143-625: Madame Web ( Cassandra Webb ) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . She first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 210, published November 1980, and was created by writer Denny O'Neil and artist John Romita Jr. She is usually depicted as a supporting character in the Spider-Man comic book series , where she appears as an elderly woman with myasthenia gravis , connected to
286-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with
429-404: A life support system designed by her husband Jonathan Webb, which includes a series of tubes shaped like a spider-web. Spider-Man approaches her while looking for kidnapped Daily Globe publisher K.J. Clayton (actually an impersonator fronting for Clayton's circulation manager Rupert Dockery, the kidnapping's mastermind). Madame Web uses her powers to help him locate and rescue both the real and
572-498: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought
715-498: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,
858-458: A chair, she apologizes to a then-unconscious Mattie, who is later killed by Sasha Kravinoff as part of a sacrificial ritual that revives Grim Hunter . At the conclusion of " Grim Hunt ", Sasha Kravinoff slashes the throat of Madame Web, believing that Cassandra was deceiving her and knew the outcome of events that transpired. Before dying, Cassandra reveals that she is no longer blind, and passes her psychic powers over to Julia Carpenter . During
1001-471: A clone indicates his unnatural existence has muddied the properties of the ritual. Spider-Man, in his black costume, confronts Kraven and the rest of the Kravinoff Family. Spider-Man is tempted to kill Kraven, who eagerly and desperately attempts to goad him into it. Beating him brutally, Spider-Man takes Kraven's spear in hand and prepares to grant his enemy his wish but he refuses to do so when he
1144-529: A code of honour of sorts, choosing to hunt his game fairly. He consumes a mystical serum to give himself enhanced strength and dramatically slow the aging process. Kraven was trained as a hunter largely by a mysterious man named Gregor, a mercenary who once battled Ka-Zar . Kraven was, at one point, the lover of the voodoo priestess Calypso . He is contacted by his half-brother the Chameleon to defeat Spider-Man. He leads Spider-Man to Central Park with
1287-735: A collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published the first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring
1430-439: A direct reference to the 1924 short story of the same name , in which General Zaroff, a Russian big-game hunter (and a primary inspiration for the character), hunts people for sport. Kraven is typically portrayed as a renowned big-game hunter whose goal in life is to beat Spider-Man to prove himself as the world's greatest hunter. Though he is often overconfident in his own abilities, about which he likes to boast, he possesses
1573-564: A director. Despite celebrity connections, Al's efforts were stonewalled by arrogance, greed, and corruption within the Hollywood elite. Forced out of Hollywood by the powerful Rothstein brothers, Al is beaten while Timber was brutally raped. Both Al and Timber exacted vengeance which involved defeating another half-brother Ned Tannengarden (who was later killed by Chameleon) and left Hollywood to pursue heroics in New York City. Alyosha
SECTION 10
#17327981151161716-599: A fight between Spider-Man and the Juggernaut, who is subsequently trapped in a construction site's wet cement foundation. The resulting mental trauma, however, means that Madame Web apparently loses her memory of Spider-Man's secret identity. Webb is the grandmother of the fourth Spider-Woman , Charlotte Witter . She participates in an arcane ritual known as the "Gathering of the Five" to gain both immortality and eternal youth. Restored to her physical prime, Webb then serves as
1859-403: A final goodbye before being returned to his death. By regularly ingesting the potion made from various unnamed jungle herbs, Kraven grants himself superhuman physical abilities, making him a physical threat to Spider-Man, although these powers are not as developed as those possessed by Spider-Man. Kraven's body is also more durable, and more resistant to certain forms of injury than the body of
2002-596: A friendship with him. She helps Kraven realize that Spider-Man is not even close to being the most dangerous prey in the Marvel Universe. In a prelude to " Hunted ", Kraven the Hunter reminisces about how Sasha, Vladimir, and Alyosha were killed by him and Ana for not living up to his legacy. After cutting a deal with the High Evolutionary , Kraven the Hunter has 87 clones of him created, trained as
2145-413: A ghost in the graphic novel The Amazing Spider-Man: Soul of the Hunter , also by DeMatteis, Zeck, and McLeod. DeMatteis also wrote "Kraven's First Hunt" for The Sensational Spider-Man Annual '96, a retelling of The Amazing Spider-Man #15 which incorporated several DeMatteis retcons , such as that Kraven was abusive towards the Chameleon . Sergei Kravinoff (Сергей Кравинов) is a Russian immigrant,
2288-599: A gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into the 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect
2431-744: A great sense of honor, and treats his adversaries as equals until proven otherwise. Because of this, Kraven has sometimes been depicted as an antihero and has teamed up with other heroes, including Spider-Man, the Avengers of 1959 , and Squirrel Girl , in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015–2019). The character is widely regarded as one of Spider-Man's most formidable enemies, and has gained considerable attention from storylines such as 1987's " Kraven's Last Hunt ," 2010's " Grim Hunt ", 2015–2019's " The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl's Friend Kraven ", and 2019's " Hunted ". The mantle of Kraven
