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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 14, 2024 18:16:28 GMT -5
I read the first appearance of Kraven very early on when I started reading comics regularly because I came across the 1960s paperback that reprinted Spider-Man #13 and #15 and, I think, one of the stories from Spider-Man #1. My grandmother had a lot of books in several bookcases around her house, and it included quite a few books that my father and his siblings and maybe some other relatives have stored at her house at some point. She had a couple of very early editions of some of the Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I had read those a few years earlier.
So late in 1975 or early 1976, she saw that I was reading comics, and she said she thought there was a Spider-Man paperback in one of the bookcases. I looked around and found it, and it was part of my collection for a while.
#13 and #15 are such great stories! I’m pretty sure it was the first time I saw Mysterio. But I had seen Kraven before. There was a Spider-Man model in the 1970s in which old Spidey was spreading a bunch of webbing over a defeated Kraven at the bottom of a stairwell. One of my friends had purchased the model and he had all the pieces laid out on his desk, but he hadn’t put it together yet because he didn’t have the right paint for it. He wanted to paint it first. It came with a little comic book, and I remember flipping through that, and thinking that Kraven’s lion-mane on his costume was his hair. I thought it was weird that his hair seem to be growing out of his shoulders.
Kraven is great! Almost all of his appearances in the 1960s and the 1970s are really good. My favorite is Spider-Man #34.
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Post by jtrw2024 on Aug 14, 2024 18:35:03 GMT -5
I read the first appearance of Kraven very early on when I started reading comics regularly because I came across the 1960s paperback that reprinted Spider-Man #13 and #15 and, I think, one of the stories from Spider-Man #1. My grandmother had a lot of books in several bookcases around her house, and it included quite a few books that my father and his siblings and maybe some other relatives have stored at her house at some point. She had a couple of very early editions of some of the Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I had read those a few years earlier. So late in 1975 or early 1976, she saw that I was reading comics, and she said she thought there was a Spider-Man paperback in one of the bookcases. I looked around and found it, and it was part of my collection for a while. #13 and #15 are such great stories! I’m pretty sure it was the first time I saw Mysterio. But I had seen Kraven before. There was a Spider-Man model in the 1970s in which old Spidey was spreading a bunch of webbing over a defeated Kraven at the bottom of a stairwell. One of my friends had purchased the model and he had all the pieces laid out on his desk, but he hadn’t put it together yet because he didn’t have the right paint for it. He wanted to paint it first. It came with a little comic book, and I remember flipping through that, and thinking that Kraven’s lion-mane on his costume was his hair. I thought it was weird that his hair seem to be growing out of his shoulders. Kraven is great! Almost all of his appearances in the 1960s and the 1970s are really good. My favorite is Spider-Man #34. I remember seeing that Spider-man and Kraven the Hunter model kit advertised in old comics from the 70s, but don't think I've ever seen an actual one. Did those kits come with all-new, original comic books too? I seem to recall hearing something like that. Someone really has to get around to collecting and reprinting stuff like that! |
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 14, 2024 19:05:19 GMT -5
Here’s a YouTube video from a guy who bought the Spider-Man model at an antique store and opened it up.
