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| Written by Gregg Katzman; Kraven & Ana artwork by Ryan Stegman; Old Man Logan artwork by Andrea Sorrentino & Marcelo Maiolo |
It's no secret that
I kind of love Kraven the Hunter. I had no interest in the Spider-Man villain
back when I was a kid (I barely remember him from Spider-Man The Animated
Series) but that all changed when I read J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck's
phenomenal story Kraven's Last Hunt - if you haven't read it, fix that mistake.
A character that wasn't even on my radar suddenly became one of my favorites. It
became clear to me that Kraven's so much more than an arrogant villain who
loves to monologue. I've written multiple articles about why Kraven should get
his own limited series or make more appearances (Comic Vine article, Midtown Comics article, Screen Rant article), and now that he's returned from the grave
and has a daughter, I think there's a lot of story potential. So, I figured
it's time to stop writing articles about Kraven and start writing some of the
stories that I'd like to see.
Up first: Kraven vs
Old Man Logan. For years, I've wondered why the world's greatest hunter has
never gone after Wolverine - that hunt totally makes sense, right? When I came
up with this story idea back in 2017 (a rough draft of this story exists on the Comic Vine forums), Wolverine was still trapped in
adamantium, but the alternate future version of himself, Old Man Logan, was
running around the primary Marvel Universe. So, why not have Kraven go after
him? He's still worthy prey! If anything, it's a more balanced fight since Old
Man Logan's healing factor isn't as good as Wolverine's, and he isn't as gifted
as a fighter, either. Well, it turns out Old Man Logan and Kraven will
officially meet in Old Man Logan #41 & #42. Hopefully that official
conflict will be all kinds of exciting, but in the meantime, here's the first
chapter of a story that's been bouncing around in my head for a couple years
now. Two more chapters are on the way!
Obviously, these
characters are property of Marvel Entertainment and this story is unofficial.
I'm writing it purely for fun, and hopefully you'll have fun reading it. Now,
grab a drink and get cozy because it's time to read!
INTRO PAGE:
Sergei Kravinoff,
aka Kraven the Hunter, is the best there is at what he does, but what he does
is not very nice. The son of a Russian Aristocrat, Sergei had the means to
spend decades traveling the planet to hunt the most formidable and dangerous
creatures. After experimenting with a variety of herbal potions, Kraven gained
superhuman strength, speed, durability, agility, and slowed aging. He eventually came to New
York to pursue a new challenge: Spider-Man. Defeated time and time again by the clever hero, Kraven felt incomplete and became obsessed with beating the
wall-crawler. When Sergei finally defeated Spider-Man, he felt at peace
and took his own life.
Kraven’s wife
(Sasha) and his children (Vladimir, Alyosha, Ana) used blood magic to resurrect
their father, hoping to restore the Kravinoff name to greatness once again.
Brought back against his own will, the resurrection granted Kraven immortality
and he can swiftly recover from any wound. Only Spider-Man – or someone with
the hero’s DNA – can permanently end Kraven’s life, but he can effortlessly
recover from any other injury.
Now, all that
remains of Kraven’s immediate family is his overly ambitious daughter, Ana –
all of Kraven’s physical attributes were passed down to her. With only his daughter left, Kraven has a new
mission: Teach Ana to become better than himself – not just as a hunter, but
also a person.
But before Kraven
embarks on this new mission with his daughter, he has one more hero to hunt…
PAGE ONE: FOUR PANELS
PANEL ONE
Ana’s staring at her
reflection in a large mirror in one of the Kravinoff family’s lavish bathrooms.
ANA: You can do
this.
PANEL TWO
Ana places her hands
on the counter and leans closer to the mirror, still staring into the reflection
of her eyes.
ANA: You can do
this.
PANEL THREE
Ana’s hands are now
clenched into fists as she leans against the counter with her knuckles.
ANA: He’s beaten you
every single time. But that changes today.
PANEL FOUR
Close-up of
determined expression as she continues to stare at her own reflection with
confidence.
