by Robert Verdibello for the Winter 2025 issue
“Fearful Symmetry” is the official title of the 1987 Spider-Man story that everyone refers to as “Kraven’s Last Hunt”. It is a story that everyone of a particular era of comic book collecting will well know. It marks one of the early examples of cross-over comic stories in that the story was originally published in six-parts over two months in the summer (sold in newsstands in July and August of 1987 – even though the covers list Oct and Nov dates). [1] The story was spread over the three main Spider-Man titles being published at the time: The Amazing Spider-Man, the Spectacular Spider-Man, [2] and Web of Spider-Man. [3] In the story, Spider-Man is ambushed by Kraven the Hunter, who then drugs Spider-Man and buries him alive before dressing as Spider-Man and taking Spider-Man’s place. Needless to say, Spider-Man digs himself out of the grave that Kraven buried him in, confronts Kraven, but has to go and fight a villain known as Vermin who is terrorizing New York City. While Spider-Man is fighting and defeating Vermin, Kraven commits suicide. The story was not standard fare for a superhero comic at the time of publication. It is a serious story, and like The Dark Knight Returns [4] is one of the stories that turned comic story telling darker and more mature, but it also presaged the storyline concerning the death and replacement of a major character. To me, the story not only marks my personal passage from childhood to adolescence, but it also crystallized the power of episodic storytelling. It also marks the official end of the so-called Bronze Age of Marvel Comics. [5]
The creative team was veteran comic book writer J.M. DeMatteis, with art by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod. This was the creative team was the veteran team that had worked for years on the monthly Captain America comic book in the early to mid-1980’s. That run of Captain America, other than Jim Steranko’s in the 1970’s is regarded as one of the best runs in Captain America comics history. I have read that a version of the story was originally pitched to DC Comics for Batman. In retrospect, I think if it had been published as a Batman story it would have gotten lost in the numerous Batman stories published since Dark Knight that involved the “death” and “resurrection” of Batman. Although I do wonder if Denny O’Neill – longtime editor of Batman comics, who had worked at Marvel in the early to mid-1980’s copied some of the themes for the “Knightfall” storyline. I have also read that DeMatteis originally pitched a version of the story for Captain America. The Cap version might have been more interesting – it involved Cap being “killed” and replaced in spirit by The Black Crow, who was, as you may have guessed, a Native American Indian hero tied into the spirit world. Had the story proceeded along those lines, it probably would have been regarded – even back in the 1980’s – as some sort of leftist anti-American propaganda polluting the minds of young readers. But I leave that up to your respective imaginations.
What we got instead is a masterpiece that inadvertently has become, for me, a coming of age story – the death of “innocent” childhood as one “transforms” into adulthood. Since his creation in 1962, Spider-Man has generally been regarded as a more “light-hearted” and youthful character within the superhero genre. Which, to longtime readers is a misnomer given that the character of Peter Parker from the beginning is saddled with adult sorrows and responsibilities; and his long time girl friend in the late 1960’s-early 1970’s run (Gwen Stacy) was violently murdered by being thrown from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge by the Green Goblin. Nevertheless, and maybe we can blame the PBS kids television show from the 1970’s, The Electric Company for this, but in the popular imagination, Spidey has been generally regarded as a young, less-serious hero; more Superman than Batman. All of which makes Marvel’s decision to publish the story in 1987 remarkable.
From a Spider-Man comics perspective, 1987 in many ways marked the end of what I will refer to as the direct Stan Lee continuity era. Through the 1960’s and into the early 1970’s, the principal writer of Spider-Man was Stan “The Man” Lee. As Lee departed from regularly writing monthly comic books he was succeeded by one of his disciples, Gerry Conway. Conway, who I do not feel is ever given his proper due by comic fans, is best remembered as the writer who killed Gwen Stacy. However, more relevant to the current age, he is the writer who introduced the concept of cloning to Spider-Man comics. In any event, Conway’s run was a direct continuation of the Lee-era. Conway was eventually succeeded by two amazingly forgettable runs by comic book legends Len Wein and Marv Wolfman. The Wein and Wolfman runs not only continued the Lee-era, but, to be honest, in many ways regurgitated the works of Lee and Conway. The next great Spider-Man writer came along later in the 1980’s – Roger Stern. Stern’s run is one of the best Spider-Man runs of all time. However, like many of his Bronze-Age contemporaries – especially his good friend at the time, John Byrne – these Bronze Age creators consciously harkened back to the Lee-Kirby-Ditko era of story telling. So while truly original, the Stern run was a purposeful continuation of the Lee era. From the middle to end of the 1980’s there were periodic attempts to break out of the historic character troupes, most notably the “Alien Costume Saga”, but like any good comic storytelling, the toys tended to be put back in the box they way they were found. This all culminates in 1987 when Peter Parker marries Mary Jane Watson. In retrospect, that marked the end of Stan Lee continuity. Two characters who had met during the original run in the 60’s, grew apart in the 70’s and came back together in the 80’s reached their happy ending. The problem being that publishing Spider-Man comics was still profitable.
