KRAVEN THE HUNTER versus SPIDER-MAN

The Coffin (Marvel)
Where: Web of Spider-Man #31 When: October 1987
Why: JM DeMatteis How: Mike Zeck

The Story So Far...
Sergei Kravinoff is an old man. A man sustained by herbs & roots and an iron will. A man whose family left behind a Russia with no room for his aristocratic dynasty. Whose only purpose now is to pursue the wild hunt.

Kraven the Hunter has suffered many indignities in his long life. A life he is quite certain must end soon -- but not before another hunt. Not before he consumes the many poisons of the arachnid and uses them to fuel domination of his ultimate foe.

While Spider-Man pays one last visit to a two-bit crook in a dive bar open casket -- he has no way of knowing his preoccupation with death is shared by a predator who has him in his sights. For he is the target of Kraven's Last Hunt!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Spider-Man 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Spider-Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Draw 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Spider-Man 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Spider-Man 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Kraven 4 (Trained)
Energy: Kraven 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Spider-Man 29 (Metahuman)

Sergei Kravinoff is an expert big game hunter who refined his body and senses to the peak of human ability. Further enhancements from an herbal formula created by Calypso allow him to wrestle the deadliest game into submission with his bare hands -- graduating Kraven the Hunter to super-human prey!

Kraven most famously stalks Spider-Man, but he's also had memorable run-ins with the likes of Tigra, Man-Wolf, Vermin, Daredevil, and Ka-Zar.

Many of these opponents are a little out of his weight class, but the thrill of the hunt lies in the challenge, and Kraven's skill & tactical acumen more than makes up for any natural advantages his target might possess.

Kraven's exploits have been adapted across multiple mediums, most recently appearing in PlayStation's Spider-Man 2 video game, and soon to feature on the big screen in a live-action Kraven the Hunter movie.

We previously took a look at an incarnation of Kraven from the MTV Spider-Man animated series, which ended, as it so often does, with Spider-Man victorious, but today's battle is a little different. This time Kraven is driven by every past indignity and humiliation he's ever suffered. This time Kraven is playing for keeps.

Will ritual preparation -- and a driven belief that this holdover from a forgotten age must soon die -- finally deliver Kraven to the ultimate victory? This isn't Kraven's final hunt, but it is leading him towards it. Let's see what happened!

The Tape: Spider-Man Ranking: Spider-Man (#2)

What Went Down...

Caught in the night's rain and deep thought: Spider-Man is alerted to a coming danger by his preternatural spider-senses.

He leaps clear of an incoming dart, leaving it to poke harmlessly into a nearby billboard -- while also jumping into the path of a second shot! It hits its target!

The projectile sticks into Spider-Man's neck, administering a poison that rushes through his body. For a moment he has a vision of Joe Face: a two-bit crook who used to feed him information, but is lying flat in a wooden box in a local dive.

Death is on his mind, but Spider-Man refuses to yield when he's confronted with Kraven the Hunter on an adjacent rooftop enclosure.

He shoots a web to pull himself across the divide with a mighty leap.

Again the toxin causes Spider-Man's mind to drift to visions of the recently deceased. A dangerous distraction Kraven is all too ready to seize upon!

The Hunter strikes with a wooden staff -- smacking Spider-Man off the enclosure to a lower rooftop level!

The Spider lands hard on his back & shoulders, precariously balanced on the edge of the roof. His muscles begin to stiffen and he can hardly move himself -- effects of the drug now coursing through his veins.

Kraven aims to further immobilize his prey -- ensnaring him in a weighted net!

Whatever the mesh is made of, it's tough enough to resist the weakened Spider.

Kraven drops from the enclosure, brandishing a rifle as he calmly approaches.

Spider-Man's addled mind races wildly between reassuring thoughts of Kraven's usual non-lethal modus operandi -- and the danger of a hunting rifle.

Spidey continues to try to free himself from the net. He can see there's something different about the look in Kravinoff's eyes. This isn't the Kraven he's usually faced. No matter how many times he reminds The Hunter of his usual desire to win with his bare hands -- this time something is different!

Kraven lines up his shot as Spider-Man desperately continues to struggle against the net and more visions of Joe Face. The thought that tomorrow it might be somebody else who dies eats at him. Somebody he loves. Aunt May, Mary-Jane, or...

With a wild-eyed gaze and deranged, toothy grin -- Kraven takes the shot.

It's over.

The Hammer...

I can only imagine if & how shocking the conclusion to Web of Spider-Man #31 might have seemed to a regular reader back in 1987.

It's a smidge before my time. When I finally got around to reading for myself -- there was little surprise to be had. It was already canonized as one of the legendary Spider-Man stories, and I was well prepared for the shocking turn of events that would follow Kraven the Hunter's victory. I had it on a trading card.

I was never left guessing what would happen after Kraven & his cronies end the issue lowering Spider-Man's coffin into a freshly dug grave.

