Spidey’s First Hunt — ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #33 Reviewed

One of the greatest Spider-Man stories of all time is Kraven’s Last Hunt, a chronicle of the darkest moment of Peter Parker’s worst moment and Kraven’s fall. In Amazing Spider-Man #31, Peter Parker finally gets revenge…

Zeb Wells, Patrick Gleason, Marcio Menyz, and Joe Caramagna find Peter Parker in an impossible situation.

Just as supernatural means gave Norman Osborn a clean slate, another magical artifact has now transferred every bit of Norman’s former evil to Peter Parker’s soul. The amazing Spider-Man no longer exists. Now there’s only the sinister Spider-Man, a dangerous predator. And his first target is the man who corrupted him- Kraven the Hunter!

Wells has taken one of the most out-there plotlines he inherited- Norman’s clean slate- and made it into one of the most interesting character arcs at Marvel right now. With this arc, he flipped the situation. While Norman is now the heroic party, Kraven has corrupted Peter, with Wells writing the most terrifying Spider-Man we’ve ever seen. By creating a direct homage to Kraven’s Last Hunt, he shows us just how far gone Peter is with whatever Kraven did to him. It’s one of the best issues of this run to date, and I’m excited for the rest of the arc.

Gleason uses his standard style but blends in plenty of homage to Mike Zeck. He uses mirrored shots and smoothes his usual angles just enough that the homage is obvious. His take on Vermin is horrifying, and he makes the fight between Kraven and Vermin feel claustrophobic and frantic. Menyz’s colors are still one of the best things about this series, with this issue’s entire desperate and horrifying atmosphere accomplished by the colors.

Amazing Spider-Man  #33 is available now from Marvel Comics.