Monday, July 13, 2009

The Amazing Spiderman #25


June, 1965

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Captured by J. Jonah Jameson

J. Jonah Jameson finally gets his wish. He can go after Spider-Man himself.

This issue introduces Sylvester Smythe, a builder of robots extraordinaire. Smythe walks into the Daily Bugle and Jonah immediately says, “I’m not listening to any more nutty mad scientists.” (Page 4) But I know that Smythe’s pitch will be successful because, though the robot he sells J.J.J is nameless, he will eventually become a prolific maker of Spider Slayers.

Oddly enough, it’s Peter Parker that talks Jonah into giving Smyth a try. Parker, who believes Smythe to be a crackpot, thinks, “Say! This would be a great chance to get even with Jonah for all the trouble he’s caused me in the past. I might even make some more dough selling photos of the Spider-Man ‘fight.’” (Page 4) And at this point in the series, Stan and Steve have the moral ebb and flow of the comics down to such a science that once we see Peter do something out of spite or greed, we know it will blow up in his face.

And it does. Smythe’s robot actually defeats Spider-Man. Jonah, controlling the robot remotely, tracks the webslinger down and binds him with the robot’s metal tentacles, gloating and blustering the whole time. Spider-Man only frees himself when Jameson and Smythe leave the controls to come and find the ensnared hero. He kills the battery and easily escapes, thus publicly embarrassing Jonah once again.
It was a good issue for the most part, heavy on action but left a bit to be desired in the drama department.

And, without further ado, on to the 25th Anniversary Spectacular of It’s Amazing.


Everybody loves a good list. So here is one.

Best Spider-Man Side Characters


5. The Human Torch: The Human Torch makes so many appearances in the first 25 issues of Spider-Man that I definitely consider him a side character. He and Spider-Man have a great back and forth and, in true bad comics style, often fight each other for little or no reason.

4. Mary Jane Watson: Mary Jane doesn’t appear in any of these comic books but she still makes the list. She was first mentioned in #15 and Aunt May brings her up nearly every issue for an entire year. She is actually in #25 but you never see her face. Her lack of appearance is hilarious.

3. Aunt May: Aunt May is the all-purpose tool of Stan Lee. She can be anything he wants at any time, depending on what the plot needs. Aunt May has been the doddering Grandma, sick in the hospital three times, inspirational confidante, amateur pimp, and obsessive mother.

2. Flash Thompson: Spidey’s #1 fan is a larger than life bully with a heart of gold. Flash hates Peter for his uppity attitude and loves Spider-Man for his believed altruism. The anti-wisdom of Flash is some of the best stuff in the series.

1. J. Jonah Jameson: This was a tough pick for me, because I’m a big Flash fan. But Jameson is definitely the best side character in these 25 issues. He’s a blustering blowhard who hates Spider-Man for his flashy style and his greed. And, although the newspaper man is willing to lie and cheat to bring Spider-Man down, many of his critiques are right on the mark.

Here are some basic rules we learned in the first 25 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man.

Laws of Spider-Man

1. Peter Parker is a teenager before he’s a hero. In these first few years of Spider-Man, the decisions are not always moral and heroic. They are often bratty and senseless, because we’re dealing with a super-strong fifteen-year-old.

2. Only Spider-Man’s villains of low social stature are naturally evil. I covered this in issue #20, but it’s true for the whole series so far. It probably has to do with Steve Ditko’s obsession with Ayn Rand. If the villain is educated he must have been driven crazy by something, but if he’s a blue collar worker he was already evil.

3. Spider-Man could have become a villain just as easily as he became a hero. The early, young Spider-Man was driven by greed and a desire for fame more than he was driven by good will. And this is the subject of the audience participation question.

Audience Question


Many of the essays focused on Rule #3, that Spider-Man could have easily turned out to be a villain. So, let’s say that happened. Spider-Man is a villain and not a hero. For the most part, villains don’t get their own comic books. So the question is, Whose comic book is Spider-Man a villain in? Would he be in Daredevil? Captain America? The Incredible Hulk? Leave your answer in the comment section.

Thanks for following through 25 issues! Hope you enjoyed them and I'll try to do at least 25 more. Since you read my 25th Anniversary Spectacular, here's a little treat. It's Jenny dressed as Spider-Man taken on Spring break a few years ago. Enjoy!

Friday, July 10, 2009

The Amazing Spider-Man #24


May, 1965

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Spidey Goes Mad

Great issue. Great frickin’ issue. Let me tell you why.