I didn't endure any agonizing wait when Spidey remained six feet under in the next chapter, published in Amazing Spider-Man #293.

You can probably tell from the images included in this article - I had the benefit of a collected trade paperback. The entire story in my hot little hands, ready to consume. A format for convenience, but lacking the majesty of what I imagine the first run on newsstands would've been like. It was actually a little under whelming after all those years of hearing about it, but I've come around over the decades. Still I wonder about the wait in real-time...

Mike Zeck's pencils, with Bob McLeod on inks, and a trio of colorists -- Janet Jackson (not that one), Bob Sharen, and Zeck himself -- are pretty marvelous and moody, but the heavy tone that hangs over the issue doesn't feel particularly unusual to me, in keeping with other Spider-Man comics of the era.

It's a visually dark New York City, with the black suited Spider-Man prowling across its muddy blue and purple hues. It has the urban grit of a late eighties B-movie. I wonder if a regular reader might've overlooked the stakes, conditioned to always assume Spidey will come out on top, no matter the mire. And of course - he does. The rifle was loaded with some exotic tranquilizer or knock-out potion.

The enduring image from Kraven's Last Hunt becomes Spider-Man pulling himself out of his own grave on the cover of Web of Spider-Man #32, but there is still the lasting legacy of Kraven not only burying Spider-Man alive, but also supplanting him -- to the psychological horror of Peter Parker, and his then-wife, Mary-Jane.

Back in those days, it wasn't often that villains would secure such decisive and mind-bending victories. It reminds me of more recent affairs, like Otto Octavius assuming control of Peter Parker's body, or the countless comic book deaths that last a few years of suspended disbelief, before inevitably restoring the icon.

Kraven's Last Hunt only spans six issues, lasting a couple of months of print, which might not leave the reader a long time to stew, but sets about planting similar seeds without needing to burn a few years of publication. It seems to me far more impactful and efficient in its delivery of a memorable moment.

Update: Over on Twitter (aka; X), Sammy Younan was nice enough to respond to this entry, noting: "The danger in Kraven's Last Hunt felt real. Sometimes with these stories it's phony. I read these comics "live;" you instantly grasped this was BIG." Given the fast reputation of the story - I don't doubt it.

I'm interested to explore the story further and see how it sits within Kraven's legacy. As of Chapter 1, it reads like an opportunistic win for a heel villain, but once Kraven becomes Spider-Man, it takes on a very different context. That, more than today's victory, is probably what makes this one of the enduring milestones.

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Winner: Kraven the Hunter
#433 (+297) Kraven the Hunter
#2 (--) Spider-Man

SPIDER-MAN versus KRAVEN THE HUNTER
Mind Games (Part 2) (Marvel comics)
Where: Spider-man Ep. 13 When: August 2003
Why: Steven Kriozere & Audu Paden How: Neil Patrick Harris & Michael Dorn

The story so far...
The Gaines Twins are the product of shocking KGB experimentation which killed their parents, but resulted in granting them fantastic hypnotic and telepathic abilities.

When Spider-man intervenes in their escape, the twins manage to psychically manipulate him through a fantasy into believeing Kraven the Hunter killed his beloved Mary-Jane.

With rage now seething through his veins, Spider-man takes up a vengeful mission to kill Kraven on the behalf of the twins. Revenge for Kraven's involvement in the capture of their parents on the KGB's behalf.

Previous Form:
Spider-man (#2): Spidey has one-on-one victories against Man-Ape and the Tri-Sentinel.
Kraven the Hunter: Kraven has not yet been featured.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Spider-man 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Spider-man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Spider-man 4 (Olympic Sprinter)
Stamina: Spider-man 4 (Trained Athlete)
Agility: Spider-man 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Kraven 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Kraven 4 (Arsenal)

Kraven the Hunter! What a fantastic villain!
Generally I don't like to feature a character twice in one month, but lately I've been on a bit of a Spidey kick, and I guess Kraven won the Spidey-villain lottery thanks to MTV and Mainframe.

I guess in many respects this match-up is comparable to Wolverine/Silver Samurai. That is to say, it's the extraordinary hero, against a villain who is the at the very maximum of ordinary.

For the most part Kraven is a human begin who honed his skills as a supreme hunter. A hunter so efficient, he would prefer his own hands over the use of additional weapons. Although, that said, Kraven has been known to have various tool at his disposal.

Like a Captain America, Kraven has enhanced strength, which makes him more than a match for Spider-man, whose own strength tends to fluctuate depending on the scenario and writing staff. We'll at least consider them comparable equals, although, I personally lean toward Spidey having the superior strength.

While Spidey has his spider-senses to give him a preternatural edge in combat, Kraven the Hunter has his own supremely trained senses, which work hand-in-hand with his training and experience to give him a comparable edge.
Likewise, both are extremely agile men, although again Spidey has a definite advantage here.