PAGE TWO: FIVE PANELS
PANEL ONE
Ana kicks open the
door to the Kravinoff training and sparring room. The walls are full of various
weapons – knives, spears, bolas, nets, darts, etc. – and there’s a giant open
space to practice martial arts and melee combat.
ANA: It’s time to
train, father! Today, you will finally know what it feels like to lose!
PANEL TWO
Ana looks around,
confused that her father is not there during their scheduled sparring time.
ANA: …father?
PANEL THREE
Ana’s eyes narrow as
she believes she has walked into an ambush, thinking her father will surprise
her at any moment.
ANA: I’m ready for
anything! Come out and face me!
PANEL FOUR
Ana looks confused
as her father speaks loudly from another room.
KRAVEN: Child! Come
to the living room.
PANEL FIVE
Ana grabs a bo staff
from the wall.
ANA: Right away,
father…
PAGE THREE: FIVE PANELS
PANEL ONE
Ana leaps into the
luxurious living room, armed with a wooden bo staff. Kraven is sitting
comfortably on one of the couches. He’s dressed casually – sweat pants and a plain tee shirt – while enjoying a warm cup of coffee.
ANA: Get ready to
lose, old man!
PANEL TWO
Ana strikes forward
with the bo staff, stopping it only an inch from Kraven’s throat.
KRAVEN: Don’t be
ridiculous, daughter. Put down the staff and get comfortable. We have a
different kind of training today.
PANEL THREE
Ana is clearly
upset.
ANA: I won’t fall
for your tricks! Get up and fight me!
PANEL FOUR
Kraven’s expression
changes from relaxed to stern.
KRAVEN: Put. It.
Down.
PANEL FIVE
Ana’s flustered but
obeys as she lets the bo staff drop on the floor.
KRAVEN: Good. Would
you like some coffee?
ANA: No. What I’d
like is a fight.
KRAVEN: And you
shall have it, but not right now. Sit.
PAGE FOUR: THREE PANELS
PANEL ONE
Ana sits near her
father as he takes a sip of coffee – she’s annoyed while he’s calm.
KRAVEN: I’m
incredibly proud of you, Ana. You’re fearsome. You’re brave. You’re gifted.
You’re far more dangerous than I could have ever hoped to be when I was your
age.
ANA: Thank you,
father.
KRAVEN: I know you
want nothing more in this life than to be just like me. But you’re so eager to
be just like me that it blinds you to the obvious. You don’t even see that I’ve
been such a fool.
PANEL TWO
Ana’s confused while
her father begins to open up, revealing a little more vulnerability in his
expression.
ANA: …Excuse me?
KRAVEN: You’re all
that I have left. You are more important to me than anything in this world. I…
I can’t let you make the same mistakes that I’ve made. Allowing that would be
my greatest failure.
ANA: Father, you –
KRAVEN: Please, Ana.
Listen. How much did time I spend obsessing over the Spyder? I held him in the
highest esteem, yet all he did was mock me and act like a child. I was
awe-struck by his power, but power doesn’t make one great, does it? A strong
body is nothing without a strong mind, and ego has prevented me from being
truly great. You suffer from the same weakness, and I can only blame myself for
that.
PANEL THREE
Kraven continues to be vulnerable while Ana grows defensive.
ANA: This is
ridiculous.
KRAVEN: Is it,
though?
ANA: Yes!
PAGE FIVE & SIX:
DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD
Wide shot of the
Kravinoff family’s vast living room with Ana and Kraven sitting on a couch. One
wall has floor to ceiling windows (and a glass door that connects to their
balcony with a beautiful view of Central Park), one wall has various trophies. The room is spacious and clean, only consisting of expensive
furniture, packed bookshelves, a large TV against the wall with a video game
console underneath it. (Ana plays video games. Kraven… isn’t a fan.)
KRAVEN: You’re
young. I was just as determined and arrogant at your age. It took me decades to
realize that I am my greatest enemy. How long will it take you?
