Thursday 4 February 2010

Amazing Spider-Man #15. Kraven makes his debut

Amazing Spider-Man #15, Kraven the Hunter makes his first ever appearance and traps Spider-Man in a steel net
(Cover from August 1964.)

"Kraven The Hunter!"

Written by Stan Lee.
Drawn by Steve Ditko.
Inked by Steve Ditko.
Lettered by Artie Simek.


As Clint Eastwood could tell you, a man has to know his limitations, and the Chameleon certainly does.

In case we'd forgotten about the menacing master of disguise - Spider-Man's first ever foe - he's back again. But this time, having decided he can't tackle Spider-Man himself, he brings in his best mate in all the world; Kraven the Hunter, who's something of a nutjob and lives only to fight things. He starts off by fighting some snakes and gorillas, down at the dockside, before turning his attention to Spider-Man.

The only problem is he's out of his depth and so he cheats.

The only problem is that doesn't work either.

So, he runs away and, when that doesn't work, he gets captured and deported. As a first outing for our villain it's all a bit of a wash out. Still, he may be a cheat, a braggart, a coward, a bully and a man who talks to himself but Kraven is at least persistent and he'll be back to mildly annoy Spider-Man on repeated occasions.


Someone else who'll be back is Mary Jane Watson whose name makes its first appearance here - although it has to do so without the company of the girl herself who's supposed to be meeting Peter Parker for a kind of blind date - courtesy of Aunt May - but pulls out with a headache.

It's just as well because, by this stage in the strip's history, Peter Parker has two girls, Betty Brant and Liz Allan fighting over him. How could the strip possibly find room for another? And just how did Puny Parker become such a babe magnet?

2 comments:

Brenton said...

Kraven's Last Hunt, the 6-part mini-series, is still one of my favourite comics ever.

The Cryptic Critic said...

I've never read it. Despite his silliness, I've always had a soft spot for Kraven. Bearing in mind what happens to him, I've always felt it best to not expose myself to it.