Sergei Kravinoff took his own life during the Kraven's Last Hunt storyarc, having reached what he felt was the epitomy of his career after not only besting Spider-man, but also replacing him while he was buried alive.
This was one of the harshest defeats handed out to Spider-man, but it did come after decades of the Spider getting the best of the hunter.

Overall: Draw 28
The Pick: Spider-man

What went down...
Waiting on a meeting at the docks, it doesn't take Kraven's keen senses as a hunter to recognise the trademark webbing that holds his goons pinned to smokestacks.
Spidey charges into battle, shunting Kraven across the roof whilst promising to "rip him apart."

Kraven tumbles into the warehouse below, finding his way to walkways dangling high above the floorspace. Spidey follows hard, but Kraven is fast enough to avoid the strike.

The two exchange blows, with Kraven blocking for the most part until Spidey uses his agility to nail a Bruce Lee style sommersault kick.

Kraven lands, and narrowly avoids Spidey's follow up, bringing his bodyweight down from a high leap. Kraven matches Spidey's agility, perching on a walkway handrail, before springing away to avoid another savage punch.

Kraven wipes blood from his mouth, and observes the ruthless shift in Spider-man's tact. Spider-man leaps infront of him, taking a challenging stance.

Spidey goes for the webbing, but Kraven cuts it with a dagger, and then uses the dagger as a projectile weapon.
Spidey ducks out and shoots out webbing, weaving it around Kraven's hands and throat.

With Kraven dangling from the ceiling, Spidey swears vengeance for Mary-Jane, but out the corner of his eye he spies a discrepency in his history. A neon sign that had fallen and injury Harry Osborn, now quite prominent in the skyline.

Connecting the dots, Spider-man quizzes Kraven further to make sense of the timeline. Kraven reveals their last meeting as having been months previous.
When the police arrive, they corroborate Kraven's story, and although he has been the unwitting pawn of the Gaines twins, having lived a fantasy since first encountering them, Spidey does defeat Kraven.

The hammer...
The winner, and late charge for the top spot: Spider-man!

The MTV Spider-man series was a funny kinda situation. I heard a bit about it via a lot of second hand information, and I have to admit to not being terribly excited by what I was hearing.
With names like Rob Zombie being tossed around for the voice of the Lizard, it was sounding a lot like a gratuitous way to cram MTV properties into the blossoming branding of Spider-man: the movie.

The series perhaps gained some credibility with the inclusion of Brian Michael Bendis as a producing influence, although, connections to Ultimate Spider-man only further turned me off of the series. How wrong I was.

I really expected to dislike this series, but an impulse purchase with a mindboggling reasonable price tag turned all of that around. Now I'm a tragic fan of the Mainframe CG animated series, and desperately hope rumors of a second series prevailing over cancellation, are true.

I was a fan of Mainframe's early animation work on Reboot, and Spider-man really succeeds in showing just how far they've come since the mid-nineties.
Certainly a lot of the Mainframe traits are there, and anyone familiar with a series like Reboot will spot familiar quirks, but at the same time, they seem to willingly give themselves over to established iconography and ideals of the Spider-man character.

Of course, this is only half of the puzzle, and a huge part comes from the writing on this series. Much like conventional television, budgetary concerns restrict the bredth of cast and locations, but as Mainframe build a backlog of reusable sprites and scripts, the world populates itself intelligently and densely.
Even with Morgan "VIP" Gendel in a prominent position on the writing staff, the series crafts itself around restrictions, perhaps turning them into advantages. Character interaction is dense and intelligent, as are the scripts on a whole. Storylines pack plenty of characterization, but unlike the Ultimate variety of the comic, does not sacrifice this for fast-paced action, and thrilling adventure.

This show is in many ways everything The Batman isn't.
Like Batman, this series was projecting itself into the shadow of previous successful cartoon shows as well as feature film success. The team handling MTV's show managed to embody elements from all sources including comics and film, whilst still producing it's own energy. This is in direct contrast to The Batman's utter failure to entice existing fans of comics, or perhaps even the Timm/Dini animated series prior.

This series wasn't without it's problems, and certainly it would've been nice to see more of the recognisable rogues like Kraven the Hunter. Villains who are always among the high points of any Spider-man story, but that said, even the original or derived characters unique to the series were highly enjoyable. Something series rarely succeed at creating.

For example; characters Shikata and Talon owe their origins to Kraven and Black Cat respectively, quite obviously. As nice as it would've been to see these characters in those stories, the creative team here still manages to make both characters intriguing and individual.

I could go on and on, and I'm really skimming the surface, but on my Spidey kick I just had to feature an episode of this series. It's fantastic. I hold out hope that the rumors of a character-packed second season might somehow manifest.

Another negative? They say gulag an awful lot in this episode!

The Fight: 4 The Episode: 6