The Amazing Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt

Image courtesy of
Marvel Comics

The Amazing Spider-Man:  Kraven's Last Hunt
J.M. DeMatteis
Mike Zeck
1987

The Summary
Consumed by guilt and fear over death - specifically the deaths of Ned Leeds and Joe Face, and others who have followed - and his own mortality, Spider-Man finds himself face-to-face with Kraven, the Hunter, and expects the usual tussle.

Kraven, however, isn't out to cause a bit of mayhem.  He's out to spill blood and take revenge for the shame Spider-Man has thrust upon him - and, more to the point, crush the Spider consuming his thoughts and, by all accounts, his mind.

The Good
Kraven's Last Hunt is founded on excellent craftsmanship, being full of detail on both a narrative and artistic level.  This comic creates an intriguing mix of characters and stories, and it weaves a brutal and wonderful story that postulates the question:  What happens if Spider-Man is killed?  And, more to the point, what happens if someone takes his place?

In creating this comic, J.M. DeMatteis doesn't stop at sharing one story with a single narrator; he creates three simultaneous stories with three very different narrators.  Peter Parker, Kraven, and Vermin each share a facet of Kraven's Last Hunt that makes the comic suitably complex without bogging it down.  They create an intriguing and, sometimes, frightening tale that blends psychological horror and madness on a grand scale.

The art is, likewise, enjoyable.  It combines detail and depth, bringing life to the dialogue and, occasionally, realizing the ravings of a couple of man men - and, sometimes, it can send a chill down your spine.  Not in a bad way, of course.

The Bad
Given the extreme emotional turmoil - or, more accurately, trauma - several of these characters endure, it shouldn't come as a surprise that some internal monologues can go a little sideways.

And, by sideways, I mean completely off the rails.

The Ugly
If you really, really like Spider-Man - and you'd really, really hate to see what New York would be like without him - your heart will be crushed during the course of this novel.

Yes, crushed.