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Cover: Mike Zeck & Bob McLeod

The Amazing Spider-Man #293

Name: The Amazing Spider-Man #293
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Oct 1987 · Marvel · 0.75 USD; 0.95 CAD; 0.40 GBP

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“Crawling [Kraven's Last Hunt Part 2]”

About this Issue

Amazing Spider-Man #293 is the second chapter of 'Kraven's Last Hunt,' widely regarded as one of the greatest Spider-Man stories ever published and a defining work of the Copper Age. The issue deepens the arc's central horror: Peter Parker remains buried alive underground while a deranged Kraven the Hunter prowls New York in a stolen Spider-Man costume, believing he has literally become his quarry — a psychological inversion that reframed what a super-villain story could be. The crossover to which this issue belongs was also the first time a single narrative ran simultaneously and continuously through all three of Marvel's Spider-Man titles, a structural innovation that editor Jim Salicrup championed and that would influence multi-title storytelling for decades afterward. It also sets up the first major dramatic test of Peter and Mary Jane's then-brand-new marriage, grounding a psychedelic villain story in the very human fear of losing a spouse.

In "Crawling [Kraven's Last Hunt Part 2]," Mary Jane waits anxiously for Peter, unaware that Kraven has drugged him and buried him alive. Meanwhile, Kraven dons Spider-Man’s suit, embracing his new identity with chilling intent. When Mary Jane is threatened by street thugs, she’s rescued by a Spider-Man whose brutality makes it clear something is terribly wrong—this is no familiar hero. Written by J. M. De Matteis and illustrated by Mike Zeck, with inks by Bob McLeod, colors by Janet Jackson, and letters by Rick Parker, the cover by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod captures the tension of a hero gone wrong.

writer J. M. De Matteis · artist Mike Zeck · inker Bob McLeod · colorist Janet Jackson · letterer Rick Parker · cover Mike Zeck, Bob McLeod

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (VF) $11

CGC 9.8 · 723 in census $113

CGC 9.6 · 592 in census $72

CGC 9.4 · 307 in census $56

CGC 9.2 · 153 in census $51

CGC 9.0 · 100 in census $51

CGC 8.5 · 84 in census $51

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CGC 8.0 · 40 in census $32*

CGC 7.5 · 27 in census $30

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CGC 6.5 · 14 in census $25*

CGC 6.0 · 13 in census $24*

CGC 5.5 · 10 in census $23*

CGC 5.0 · 6 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 none in existence

CGC 3.0 · 2 in census $20*

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Raw / ungraded ▾ $9.6–$120 29 listings

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History

Writer J. M. DeMatteis had developed the core concept of a hero buried alive and usurped by his enemy years before it became a Spider-Man story — it had been rejected first as a Wonder Man pitch at Marvel and then twice at DC as a Batman-versus-Joker story (the second DC pass came partly because it overlapped in concept with the in-development Batman: The Killing Joke). DeMatteis brought it back to Marvel a final time with Spider-Man as the protagonist and a newly invented villain, which editorial accepted; the choice to substitute Kraven the Hunter came to DeMatteis after a chance encounter with Kraven's entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Once Mike Zeck was confirmed as penciller, DeMatteis added Vermin — a character he and Zeck had co-created previously — as the arc's third narrative thread. The story was originally planned to run entirely in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, but editor Jim Salicrup argued that having Spider-Man buried alive in one book while he fought villains normally in the other two titles would destroy the story's tension, and so restructured it as a six-part crossover across all three Spider-Man monthlies.

Trivia · 7 facts

Part 2 of 6 in the 'Kraven's Last Hunt' (also titled 'Fearful Symmetry') crossover, with the story chapter titled 'Crawling'; continues from Web of Spider-Man #31 and flows into Spectacular Spider-Man #131.
Written by J. M. DeMatteis, with pencils by Mike Zeck, inks by Bob McLeod, colors by Janet Jackson, lettering by Rick Parker, and editing by Jim Salicrup; cover art by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod.
This issue is the first installment of the arc to appear in the Amazing Spider-Man title specifically, carrying Kraven's identity-theft plot — impersonating Spider-Man after drugging and burying him alive — into that flagship series.
Vermin (Edward Whelan) plays a central antagonist role here as Kraven, dressed as Spider-Man, prepares to hunt him without Captain America's assistance — a direct callback to their earlier encounter in Marvel Team-Up #128.
The full crossover was the first story to run simultaneously and continuously through all three of Marvel's Spider-Man monthly titles, a structural model that directly influenced later multi-title events such as Knightfall and the Death of Superman.
The entire 'Kraven's Last Hunt' storyline was collected under the title 'Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt,' with a hardcover edition in 1989 and a trade paperback following in 1990 — one of Marvel's earliest story-arc collections.
Peter Parker is depicted wearing the black costume throughout this arc, reflecting ongoing continuity of that era's books.