Many of Spider-Man’s early foes were animal-themed costumed adventurers, like him. And one of them was a thrill-seeking, macho master of such beasts.
Introduced in Amazing Spider-Man 15 (Aug. 1964), Kraven the Hunter was the orphaned son of Russian aristocrats. Living in Africa for 10 years, Kraven acquired superhuman strength and speed from an herbal potion he stole from a witch doctor in the Belgian Congo. Kraven was inveigled into stalking the superhero by one of Spidey’s first enemies, the Chameleon. Capturing Spider-Man represented a kind of ultimate challenge for the jaded swashbuckler.
“The villains Peter fights in the course of (Steve) Ditko’s Spider-Man stories are almost entirely older men who are inventors or scientists: the Vulture, the Tinkerer, Doctor Doom, the Lizard, the Beetle, and on and on,” observed Douglas Wolk in All the Marvels. “In particular, Doctor Octopus, a hilariously nasty old scientist named Otto Octavius, whose eight-limb motif echoes the spider design, represents the most horrible version of what the Peter Parker we saw in Amazing Fantasy 15 could have become: embittered, lonely, angry, condescending, really creepy about women. Kraven the Hunter isn’t a scientist, but he’s the jock-father sort, macho in a way Peter can’t be, and very much a pro-wrestling type in presentation.”
Kraven’s jungle milieu provided variety for the play of Ditko’s imagination.
“The jungle animals that surrounded Kraven the Hunter as he battled Spider-Man fascinated me,” recalled Jack C. Harris. “(T)hese beasts came to life under Steve’s pencil and pen.”
Kraven, with his open lion-faced vest and leopard tights, also displays Ditko's flair for unique costume design.
ReplyDeleteBill Scott:
ReplyDeleteYou have to admit that it would have been difficult for Pete to have fought foes younger than himself!
I replied:
You have a point. But the contrast also suggests a theme of the innocence of youth and the corruption of aging.
Chris Juricich:
ReplyDeleteAgree that after what was perhaps the best trilogy tale in the Spider-man title ever (easily rivaling the Galactus Trilogy which was nearly concurrent), the return of Kraven was rather mundane stuff. Coming up only a few issues later was the Goblin two-issue tale (39-40) which was rollicking good fun. #35 was The Molten Man and #36 was the 'Cat' which were...whatever...but #37 had him fighting Stromm's odd robots which was quite good and 'Just a Guy Named Joe!' was #38 which...well...ok, whatever. All in all, I'll still take any Ditko issue over Romita, as much as I DO admire Romita nonetheless.
I replied:
I agree particularly with your last sentence. No disrespect to Romita, Ditko WAS Spidey for me. It's always a little strange to me that Spidey hit his peak of popularity after Ditko had departed.
Norris Terse:
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't occurred to me that his enemies were nearly all animal-themed. Scorpions, Rhinos, Vultures, Octopuses, etc.
I replied:
And Lizards, don't forget. This is part of the mirror-image theme that runs through so many superhero comics.
Johnny Williams:
ReplyDeleteDC’s Legion foe the ‘Jungle King (aka the Monster Master) debuted in June 1963, while Kraven first appeared in August 1964. I’ve long wondered if Stan and or Steve had seen/read that Legion story, and if Jungle King (King presumably being his actual Surname because it’s his brother’s, but we never knew his real first name) provided Any inspiration at all for the year later Kraven?
One thing that came out of this essay that I hadn’t thought about in quite the same way was the examination of the - profiles of Peter’s earliest foes. It was interesting seeing the types and tropes that they represented being laid out in such an accessible manner.
I have always liked Kraven as a character and was glad that he acquired return foe status, something that the unfortunate Jungle King did not, being slain near the end of his first and only story. I really liked him as a potential ongoing opponent for the future kids, and as an interesting villain he deserved more play than he got. His revenge driven brother was interesting but he was no Monster Master, also known as the Jungle King.
I replied:
And this takes us into the many iterations of Tarzan...
Michael Fraley:
ReplyDeleteOut of all of Spider-Man's foes, Kraven was the weirdest to me. Wearing leopard print capris pants like your Aunt Trudy and little ballet slippers, he just didn't seem that threatening other than his big, cheesy mustache -- like Stalin joining the circus.
Bob Doncaster:
ReplyDeleteThose Ditko SA Spidey villains are some the best. I know I’m in the minority but Venom never did it for me.
I replied:
Agreed. Venom is Spidey's Bizarro, a rather trite, on-the-nose concept.
Richard Meyer:
ReplyDeleteBy this time in Ditko’s run, he was doing really good plotting with the introduction of the Osbornes and Gwen, who was more of an ice queen than the nice girl she became with Romita. But he seemed to have totally lost interest in the villain fight-of-the-month club, where as a complaining fan put it, so Spider-Man gets in the last punch and he wins. And Stan was finding excuses not to even bother with dialogue for these perfunctory slugfests. In retrospect, Ditko’s imminent departure was obvious but I still would have preferred his take on Gwen and the Osbornes. I thought what Stan and John did with them was mawkish and a clumsy attempt to be hip.
Peroni Negroni:
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, as Ditko got more input / control over the stories, the title suffered - 34 to 38 were simply not that good. Same with Kirby's final efforts on Fantastic Four - from about 90 (Torgo, and the Untouchables TV show Chicago-mobsters trope that Kirby jammed into Kamandi later, and Torch Goes Wild) stories were not very good. When each left Marvel (both in a huff) Stan rolled up his sleeves and took back 100 percent of the plotting and got Romita and John Buscema to do the visuals, and the books soared again - Spidey 39 to 60 are "Amazing" again... and the Buscema run from about FF 106 to 140 were "Fantastic" again. Note that none of this is a crack against the greatness of Ditko or Kirby's art - and their contributions to Spidey and FF that they made under Stan's leadership and the Marvel Method - It's just that in my opinion, they were not great artists, but not the great comic book writer that they felt they were. Their imaginations were incredible - but they were middle-of-the-pack writers.
Jim Gray:
ReplyDeleteI wanted him to end up with Betty Brant. She deserved him after all she went through.
I replied:
Yes, I liked her best. But her departure mirrored the way things go in real life. Relationships you think will never end do end up ending.
Jerry Dobin:
ReplyDeleteI always appreciated Kraven because of his unusual motives - not money or power. But if I was Spider-Man I would have tried to convince him that only a loser would hunt a 16-year-old, while a winner would try to bag Dr. Doom or Magneto.
Brian Lowe:
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the herbs he used are the same ones that empower the Black Panther.
Brian Madigan:
ReplyDeleteDespite being a reader of Spider-man since issue #12 (1965), I never noticed the animal-themed villains until you pointed it out.