This past Wednesday, Marvel released its final installment in the storyline The Grim Hunt. This was the big conclusion to the year-long, talent-laden march through Spidey's past and present bad guys, The Gauntlet, where Marvel either revamped the Spider-man's classic villains or swapped them out for sleeker, deadlier models. Tabbed as the dramatic rebirth of Kraven the Hunter, The House of Ideas pulled out all the stops, letting veteran Spidey scribe Joe Kelly and the talented Michael Lark craft this reincarnation. Surprisingly, Grim Hunt both fails to live up to expectations and astounds with some blatant nonsense.
Firstly, I will address Peter suddenly acquiring Swine Flu. We begin Hunt with Parker laid up in bed, apparently delirious and ravaged by a vicious case of this draining virus (only about six months removed from Swine Flu being on the front pages!). I say apparently because by issue four, mere hours later in the night, Peter seems right as rain when he is beating Kraven into submission. I understand the "flu" was used as a plot device to make it conceivable that Kaine, Spidey's pathetic clone, could knock him unconscious to perform his selfless deed of sacrificing himself for Peter. I just ask a little continuity in the story, especially within only an arc spanning four issues!
Then we come to Kaine the clone. A career C-Lister at best, Kaine basically commits suicide to botch the flesh and blood return of Kraven. We have been shown the consequences of what happens when the Kraven family tried to reincarnate Kraven's dead brother without using Parker's blood, turning the subject into a sort of were-lion. Yet apply the same principle to Daddy Kraven's big return, using a messed up clone's lifeblood, and we get- Daddy Kraven with a bad attitude. Wha?! Again, continuity dammit! I would have been cool with another were-lion thing and Mommy Kraven enraged with blood lust rallying the troops in a true Grim Hunt of Spidey. I mean what a twist, tease the return of Kraven the Hunter only to turn he and his brother into matching nightmare beasts. (Well okay, its not great, but better than what we get.) Kaine really sent me over the edge in true Mighty Marvel fashion- as the Epilogue (that's right folks, the Epilogue) is all we have to wait until Kaine rises from his grave with a new persona. Why does Marvel insist on keeping everyone on the roster alive? Killing someone in such a dramatic moment in the body of the story loses major impact when the same character rises from the grave in the last scene. That gag worked in Masters Of The Universe, yet it comes across as really cheesy in Grim Hunt.
There's only so much one could trash a four issue story arc, but this story was supposed to be this big must-read event. Spidey had seen such strife throughout The Gauntlet, to see Kraven's return reduced to such rubbish leaves Gauntlet ringing a bit hollow. Just imagine that the fuse is lit, anticipation building, only to watch the firecracker fizzle out. A dud. Such a shame considering the creative team. Joe Kelly is a favorite writer of mine, especially on this title in particular. Michael Lark was brilliant during his run on Daredevil, and he doesn't necessarily turn in a bad showing here. Lark just fails to make the work transcend the poor script as sometimes happens with a great artist. If you've invested the time to soldier through The Gauntlet, then you almost have to read Grim Hunt to see your reading through to its conclusion. Just don't expect much.
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