The Grim Hunt is here!
" Prepare, Spyder! The end has come! The Grim Hunt is here!"
Grim Hunt is a 2010 Spider-Man storyline written by Joe Kelly with art by Michael Lark. It spans from The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #634-637.
After the Kravenoff family sets up Spidey's classic Rogues Gallery to fight him one after another and wear him down, they start hunting down spider-powered individuals. Eventually, Kraven's ex-wife and children round up various spider-people and use them in blood rituals to resurrect both Kraven and his dead eldest son in the same mansion Kraven uses Kraven's Last Hunt, much to Kraven's fury at being cheated out of a peaceful end through unnatural means.
The story is notable for bringing Kraven the Hunter back from the dead, and killing off numerous supporting cast, including the third Spider-Woman, Mattie Franklin, Madame Web, and Kaine.
The series acts as a sequel to Kraven's Last Hunt, and has itself a sequel in Hunted.
Grim Hunt provides examples of:
- Arc Villain: Sasha Kravinoff.
- Avenging the Villain: Sasha's entire goal is to avenge Kraven's death, which she blames on Spider-Man. Never mind the fact that Kraven was Driven to Suicide.
- Ax-Crazy: Ana Kravinoff. She's very proficient with knives, has a tendency to speak in rhyming couplets as she tries to eviscerate Spider-Man, and is last seen gleefully hunting down her own brother at the end of the arc.
- Back for the Dead: After being absent for much of the 2000s, Mattie Franklin returns, where she is sacrificed by Sasha Kravinoff to resurrect her son Vladimir.
- Back from the Dead:
- Ezekiel Sims seemingly reappeared to tell Spider-Man to warn every spider-themed hero and villain about the Kravinoff family's vendetta, but it was really the Chameleon in disguise tricking Peter into walking into a trap.
- Kraven the Hunter is imperfectly resurrected thanks to a black magic ritual. He's not happy about this.
- Badass Family: The Kravinoff family, although they don't get along all that well.
- Bad Future: The one Peter saw during JMS' run has been explained, if Arachne's visions were true — it's a future where Peter killed the recently resurrected Kraven, which led him to go down the same path as The Punisher of sorts, with the added problem of alienating himself from everybody, before getting killed in a police confrontation.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Kraven's family decided it was a good idea to start systematically killing off Spider-themed superheroes to get to Peter. It really wasn't, seeing the way Peter went off on them was pretty disturbing in a way.
- Blind Seer: Madame Web is blind, but can see along the strands of the Web of Life to predict the future. After she dies, her powers are transferred to Jessica Carpenter/Arachne, including, somehow, her blindness.
- Came Back Wrong:
- The ritual to resurrect Vladimir backfires and Vladimir is resurrected as a leonine monster.
- Thanks to Kaine sabotaging the ritual, Kraven is "cursed with un-life", and only Peter or another connected to the Web of Life can kill him. Mentally, he's all there, just angry about it — Madame Web even mocks his wife for assuming he's changed. He's exactly the same, she just prefers not to remember him that way.
- Kaine is resurrected in a mutated state in the epilogue, with extra eyes in a spider-like pattern on his forehead.
- Cat Folk: Vladimir is revived by his family as a human-lion hybrid.
- Co-Dragons: Ana and Alyosha for Sasha.
- Cruel Mercy: Kraven the Hunter is brought Back from the Dead by his ex-wife Sasha, who put Spider-Man and his "spider family" through Hell in the process, killing Madame Web, Mattie Franklin, and Kaine, the last of whom was sacrificed in a Black Magic ritual to bring Kraven back. Having met his end by his own hand, Kraven is not happy to be alive again, especially since he Came Back Wrong because the ritual that resurrected him needed the real Spider-Man, not a clone. During Spidey's subsequent Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Sasha and the Kravinoffs, he nearly kills Kraven with a spear, but Julia Carpenter persuades him not to by showing him visions of a Bad Future that will result should he go through with it; Kraven is not happy, since he wants to die and, according to him, can only die by Spider-Man's hand.
- Death Seeker: Why Kaine sacrifices himself.
- Dirty Coward: Kaine's so terrified of the Kravinoffs that after they capture Araña and Arachne, he insists to Peter that they can't win and their best option is to "run and screw the rest." Spidey responds by decking Kaine in the face and giving him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, absolutely disgusted that Kaine shares his DNA and memories yet acts like a selfish coward. This actually reaches Kaine, who subsequently knocks Peter out, dons his costume, and dies fighting the Kravinoff family in his place.
- Due to the Dead: Following his Heroic Sacrifice at the end of Grim Hunt, Kaine is given a proper burial under the name Kaine Parker.
- Facial Horror: During his Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the Kravinoffs after he has been pushed to his limit, Spider-Man gives Sasha his own version of the Mark of Kaine, pressing his hand to Sasha Kravinoff's face and uses his wall-crawling ability to rip the skin off, ripping Sasha's face apart and leaving a handprint-shaped scar.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Kaine is noted to have suffered in the past. When the Kravinoffs embark on a warpath against Peter's "spider family" in the "Grim Hunt" storyline, Kaine is fully prepared to bail out, insisting to Peter that they can't win and they should just "run and screw the rest." In response, Spidey actually punches Kaine in the face, telling him that the difference between them is the fact that he doesn't use his life's misery as an excuse to give up the good fight.Spider-Man: I know you've had a crappy life, and done bad things, I get it... but I never realized what a piece of garbage you were until this moment. How can you share my DNA and be so damn selfish? We've all been hurt! We've all suffered! But the real difference between us is that I never used it as a crutch. You call it "guilt"... I call it responsibility. And by God, even if it means walking into the lion's den and not coming out... I'm not going to stand by and let people die to save myself.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Kaine sabotages the ritual to revive Kraven by tricking the Kravinoffs into sacrificing him instead of Peter.
