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by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey   Writer- J.M. DeMatteis Penciller- Mike Zeck Inker- Bob McLeod Letter- Rick Parker Colourist- Steve Buccellatto Design- Joe Kaufman Assistant Editor- Eric Fein Editor- Danny Fingeroth Editor in Chief- Tom Defalco synopsisPeter and Mary Jane attend the funeral of their friend Roger's mother. However, upon being confronted with the body in an open casket, Peter suffers an attack of PTSD, and he flees the service to get "a little air" as Spider-Man. Unfortunately, this then results in him having to save a child from a hole in the ground at a construction site, which only serves to intensify the stress he is experiencing. Upon returning home from the funeral, the ghost of Kraven the Hunter, the man responsible for so many of his demons, visits Peter in his dreams, and a mysterious, death-like apparition charges Peter with saving Kraven's soul. Dave So, this is the sequel to 'Kraven's Last Hunt.' Was this originally printed as a comic, or in graphic novel version? Kev It was a one-shot, double-sized, comic. Or a very small graphic novel. Depending on your point of view. The cover looks like it was digitally painted to me. It’s that early 90s’ digital colouring that, I have to say, don’t think has aged all that well. Kraven’s face looks suitably spooky and scary though, to be fair. Dave Yeah, Kraven's face looks like it is straight out of the Sam Raimi film, 'Darkman,' with the bandages off. I'm not too keen on that early digital stuff either. The colours are less appealing, it's not as rich, or something. It reminds me very much of the video game packaging artwork of around the same time. It also looks like the early days of the UFC here, as Spidey and Kraven are going at it, not in the Octagon, but the cemetery. Kev Ha, ha! Kraven definitely looks like he is going for a rear naked choke. Well, he is Russian after all. He’s Khabib Nurmagomedov, before Khabib Nurmagomedov was Khabib Nurmagomedov. Phew! That was a mouthful. Dave That's a good splash page of Kraven's grave, on a cold winter night.  Let's not bury the lede, let's open with the motif. Kev Yep. It's a cracking splash page, alright. We open here, kind-of where we left off in 'Fearful Symmetry,' at Kraven’s grave, with the headstone being buffeted by the wind and the snow. Which makes it a “Perfect day for a funeral,” apparently. According to Peter, at least. Dave Oh god, yeah. Peter's a bit gloomy already. A mood that does not lift as the story unfolds. Kev Yeh, this is another sombre piece by DeMatteis and Zeck, but I suppose Peter is right, you really can’t put “.....a pretty mask on death.” Dave Some interesting viewpoints here by Peter about the whole funeral ceremony, "But we try don't we? Put on our best clothes, our proper faces...but as soon as we open our mouths, the games over." Roger's mum bears an uncanny resemblance to Aunt May. Which seems intentional, to further trigger Peter's growing angst and torment. Kev Ah, that's a really good point, man. The similarity to May, and May's mortality, hadn't occurred to me. Yeh, it's pretty insightful stuff from Peter here. He's right, in a lot of ways. And, of course, as soon as he’s faced with the casket, his PTSD at having been buried alive by Kraven during the events of 'Last Hunt,' rears its ugly head, and he, understandably, starts to panic. He really doesn’t deal with death very well, does Peter. Despite the amount of it he’s faced during his career as Spider-Man, it would appear that it certainly doesn’t get any easier for him. Dave And M.J. is none-too-chuffed with Peter's abrupt leaving. The emphasis of bold letters on the words "...find out" and "Excuse..." are great at showing a shift in emotion. Kev I was thinking that as well, about the emphasis on certain words, and the emotions it conveys. Do you think Peter is being unreasonable here, for reacting the way he does to his wife’s concern for him? Or is she in the wrong by not letting it drop when he has repeatedly asked her to? Dave Probably a bit of both. But they have been married for a while now, so these situations where they squabble probably often occur in this manner. Kev True. If Pete’s suit is soaked in sweat, that’s a lot of perspiring he’s doing. It’s pretty disgusting, actually. Yuck! Dave Sweat-Man, a new breed of hero. He don't need no super powers to defeat his enemies, just really bad BO. Kev Ha, ha! Nice panel at the bottom page 7, of Spidey swinging through a snow covered New York. I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Spidey in the New York snow, for whatever reason.  