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Post by tarkintino on Aug 14, 2024 20:33:24 GMT -5
Speaking of the Aurora model's 1974 reissue, its greatest selling point was the typically stunning Romita Spider-Man art, as seen on the kit's box and comic booklet cover:  |
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Post by kirby101 on Aug 14, 2024 21:33:21 GMT -5
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 14, 2024 22:10:51 GMT -5
I think you’re supposed to use one of the pages from the comic book as a backdrop. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Aug 15, 2024 5:46:23 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 15 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 153)  The cover is un-flipped, meaning the UPC box covers up Spidey’s leg. A caption box announcing the return of the Chameleon is completely removed. Not sure if they tried flipping the cover to see if it would work any better. Either way you look at it, somebody’s leg is going to get covered up. The removal of the Chameleon picture means Kraven's foot is now visible. Don't know where that came from since it wasn't there before. Comic book readers can be really critical when it comes to drawings where you can't see the feet, so this was probably a good decision. I don't like the colouring on the net, with the empty spaces coloured white. The original did the sensible thing and just has the background colours showing through it. Here's the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #15 for comparison…  I've never felt it was one of Steve Ditko's best covers. There's something about Spider-Man's figure that looks a little off...he's too squat of something. Also, the composition of the cover as a whole just seems a bit boring. This is the first appearance of Kraven the Hunter, and the second appearance of returning villain the Chameleon. Neither of these guys are given real names until decades later, nor is their friendship or connection explained in this issue. All we know is that Kraven is “The most dangerous stalker on Earth!”, gets his super hunting-abilities from a secret jungle potion. Kraven is here to hunt Spider-man, as a favour for his old pal the Chameleon... and of course for the challenge. This the introduction of yet another all-time great Spider-Man villain – Lee and Ditko were absolutely on a roll by this point! Kraven seems like a seriously formidable villain too in this first appearance, especially in the creepy way that he observes Spidey prior to commencing to hunt him. In addition, he has a suitably exotic manner of fighting, what with his nerve punch, the poison which makes Peter's hands shake, the distracting jungle drums, and his chain net. When Kraven announces his intentions, it's interesting that Jameson is the one to announce that there are laws against hunting human beings in America. It's clear that Jameson doesn't have any problem with the choice of prey, but even for a law-abiding citizen, JJ's always had a blindspot when it comes to Spider-man, so I would think he'd be supportive of Kraven right from the start.  Kraven's use of the phrase "the most dangerous game" in the above panel is surely a reference to – or at least inspired by – the book and film of the same name from 1924 and 1932, respectively. The plot of The Most Dangerous Game involves a big game hunter who deliberately maroons a group of luxury yacht passengers on a remote island to hunt them for sport. Peter’s personal life again becomes more complicated when the various cast members interact. This is the first time we see Betty and Liz in the same scene and of course it doesn’t go too well. Betty does a great, hilarious Liz Allan impression, by the way! I think I was getting this issue and the last one mixed up in my comments for last issue; this is the first time that Betty and Liz meet. As I said before though, I love the frosty interactions between Betty and Liz in this issue. Oooh, the teenage drama!  Also, I agree that Betty's sarcastic impressions of Liz, and Peter's reaction to them, are very funny. Aunt May has arranged a blind date for Peter with the niece of their neighbor Mrs. Watson. This is the first time their neighbor Mrs. Watson is mentioned. We don’t find out her niece’s name, nor do we get to meet her since she comes down with a headache and has to cancel out on Pete. Yeah, this is the first mention of that "Watson girl". I love the fact that straight away Peter is assuming that she'll be a "refugee from a horror movie".  But then again, what self-respecting teenager would ever take their Aunt's word for it that a girl is attractive? This is something I never noticed until I first read the scans of the original stories in my CD/DVD-Rom collection in 2005, but Kraven’s vest and arm-bands were originally coloured green. The Marvel Tales reprints colour these parts brown as this would eventually become their standard colour in later appearances. I have to say, I prefer brown in this case. Not every villain needs green in their outfit! Yeah, I noticed that for the first time recently too, when reading this comic in the over-sized Taschen Amazing Spider-Man book, which reprints the issues with their original colouring. I agree that the green in Kraven's outfit doesn't work. The more usual browns and animal print colouring works a lot better and makes more sense for hunting on the plains of Africa. Overall, this was another cracking issue, with yet another highly memorable villain being introduced. Also, it's cool to see the return of the Chameleon. |
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Post by jtrw2024 on Aug 15, 2024 17:22:32 GMT -5
That's pretty cool! The Spider-man figure seems more Ditko-ish than Romita. Could just be the way this one was painted maybe? |
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 15, 2024 18:49:43 GMT -5
Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" is actually a short story, published in Collier's magazine, not a novel. It is one of the most popular short stories in the English language; certainly in America.
The Simon & Kirby Manhunter, in Adventure Comics, carried a tag line about him Hunting the Most Dangerous Game, which carried over to the 70s revival, from Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson.
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Post by tarkintino on Aug 15, 2024 20:23:21 GMT -5
That's pretty cool! The Spider-man figure seems more Ditko-ish than Romita. Could just be the way this one was painted maybe? The original Spider-Man kit was released in 1966, but Aurora Plastics' deal to make Marvel kits was finalized in 1965, the year before Romita took over the comic book, so the sculpt of Spider-Man theoretically had been based on Ditko (at least the face). That said, Aurora did not use Ditko's art for the kit box, but that of one Neal Adams:
In 1974, Aurora decided to re-release many of their superhero kits (with the exception of any Batman TV-based kits, the Penguin and Wonder Woman, the latter thanks to a destroyed mold). By time, Dave Cockrum had worked on conceptualizing kit ideas while working at DC; he was instrumental in pitching the idea of adding a mini-comic (with a page that would serve as a backdrop for the kit), and most importantly, recruit fellow comic book artists with work that best defined the characters at that time, hence Swan on Superman, Giordano on Batman and Robin, Cockrum on Superboy, Trimpe on the Hulk, and Romita on Spider-Man and Captain America (Romita had a run on Cap and also created quite a number of covers for the title).
