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It is rare that I read a trade paperback collection in one sitting. Before tonight, off the top of my head I think I can name four cases of this occurring: Kingdom Come, Sandman: The Kindly Ones, Death: The High Cost of Living and The Groo Adventurer. I think each of them is masterpiece in their own way which is why I had such a hard time putting them down. As of this date (January 7th, 2008) a fifth one can be added to that list-- Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt.
I remember getting a few parts of this in fifty cent boxes years ago-- but I have never found all the issues because comic shops and con dealers ask insane prices for parts four, five and six. Having finally gotten to read the hardcover I received for Christmas. I have to say-- it would have been worth it even at those insane prices.
To me the appeal to Spider-Man has been the character's elasticity. You can put him in high school, fretting over the villain of the week until having a light bulb moment in the Daily Bugle offices. That's Spider-Man. You can have him sneaking into the Baxter Building to play his year birthday pranks on Johnny Storm. That's Spider-Man. Or you can have him buried in a grave for two weeks while the villain impersonates him and tortures people while the audience is treated to some beautifully drawn art with narration and dialogue that often reads like poetry. Yes, True Believers, that is Spider-Man.
One of the weaknesses of Stan Lee, and many other writers runs on Spider-Man, is that they always tell us that beneath it all Peter Parker is a normal guy with normal desires. They rarely show. Whenever something gut wrenching happens to Spidey in this book you feel. I don't think I've seen a Mary Jane that seemed more of a perfect match for Peter than in this tale.
Peter and Mary Jane are generally shown as nice people. M.J. may have been a bit scatterbrained in the early days but they are generally likeable characters. Getting us to feel for their tragedy and sorrows is not a hard thing to do.
Dematties did something many writers try to do and fail at, particularly in comic books. He made me feel for the villains. I understood Kraven and why he thought what he was doing was absolutely the right thing to do. I understood his struggle to maintain a grasp on his sanity. I even felt sorry for him in the end.
It would also be very easy for a writer to take a character like Vermin and say 'he's a mindless monster'. Dematties and Zeck turned what on the surface was yet another rehash of the Hulk into a unique creature worthy of the reader's care. We also learned just a little bit more about the type of person Peter Parker is by his treatment of Vermin.
Grade: A++
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