Showing posts with label Gazelle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gazelle. Show all posts

Monday 6 November 2023

Moonshadow: Kraven's Daughter

 

With Sony and Insomniac Games’ release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on Playstation 5, I thought now was the most opportune time to take a quick look at something the game touches on itself: the Kravinoff Family. No, today we won’t be doing a Family Tree, but instead we’ll be talking about a character who didn’t make it to the printed page: Kraven’s daughter in the MC2. Let me explain.

 


Among the many unused ideas and concepts conceived by Ron Frenz, shared on his own Facebook page is ‘Gazelle Kravenoff’ aka Moonshadow, and I quote Ron here ‘The daughter of Kraven the Hunter and Calypso!

 

Now a quick history for everyone! Kraven the Hunter first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #15, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Kraven’s real name ‘Sergei Kravinoff’ was apparently first revealed in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition #7 from 1986, though it should be noted that the initial 1983 volume of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (vol. 1) #6 gave Kraven’s real name as ‘Sergei Kravin’ and makes what I believe is the first reference to his Russian heritage and parents, the latter of which are strangely absent from the Deluxe Edition’s list of known relatives.

 


Writer J.M. DeMatteis and artists Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod gave the world Kraven’s definitive depiction in the critically acclaimed 1987 story Fearful Symmetry: Kraven’s Last Hunt published in six parts across all three Spider-Man titles at the time in Web of Spider-Man #31-32, Amazing Spider-Man #293-294 and Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132. The story simultaneously elevated Kraven’s status among Spider-Man’s rogues gallery by having the hunter bury the hero alive and assume his identity and remains impactful for its psychological explorations of both men ultimately culminating in Kraven ending his own life.

 




As for Calypso, she’s a Haitian Voodoo priestess and lover of Kraven’s, created by writer Denny O’Neil and penciller Alan Weiss. First appearing in Amazing Spider-Man #209, Calypso would later gain notoriety in the Torment storyline when she enthralled The Lizard aka Curt Connors and forced him to commit murder in a plot to kill Spider-Man following Kraven’s death (Spider-Man #1-5). While she has always been known as Calypso, the character’s full name was first revealed as ‘Calypso Ezili’ in 1991’s Gamer’s Handbook of the Marvel Universe Volume 7. Ezili is a variant spelling for a member of the Vodou or Voodoo pantheon of spirits.



 




We don’t have many additional details for Gazelle’s character, and Ron himself mentions during an interview for the podcast Make Mine Mayday Episode 43 he didn’t even pitch the concept to Spider-Girl co-creator Tom Defalco. What’s noteworthy is her alternative name, Moonshadow, which is a direct reference to Kraven’s Last Hunt writer J.M. DeMatteis’ creator-owned series of the same name, itself a reference to the song by singer/songwriter Cat Stevens. Talk about fearful symmetry!

 


That’s all I have for you all today. If there’s an opportunity to delve further into the Kravinoff Family Tree, I’d jump at the chance so just let me know! Perhaps Gazelle aka Moonshadow will see print someday? A very big ‘thank you’ to arias-98105, Ron Frenz, the Make Mine Mayday podcast and the Marvel Appendix without which this post wouldn’t have been possible.

 

Until I dig myself out of a grave after being buried for two weeks, I remain

 

frogoat

Tuesday 6 March 2018

The Harkness Family Tree

I had a lot of fun with this one. It was mostly straight forward and who doesn't like reading about witches?! So here we have the long and unbroken line of The Harkness Family Tree!



Agatha Harkness made her first appearance way back in Fantastic Four #94 as the governess employed by Sue and Reed Richards to look after their young son, Franklin Richards. It became apparent that there was more to Agatha than it first seemed and in time the Fantastic Four learned Agatha was indeed a witch. Agatha also became a tutor to the Scarlet Witch. Later, it is revealed that Agatha was far older than she appeared, apparently encountering a powerful being known as Scrier some five centuries before the fall of Atlantis and much later having governed the witches of Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. Eventually, she led them into the mountains of what became Colorado where they built the town of New Salem in seclusion.



At some point, Agatha bore a son to an unidentified (though apparently evil) man. Nicholas Scratch first appeared in Fantastic Four #185 wherein he led the people of New Salem in a plot to execute his mother for exposing the existence of the town. The Fantastic Four revealed Agatha had never spoken of New Salem and Scratch's own hand in revealing the existence of New Salem to them (Fantastic Four #186). Scratch's evil was revealed and he was banished to the Dark Realm, though as I'm sure you can guess it wasn't the last we'd see of him.

Agatha reveals Nicholas is her son (Fantastic Four #186)

During the events of Fantastic Four #186, the Fantastic Four first encounter Scratch's enforcers, the Salem Seven, a group of skilled magic users who can transform themselves to gain powers and who collectively were capable of great magical feats. Brutacus, became a leonine creature; Gazelle gained enhanced hearing, agility and gymnast skills; Hydron gained a fish-like appearance and projected high pressure water blasts; Reptilla became a serpentine creature with snakes for hands; Thornn grew sharp spines capable of exploding or releasing neuro-toxins; Vakume could become intangible, absorb energy and create vacuums and Vertigo had the ability to disrupt others equilibrium.




Curiously, the Salem Seven only refer to Nicholas Scratch as their master in their early appearances. It's not until Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3 that we learn Scratch is the father to all of the Seven, by way of various unidentified wives, also making Agatha their grandmother. It's also here that we learn the little that we know of Nicholas' own father. During this story, Agatha is burned at the stake and apparently killed, though this was apparently only temporary because she resurfaced sometime later very much alive, an ability her entire family seem to have inherited.


The only other potential family member I came across in my research for this Family Tree was a witch named Abigail Harkness from Salem, Massachusetts in the 17th century. However her first (and only) appearance is in in X-Men: Hellfire Club #1 which was cover dated January 2000, beyond the usual MC2 divergence point, so I have not included her in the Harkness Family Tree above.

Aerika Harkness, also known as the Crimson Curse first appeared in A-Next #3 and was fully revealed in A-Next #4 as a member of the Dream Team. A sorceress who used elemental powers, we learn that Aerika is descended from an unbroken line of highly skilled practitioners of the magic arts, the Harknesses of Salem in A-Next #8. We don't have any specifics about how Aerika is related to the Harkness family at this time. The Crimson Curse apparently dies during an encounter with an alternate reality Dr Doom in A-Next #11, however she does make an appearance during the 2015 Secret Wars event very much alive.



I spoke to co-creator Ron Frenz about this and he revealed that this was due to the nature of the reality of the Battleworld aka Doomworld. The event established that the Main Marvel Universe/616 Victor Doom made the Battleworld reality with him as the sole existing Dr Doom in existence, meaning the Crimson Curse couldn't have been killed by an alternate Doom in this version of reality. A big 'Thank you' to Ron Frenz for talking with me and clarifying this point.

I'll be damned if I can figure out who Scratch's dad could be. Until then, I remain

frogoat