2574-465: A helpless girl. Xraven was momentarily fazed by his comment, but attacked again, claiming that he is the "favored one". Cyclops realizes Xraven's weakness and tells him that Mister Sinister sees him as nothing but a pawn. He tells Xraven to read his mind, in order for him to see the kind of a man Sinister really is. After Xraven sees Cyclops's memories, he flees, but the X-Men become aware of the fact that he
2717-435: A humanoid lion was the result of Mattie not being a "pure spider". Vladimir later assists Ana Kravinoff and Alyosha Kravinoff with capturing Anya Corazon as well as a second attempt to capture Arachne . Following Kraven the Hunter's resurrection, Vladimir was shown attempting to attack Arachne and Araña while they are bound. Sergei fends off Vladimir rather brutally. Sasha mentioned to Sergei that Vladimir's sub-human state
2860-477: A life support system resembling a spiderweb. Madame Web is a clairvoyant and precognitive mutant who first appears to help Spider-Man find a kidnapping victim. She is not one of the mutants who lost their power during the " Decimation " storyline. In " Grim Hunt ", she is attacked by Ana Kravinoff and her mother Sasha, who kills her, but before she dies she is able to pass her powers of precognition as well as her blindness on to Julia Carpenter , who becomes
3003-513: A mentor of sorts to the third Spider-Woman, the young Mattie Franklin . Madame Web resurfaces, with her psychic powers intact, after Decimation . However, since House of M (in which she appears young), Cassandra seemingly loses her mystical enhancements and reverts to her aged self, though her myasthenia gravis remains gone. Madame Web again returns in a back-up feature in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 600. She looks into
SECTION 20
#17327981151163146-603: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as
3289-429: A normal human. He can withstand great impact forces, such as falling from several stories or being repeatedly struck by a superhumanly strong opponent, that would severely injure or kill a normal human, with little to no injury to himself. The effects of the potion have dramatically altered Kraven's aging process to the point that he has aged little, if at all, over several decades. Despite being over 70 years of age, he has
3432-510: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did
3575-442: A promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved a success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish
3718-425: A result, she became entirely dependent on external life support for survival. This is no longer the case as she was cured of the condition some time ago. She is also blind and relies on her powers to compensate. Madame Web is cybernetically linked to a spider-web-like life-support chair which attends to all of her bodily needs. American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in
3861-585: A sample of his DNA . Mister Sinister later cut a deal with Carnage to obtain a sample of the Carnage symbiote . After removing the sentience from the Carnage symbiote sample, Mister Sinister combined it with the DNA of the original X-Men and Kraven the Hunter, where he would use this creation at a later date. Years later after the death of Kraven, an ex-Morlock who had kept his powers post M-Day named Joe Buggs
4004-417: A signal flare into the sky. This attracted the attention of Spider-Woman , who defeated Kraven the Hunter. Jennie Sheldon even took pictures of the fight. At the time when Venom encountered some Dinosaur People in the sewers, Kraven the Hunter followed Venom and killed an Ankylosaurus -type Dinosaur Person before engaging Venom in battle. He was fended off by Venom, who vowed to fight Kraven again. Upon
4147-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring
4290-471: A target by scent, much as some animals do, even if the scent has been somewhat eroded by natural factors. Even without his superhuman powers, Kraven is an Olympic-level athlete, and a gifted tactician, hunter, and hand-to-hand combatant. He also has great knowledge of pressure points , both in the anatomy of humans and in many animals. He can strike at these nerve clusters with pinpoint accuracy, allowing him to incapacitate more powerful opponents or animals. He
4433-584: A team to fight Spider-Man. They capture Aunt May and Betty Brant . He attacks Spider-Man in Central Park with three tigers . Spider-Man fights off the attackers and secures the next clue to where Aunt May and Betty Brant are being held. After Aunt May and Betty Brant are rescued, Kraven the Hunter and the rest of the Sinister Six are arrested by the police. While in the Savage Land , Kraven
Madame Web - Misplaced Pages Continue
4576-494: A ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934), a 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in
4719-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were
4862-508: A true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of the Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as
5005-413: A very flexible skeletal structure enough for him to press them to the back of his torso and legs with only the slightest bulge visible under his clothing (Carnage's DNA allowed the wings to be flexible). He was able to defeat Cyclops and Shadowcat , holding her hostage, giving the ultimatum that he would kill her if they did not surrender. Spider-Man insulted Xraven, claiming that Kraven would never threaten
5148-777: A way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from the McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as
5291-461: A year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by the Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than