Basically it happened like this: J. Jonah Jameson has started a new campaign against Spider-Man. Again. This time he has a reporter on the street asking loaded questions to people about Spider-Man such as “Why do you hate Spider-Man?” and “Why do you think Spider-Man is a menace?” If the walkers-by say they don’t particularly hate Spider-Man the reporter retorts, “Look, do you want your name and picture in the paper or don’t you?” (Page 6). Sorta like a Fox News reporter.

Eventually some famous-in-Europe-Sigmund-Freud-knock-off psychologist catches wind of what the Daily Bugle is doing and pays Jameson a visit. The psychologist's name is Dr. Ludwig Rinehart (hee hee) and he thinks that Spider-Man is sure to lose his mind soon. He says, “It is only a matter of time before his Id and his Ego get so confused that he forgets who he really is…and then he will suffer a severe breakdown!” (Page 7) As you can see, it’s a pretty convincing diagnosis.

So the Daily Bugle publishes the doctor’s findings, basically that Spider-Man is leading a double life and this will cause him to eventually schizoid and lose his mind. Peter Parker, upon reading this diagnosis, decides that he has to meet this doctor, partly to convince him that Rhinehart’s wrong about Peter’s mental state and partly to make sure he’s not right.

But then the strangest thing happens: Spider-Man starts seeing shit. Hallucinations of his greatest foes, Dr. Octopus, The Sandman, The Vulture, all appear before him, angry and threatening. But when he reaches out to strike them he realizes they’re not actually there.

Parker starts freaking out. He’s convinced that Rhinehart’s prophecy is coming true and he’s terrified that he might hurt someone he loves. He finds the psychologist’s home office (and it’s weird that he has a home office because he told Jameson that he was just in visiting the states on vacation) and lies down in the chair to confess everything.

Dr. Ludwig stands, one arm behind his back, the other discreetly holding a smoking pipe, and says “The root of your problem is, of course, your dual identity. But, if you were to make you true identity known, much of the strain would be gone.” (Page 17) And Spider-Man is convinced. But just before he confesses to his secret identity to Ludwig Rhinehart, Jonah Jameson breaks in closely tailed by an irate Flash Thompson.

‘Where did they come from?’ you may wonder.

Well, Flash periodically appeared throughout the issue every time one of The Daily Bugle’s reporters were trashing Spider-Man. He grew angrier and angrier as the issue progressed and, by coincidence, saw Jameson getting out of a car in front of Rhinehart’s house while Spider-Man was inside. Jameson was visiting Rhinehart because his former-convict-turned-lead-reporter Foswell tipped him off that Rhinehart is actually a fraud.

Not a doctor at all!

Jameson, who has highlighted Rhinehart in several articles of his paper, is furious. He rushes into the doctor’s house to confront him and interrupts the scene before Spider-Man can confess his identity.

As things are sorted out we come to find that Mysterio is actually Dr. Ludwig Rhinehart (I can’t believe that’s not a real name!) and the whole thing was a scheme to convince Spider-Man to believe he was mad and give up being Spider-Man.

Mysterio is once again arrested, Jonah is crushed that he stopped what might have been the destruction of that menace Spider-Man, and Flash is jubilant that he helped save his hero and got to see him fight in person. And I just love when Flash is happy.

It was a great issue, well-plotted, funny, and it included all my favorite side characters. Home run.

Check back next week for the 25th Anniversary Spectacular!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Amazing Spider-Man #23


April, 1965

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

The Goblin and the Gangsters


This is the Green Goblin’s third appearance and his character is beginning to have the depth needed to become a major character. He first appeared in the infamously terrible issue #14, The Grotesque Adventure of the Green Goblin. In that issue he concocted some shitty scheme to convince Spider-Man that they were going to make a bio pic about him in order to lure him out to California where the Enforcers were waiting to kill him. It was totally stupid.

He came back in issue #17, The Return of the Green Goblin. But this title is a misnomer, the issue being much more about Flash Thompson than anything else. The Goblin didn’t exactly annoy me in any specific way, but I didn’t see how this character was on his way to being iconic. While I wouldn’t argue that he takes his first steps towards legend status in this issue, he at least holds my interest and at times even peaks my curiosity.

I suppose I’m hindered by the fact that I know the Green Goblin’s secret identity. Lee is definitely playing up the mystery of the Goblin’s identity and I’m well aware that it is Norman Osborn, a character who hasn’t even been introduced yet. This issue focuses on Frederick Foswell (first appeared in AS #10 as The Big Man) as a red herring. Foswell comes across the same information that the Goblin acquires and the two are shown in successive frames making the reader believe they are the same person. But, unfortunately, I know better.

