Peter Parker: Spider-Man #17
Night of the Hunters
This story continues from Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #17…
Electro and Mysterio have just evaded capture by Spider-Man following his battle between Sandman and Venom. Fearing that Venom’s vendetta against the Sinister Six will make them targets, Mysterio orders Electro to eliminate their one-time teammate first.[1] Just as Electro has finished vowing to destroy their foe, Venom ambushes him looking forward to an easy win after what he did to Sandman.[2] Explaining that he has vowed to destroy the Sinister Six for their lack of honor, Venom beats Electro within an inch of his life before beginning the search for his next victim.[3]
The next morning, Peter Parker is trying to sell photos of Spider-Man’s battle with the Sandman, but J. Jonah Jameson isn’t interested. He reminds Peter that he is no longer accepting photos of Spider-Man, deciding to take a new editorial position with the Daily Bugle. As Peter leaves the office, he wonders why Jameson has been acting so strangely lately and wonders if it’s because he may have looked under his mask after Spider-Man was knocked out saving Jonah from Venom a few days previous.[4] When Peter turns around and tries to get Jonah to reveal what he may or may not know about Spider-Man, he can’t think of the right words and Jameson tells him to scram as he has a newspaper. At that same moment, Kraven the Hunter has heard that Venom is hunting down members of the Sinister Six. However, Kraven refuses to be the prey and decides to turn things around on Venom by using the appropriate bait to lure him out into the open, that bait is none other than Spider-Man.
Back at the Daily Bugle, Peter is leaving the office hoping that if his cover hasn’t been blown, Jonah has chalked up Peter’s babbling as part of his grieving process.[5] On his way out, he bumps into Joe and Randy Robertson in the lobby. Randy is asking for a loan but his father turns him down.[6] This really doesn’t sit well when Joe tries to give Peter an envelope of cash knowing that Peter is in a tough financial situation recently, particularly since Jonah has stopped buying Spider-Man photos. Peter sees this as a handout and turns it down. After he leaves, Randy asks why his father is willing to give money to Peter Parker and not his own son and all Joe can say is that Peter’s situation is different. Even as he leaves, Peter thinks this was a stupid move since his rent is overdue. To get his minds off his worries by web-slinging as Spider-Man. This proves to be a mistake as he is soon found by Kraven who tranquilizes Spider-Man with knock-out darts.
When Spider-Man wakes up he finds himself strung up in Central Park.[7] Kraven tells Spider-Man that the ropes and drugs will prevent him from breaking free but assures Spider-Man that he will be around as the wall-crawler is bate. No sooner has Kraven disappeared into the fog does Venom emerge and prepares to use this opportunity to learn Spider-Man’s secret identity again.[8] As Kraven moves in for the kill, Venom turns around and reveals he knew this was all a trap, prompting the hunter to flee. Spider-Man asks Venom to cut him down before he leaves, but Brock refuses and goes off after Kraven. Unwilling to let anyone die — not even one of his own foes — Spider-Man struggles to get free.
By the time Spider-Man catches up with his foes, Kraven has attempted to weaken Venom with fire only to be gored by some of Venom’s tendrils. Spider-Man arrives and keeps Venom at bay by using Kraven’s set traps to trap Venom in a ring of fire. Surprisingly, Kraven is about ready to leap into the flames to try and finish Venom off. Spider-Man manages to disarm Kraven and then web him up.[9] When left with a choice of getting Kraven to medical attention or saving Venom from the fire, Spider-Man decides to save Kraven’s life first, prompting Venom to vow to hunt the wall-crawler down instead.
Later, when Peter Parker returns to his apartment he discovers all of his possessions out on the street. His landlord tells him from the window that he’s been evicted for not paying his rent and tells him to clear out his things soon before he calls the sanitation department. As Peter wonders how much worse things can get, it begins to rain.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Venom, Kraven the Hunter, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Randy Robertson, Mysterio, Electro
Continuity Notes
Venom has had an ax to grind against the Sinister Six since he briefly worked with them in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #12/Peter Parker: Spider-Man #12.
Venom bit a chunk out of Sandman last issue.
Although this story leaves you to believe that Electro has been killed here, the villain turns up alive and well again in Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #10.
Spider-Man was left in a compromised situation battling Venom in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #10. Peter’s fears that Jonah may have looked under his mask prove to be of no concern as Jonah chickened out. Peter will learn this and why Jonah is refusing Spider-Man photos in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #20.
Peter mentions here that Mary Jane is missing. Mary Jane seemingly perished in a plane crash in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #12. Peter doesn’t think she’s dead and he’s not wrong as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #29.
Randy and Peter talk about how Randy has recently been divorced. Randy had married Amanda Batavides back in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #112. This is the first reference that they have been divorced, the couple was last seen together in Spider-Man #23.
Spider-Man makes a joke about Kraven being Regis Philbin on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and quips about how Kathy-Lee Gifford is attractive. Philbin used to be the host of both Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and his own daytime talk show Live! With Regis and Kathy-Lee. This should be considered a topical reference as Philbin has retired from both host of both shows in 2002 and 2011 respectively. Likewise, should the reference to Kathy Lee be topical particularly since she had stopped being Regis’ co-host in the year 2000.
Venom used to know Peter Parker was Spider-Man, the reason why and why he no longer does here is complicated. Venom’s alien symbiote costume was worn by Peter Parker starting in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 until he discovered it was alive and abandoned it in Amazing Spider-Man #258. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #300, the symbiote knew all of Spider-Man’s secrets — including the true identity of Peter Parker — and shared them when he bonded with Eddie Brock to become Venom. That was until recently in Spider-Man: The Venom Agenda #1, when Venom suffered a blow to the head making him forget Spider-Man’s secret identity.
Kraven mentions how an obsession for the hunt cost the life of his father. He is referring to Sergei Kravinoff the original Kraven the Hunter who committed suicide during Kraven’s Last Hunt (Web of Spider-Man #31-32, Amazing Spider-Man #293-294, and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132)