I dunno, Pete. You're pretty high up, there. I'd say you got more than ".....a little air." Dave Yeah, that is a good panel of him web swinging. Those aerial panels are always great in Spidey stories. Kev Definitely. They’re a huge part of why I would've loved to have lived in New York when I was young. Nowadays though, maybe not so much. Dave Peter is definitely going through an emotional crisis here, as he chastises himself for having a go at Mary Jane earlier, as well as wondering what's going on with himself at the same time. Kev Yeh, DeMatteis, again, like he did in 'Fearful Symmetry,' uses that duelling narrator device in the caption boxes to great effect here. It really helps re-establish just how much of a conflicted character Peter Parker is.  This is not the Dandy, Pete. This is your own comic book. Dave I do like the artwork on page 8. The close up in the second panel is cracking, and the third panel, the one of a greyed-out Spidey, is equally effective. I always like those Spidey poses when he's web-slinging. Kev Yeh. It seems almost odd to me, seeing Zeck draw Spidey in the red and blues though. And with the McFarlane style webbing now as well. I'm just so used to seeing him draw the black costume. In fact, I would have to say that I think Zeck’s work may be somewhat compromised here, by having to adhere to what was very much a McFarlane inspired Spidey “model” by 1992. Personally, I don't think it suits his sensibilities quite as much. Things had certainly moved on, stylistically, for the character in the five years since 'Fearful Symmetry,' and not just the fact that he’s back in the red and blue tights. Dave They certainly had. And when he shows up to help the kids in trouble, we see the old webs under the armpits. Kev I do love a classic, Dikto-style “webpit.” Dave A wee homage there probably. Kev I would think so, yeh. Dave I think the original Spidey costume shows a contrast to ‘Last Hunt,’ as the mood of that story was darker as well, so the black outfit blended with the tone of it, whereas here, the only darkness has been in Pete's head really, so far. Kev That's true. We are very much inside Peter's head throughout this, aren't we? Dave Especially as seeing the hole in the ground sets off his unconscious trauma. I suppose he has had a few triggers earlier. Kev Definitely. Being in the ground is certainly setting off Peter's anxieties. And once again, Peter is glad of the distraction when his Spider-Sense kicks in. The flashbacks are so well done. I think the one on the bottom tier of page 9, with Kraven standing, with shovel in hand, over the grave Peter finds himself in, is particularly anxiety inducing and effective. As is the top tier on page 11, with that transition between the red and blue suit and the black costume. Again, tying into what you were saying about the costumes representing the tone of the characters and the story. Dave Also, if you look at the the first panel on page 11, of Spidey on the ground with his hand on his head, the construction site in the background just reminded me of the 'Tombstone Saga' where Spidey had that fight with Tombstone. Kev Ah, good spot. It's a good looking construction site by Zeck and McLeod.  "Down in a hole, and I don't know if I can be saved. See my heart, I decorate it like a grave." Dave Plus, the weather is still gloomy, but they've swapped the heavy rain for the snow this time. Kev That's a good point about the weather. That hadn't occurred to me. Dave The kids’ reactions on page 10 are great. I imagine that it’s possibly the first time they have directly encountered their hero, and he is acting like a nut job. Kev It's not exactly a stellar first impression, is it? I suppose, they do say that you should never meet your heroes. Kraven’s headstone would appear to be the motif this time round, like the grave and the gravedigger were in 'Fearful Symmetry.' Dave Yeah. Peter’s in a real panic here. His mind is going all over the place, as he tries to scramble out, and the flashbacks are jumping in. Kev And we're immediately back to the funeral. I wonder if DeMatteis and Zeck deliberately focussed on the HANDle of the casket, as the rabbi spoke about letting go of “.....the hand of fear?” That’s a nice touch, if they did. Dave I would say that, so far, this story is different to ‘Kraven's Last Hunt’ in tone. As 'Last Hunt' was going for a darker, more gruesome, horror vibe, which was very much representative of the ‘80’s, but now we have this more glossy ‘90’s, psychological, story unfolding. Despite the similarities I mentioned earlier, they are two different stories. It’s very ‘90’s now, with the glossiness. As movies in the ‘90s became more glossed up. The glossy ‘90s. Kev I agree, this is, tonally, very different to 'Fearful Symmetry.' Much less horror inflected, and more psychological drama based. As is much of DeMatteis's other work. I always forget that M.J. had moved on from her