- Hero Killer: Sasha is responsible for the murder of Mattie Franklin and Kaine. (Julia Cornwell, who was going by the name Arachne at the time, was also a target, but was saved by Spider-Man.)
- Human Sacrifice: Mattie Franklin is turned into one by the Kravinoff family in order to resurrect Vladimir Kravinoff, the Grim Hunter.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Peter gets one of these speeches when he's shown a vision of the future if he kills the just-resurrected Kraven the Hunter. The reaction of the fandom was...
unexpected, as the two-page spread that encompassed the vision not only showed Peter apparently becoming a complete and utter badass, but featured the fan-favorite "Happy Birthday" costume. Cue the fans shouting "Kill the guy!" at their comic books. - Immortality Inducer: Kraven is imperfectly resurrected by his wife and children, and can only be killed by an entity connected to the Web of Life.
- Important Haircut: Kaine finally carves away his long, unkempt "villain hair" to a haircut more like Ben and Peter's. It symbolizes his Heel–Face Turn as he's preparing to sacrifice his life to save Peter's.
- Karmic Death: Sasha spends several issues tormenting Spider-Man and his allies for the purpose of avenging Kraven and resurrecting him. Shortly after his resurrection, Kraven, who didn't even want to be brought back in the first place, snaps her neck.
- Killed Off for Real:
- Kaine is killed by the Kravinoff family.
- Madame Web is murdered by Sasha Kravinoff after mocking her failure to resurrect Kraven properly. She transfers her powers to Julia Carpenter before dying, though.
- Grim Hunter is killed by Kraven as a Mercy Killing, considering his condition a sorry state.
- Legacy Character: Jessica Carpenter succeeds Cassandra Webb as the new Madame Web.
- Mercy Kill: Vladimir is killed by Kraven out of mercy for what he had been made into when the Kravinoff family went to the Savage Land.
- Not Quite Dead: Kaine sabotages the ritual to revive Kraven by tricking the Kravinoffs into sacrificing him instead of Peter. He's resurrected by the Other, with the help of the Jackal.
- Only Sane Man: Chameleon's the only member of the family to realize that bringing back Kraven is not a good idea, considering he was Driven to Suicide.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Peter dishes one out to Kaine when the latter insists they can't beat the Kravinoffs and they should just "run and screw the rest." Peter outright punches Kaine in the face, absolutely disgusted at Kaine's selfishness and cowardice despite the two sharing DNA and memories. This actually reaches Kaine, who subsequently knocks Peter out, dons his costume, and dies fighting the Kravinoff family in his place.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After the Kravinoff family, led by Kraven's wife Sasha, started hunting down spider-powered individuals, killing Mattie Franklin, Madame Web, and Kaine in the process, even leaving Kaine's body on display in a graveyard with a note that says "Hunt Me!". In response, Peter, in a fit of pure rage, dons his black suit and takes the fight to them, defeating the Chameleon, Alyosha, and Vladimir, ripping Sasha's face apart using his Wall Crawling power offensively and going at Kraven with one of his spears fully intending to kill him in retaliation, with the only thing stopping him being Julia Carpenter, now the new Madame Web, showing him visions of a Bad Future where he becomes a mass-murdering Anti-Hero.
- Self-Serving Memory: When Kraven is resurrected by an Imperfect Ritual, Sasha is convinced that he Came Back Wrong and is different from the man she loved. Madame Web mocks her for thinking as such; Kraven is exactly the way he was before (barring his anger at an Unwanted Revival) and Sasha just prefers not to remember him as such.Sasha: Everything is wrong! That man is not my husband—
Cassandra Webb: Oh, but he is… Refreshed from a long nap. It's like that with old married couples… Sometimes you forget. - Sick Episode: The Kravinoffs actually plan their attack to take place when Spider-Man's sick using the precognitive abilities of Madame Web.
- Spiritual Successor: To Kraven's Last Hunt.
- Tear Off Your Face: Spider-Man rips apart Sasha's face with his wall-crawling power.
- Tears of Fear: Anya has these while she is imprisoned.
- Torture Always Works: Madame Web is a victim of this after she was captured and tortured for weeks by the Kravinoffs, and because of her powers, she saw herself eventually giving in, which she eventually did.
- Unholy Matrimony: Sasha is just as crazy and evil as Kraven is, possibly more so in regards to the latter.
- Unstoppable Rage: Spidey after the Kravinoffs brought back Kraven by killing Kaine.
- Unwanted Revival: Kraven is resurrected by his wife and children, but the revival is botched, and he is brought back as an undead. He was pissed about it, killing Sasha and most of the people she worked with shortly after. Chameleon even points this out, reminding the others that Kraven ended his own life in the first place.Chameleon: Has anyone stopped to consider the fact that this man shot himself in the head? How do you know he wanted to come back?
- Villains Want Mercy: During the climax, Spidey embarks on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the Kravinoff family for everything they put him and his "spider family" through, at one point using his Wall Crawling powers to tear a handprint-shaped mass of flesh clean off of Sasha Kravinoff's face. When Sasha frantically begs him to wait, Spidey hatefully asks her if she "waited" when she killed Kaine, Mattie Franklin, and Madame Web.note
Sasha Kravinoff: W-wait—
Spider-Man: Did you "wait" for Mattie? Cassandra? Kaine?! Now you know what it feels like. To be wounded, hunted... slaughtered.
Spider-Man: Did you "wait" for Mattie? Cassandra? Kaine?! Now you know what it feels like. To be wounded, hunted... slaughtered.
