Amazing Spider-Man #567
Legacy
Mistaken for Spider-Man, Peter Parker’s roommate Vin Gonzales was captured by the daughter of Kraven the Hunter who is now hunting him in the sewers. In order to rescue him, Peter has borrowed Daredevil’s costume. Unfortunately, the wall-crawler has been ambushed by Vermin while searching for Vin.[1] When Spider-Man tries to fight off the creature he almost gives in to his fury but reminds himself that he knows that there is a human inside Vermin and he should try to reach whatever might remain of that humanity.[2] When he webs up Vermin, the creature is confused because it doesn’t realize it is really fighting Spider-Man. It tells “Daredevil” that it saw “Spider-Man” in the sewers below and that he was taken there by a woman. Recalling how Sargent Palone said that a woman had claimed to have kidnapped Spider-Man, the real wall-crawler asks Vermin to show him where Vin was taken.
Meanwhile, Vin — hopped up on Mutant Growth Hormone — hides in some sewer pipes above Kraven’s daughter and ambushes her when she passes by. Despite having the element of surprise, Vin is easily overpowered by the young woman. Before she can kill Vin, Spider-Man arrives to save him. As “Daredevil” battles the woman, he tells “Spider-Man” to make a run for it. However, Vin is quickly incapacitated by one of Kraven’s bolo. As Vin breaks free, “Daredevil” tosses one of his web-shooters to Vin, telling him to use it. Vin manages to get the web-shooter to work and manages to wrap up Kraven in webbing. However, Kraven has enough strength to break free from the webbing and starts laying into “Daredevil” again. Wondering what to do, Vin grabs a loose pipe and hits Kraven over the head from behind. Realizing that she is losing the advantage, Kraven decides to flee, but not before the real Spider-Man manages to tag her with a spider-tracer. That’s when Vermin comes charging out of the shadows and attacks Kraven with his army of rats. While Kraven is busy with this, “Daredevil” suggests that they get “Spider-Man” to the hospital.
A few days later, at Columbia University Medical Center, Vin Gonzales is visited by Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, Carlie Cooper, and Lily Hollister. He tells them that he is expected to recover quickly. Unfortunately, nobody was able to learn why Kraven’s daughter thought he was Spider-Man. On the positive side, Vin informs his friends that he is no longer suspended and will be returning to duty as soon as he’s released from the hospital.[3] That evening, Spider-Man pays Vin a visit to explain why Kraven’s daughter thought he was Spider-Man. The wall-crawler makes up a story about how, in order to prevent people from stumbling upon his secret identity, he plants costumes in the homes of people who could be suspected of being Spider-Man. He apologizes and says that Vin was one of the people he picked. In response, Vin pinches Spider-Man across the face. While the wall-crawler admits that he deserves it, Vin tells him that this confirms all the negative things he always suspected of Spider-Man being.
As Spider-Man leaves the hospital, Ana Kravinoff apologizes to her mother for failing to kill Spider-Man. She understands her daughter’s impulsiveness, however — as she crushed the spider-tracers — warns her daughter that she almost brought their enemy to their home. Still, she is impressed because Ana is just like her father. On the computer screen is a picture of the original Kraven the Hunter and his family tree.[4]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Kraven the Hunter, Vermin, Vin Gonzales, Harry Osborn, Lily Hollister, Sasha Kravinoff
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man quips that if he dies, Matt Murdock won’t have to worry about convincing people he’s not Daredevil anymore. This is a reference to Daredevil (vol. 2) #32, in which Daredevil’s secret identity was leaked to the media.
Spider-Man was once an integral part of restoring Vermin to his human form during the Death of Vermin story arc, chronicles in Spectacular Spider-Man #194-196. Vermin retained his humanity until he was transformed back into his animalistic form by Bloodscream in Wolverine Annual 2001. He also mentions how Vermin once killed him, this happened during Kraven’s Last Hunt arc in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #132.
Vin was suspended after his gun was found at the scene of a murder in Amazing Spider-Man #565.
Some facts here about the Kraven family tree:
The picture of Kraven the Hunter on the computer screen is a homage to the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #47.
According to the family tree, Sasha Nikolaevich was born in 1924 and her father Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich died in 1929 when she was just five years old. This is contradicted by Web of Spider-Man (vol. 2) #7, which reveals that she Sasha killed her father when she was an adult. An explanation for this discrepancy is not forthcoming, however, one could assume that since there was a great deal of controversy surrounding Sasha’s marriage to Kraven the Hunter, perhaps his death was covered up.
Sergei Kravenoff’s is identified as being born in 1918 and died in 2003. The year of death should be considered a topical reference. Kraven committed suicide in Amazing Spider-Man #294. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, Kraven died five years prior to this story. The use of 2003 is “accurate” in that this comic was published in 2008 and five years earlier would be 2003.
How Sergei Kravenoff and his wife Sasha could still be youthful in the modern age is due to the fact that the jungle serums that they ingest slow their aging process. This is hinted upon in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #6
Ana Kravinoff is listed as being born in 1996. This date should be considered topical as well since anyone whose aging process has been prolonged stops aging around adulthood. Doing the math, in 2008, being born in 1996 would make Ana 12 years old at the time of this story. This matches her profile in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #14 which states that she was in her early teens when she first went after Spider-Man. As such, since this publication is part of the twelfth year of the Modern Age, this means she was born around the year before the start of the modern age.
Next on the list if Vladamir Kravinoff, who became the Grim Hunter, a short-lived successor to his father. He was active from Spider-Man #47 and was killed by Kaine in Spider-Man #55. He’s listed as being born in 1961 and had died in 2005. Per the Sliding Timescale, Vladimir died three years prior to this story. Doing the math, this story was published in 2008, thus 2005 would be three years prior, hence why it was used. It’s unclear if Vlad’s year of birth should be considered topical as he didn’t taste his father’s jungle serums until Spider-Man #49.