modelling days at this point, and was now trying her hand at being an actress. That old transition, eh? Dave Yeah, she is now an actress, which is a natural progression from modelling. The speech by the minister is certainly an interesting one, with a fair few good points. Kev Yep. We could maybe all benefit from "..... let(ting) go (of) the hand of fear." Dave This story is very slowly going into Peter's psychological journey, as in actuality, not a lot has really happened. They went to a funeral, Peter took off for a while and helped some kid stuck in a ditch, then went back to the funeral, and now they have gone home. Kev Yeh, it's not exactly heavy on plot, is it? Which is not necessarily a bad thing. This is a very tastefully done, hinted at, sex scene. “.....when she loves me like this--when we seem to become something bigger--touch something higher--” Oooh, errr!  Insert sexy sax, and funky wah-wah guitar here. Dave It's the ‘90s now, things became more tasteful than the tacky ‘80s. Well certainly from a cinematic perspective. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, I suppose you're right. It always amused me, the lengths to which the creative teams on the Spidey books had to go, in order to suggest that Peter and M.J. had a sexual relationship, without really being able to show you any of it. Dave Yeah. I'm surprised that it took M.J. this long to tell Peter about witnessing her friend's dad die in front of her. It just shows that M.J. is still full of secrets. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, she's like an onion. Just peeling back layer after layer. Dave And quite frankly, being a prima donna this early in her acting career isn't going to help her get far. Kev No, she's not exactly Meryl Streep, is she? Was she still working on the daytime soap opera at this point? Dave I think so. I can recall something like that. Did she give up the acting and move onto something else? Kev I think you might be right. I think she did, but I can't remember what it was. Dave I'll be damned if I know what M.J. did next either. This was 92, wasn't it, when this came out? Kev '92, yep. Dave There's quite a fair bit of dialogue here. From M.J.’s recount of her acting audition, to the reveal of her childhood memory. Kev That's a good point. That panel at the top of page 14 is pretty crowded with Mary Jane's monologue. Dave Pete and M.J.’s apartment is so eloquently lit for that sex scene. Kev Yeh. Shadows cover a multitude of sins, eh? Dave Haha! Yeah. Actually, do you know what? I think the artwork and colours are quite subtle, and that transition from Pete and M.J. to the next page, where Spidey is having a nightmare, works well.  Peter Parker, not quite grasping the rules of Hide and Seek. Kev Absolutely. That choice of colour palette by Steve Buccellatto for Peter’s dream sequence is outstanding. Those greens, blues and yellows strongly hint at the death and decay that surrounds Peter’s psyche, as well as Kraven's rotting physical form. Dave It really does capture the dream-like quality, doesn't it? With the angles. Kev Yes, lots of worm's-eye perspective angles. Dave Again, they are not holding back on the dialogue either. Kev No, DeMatteis isn't shy with the dialogue at all, is he? It's pretty verbose, and dense. That first panel on page 16 is superb. It's like something straight out of a Hammer Horror film.  It's not quite Liam Neeson's monologue from 'Taken,' Pete, but it's not bad. Dave And the classic grab from the grave also. That is another one. Pete looks freaked out upon awakening on page 17, and his prominent eyeball, in the shadow, is a bit freaky looking. It reminds me of the way they shot the close-ups in a 'Mad Max' film, before a character was killed off. Kev Yep. It's the classic, sitting bolt upright, wide-eyed, waking up in the middle of a nightmare scenario. Dave Or perhaps he never learned his lesson, and went for the cheese platter for supper again. Kev Ha, ha! Cheesy Pete. Dave The third panel on page 17, of Pete sitting in darkness in his armchair, is really good. That picture on the wall, is it meant to be M.J? It reminds me of Brian De Palmas' 'Dressed to Kill.’ Kev It looks like it's a Patrick Nagel, who did work like this, including the album cover for ‘Rio’ by Duran Duran. I didn’t know that, by the way, I had to Google it. Dave Yeah, I didn’t think you were cultured enough to just know that off the top of your head.  "It was a million to one shot, Doc. Million to one." Kev Ha, ha! That splash page of Kraven’s ghost appearing to Peter is almost biblical in nature. Like an angel, a servant of God, coming to one of his chosen ones. Dave Yeah, that full page panel of "Kraven" appearing as an apparition, I'm not sold on that bit. Kev How comes? Dave Kraven looks like he has something firmly entrenched up his rectum, and has come to ask Pete for help to remove it. Kev Ha, ha! Now that you mention it..... Dave It’s his expression. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, and how clenched his buttocks look. Dave I think Peter should have told him he needs to visit a proctologist, not him. Kev I can just picture it now, Kraven's ghost haunting a proctologist. Dave So technically, this should have been called ‘Kraven's Last, Last Hunt For A Frigging Proctologist.’ Kev Yeh, or 'Kraven's Last Haunt.' Dave Joking aside, the tone has been consistent. The horror aspect has been completely ditched, and the psychological story has continued. Kev The dream sequence is the only scene that has even been remotely horror inflected, so far. Even this bit here, with Kraven's ghost, is more supernatural than horror. Tonally, it's more like 'Ghostbusters,' or something. Without ghostly fellatio gags. Dave It has kept the brightness, especially in this sequence, and Kraven is huge in size, but again, the colours work well. Kev Yeh, the brightness and the warmth of Kraven's, almost angelic, golden, sun-like yellow, is a perfect contrast to the cold, icy blues of the snow and the night sky. It’s interesting that, despite everything that Kraven has put Peter through, and all the anger and fear that Peter feels towards Kraven, Peter also still feels sympathetic towards him. Dave Possibly, he could be exasperated, and just wants to know what is going on, or what this is all about. Kev Good point. He may just be sick of Kraven's crap by this point. Actually, this reminds me of The Ghost Of Christmas Future visiting Bill Murray in ‘Scrooged.’ Dave Yeah, it kind-of is a ‘Scrooged’ type scenario. Kev Nice callback to ‘Fearful Symmetry,’ with the silhouette of Kraven in his final moments. Again, it's very tastefully done. Dave It’s very much a dreamscape scenario, with that snow blowing through relentlessly, like the rain in ‘Last Hunt.’ It also has plenty of caption boxes narrating Peter’s thoughts and fears, and most of all, Kraven as a man in some form of distress. Kev He's a restless soul, alright. Are those two lower speech bubbles on the top tier of page 24 supposed to be grey, like the rest of them, rather than white. I’m assuming it’s still the apparition’s voice we’re reading, right? Dave Yeah, they are, and yeah, it is. It always gets confusing with multiple captions. Is this new figure who appears meant to be Death? A grim reaper with a Darth Vader shaped helmet? Kev Yeh, I was wondering who, or what, this was supposed to be too. I wonder if it will be revealed as the story progresses. Dave Pages 22 and 23 are some visually great bits of work. They’re prime examples of the combined talents of Zeck and co. at work here.  "Marian, don't look at it. Shut your eyes, Marian. Don't look at it. No matter what happens." Kev Yeh, Zeck very rarely lets you down. Dave He is certainly an adventurous artist in trying out new ideas and themes. Kev He's one of my all-time favourites, yeh. Peter feeling guilt is nothing new, but him doubting his own mental health is interesting. I do like the idea that him holding onto this anger towards, and fear of, Kraven is self-destructive, like suicide itself, and that forgiveness, of others, and yourself, is probably the only way to move on. To move forward. To live. Dave Pretty much. The can of worms has been fully opened. M.J. sums it up well on page 28, "Peter you were born guilty." It's pretty much him coming face to face with all his inner demons, and I think Kraven is merely a catalyst for this. He was picked on as a scrawny kid, and somewhere deep down, that probably still has an effect on him, even with his superpowers. So it really is his facing up to things, as he has generally bottled up and suppressed a lot of these emotions. Kev Totally. I like the fact that M.J. shuts his doubts down immediately. “Peter Parker, you sit down, shut up, and listen to me--” The way she talks to him here reminds me of the way Aunt May sometimes spoke to him in the early days, when he was doubting himself. There's a bit of tough love at work here. It may not be an ideal situation to have these female supporting characters often present just to further the male protagonist’s growth, or progression within the narrative of their story, but I’ll be damned if they aren’t his guiding lights, his true norths, his rocks. Peter is a man who is so influenced, arguably defined by the strength of the women that he loves in his life. They made, and continue to make, him the man that he is. They’ve always given him his strength. Whether it’s the strength to lift fallen debris off his shoulders, or the strength simply to just keep going when all seems lost, they continue to mould him, to