ANA: You’re wrong.
The Spyder may act like an idiot, but he was a worthy foe. You beating him is
something to be proud of!
KRAVEN: If you
really want to impress me, you’ll listen.
ANA: …Sorry, father.
KRAVEN: All your
training. All your drive. It’s so admirable and I know you have the potential
to become so much greater than I ever was. But if we don’t change our focus,
you’ll go down the same path that I did… a selfish path that has no room for
joy or empathy. Please, trust me when I say that is not a life you want. You’re still going
to become the most formidable woman this world has ever seen and honor the
Kravinoff name. You’re still going to dedicate your life to hunting worthy
prey. But we need to change our definition of “worthy.” We need to focus on prey
that deserves to be hunted, Ana. We need to stalk the truly despicable people
of this world. They will be our prey.
ANA: This is absurd.
Do you want me to wear a cape, too?
KRAVEN: Don’t be
daft. Those fools see the world in black and white. It’s not that simple and it
never will be. Everything will be the same – the only difference is who we’ll
hunt. It’s really a quite simple but important change.
ANA: If I humor your
idea, can we finally train?
KRAVEN: If I win,
you’ll have to do more than humor my idea – you’ll have to accept it.
ANA: Fair, but it’s
a good thing I’m not going to lose.
PAGE SEVEN: SIX PANELS
PANEL ONE
Ana swiftly elbows Kraven in
the throat, forcing him to spill his hot coffee all over himself and the couch.
ANA: Ha!
KRAVEN: Argh!
PANEL TWO
Close-up of Ana
grinning.
PANEL THREE
Ana is standing,
ready to fight. Kraven is still sitting on the couch, soaked in coffee.
KRAVEN: Updated
deal: You’re cleaning the couch when you lose, too.
ANA: If I lose.
PANEL FOUR
Ana attempts to kick
Kraven in the nose while he’s still on the couch, but he blocks her attack.
PANEL FIVE
While blocking Ana’s
kick, Kraven sweeps Ana’s other leg.
ANA: No!
PANEL SIX
Ana hits the floor.
PAGE EIGHT: THREE PANELS
PANEL ONE
Large panel. Kraven
stands over Ana. He’s grinning while Ana is clearly upset.
KRAVEN: I look
forward to our new adventure, daughter.
PANEL TWO
Kraven walks away as
Ana starts to get back up.
KRAVEN: But before
we begin, I have one last hero to hunt.
PANEL THREE
Kraven looks back at
Ana, smirking.
KRAVEN: Oh, and
thank you for cleaning the couch.CLICK HERE TO READ CHAPTER TWO
Thanks for reading chapter one – stay tuned
for more chapters! As always, your honest feedback is greatly
appreciated. Be sure to follow me on Twitter and like the official Facebook page for site updates.
Kraven is a child-batterer...
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this quite a bit. I hope you take the time to continue the story. FF never gets as much support because people are usually only concerned with canon stories or their own FF but I fully endorse a Kraven vs mystery opponent who may or may not be Canadian.
Thank you, I'll definitely finish this story arc.
DeleteI'm loving it! Can't wait to see what happens next, it really feels like you have a great grasp of the characters, but are also able to realistically bring out a different side of them than what we are used to. I am very impressed.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
DeleteI love their intereactions. They felt strongest when they were short back and forths. I think the weakest dialogue is the longer segments by Sergei at the end. None of it was bad though.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your feedback!
DeleteSuper dope set up and love seeing this side of Kraven. Also, definitely going to check out Last Hunt now.
ReplyDeleteThanks! If you like it, be sure to follow-up with Grim Hunt.
DeleteThat was a great read, Gregg!. The story captures Kraven's voice perfectly and I even like how you have structured it based on panels. Will read on for more.
ReplyDeleteHey, thank you very much! Really means a lot to me.
DeleteLoved it. Keep up the good work on this!
ReplyDelete