Another Heroes Con 2019 acquisition. I think I paid the full $35 for this one. The splash for this issue says “featuring the somewhat magnificent menace of Kraven the Hunter!” That sort of silly, partially self-deprecating language isn’t uncommon for Stan in this period, but any shade, even unintentional, thrown at Kraven is right by me. On said splash, he’s looking at all his hunting trophies, ruminating on not being able to get “the greatest prize of all.”
Having wrestled the lion, Kraven lets it go. Then we jump ahead several days to him at the Nairobi airport, loading a bunch of animals onto a boat to deliver them to US zoos, after which he plans to hunt Spider-Man. Hasn’t he been deported twice already? How’s he keep getting back into the country? He shows up at customs and says “Hello, it’s me, Kraven the Hunter, I’m back to hunt human beings in the street again.” “Ah yes, your prison cell is waiting for you, sir.” Meanwhile, Peter Parker is revealing he’s Spider-Man to a horrified Betty Brant. Just kidding, it’s a dream. Betty’s dream, surprisingly. She has accidentally stumbled on the actual secret he keeps from her, but tells herself it can’t actually be that when she jolts awake. Cut to Peter up late studying and feeling great about life now that May’s recovering, then cut to him and Anna Watson visiting her in the hospital the next morning, all in one page. Her doctor appears to announce that she will be discharged today, and will be fine after a few days’ rest. So now Peter can head off to the entire school he seems to have managed to alienate over the last few issues…
All men fawning over Gwen is laying it on a bit thick.
It seems strange to write Liz Allan out of the book and then just create a new one. A pretty blonde popular girl inexplicably interested in a standoffish nerd. What’s the difference, at this point? Meanwhile, “I don’t care what happened to him!” I wonder how much of that is Stan being really honest about his own opinion. Especially when you consider how incredibly long it takes ol’ Chammy to reappear. Kraven tells himself he’s gotta catch Spider-Man quick since he’s not allowed in the US… so how’d he bring them animals?… He tells himself he’s thought of the perfect bait to lure his prey into a fight, but then we hop over to Queens to see May doting on Peter, trying to make up for not being able to spoil him for a few days while she was dying. It’s a fun bit for them. Suddenly, Spider-Man is lying in wait as JJJ leaves The Bugle.
How would Spider-Man know who to go after? Kraven is really the worst. And look at him getting into the whole “dressing up as Spider-Man” gig early. Peter isn’t taking the bait just yet. He doesn’t want to leave May’s side yet, and figures it’s probably just someone playing a prank. But over the coming days, Kraven keeps harassing JJJ as Spider-Man, and the public hatred for our hero grows and grows until he can’t take it anymore.
Man, I hate Kraven. “I happen to have some ‘scent’ that will cancel out your danger sense!” He’s also planted traps all over this building, which he darts into, leaving Spider-Man to stumble into a few. Meanwhile, that gang of hoods also comes inside, intent on fighting Spider-Man.
Hopping out the window, Spidey spots 4 more goons down in the alley, and simply drops a big web net on them, no problem. But as he goes back inside, his Spider Sense goes off, dulled and late, allowing Kraven to grab him up in a bear hug. For all the good that does him.
The random goons are an unusual element, at least. Spider-Man and Kraven easily defeat the remaining goons, but do so while heading in different directions, and now neither one really knows where the other is. Eventually, Kraven spots our hero once more hanging outside the building, and, dropping a chunk of masonry as a distraction, jumps on him like on the cover. Ditko is a real stickler for recreating the cover inside the books. Kraven tackles Spidey in mid-air and swings him back inside the building, but Spidey manages to get loose as soon as they hit the ground.
Another dumb Kraven story comes to a dumb end. It really does kind of read like Stan didn’t care much for Kraven. Me, either, buddy. This month’s Bullpen Bulletins has 2 famous bits in it…
Stan’s not exaggerating when he says other companies had begun to shamelessly ape the Marvel style. Even at DC, where the in-house opinion was that the Marvel comics had “ugly art,” their success had not gone unnoticed. But the whole “sell them our old scripts” bit falls pretty flat when you know they don’t exist. And then he goes on to talk about “Marvel Method” plotting for a sec. His not mentioning Ditko seems very intentional. Steve’s almost had enough, they couldn’t be on worse terms, and while Jack Kirby might be too nice to make a fuss when Stan takes any credit for his plots, Ditko sure won’t by this stage. Meanwhile, in the letters, Richard Pini, who will one day go on to do the long-running and beloved fantasy comic ElfQuest with his future wife Wendy, writes to tell them they better not kill Aunt May, or “I shall personally sic the Destroyer, the Juggernaut and Irving Forbush on every one of you.” I’m glad Richard could rest easy after reading #33.