make him a better person. Something that, as we saw in ‘Fearful Symmetry,’ Kraven just never seemed to have, and this was a big part of why he could never truly be Spider-Man. Dave Pete and M.J. have been married for a while now, so I think she is at the stage where she probably knows him better than he knows himself. Kev I think you're right, y'know. I really think she does. Five years in publication time, still only equates to less than a year in Marvel time though. Dave True. So in that dream vision, Pete has been asked to help Kraven, which is a real dilemma for an angry man, being forced to confront his inner self. What matters more here; stopping the guilt, or watching Kraven suffer, with the guilt still eating away at him? Kev I think you've hit the nail right on the head there, man. And I suspect that the second half of this story will deal with just that. Dave Zeck has drawn Peter and Mary Jane so well. Nicely ageing them. They no longer look like a couple of kids, but a more mature couple, and even with a few ageing lines on both.  "We're ready to believe you." Kev I thought that too. He seems to have made the decision to age them a bit for this. They look a bit more grown up. It could also be, again, that McFarlane's style is now the default "models" for the characters, and his weren't always necessarily "pretty" versions of them. Whereas back in '87, when Zeck pencilled 'Last Hunt' they were still using John Romita's versions of the characters as the "models," which were generally very attractive versions of them. Like a CW show version of them. This story really is a curious way of them explaining away the criticism they received for “glorifying suicide” in ‘Fearful Symmetry’ though. To start with, I couldn't help but think that it felt somewhat tacked on and unnecessary, but as it went on, and the character work started to take shape, I really started to enjoy it. Dave Really? They received criticism for that? I didn't think they glorified suicide in ‘Last Hunt.’ It was a necessary part of Kraven’s ending; a vain man making a decision to end his life, as he felt truly empty. But I suppose people have their own interpretation of things. Does that mean that anything with suicide in it, is now going to be considered to be glorifying it as well? Kev Yeh, I don’t know. I certainly didn't get that from it either. I suppose it wasn't the first time an element of a comic book was misinterpreted though. Or the last, for that matter. Dave Certainly not. It was probably being attacked due to the immense popularity of Spidey, and it was assumed that it was for kids only, so you can't have kids reading about stuff that happens in real life, like suicide. Mind you, we were kids when we read it. Kev Exactly. Were you disturbed, or adversely affected, in any way, by reading it? Dave No. In fact, most of the time, we used to sit on your close landing, reading what we bought, then passing them around, and then we moved onto our next activity. Kev Yeh man. I used to love that. Just sitting on those landings in our closies, reading comics and then going off to wander for miles on end, to discuss and dissect them. Or wander for miles on end to buy some more. Ha, ha! Dave Those last 3 panels on page 28 are great. From the silhouette of Pete and M.J. kissing in the window, to a close up of Spidey’s mask, and then onto him swinging off into the snow. Brilliant.  No, Pete! You've got this the wrong way round. You put the mask on when you're coming inside, not going outside. Kev Yeh, DeMatteis and Zeck are excellent at conveying those little, more tender, moments between Pete and M.J. Dave Indeed. That page break at the end of 28 seems like a good place to end the first part of this review. What are your impressions of this so far, and in comparison to ‘Fearful Symmetry?’ Kev Like you said earlier, it's certainly tonally different. Initially, I was concerned that it was going to be a bit redundant, but as it moved along, I really started to get into the psychology of it, which is something, I feel, that DeMatteis excels at. And, of course, because it's Zeck and McLeod, it looks fantastic. What about yourself? Dave When I first flicked through it, I didn't think much of it. It didn't seem like much was actually happening, but as we have delved into it, there is a strong psychological journey going on. I like that there is interaction between a more mature Pete and M.J, which lends itself to the storytelling, and that they are actually looking older, like a wine slowly ageing. But yeah, it will be interesting to see where it leads. The pace is extremely slow at times, but it is packed full of dialogue and narrative, which aids it, as a read. (D) & (K) Next: The Spirit Of Suicide.
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