5434-511: Is clear that Mister Sinister survived his confrontation with Xraven, it is currently unknown whether Xraven survived. Upon researching Xraven, Captain America does not consider him evil. He states that Xraven must be brought in, partly because of the murder he committed and partly to prevent the Kravinoff family from obtaining him. The daughter of Kraven the Hunter, Ana Kravinoff becomes
5577-461: Is familiar with many exotic poisons and tranquilizers , which he often uses during his hunts. Due to a flaw in the ceremony that resurrected him, Kraven was given "the unlife ... the eternal curse", as he discovered when his daughter stabbed him through the heart. According to Kraven, he can now only die by Spider-Man's hand. However, this curse was apparently broken when Kaine temporarily killed Kraven by stopping his heart and then restarting it with
5720-552: Is in the Savage Land, Agent Venom lands in the area on an unrelated mission from the federal government. Mistaking him to be Spider-Man, Kraven attacks him and gains the upper hand before Venom escapes. At one point, Kraven is contacted by a doctor who once treated him when a past hunt went wrong, the doctor requesting that Kraven track down a recent patient of hers—who had been used as a test subject to duplicate another man's electrical abilities—as well as asking that he capture
5863-485: Is no longer your burden. Besides, there won't be much of it left soon...not by the time I've finished." Sometime later, Kraven is pulled through time from moments before his death by Galactus to help their shared friend Squirrel Girl defeat Melissa Morbeck and her own coterie of time-displaced supervillains and former villains. Telling her not to blame herself for his ultimate fate. After reuniting with Doreen and thanking her for all she had done for him Kraven, bids Doreen
Madame Web - Misplaced Pages Continue
6006-635: Is one of few mutants that retained their superhuman powers after the M-Day . He is one of the superpowered beings recruited within the Beyond! miniseries by Stranger posing as the Beyonder . Alyosha Kraven later eventually becomes fully deranged from experimenting with his father's potions, and in his madness began collecting a zoo of animal-themed superhumans, including Bushmaster II , Gargoyle II , Tiger Shark , Kangaroo II , Aragorn (the version that
6149-501: Is reminded by Julia Carpenter (who has inherited the powers of Madame Web after her death) that committing murder is not in his moral code, and furthermore, by going through with it, damns himself to a future where from that point he takes on a more brutal approach to crime-fighting, including killing suspects, which will lead him to die in a standoff against the police (a scenario previously glimpsed in an earlier issue). Following their defeat by Spider-Man, Kraven and his family escape to
6292-445: Is sensitive to psychic energies, allowing her to sense the presence of psionic powers in others, to see the area surrounding her, and events which take place far away from her. Additionally, Madame Web has a gifted intellect. When dying, she displayed the ability to transfer her mutation to another individual, such as Julia Carpenter. Madame Web was a victim of myasthenia gravis , a disorder of neuromuscular junction transmission. As
6435-523: Is shown to now be explosively psychopathic and cold towards his family, beating his son Vladimir and daughter Ana and expressing little attention towards his wife. After being stabbed by his daughter Ana, Sergei recovers, stating that Sasha restored him with corrupted blood which he calls "unlife". They pull off the mask of the corpse of Spider-Man hung in their mantel and discover that Kaine had impersonated Peter in Spider-Man's costume. Kaine's nature as
6578-464: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined
6721-517: Is unable to find rest until Spider-Man confronts his risen corpse on Kraven's behalf. Across " The Gauntlet " and " Grim Hunt ", Kraven is resurrected from the dead by his ex-wife Sasha Kravinoff and their children with a dark magic ritual using the blood of Spider-Man, following his son Vladimir (who ironically enough had been murdered by Kaine Parker , the same sacrifice victim who brought Kraven himself back to life). Thoroughly unhappy and enraged with having been bestowed an unwanted revival, Sergei
6864-713: The Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy storyline, Madame Web is resurrected by Ben Reilly (posing as the Jackal ), inserting her soul into a cloned body. Cassandra tips off Prowler about a future bank robbery which he manages to stop. Prowler then goes to get more information on the hacker from Madame Web, who says that she sees buildings filled with agony that cannot escape. When the villains at New U Technologies are getting out of control, Jackal sends Electro to find Prowler to put them under check again. Electro goes to Madame Web's room and tortures
7007-505: The Black Panther —currently acting as a 'local' vigilante to regain his sense of self after the destruction of Wakanda 's vibranium —in return for her help finding a way for him to die. With the aid of Storm , T'Challa is able to stay ahead of Kraven long enough to convince him that the doctor had lied about being able to kill him, Kraven agreeing to leave T'Challa alone and take the doctor's mutated animal subjects back with him into
7150-612: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),
7293-613: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for
SECTION 50
#17327981151167436-500: The Scarlet Spider instead. Kaine (a clone of Spider-Man) arrived and after a confrontation, Vladimir was killed by the insane duplicate. On death's door, he staggered to Gregor falling in his arms and died shortly after that. During " The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt " storyline, Sasha Kravinoff sacrifices Mattie Franklin as part of a revival ritual that resurrects Vladimir as a humanoid lion creature. Vladimir being revived as
