User:TheJoebro64/drafts/KLH

"Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt" is a 1987 American comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics in its Spider-Man publications. Written by J. M. DeMatteis and penciled by Mike Zeck, "Kraven's Last Hunt" was serialized in Web of Spider-Man #31–32, The Amazing Spider-Man #293–294, and Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #131–132 between October and November 1987. The story, published early in the Modern Age of Comic Books, depicts the final battle between Spider-Man and one of his most enduring enemies, Kraven the Hunter.

"Kraven's Last Hunt" originated from a concept DeMatteis had developed involving Wonder Man and the Grim Reaper at Marvel in the mid-1980s that was rejected. He reworked it into a Batman story that explored what would happen if the Joker killed Batman, but DC Comics rejected it due to similarities with Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's in-development Batman: The Killing Joke (1988). DeMatteis took the concept back to Marvel and pitched it using Spider-Man, and it was finally accepted. DeMatteis decided to use Kraven after reading the character's entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and Zeck was brought on as penciler after previously collaborating with DeMatteis on Captain America in the early 1980s.

The story begins when Kraven, in failing health and frustrated by his constant failure to best Spider-Man, sets out on a final hunt to defeat him. He shoots Spider-Man with a coma-inducing drug, buries him alive in his estate, and attempts to establish himself as Spider-Man's superior by impersonating him and capturing Vermin, the one foe Spider-Man had never been able to defeat on his own. After Spider-Man digs his way out of the grave, Kraven releases Vermin and kills himself. The story ends with Spider-Man capturing Vermin, while Kraven leaves a confession absolving Spider-Man of wrongdoing. "Kraven's Last Hunt" explores mature topics such as mental illness and suicide, and as such is considered one of the darkest Spider-Man stories.

Widely considered one of the greatest Spider-Man stories ever told, "Kraven's Last Hunt" was a top-seller for Marvel during its initial publication and has been reprinted numerous times in trade paperback form. Critics have praised it ... Following the story's publication, the Kraven character was retired until 2009.

Publication history

Development

• http://www.tcj.com/how-ernest-hemingway-provided-inspiration-for-the-darkest-spider-man-story-kravens-last-hunt/
• https://www.gamesradar.com/revisiting-spider-mans-dark-past-with-kravens-last-hunt/
• http://www.jmdematteis.com/2010/09/story-behind-huntagain.html

Reception

Legacy

note that the Batman/Joker version of the story ended up being published as "Going Sane"

In other media

In 2019, DeMatteis expressed interest in a "Kraven's Last Hunt" film adaptation, but felt it needed to be animated since the story primarily focuses on Kraven rather than Spider-Man, and standalone because it features an older, married Spider-Man rather than the young teenager depicted in Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios' Spider-Man films.[1]