he said, “they should just make a movie of this.”) but never got a chance to read until now. Will it fall under the hype or will it still be an awesome read even 20 years after it was first written? The hardcover collects the epic 6-parter that ran in the pages of Spider-Man, specifically Web of Spider-Man #’s 31-32, Amazing Spider-Man #’s 293-294, and Spectacular Spider-Man #’s 131-132. For those keeping note, this is still the black-suited Spidey. Mike DeMatteis wrote it and Mike Zeck drew it. Okay, we’re all caught up so let’s see how it goes.
Spoilers Ahead
The collection starts with a recent introduction (2006) from writer DeMatteis, and it is a great little intro. He talks about having the idea for the story long before writing Spidey and spoke of the Story as a unique being or entity. He pitched it as a Wonder Man/Grim Reaper story which was nixed by Tom DeFalco and even pitched it twice as a Batman story! The first time, there was some other story called, “The Killing Joke,” that caused the story to be declined and the second time it was just bounced. Enter JM working at Marvel and on the Spidey books. The idea finally had a chance to breath and he even wrote a new villain for the story! Of course, boredom hit one day and he was looking through a Marvel Handbook and came on Kraven, a character he thought of as silly. Then he saw he was Russian, the wheels started turning (as well as comparisons to Dostoyevsky) and we had our villain. From there, it just blossomed, and he credits Zeck’s pencils as a big part of its popularity. He says he was at a dark place in his life when he wrote it and it came through in the Story. It was a very in depth introduction.
After all the talk and hype about this 6-parter, I was expecting a lot and it wasn’t going to surprise me if I was let down by it. I wasn’t. This was just an amazing story from start to finish. It was a very dark tale which is a lot different from the Marvel stuff written in the late 80’s. It starts with Kraven, a man who is near the end of his wits and the end of his life. He has one mission left, the one thing he hasn’t conquered, the Spider. The spider here is Spider-Man and the first issue opens with Kraven drawing Spidey out and actually defeating Spidey. He buries him after seemingly shooting him and Kraven does the unthinkable, he becomes Spider-Man. As we read these next four issues, we find Kraven acting as Spider-Man and coming face to face with Vermin, an old foe defeated by Captain America and Spider-Man. In a side note, Vermin kept calling Captain America Captain Flagg, which may have been a shot at Howard Chaykin. Anyway, Kraven battles and captures Vermin. Spider-Man eventually digs himself out of the grave and is shocked that it is two weeks later. He was buried for two whole weeks.
Spider-Man is absolutely livid that he’s been out for two weeks and finds Kraven, who is oddly demure about the whole thing. Kraven leads Spidey to where Vermin is. Kraven did the whole thing to prove that he “killed” Spider-Man, became him and even took out a foe Spider-Man himself could not defeat, thus proving he is better than Spider-Man. Spidey has to deal with Kraven (who is quite mad) and a newly freed Vermin and while Spidey is off battling Vermin (in the final issue), Kraven, content that he has conquered his spider, takes his life.
-The Bottom Line- This was just an emotional driven story where a man, Kraven, is going insane, remembering his past and taking into his hands everything he could to finally defeat Spider-Man, which he does in stunning fashion. No doubt about it, Kraven wins. We hardly see Spider-Man the whole series (except the last issue) and he’s not really needed. This is a Kraven story and DeMatteis does just a beautiful job writing the tortured soul of Kraven and we can feel everything he is going through, his pain and suffering and the highs of his final victory. Vermin was just a tool in the story but used well, and Spider-Man’s feelings when he is unburied was unbridled rage and even fear. You can literally feel these emotions coming off the page and that’s why people love this so much. When you get emotionally divested in the characters (either Kraven, Vermin, or Spider-Man) you not only enjoy the story, but you feel as if you are there. That’s what makes it memorable and so great, even 20 years later. This is probably the Spider-Man story of the modern age.
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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