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,202
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Post by Confessor on Aug 15, 2024 23:33:16 GMT -5
Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" is actually a short story, published in Collier's magazine, not a novel. It is one of the most popular short stories in the English language; certainly in America.Really?! That sounds like a bold claim to me. I would say it's virtually unknown to the average Joe on the street over here in the UK. I only happen to know of it because it is referenced in Robert Graysmith's book Zodiac about the Zodiac killer who terrorised San Francisco in the late '60s and early '70s (it is also referenced in the 2007 film of the same name). Anyway, thanks for the correction on the story's length. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 16, 2024 2:11:40 GMT -5
Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" is actually a short story, published in Collier's magazine, not a novel. It is one of the most popular short stories in the English language; certainly in America.Really?! That sounds like a bold claim to me. I would say it's virtually unknown to the average Joe on the street over here in the UK. I only happen to know of it because it is referenced in Robert Graysmith's book Zodiac about the Zodiac killer who terrorised San Francisco in the late '60s and early '70s (it is also referenced in the 2007 film of the same name). Anyway, thanks for the correction on the story's length. Well, it has been named as such in listings; but, those are always dependent on the writer or editor. It is included in a LOT of anthologies and read in high school and college literature classes. Hollywood loves it and has used the plot endlessly, even things like Gilligan's Island. Now, many might not know the title; but, if you start describing the plot people will recognize it. We read it in my high school, in our text book and it certainly went over better than William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." It was in most general topic anthologies we carried at B&N and pretty much every adventure-themed one. Now, I can't speak for the younger generations, but up through my generation, the plot is well known. I know the schools around my store seemed to concentrate more on novels, as I don't recall having to stock a lot of anthologies, for summer reading. Kind of sad, really, as, quite often, the shorter pieces are better written, as they had to have a better polish for the length. O Henry's "Gift of the Magi" is the other one I have seen in almost every American story anthology, though I always preferred "The Ransom of Red Chief." Sure, Magi is more heartwarming, but Red Chief is more fun. I discovered that one via a Weekend Special, on ABC TV, one Saturday morning, in 1977. They occasionally did these specials, adapting stories and novels for kids and this one had Strother Martin and Jack Elam as the hapless kidnappers of the son of a banker, then find out he is a hellion and his father won't pay the ransom. That plot has also been swiped a lot by Hollywood. Probably is more of a generational thing, since the bulk of the story magazines and focus on short stories are long gone now. I always enjoyed a lot of writers who excelled at them, like O Henry, and Mark Twain (who mixed both great short stories, novels and essays), Poe, PG Wodehouse, Robert Benchley, James Thurber, Dorothy Parker, sci-fi writers like Asimov and Phillip K Dick, Ray Bradbury, etc. Great stuff for reading during a meal break or in a waiting room. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 16, 2024 3:08:33 GMT -5
Yep, I can also attest to the fact that "The Most Dangerous Game" was also assigned reading when I was in high school (early to mid-1980s).
And yep, not only was the plot recycled for an episode of Gilligan's Island, but also Fantasy Island.
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 16, 2024 4:07:37 GMT -5
We read both "Most Dangerous Game" and "Gift of the Magi" in 10th grade English (this would've been 1972-73) and, yeah, virtually everyone I know my age did the same. My love of both reading and writing short stories stems, at least in part, from my early exposure to these two classics.
Cei-U!
I summon the corroboration!
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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 16, 2024 4:29:29 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 15 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 153) I have to say, I admire the meticulous notes and images and your pointing out where captions and art were altered for the reprint book. It’s a lot of extra work but it makes the thread cooler. |
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Also, I agree that Betty's sarcastic impressions of Liz, and Peter's reaction to them, are very funny.
But then again, what self-respecting teenager would ever take their Aunt's word for it that a girl is attractive?