7579-685: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on
7722-1028: The Serpent Society , the Squid , and the White Rabbit . In the case of the King Cobra , the Rhino , the Scorpion , Stegron the Dinosaur Man , the Tarantula , and the Vulture, they were grouped together as the Savage Six . While making the final preparations for the "Great Hunt," Kraven the Hunter recaps on his own immortality when it was revealed that the Kraven the Hunter that was stabbed by
7865-580: The United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included the debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw
8008-663: The Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on the back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted
8151-463: The eponymous 2024 film . Madame Web was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist John Romita Jr. , and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 210 (November 1980). Born in Salem, Oregon , Cassandra Webb is a paralyzed , blind , telepathic , clairvoyant , and precognitive mutant who works as a professional medium. After being stricken with myasthenia gravis , she is connected to
8294-512: The "Grim Hunt", where they start going after Kaine. Ana assists her half-brother Alyosha Kravinoff into attempting to abduct Arachne , only to run afoul of Spider-Man, who repels them. Ana alongside Alyosha, Electro , and Diablo are present when Sasha sacrifices Mattie Franklin as part of a ritual that resurrects Vladimir Kravinoff as a humanoid lion creature. Ana alongside Vladimir and Alyosha attacks Anya Corazon , only to end up fighting Spider-Man, Arachne, Kaine , and Ezekiel Sims (who
8437-535: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following
8580-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had
8723-542: The 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck ,
SECTION 60
#17327981151168866-520: The 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of the most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking
9009-598: The American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be a separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books,
9152-526: The Black Cat from the Last Son of Kraven, but Spider-Man rejects the idea that this can only be accomplished through violence. Upon realizing that he was the beast that he was wanting to kill all along, Kraven the Hunter releases all the surviving animal-themed characters and sends Spider-Man to protect Mary Jane. Kraven the Hunter then dons a copy of Spider-Man's black costume to act like him once more. When
9295-678: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In
9438-630: The Grim Hunt by hunting Kaine . They then witness Spider-Man's fight with the Lizard . He was present at the ritual where Sasha sacrificed Mattie Franklin as part of a revival ritual that resurrects his half-brother Vladimir as a humanoid lion-like creature. After the Kravinoff Family was defeated, Alyosha alongside the other Kravinoff Family members escaped to the Savage Land. Alyosha soon abandoned his family after Kraven killed Sasha and Vladimir. In an attempt to impress Kraven, Ana pursued Alyosha with
9581-519: The Hunter (2024). The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #15 (August 1964), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko . Though he would occasionally appear in other characters' titles, he was most frequently used as a Spider-Man foe. He is killed off in the acclaimed 1987 storyline by J. M. DeMatteis , Mike Zeck , and Bob McLeod , " Kraven's Last Hunt ". Although generally considered to be
9724-433: The Hunter (Ana Kravinoff) Kraven the Hunter ( Sergei Nikolaevich Kravinoff ; Russian : Сергей Николаевич Кравинов) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko , the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August 1964) as an adversary for the superhero Peter Parker / Spider-Man . He since endured as one of
9867-480: The Hunter and Shriek are arrested by the NYPD, as the captain stated that he never liked Kraven the Hunter anyway. Kraven the Hunter was hired by the evil organization Rampart to lure Captain America to them. After a brief struggle with Kraven the Hunter, Captain America was frozen in ice by Rampart's freeze cannon. Squirrel Girl has helped Kraven reform, teaming up with him to fight other villains, even establishing
10010-414: The Hunter finds Gog in a spaceship that he stumbles upon. Realizing how useful Gog can be, Kraven the Hunter decides to use him in a plot to conquer the Savage Land. After kidnapping the visiting Gwen Stacy from a camp in the Savage Land, Kraven and Gog battle the heroes Ka-Zar and Spider-Man. While Ka-Zar deals with Kraven, Spider-Man defeats Gog by luring him into a patch of quicksand, which he sinks to
10153-492: The Hunter has also been assumed by Kraven's sons Alyosha and Sergei Kravinoff II , and his daughter Ana Kravinoff . Since his original introduction in comics, the character has been featured in various other Marvel-licensed products, including video games , animated television series , and merchandise. Aaron Taylor-Johnson will portray Kraven the Hunter in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) live-action film Kraven
10296-541: The Hunter is recruited by Baron Helmut Zemo to join the Army of Evil. At the time when Manhattan was surrounded by a Darkforce Dome, Kraven the Hunter raided the Daily Bugle to find information to the identity of Spider-Man. Knowing that J. Jonah Jameson would be in danger, Phil Sheldon's daughter Jennie headed to J. Jonah Jameson's house to warn him. After Kraven the Hunter attacked J. Jonah Jameson, Jennie Sheldon fired