Since this is a discussion of comic books, we need to take a moment to discuss the obvious – the artwork. Mike Zeck’s art from the 1980’s is generally overshadowed by more popular contemporaries such as John Byrne, Frank Miller, and any artist who worked with Chris Claremont on Uncanny X-Men. Zeck’s art really captured the spirit of the 1980’s. His figures were broad shouldered and heroic; like action figures. In some ways it captured the eventual spirit of the 80’s as there was a certain “bubble-like” quality to his figure work, which in my mind is evocative of peak-1980’s New York City subway graffiti. The peak of his artwork occurred while working on The Punisher limited series. For those who know, the Mike Zeck covers of the 1980’s are iconic and beautiful stand alone pieces of comic art. [7] Zeck also continued as the cover artist for Captain America culminating in both his “Captain America No More” and “Who will be the next Captain America?” covers from Captain America #’s 332 and 333. For inside drawing, Zeck was at his best – as most pencilers are – depending on the inker he was paired with. The two best were John Beatty and Bob Mcleod. For the “Kraven” story, Zeck and McLeod produced crisp and clear imagery and outstanding cover art.
The story was a watershed moment in my passage from early childhood to adolescent/pre-teen. I was ten, going on eleven years old in 1987. In the first half of 1987 I was in Fifth Grade, and by September I was in Sixth Grade at the P.S. #17 Annex on Montgomery Street between Kennedy Boulevard and Bergen Avenue, around the corner from McCrory’s and across Bergen from Roguts Toy Store. I purchased the first issue (Web of Spider-Man #31) at a Middle-Eastern grocery store on the corner of Duncan and West Side Avenues in Jersey City. I bought parts 2 and 3 (Amazing Spider-Man #293 and Spectacular Spider-Man #131) at Waldbaum’s Supermarket in Kingston, New York. Parts 4 and 5 (Web #32 and Amazing #294) were acquired from the Waldenbook spinner rack at the Hudson Valley Mall in Kingston, New York. Part 6 was found at the spinner rack at CamBoRec (that stands for Cameras, Books, and Records) Store in the Kingston Plaza Shopping Center in Kingston, New York. I also remember that my father and older sister read the series as I purchased the issues, and being impressed by the story. Even my ever-critical sister (she being more of a reader of Chris Claremont’s New Mutants) seemed to enjoy the story. For some strange reason, that felt like a certain level of validation.
It was also a great example of a “cross-over” [8] storyline when such a concept was novel and fresh, and not taken to ridiculous extremes as would happen by the middle 1990’s. Hunting down each of the original issues was a fun and exciting way to spend the summer months. Feeling a certain level of upset when Spidey was “killed”, and the joy when he was “resurrected”; culminating in his triumph over both Kraven and Vermin. Hero’s Journey indeed, Joseph Campbell. A great example of tight episodic storytelling told in six parts.
As far as the “serious” Spider-Man. Well, that never quite took hold until later in the 1990’s. And even to this day it does not want to stick. Spider-Man evolved, as I did, and the next era was as bold and brash as you would expect a teenager to be, defined by one man – Todd McFarlane. 🏁
- True comic book collectors will realize that in 1987 there was a three-month differential between when an issue was sold on newsstands or comic shops and the month listed on the cover. A genuine No-Prize for any reader of the Joy Z Journal who can tell me why.
- True comic book fans will realize that at the time the “official” title of the book was: Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (or PPTSSM if ya nasty).
- Another No-Prize for any reader of the Joy Z Journal who can name the Spider-Man series that Web of Spider-Man took the spot of in the rotation of Spider-Man comics published by Marvel Comics in the 1980’s.
- Published the year before in 1986 – what a time to be reading comic books!
- According to Stan Lee, this is also referred to as, “The Marvel Age of Comics” and is generally considered as running from the late 60’s through the mid-80’s.
- Although he did continue writing the Spider-Man newspaper strip.
- On par with Frank Miller’s iconic covers for the Wolverine limited series.
- In this context, “cross-over” refers to a single storyline that is told over multiple issues of different comic book series.
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