review by james hanson
the intro:
During the late 70s and throughout the 80's, it seemed like creators were out
to shake up their character's worlds. For the longest time, superhero comics
have been basically about maintaining the status quo--the same characters
live, the hero always wins, and the bad guy goes to jail until he manages to
escape. One of the first examples of changing this was way back when Gwen
Stacy was thrown off of a bridge to shocking results for fandom and the old
webhead alike. It definitely upped the odds but as far as long lasting change
to comic books altogether it created a revolution in that it showed that
characters actually are killable and that change can actually happen in the
world of four-color masterpieces. Later on, Frank Miller shattered Batman's
world with the Dark Knight Returns and brought forth a new trend to superhero
comics, to have the character's lives and worlds altered by horrible tragedy and
violence.
The vast majority were boring, trite books where the hero's scarred
and grim persona went out and shot or clawed their way through hundreds of
villains, leaving them for dead all while providing Frank Miller type
captions into the heroes thoughts, deep thoughts like "These bastards will
pay...took everything away from me...nothing left to go back to...blah blah
blah". But every so often a genuine and real creative person would take
advantage of a greater creative freedom and test their character's mettle.
The Longbow Hunters was fantastically written and drawn, and provided real
change for the character and breathed new life into him. Eventually, the
amazing Spider-Mans time would come for a grim and gritty saga in which the
wall-crawler would be tested in a way he never had been. And, much to
everyones joy, it didn't suck. It is one of the most famous sagas of
Spidey's career--Kraven's Last Hunt.
the plot: Probably the stand out moment in this story and almost any comic
storywhere an event like this takes place, is the fact that Kraven kills
himself. Would this story still be remembered the way it is if that hadn't
happened? Probably not. Would it still be a good story? Yes. J.M. DeMattesis
does a great job of the introduction of the two warriors--Kraven in a dream
world that spills over into reality, contemplating his life and goals in a
manic frenzied attack on his trophies. This immediately sets it apart from
most comics in that we're not use to being this up close into the psyche of a
villainous character. This seems beyond revenge and it seems to be about
honor. Kraven is immediately identified as having radically different morals
and codes in which he lives by than any normal human being. Spider-Man
himself is contemplating his own morality. Clearly, the pieces are being set
into place for a major confrontation and with this build up, it's not the
usual hero/villain confrontation. The battle seems pretty brief and violent.
No trading wise-cracks, no long rants about world conquest or revenge. The
sharp contrast between Spider-Man's thoughts and what is happening stick out
most in my mind. He jokes, hoping to set bait for this villain. It doesn't
work. Spider-Man recognizes the difference in Kraven but it's too late. Here,
the writer has tried to convey the sense of this being radically different in
that Spider-Man is treating it as he always does while his villain is most
certainly not. It's apparent also, that Kraven is the star of this story and
not Spider-Man.
Kraven's violent and murderous attempt at becomig Spider-Man is
amazingly well done--no wise cracks or snappy banter just violence upon
violence--no haymakers and punches pulled--Kraven is out for blood. It
culminates in a battle with Vermin and Kraven's lack of compassion is
evident. In sharp contrast to Spider-Man, who always uses combat as a last
resort and still then wants only to stop or help his attackers, Kraven is
clearly out to conquer his foe and subject him to his will. Finally
Spider-Man pulls himself from the grave in a dream sequnce that also spills
into reality, echoing Kraven's earlier scene from the story's beginning. He
swings back home, consumates with Mary Jane and seeks justice from Kraven the
Hunter. Kraven is there but is oddly at peace. Showing Spider-Man his
superiority has released an almost jubilant glee from within Kraven.
Spider-Man is back down to reality however and sees the glee as warped and
confused. Kraven then releases Vermin in an attempt to lure Spider-Man away
from himself. As Spidey swings into action Kraven enjoys a somber,
sentimenetal moment and his last thoughts before placing a rifle in his mouth
and executing himself. Spider-Man captures Vermin and lives happily ever
after. For now.
the review: This story is pretty good and an entertaining read, but doesn't
quite seem to match up in terms of quality with it's other 80's counterparts
like say, The Killing Joke and Longbow Hunters. My problem is with the lack
of depth in Spider-Man's return. We hear him talk about the incredible horror
of what Kraven's done, but it doesn't really seem to have affected him too
much other than that. I would have prefered a more in depth look at what
spider-Man's thinking and what Spider-Man's feeling. He apparently wasn't
shaken up enough that he was willing to forgo a roll in the hay with his
wife. This moment could be interpreted as a way of saying to MJ and the
reader that he may not return and this was a last moment type thing, but I
don't really get that feeling. It feels more like he missed his wife and
wanted her company. After pulling a termednous ordeal onto the hero, like
burying him for two weeks, Spider-Man should be significantly changed
mentally and that change should hit the reader like a ton of bricks. Instead,
it just seemed like he was really mad at Kraven, but just as mad as
Spider-Man been in the past at far less trespasses against himself.
While I'm
dwelling on the negative quite a bit, don't let that fool you--this is a damn
good story. Kraven's intensely fascinating here, his unique perspectives and
beliefs are really intriguing and make him a truly wonderful villain. You
almost don't care that he's a villain and begin to feel for the character.
His suicide is bittersweet--almost sad, yet in many ways a victory for the
character. The battles he faces are almost poetic in their savage violence,
as each one pulls him closer to the realization of his inner self and true
purpose. A villain that is not heroic, but not evil either. However, in the
end, with such a tremedous attack on Spider-Man, his part is woefully
underplayed and would have liked it more if he shared the same on camera time
as Kraven. The art is perfect, one of the finest jobs on any Spider-Man
book. Zeck's Kraven is powerful and majestic like a lion while Spider-Man is
eerie and shadowy as he should be. The story-telling is almost cinematic and
something of that is owed to the beautifully soft colors of this story.
the straight poop: 4 out of 5 stars. This belongs on the shelf of every
Spider-Man enthusiast. It is an intensely intimate portrait of Kraven the
Hunter. I deduct a star because it should have been equally intimate with the
wall-crawler.