10439-469: The Hunter-Bots and the animal-themed characters, Kraven the Hunter's secret motive is to force Spider-Man into killing him again so that he can be free from his dreadful curse. He does this by trapping Curt Connors when he tries to rescue his son, Billy. Spider-Man was forced to "kill" Curt by tearing out the implant chip that prevented Curt hurting humans as the Lizard , despite the risk that taking out
10582-641: The Kravinoff family. It was later revealed that back in the 1950s, Kraven the Hunter was a member of Nick Fury 's version of the Avengers alongside Dominic Fortune I, Dum Dum Dugan , Namora , Silver Sable , Sabretooth , and Ulysses Bloodstone , tracking a stolen version of the Super-Soldier Serum combined with the Infinity Formula that had been stolen by a group of Nazis attempting to create their own Captain America. While he
10725-549: The Last Son of Kraven is conned into strangling Kraven the Hunter to death, he soon realizes that he was fooled when he sees Spider-Man swinging away. His funeral is attended by the Last Son of Kraven. The Chameleon is revealed to be one of the attendees as he is pleased that Kraven the Hunter spared him from the Great Hunt. As he walks away, the Chameleon tells his dead half-brother to sleep well: "You needn't worry. The world
10868-609: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in
11011-418: The Savage Land. While there, Kraven brutally kills Sasha (who complained that Kraven would have to hunt them to prove their place in the Kravinoff family) and euthanizes Vladimir. Alyosha flees in disgust of what his dad did to his stepmom and half-brother afterwards. Kraven and Ana discuss rebuilding the Kravinoff family, which leads to Ana running off to hunt Alyosha to prove herself worthy to Kraven and rebuild
11154-567: The Scarlet Spider to torment him. With the help of Ana, Kraven kidnapped Kaine's friends to motivate the Scarlet Spider to fight him. In the end, Kaine delivered Kraven a fatal blow in the chest, which paralyzed his heart. But using the same attack, Kaine brought him back to life supposedly still breaking the curse. Following the fight, both Kravens disappeared. Kraven, still claiming to be cursed, next battles Squirrel Girl at Empire State University, having earned her ire by lashing out at
11297-532: The Scarlet Spider was actually a clone. Kraven the Hunter sends the Last Son of Kraven to capture Spider-Man for the Great Hunt. After a Hunter-Bot created by Arcade Industries is demonstrated on the Iguana , Kraven the Hunter and Arcade begin the Great Hunt, where Central Park is surrounded by a dome that is from the same technology as the Planetary Defense System. It is revealed that the moment
11440-830: The Sons of Kraven, and sent out to prove themselves by being hunted by each other. This motif caused Ana to leave him. The one that hunted and killed the other Sons of Kraven was labeled as the Last Son of Kraven . With help from the Taskmaster , the Black Ant , and Arcade , Kraven the Hunter starts hunting various animal-themed characters, like the Beetle , the Kangaroo , the Owl , the Puma ,
11583-556: The alien Z'nox ). Venom , slighted at his rejection by the Six, hunted each of the team members. Refusing to be "the hunted", Alyosha trapped Venom with fire, but Venom seriously injured him and escaped. Alyosha then adopted a more relaxed, suave, and charismatic personality. As "Al," he began dating Timber Hughes, an aspiring actress who worked as a waitress at an all-villain bar. Al sought to help Timber's career in Hollywood by becoming
11726-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This
11869-408: The art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with a script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have
12012-478: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated
12155-446: The bottom of. Determined to end his life as he becomes older, frustrated with his failing health and continuing failure to defeat Spider-Man, Kraven sets out a final hunt for Spider-Man. After capturing Spider-Man, he shoots him with a coma-inducing drug and buries him alive on his estate. To complete his victory, he attempts to become Spider-Man's clear superior by impersonating him in a brutal vigilante campaign and capturing Vermin ,
12298-545: The captives, he is shown to lack a sense of control, attacking Ana until he is stabbed in the heart by Ana in self-defense. Sergei recovers, stating that Sasha restored him with corrupted blood or the "unlife" as he puts it. When the Kravinoff Family is defeated, Ana alongside the other Kravinoffs escapes to the Savage Land . After Sasha and Vladimir are killed by Kraven and Alyosha flees, she runs off to hunt Alyosha to prove herself to Kraven. She tells Kraven that if she can take down Alyosha, Kraven should train her and help rebuild
12441-520: The ceiling over him. Shriek then tells Kraven the Hunter that she can have Eddie Brock's head after the mission is done. As the Dinosaur People feed on the rats that enter their lair, Kraven the Hunter sneaks up on some Dinosaur People and kills them. Venom catches up to Kraven the Hunter and fights him and Shriek. With help from Tana, Venom stated that the Dinosaur People were not killing anybody and that they are only surviving underground. Kraven
12584-473: The chip would kill Curt. After Spider-Man finds the bodies of the guards that were killed when the Lizard escaped, he is confronted by Kraven the Hunter. Spider-Man figures out that Kraven was the one who killed the guards to frame the Lizard, as the wounds are too precise for the Lizard's feral claws. To guilt Spider-Man into becoming a hunter, Kraven attempts to force Spider-Man to watch the Lizard save Billy and
12727-501: The comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of the three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically,
12870-534: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled
13013-432: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote
13156-464: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,
13299-575: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of
13442-408: The death of Vladimir. Unlike Vladimir, Alyosha was separated from his family and raised in an African jungle. After Kraven the Hunter's suicide, Alyosha came to New York City to investigate the father he barely knew. Dressed as Kraven, Alyosha confronted his uncle Dmitri Smerdyakov (AKA Chameleon). Believing his abusive half-brother had returned from the dead, Chameleon revealed to Alyosha much about
13585-417: The definitive Kraven the Hunter story, the story originally had a completely different character in Kraven's role. Writer DeMatteis recounted: As I was getting ready to work on the story, I was sitting in my office and looking through a Marvel Universe Handbook and came across the entry for Kraven the Hunter. To this day, I don't know if this was something that was established in continuity , or if whoever
13728-413: The dysfunctional Kravinoff family. Kraven's former lover Calypso Ezili did actually return from the dead and she mistook Alyosha for Kraven the Hunter. She seduced Alyosha, but afterwards he spurned her affections. Later, riding a bull elephant atop Manhattan 's rooftops, Alyosha attacked Spider-Man . He poisoned him with a hallucinogenic dart, but then set him free. While at the Kravinoff estate, Alyosha
13871-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In
14014-479: The end, it is revealed that she is Kraven's daughter by a woman called Sasha Aleksandra Nikolaevich (also the mother of the deceased Vladimir Kravinoff ). She and her mother have recently set about forming an alliance of Spider-Man villains to get revenge on the wall-crawler and kidnap Madame Web . They also hired Deadpool to keep him distracted while they kidnapped Mattie Franklin . Ana and Sasha later meet up with Alyosha Kravinoff, who assists them in preparing for
14157-450: The fact that he had given samples of the X-Men's DNA to Sinister for cloning, the lights went out on the wing where they were located. The hunter attacked and quickly dispatched Colossus , but was held at bay by Spider-Man's webbing. He broke free, claiming his name is Xraven . The X-Men quickly realize that Xraven has all of the powers of the original X-Men, while also sporting retractable claws, big hands and feet, fangs, and wings that have
14300-514: The fake Clayton. She later discloses to him that she already knows his secret identity. In the " Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut! " story arc, she contacts Spider-Man for assistance when Black Tom Cassidy dispatches the Juggernaut to capture her, hoping to exploit her psychic abilities against the X-Men . She nearly dies after Juggernaut separates her from her life-support system. This triggers
14443-444: The final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors , the largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of
14586-505: The first female to take on the name of Kraven the Hunter. She first appears tracking Spider-Man to his apartment, but mistakenly believes Peter Parker's roommate Vin Gonzales was him. She then methodically ruins Vin's life, and captures him. Despite Vin's claims that he was not Spider-Man, Kraven prepared to hunt him, but was stopped by the real Spider-Man, who was wearing Daredevil's costume (which had eyelids for him to be able to see). At
14729-416: The future and refuses to be a part of it. Before dying from clone degeneration, Madame Web tells Julia to save Prowler. Madame Web is a mutant who possesses several psychic abilities. She can use telepathy to read the minds of others. She has the ability to see the future. Madame Web can project an astral form of herself away from her physical body. She can perform psychic surgery on the minds of others. She
14872-440: The future, showing what are apparently quick looks into Spider-Man's future, only to see someone "unravelling the web of fate", and fearfully exclaiming "They're hunting spiders." After that, she is attacked by Ana Kravinoff and her mother Sasha. The pair incapacitate her and then claim "we now have our eyes". She is seen still held captive by Ana and her mother, as they inspect their new quarry, Mattie Franklin. While still bound in
15015-512: The help of the Chameleon, who disguises himself as Kraven to use himself as a decoy while the real Kraven ambushes the hero. However, despite Kraven having weakened Spider-Man with a poisonous dart, Spider-Man prevails in the end. Spider-Man proves a frustrating quarry because Kraven continually underestimates the superhero's resourcefulness. Kraven becomes a founding member of the Sinister Six when he accepts Doctor Octopus 's offer to form
15158-410: The hunters". During the " Avengers: Standoff! " storyline, Kraven the Hunter was an inmate of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established by S.H.I.E.L.D. who used Kobik 's abilities to turn Kraven the Hunter into a zookeeper . He rallied some of his fellow inmates to help him find Kobik and bring her to Baron Helmut Zemo . During the "Opening Salvo" part of the " Secret Empire " storyline, Kraven
15301-470: The individual connects to the Hunter-Bot and if it is destroyed, then the individual is killed, which is what happens when the Vulture destroys Bob's Hunter-Bot. Kraven the Hunter plans this from the beginning to punish the hunters for killing animals for sport. Kraven the Hunter has Arcade tell the Vulture that there is a chance to break the force field by killing more Hunter-Bots. During a fight between
