The Hunter Revealed

At her apartment in Fort Green, Brookyln, Anya Corazon is awoken from her sleep when she is visited by the spirit of her mother. Sofia tells her daughter that in order to achieve her destiny she must unleash the hunter. Her mother disappears after delivering her message leaving Anya to wonder if it was all a dream. In the morning, her father Gil, tells her that he’ll be out working late that evening and asks if she’ll be fine on her own. Anya assures him she will and she thinks to herself how she knows what he’s going through since she also has a demanding job.

Later that eveing, Araña and Miguel Legar are staking out the Sisterhood of the Wasp headquarters she tells Miguel about the recurring dream she keeps having about her mother. He suggests that she juet let it go. Before she can press him for more answers they pick up visuals of a meeting between their enemy Vincent and one of the higher ups within the Sisterhood. She expresses her disappointment that Vincent continues to make mistakes trying to eliminate the Spider Society’s new Hunter. Vincent explains that he has hired an assassin to help them out but without their own Hunter, there’s not much he can do. When she asks where their Hunter is, Vincent explains that he is still in intensive care hanging on by a threat and is instructed that it’s time to wake him up.[1] When Vincent asks how they can circumvent the rules, which only allow them one chance a year to activate a Hunter, he is instructed to find a Totem and she tells Vincent to prepare for tomorrow evening.

Hearing all of this, Miguel realizes that this is very serious since a Totem is a very powerful being. When Araña tries to include herself in the mission ahead, Miguel tells her that it’s too dangerous for her to be involved with. He tells her that she needs to get her rest and that he’ll meet with her tomorrow after school. Anya is annoyed at being left behind but goes back home anyway. Unable to sleep she decides to write down her thoughts in her new diary. She writes about how she became Araña when Miguel activated her powers as the Hunt. Her early battles with the Sisterhood of the Wasp for Webcorps, including her first clash with Vincent. Her encounters with Amun. The time Miguel was injured and she was there to save his life. The time she met Spider-Man. She also talks about how the Sisterhood hired an Egyptian assassin Amun to act as a de-factor Hunter for the Sisterhood and how he ended up enrolling at her high school. Making matters more complicated is the fact that her friend Lynn developed a crush on him. She remembers a close call with an active shooter in a coffee shop where she and Amun actually worked together. Lastly, she recalls how she avenged her mother’s murder by capturing her killer, a cartel leader named Felix Jade.[2]

Meanwhile, Miguel attends a late night meeting with the Webcorps board of directors to tell them of the Sisterhood’s current plans to revive their Hunter. They are concerned about the Sisterhood recruiting a Totem and they all agree that they should recruit a Totem of their own to counter this.

At that same moment, Spider-Man has come upon Araña, who is now brooding on a rooftop. She decides to tell him about how her allies at Webcorps are shutting her out of the action again and Spider-Man suggests that they are perhaps doing this in order to protect her. He tells her that the alternative to waiting for answers is to go looking for them, but cautions Araña that she might not like what she finds. He then suggests that she do what he does when he feels frustrated, web-slinging around town and then challenges Araña to try and catch him. However, their game of chase is interrupted when Spider-Man’s spider-sense warns him of a mugging happening in a nearby alley. They quickly wrap up the crooks and Araña admits that actual crime fighting seems like a more productive use of her time than fighting the Sisterhood of the Wasp all the time. While at that moment, Miguel is back at home and is troubled by the vision he keeps having. In it, he and Araña are facing a massive creature and in the battle Araña is killed.

The next day, Anya is running late for school and runs into Amun, who she hasn’t seen since the defeated Felix Jade. He tells her that they are no longer enemies because the Sisterhood has fired him as their assassin and figures it is only a matter of time before they try to eliminate him for failing them. At that same moment, Spider-Man arrives at Webcorps after getting a summons from Miguel. When he tells Spider-Man of their need for a Totem, he gladly agrees to help. That’s when Nina Smith enters the room and complains about how their current Hunter is a teenaged girl who can’t even keep her personal life in order. Ted Mankowski walks in on this argument as Miguel is telling Nina that he’s heart enough.

Later that evening, Araña arrives to offer her help and Miguel apologizes for getting her involved in all of this, saying he had no choice when he made her the Hunter for Webcorps. During the briefing, everyone keeps telling Araña to treat this situation more seriously because it is very dangerous. Araña’s increasingly flippant attitude cause Miguel to pull her aside and tell her that the reason why he’s concerned for her safety is because he’s afraid. He tells her that Nina was trained to be the Hunter, but he choose Anya partically because he kept on seeing visions of himself and Nina getting killed in battle. He had hoped to change that by choosing Anya, but now the visions show her Araña dying instead.

He reveals that Anya actually shouldn’t have powers at all because he has since learned that she isn’t actually part of the Spider Clan lineage. Her mother passed along something to Anya and while it has similar powers to that of the Hunters chosen by the Spider Clan, it also from a different source. He points out her carapice, which looks nothing like any that past Hunters had before. This all deeply upsets Araña and she leves. When Miguel reports back to the others, Spider-Man decides to go looking for her and try to convince her to come back. He finds Araña on a rooftop and talks her into rejoining the battle, telling her that being the Hunter isn’t as important as doing the right thing.

Meanwhile, Miguel, Ted and Nina are attacking the Wasp hideout where they are attempting a revive their Hunter with a mystical spell and a Totem of their own. They are pinned down by enemy gunfire and Vincent gloats how they are too late to stop them this time. When the ceremony is complete, a massive lizard-like creature emerges from the cocoon and Miguel recognizes it as the monster from his visions. Seeing Nina in trouble, Miguel leaps in the way and is seriously slashed by the monster. That’s when Spider-Man and Araña arrive to lend a hand. As Spider-Man fights the Sisterhood’s Totem, Araña goes to the aid of Miguel who tells her to follow her mother’s words and unleash the Hunter as it is now time.

At that same moment, the Totem orders Vincent to merge with the Hunter as they will become even more powerful. Luckily, Spider-Man webs up Vincent. At that same moment, Miguel dies from his wounds and this causes mystical feedback that knocks Nina out. That’s when Anya’s mother appears before her again and orders her to release the Hunter and fullfill her destiny. Araña unleashes the Hunter, but instead of giving her more power, it brings Nina back to life and allows her to access the powers of the Hunter. With these abilities, Nina is able to kill the Hunter. When Spider-Man tries to stop the Totem and Vincent, they both teleport away. In the aftermath of the battle, Nina accuses Araña for Miguel’s death and vows to get even with her. With Miguel dead, Araña now has no reason to stay with Webcorps and after collecting her mother’s necklace from Miguel’s body she says goodbye to Ted and swings away with Spider-Man, wondering what the future has in store for her now that she’s on her own.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Araña, Spider-Society (Miguel Legar, Nina Smith, Ted Mankowski), Sisterhood of the Wasp (Vincent), Amun, Gil Corazon Sofia Corazon

Continuity Notes

1. Vincent attempted to cast the spell to activate the Sisterhood’s Hunter, but it was interrupted by Araña and Miguel in Amazing Fantasy (vol. 2) #6.

2. Basically Araña is recapping her entire superhero career here as detailed in Amazing Fantasy (vol. 2) #1-6 and Araña: The Heart of the Spider #1-12.