by
Dan Johnson
conducted March 18, 2009
Sometimes a comic-book character can exist for years—even decades—without making much of an impression on readers. Then, all of a sudden, the right writer and artist come along and find just the right approach to presenting a previously underestimated or underused character and make him a sensation. This was the case with Kraven the Hunter when J. M. (Marc) DeMatteis and Mike Zeck created “Kraven’s Last Hunt” (a.k.a. “Fearful Symmetry”), which ran through Web of Spider-Man #31–32, The Amazing Spider-Man #293–294, and The Spectacular Spider-Man #131–132 (Oct.–Nov. 1987). In this saga, readers witnessed Kraven’s descent into madness as his final battle against Spider-Man unfolds. At the end of the story, he takes his own life. Recently BACK ISSUE got DeMatteis and Zeck in its crosshairs and got the lowdown on Kraven the Hunter’s swansong. – Dan Johnson DAN JOHNSON: J. M., how did “Kraven’s Last Hunt” come about? J. M. DeMATTEIS: There is a long history to this story. I’d had this “back from the grave” story brewing in the back of my head for a while. About three years before Kraven, I had actually pitched Tom DeFalco an idea for a Wonder Man miniseries. I worked up something where Wonder Man gets killed, or so his brother, the Grim Reaper, thinks, but six months go by and Wonder Man comes up out of the grave and then they have their final confrontation. DeFalco, thank God, said no. He didn’t like it, and if I had done it then, the story would have been okay, but nothing special. Then I pitched the idea to Len Wein over at DC as a Batman story, which took it another step closer to what ultimately became the Kraven story. [In this version,] the Joker believes he has killed Batman, and while Batman is “dead,” the Joker’s mind snaps and he becomes sane. The Joker then lives out this normal life as a sane human being until the moment Batman comes back from the grave. I
Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are Detail from the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #294, part 5 of “Kraven’s Last Hunt.” Art by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod. (inset) Kraven’s first appearance in issue #15 (Aug. 1964). © 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.
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