15444-505: The intent of killing him in exchange that he trains her to rebuild the Kravinoff Family. Alyosha was later confirmed to have been killed in the Savage Land by his sister Ana when she and their father returned from the Savage Land to hunt down Kaine in Houston , Texas . There was a third son named Nedrocci " Ned " Tannengarden who tried to kill Alyosha, but he was murdered by the Chameleon (who, during that time, believed himself to be
15587-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there
15730-628: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across
15873-474: The local squirrels, including Tippy-Toe . Kraven departs when Squirrel Girl informs him of the existence of sea monsters like Giganto and challenges him to hunt them, instead of limiting himself to going after the same prey he did prior to his resurrection. He later returns to abduct Howard the Duck , but gets trapped with Howard and Squirrel Girl in a manhunt as the hunted. After surviving, he vows to only "hunt
16016-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed
16159-408: The news of Dinosaur People being found beneath the streets of New York City, Mayor Wilson Fisk and NYPD Commissioner Chris Rafferty appointed Kraven the Hunter to lead a SWAT Team into the sewers and eliminate them. When Venom deactivated each trap and confronted Kraven, Venom was caught off-guard when Kraven the Hunter revealed his secret ally Shriek , who used her attacks on Venom and then collapsed
16302-645: The next Madame Web. Webb is subsequently resurrected by Ben Reilly before succumbing to the Carrion Virus. Webb is the grandmother of the fourth Spider-Woman , Charlotte Witter . Madame Web has appeared in or served as inspiration for several Spider-Man related media. Rachel Dratch voices " C. Weber ", a character loosely based on Madame Web, in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), while Dakota Johnson portrayed Cassie Webb in
16445-448: The one foe Spider-Man had never been able to defeat on his own (Spider-Man's last battle with Vermin required Captain America 's assistance). After Spider-Man emerges from his grave two weeks later, Kraven explains his actions to him and sets Vermin free. Spider-Man goes after Vermin to prevent his killing again. Kraven leaves a final confession of his crimes against Spider-Man and then commits suicide. Because of his suicide, his soul
16588-628: The original Kraven the Hunter). It was revealed during 2009's X-Men /Spider-Man crossover miniseries that years earlier, Kraven made a deal with Mister Sinister . He and the Blob tracked down the X-Men, and they fought the united forces of Spider-Man and the original X-Men. Kraven fled after a short battle, but not before wounding each member of the X-Men. Kraven returned to Sinister, with genetic samples from Cyclops , Marvel Girl , Iceman , Angel , and Beast . Furthermore, Sinister requested from Kraven
16731-461: The physical appearance of a 30-year-old man. The potion enhances Kraven's sight, hearing, and smell to superhuman levels, adding to his already impressive tracking skills. He can see farther, and with much greater clarity, than a normal human. His hearing is similarly enhanced, enabling him to detect sounds which an ordinary human cannot, or sounds that a normal human could detect, but at much greater distances. Kraven can use his sense of smell to track
16874-559: The process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in the mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in
17017-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in
17160-650: The red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch a new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as
17303-475: The same as his father's. He was briefly involved with the Hobgoblin , even giving his identity of Jason Macendale his father's super-strength formula which reacted to the anomalies in his bloodstream which gave him greater power. This is perhaps the reason why Vladimir became more powerful than his father when he took the treatment. When he got out of jail, he decided to track Spider-Man down again only to fight
17446-677: The same move. Kraven the Hunter had different family members and clones. He even fathered several children who have followed in his footsteps: Vladimir Kravinoff was a son of Sergei Kravinoff, the infamous adversary of Spider-Man known as Kraven the Hunter. Unlike his illegitimate half-brother Alyosha Kravinoff who was raised in shame in Africa , Vladimir grew up in Russia benefiting from his father's wealth and luxuries. However, their father often neglected both sons while he pursued his various international quarries. Unaware of his siblings, Vladimir
17589-629: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash
17732-408: The size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that the page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of
17875-631: The son of an aristocrat who fled to the United States with his family in 1917 after the Russian nobility was decimated by the February Revolution and subsequent collapse of the reign of Tsar Nicholas II . Kraven is a maniacal big-game hunter who seeks to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. Unlike other hunters, he typically disdains the use of guns or bow and arrows , preferring to take down large dangerous animals with his bare hands. He also lives by
18018-754: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half
18161-438: The telepath into giving her Prowler's location with the intent to kill him. Julia Carpenter senses that Madame Web is alive from telepathic feedback resulting from Electro's attack. Julia infiltrates New U Technologies and uses the opportunity to investigate the near-abandoned facility. During this time, Julia is led to Madame Web who refuses to take medication which could aid her in healing from Electro's attack. Madame Web has seen
18304-417: The tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from the limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in
