Amazing Spider-Man #565-567 (2008): Kraven’s First Hunt

Kraven’s Last Hunt is one of the all-time great Spider-Man stories.  Invoking it is risky. And here it does not pay off.

The story begins with Spider-Man strung up by a woman we’ve never seen before.

That’s the latest version of Kraven, Ana Kravinoff.  She’s the original hunter’s daughter. 

We also meet her mother in this story, who apparently thinks her daughter is a dog because she has her sit at her feet.

Anyway, through flashbacks, we see her stalking Spider-Man, tracking him, and begins coming after him in his Peter Parker identity–and those close to him, like his roommate Vin.  She also takes his costume, forcing him to dress as Daredevil (who is a guest star in the story).

Vermin even gets involved, just as he was involved in Ana’s father’s last hunt.

Ana escapes in the end, Peter’s secret identity remains secret, and nothing much changes (other than Peter’s relationship with his roommate is damaged).

This story is more than just evocative of Kraven’s Last Hunt–it’s very derivative, in ways that feel lazy.  Nothing here is terrible, it’s just not all that interesting.