8 Mysteries Even Spider-Man Couldn't Solve

1. The Kraven Conundrum - Fearful Symmetry

Spider-Man Hobgoblin
Marvel Comics/Mike Zeck

Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt is one of the all time great comic book arcs, period. From J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck, this 1987 tale is a true work of art when it comes to its story beats and its actual art.

By that point, readers had spent 25 years seeing Spider-Man usually come out on top against any foes he faced, but this six-issue '87 offering saw the Wall-crawler bested in a way never seen before.

With his abilities having been always based around his tracking and hunting skills, Sergei Kravinoff decides he wants to score his biggest prize to date: Spider-Man.

Kraven and Spidey had faced off plenty of times over the years , but this time Kravinoff wanted to put an exclamation mark on this rivalry. Doing exactly as he intended, Kraven simply sought out Spider-Man, beat him to a pulp, fatally shot him and buried the body.

Not content, the Hunter then dons his own version of the black suit Spider-Man was wearing at the time, cracks the skulls of some criminals, and even captures the feral Vermin who Spidey had previously been having struggles with.

In basic terms, Spider-Man just could not cope with Kraven during this particular meeting. As for the 'death' of Peter Parker, that didn't actually happen, for it would be revealed that Sergei had shot his rival with a tranquilizer shot rather than a bullet - meaning Spidey eventually awoke and climbed out of his grave.

So comprehensively had Kraven beaten Spider-Man here, the villain opted to take his own life via shotgun, knowing that he'd achieved the ultimate life goal.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.