18447-495: The tribesmen with her. He was later hired by the city of New York to help capture the Fantastic Four 's enigmatic enormous canid Puppy. Next, he was hired by White Wolf , head of the deposed Wakandan secret police, to capture Black Panther. Black Panther turned the battle around, nearly killing Alyosha. Sandman later invited Alyosha to join Sandman's Sinister Six to hunt Doctor Octopus and Senator Ward (the host body for
18590-434: The various X-Men books led to storylines involving the genocide of superpowered "mutants" in allegorical stories about religious and ethnic persecution. In addition, published formats like the graphic novel and the related trade paperback enabled the comic book to gain some respectability as literature. As a result, these formats are now common in book retail and the collections of US public libraries . Kraven
18733-415: The web-slinger's most formidable foes, and is part of the collective of adversaries that make up Spider-Man's rogues' gallery . Kraven has also come into conflict with other heroes, such as Black Panther and Tigra . He is the half-brother of the supervillain Chameleon , and is one of the founding members of the Sinister Six . In Kraven's first appearance, he calls Spider-Man "the most dangerous game",
18876-628: The wild. When their identities became fractured after a temporary separation, the Hulk discovers that Bruce Banner had hired Kraven to find the lost city of the Sasquatches . Although the Hulk was uninterested with helping the Sasquatches deal with Kraven, he changes his mind and beats up Kraven. Kaine, in the alias of the Scarlet Spider , later encountered Kraven the Hunter, who was dressed as
19019-412: Was a character I had never had any interest in whatsoever. I always thought he was one of the stupidest Spider-Man villains ever, but suddenly I had this whole new take on the character. Despite Kraven the Hunter being one of Spider-Man's most long-standing arch-enemies, DeMatteis claims that none of Marvel's editorial staff objected to the proposal to have him killed in the story. Kraven later returns as
19162-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in
19305-519: Was able to get DNA samples from Shadowcat, Colossus, Nightcrawler , and Wolverine . Returning to Mister Sinister with the samples, Mister Sinister tells him that he planned to clone a new generation of mutants, and that he would unite all mutantkind. After seeing what Sinister's real intentions were in Cyclops's memories, Xraven destroys the samples, claiming that Mister Sinister would breed slaves as opposed to warriors, and Xraven attacks him. Although it
19448-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of
19591-473: Was learning about his father from Spider-Man when Calypso returned with Kraven's tribesmen. She set the home ablaze and killed all but Gulyadkin the Lion. Calypso poisoned Alyosha and Spider-Man and used her hypnotic powers to force the two to fight to the death. Spider-Man resisted and injured Calypso, while Alyosha subdued her with his lion. Despite asking for her forgiveness, Alyosha savagely killed Calypso and all
19734-406: Was murdered by a mysterious mutant hunter. His friend Ed (who had lost his powers) went to the X-Men for help. He claimed that the man who killed Buggs was Kraven the Hunter. Although they were skeptical about Kraven's apparent resurrection, the X-Men called on the help of Spider-Man, who had battled Kraven many times over the years. After discussing the battle that they had with Kraven years ago and
19877-485: Was owned by the Vatican Black Knight), Vulture , Mongoose , Man-Bull , Dragon Man , Swarm , Mandrill , Grizzly III , Frog-Man , and Rhino . In the end, the Punisher (whom Kraven referred to as "Tiny Monkey") managed to sabotage this zoo. Kraven himself escapes to the Savage Land . During " The Gauntlet " storyline, Alyosha returned to New York to help his half-sister Ana and stepmother Sasha in
20020-572: Was raised by Sergei's servant Gregor who acted as a surrogate father teaching him Sergei's hunting techniques. When Vlad was still a boy, Sergei put his son through a rite of passage, hunting Vladimir while disguised as the fabled "Grim Hunter." Impressed by his son's abilities learned under Gregor, Sergei began to train Vlad personally. Vladimir Kravinoff took up the name " Grim Hunter " and decided to hunt down Spider-Man and several of his foes. He only had one battle with Spider-Man, and his methods were nearly
20163-568: Was really Ana's half-uncle Chameleon in disguise). The Kravinoffs manage to overpower them and make off with Anya and Arachne. After Chameleon sheds his disguise and Spider-Man partially succumbs to the drugs the Kravinoffs have given him, Ana is present when Kaine (dressed as Spider-Man) is killed as a sacrifice as part of a ritual that revives her father Sergei Kravinoff. Following the resurrection, Sergei gets acquainted with his family. When Kraven returns after preventing Vladimir from attacking
20306-416: Was the result of a test resurrection to see if she can revive Sergei. After Spider-Man defeated the Kravinoff family, they escaped to the Savage Land where Sergei killed Sasha (because she complained about being hunted to become a true Kravinoff) and euthanizes Vladimir (which Kraven does due "to respect for the dead"). Alyosha Kravinoff is a mutant who is the second Kraven the Hunter some time after
20449-477: Was writing the Handbook entry made it up, but they mentioned that Kraven was Russian . For me, a total Dostoyevsky fanatic, the idea that Kraven was Russian and had the same tortured, Russian soul that the great Dostoyevsky characters had, unlocked this door in my head and suddenly I had a new understanding of this character. I thought about Kraven and the forces that had driven him to be who and what he was. This
#115884