Sunday, November 27, 2011

Justice is Served!: The Scourge of the Underworld Files 7: Kraven the Hunter (Failed Hit)


This is part seven of a series of posts examining the original Scourge storyline in the 1980s to 1990s, in which an organization devoted to the assassination of super-villains, usually with a modified submachine gun with explosive shells went into action, usually uttering the catch-phrase "Justice is served!" just after killing the villain. Adapted from material I previously wrote in the 1990s on an older website. Previously I was going from memory but in 2014 I purchased the Scourge of the Underworld trade. I also have the most recent Marvel Index volumes. I am therefore editing this series accordingly. This series covers Iron Man#194 to USAgent#4. It does not cover subsequent appearances of characters called Scourge as all subsequent appearances deviated in key ways from the original concept. On the other hand, hits that were considered unsuccessful even at the time are covered. For successful hits, postmortem uses of victims are now noted.

WEST COAST AVENGERS#3 by Steve Englehart (writer) with Al Milgrom & Joe Sinnott (art)
Would-Be Victim: Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff)
Disguise: Man in park
Synopsis: While Tigra battles Kraven, Scourge watches the fight and decides not to take the hit, fearing hitting Tigra. 
Is it a key part of the Scourge storyline? No
Does it tie in to the main story in this issue? Yes, since the fight between Tigra and Kraven is the focus of the issue.
Other comments: Scourge needn't have worried with this one. Kraven commits suicide in his next adventure, in the Fearful Symmetry storyline that ran through various Spider-Man titles (though he was subsequently brought back after a series of successors). Now that the Marvel Age Annual story is canon, it is arguable that Scourge is being extra careful not to hit an innocent this time around as a result of that mishap.

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