I think the Green Goblin improved because he now has a clear goal. He wants to be the “King of Crime” (Page 3). He wants to rule the New York underworld and has begun threatening local gangsters in an attempt to take over their mob. This might sound trite, and to some degree it is, but just seeing the Goblin focus on something that isn’t dip-shit-crazy is enough to turn him around. Because he is an engaging character if all the distractions and imperfections are removed.

He’s the only villain with a secret identity, he’s arguably the creepiest looking villain that Spider-Man faces (besides the Chameleon from AS #1), and he’s actually too much for Spider-Man to handle in a fight.

Spider-Man’s had his ass kicked by nearly everyone he’s fought, but he generally comes back in the second half of the issue to give back harder than he received. Not so with the Goblin. And it’s not because the Green Goblin’s incredibly strong or he has such great weapons. It’s all speed based. He’s the only villain Spider-Man has fought who is faster than he is. As simple as that sounds, it makes for interesting battles.

So, I’m turning around on the Green Goblin. But he still needs to go through a lot of improvement before I think it’s acceptable that he gets to kill Gwen Stacey. It’s quite an honor for a villain to be allowed to kill a major character, especially a love interest. If it were right now, that is, right as in April 1965, I’d say that that would be Dr. Octopus’s right.

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Amazing Spiderman #22


March, 1965

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Bizarre Reference:

Ringmaster: Who said that?

Spider-Man: One things for sure, I’m not Tuesday Weld.

Wikipedia tells me that Tuesday Weld is an actor, prominent in the 60s and 70s and still working today. She was most notably in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, The Winter of our Discontent, and Once Upon a Time in America. I don’t know why Spider-Man would bring her up.

She was married to Dudley Moore at one time. So…there’s that.


Preeeeeesting: The Clown and his Masters of Menace


This issue is goofy. It’s the second appearance of the Ringmaster and his crew and this time there is division in the circus ranks. The Ringmaster, as his name would imply, is normally the leader of this silly group consisting of two gymnasts, a man who is regularly shot from a cannon, a snake lady, and a clown. But the circus has had a rash of bad luck and the Ringmaster has lead them into trouble time and again.

The Ringmaster begins to talk about his “next great scheme” (Page 3) and the others shoot him down before he can pitch them. And I don’t blame them. The Ringmaster’s scheme is always the same. They roll into some unsuspecting town, throw a circus and then hypnotize the crowd so that they can steal their wallets. They do this every time.

Every time but this time. This time the snake lady, Stan Lee likes to call her Lady Python, says, “Forget it, top hat! Just because you’re a cool hypnotist doesn’t mean we have to make you head man.” (Page 3) Lady Python has done a lot of talking so far and, while I was reading this, I thought she was going to lead the group. She continues, “(We need) someone clever and crafty. Someone who can think on his feet- someone people can trust.” (Page 3) Still seems like she’s going to suggest herself right? Then she finishes, “Someone like- the clown!”

Yeah. So the clown leads the group. Good call.

Their plan, however, does change. They don’t throw a circus and rob everyone. Instead The clown shows up at an art show that J. Jonah Jameson is throwing (apparently Jameson is really into art) and pretends to be a hired entertainer while the others clean the place out.

They get back to their hideout and sit around congratulating each other. Instead of trying to move their product and actually make some money, they start kicking around ideas on a name for their criminal group. They suggest The Carnival Champs, The Big Toppers, and The Masters of Menace. Each one of them lamer than the next. Luckily Spider-Man breaks in an punches everyone in the face.

He has some trouble with Lady Python because he doesn’t want to punch a girl. And there's also trouble because she tries to sleep with him. Unambiguously. She says, “We could make beautiful music together.” (Page 16) To which Spider-Man replies, “Sorry ma’am. I’m tone deaf.” You can decide for yourself whether that means he’s impotent or not.

The rest of the comic plays out as corny as the beginning of the comic and nothing of importance really happens. The only thing I take away from this issue is the opinion that Spider-Man needs to learn how to punch a girl. If you just do it once it’s a lot easier from then on.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Steve D. and Ayn R.

Here's a little follow up on Steve Ditko's affiliation with Ayn Rand's philosophy, Objectivism.

http://www.adherents.com/people/pd/Steve_Ditko.html

So, yeah. My essay on Amazing Spider-Man # 20 was totally on the mark. In your face.

Friday, June 26, 2009

The Amazing Spider-Man #21


February, 1965

Written By Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Where Flies the Beetle

This issue should almost be named “The Amazing Human Torch.” There’s a lot more time dedicated to Johnny Storm than to Spider-Man and the bad guy was originally a Torch foe.

Abner Jenkins, which is one of my favorite plainclothes names, has been released from prison. He was placed there by the Human Torch after battling in Strange Tales #123, as Stan Lee tells us in a boxed note at the bottom of the panel. When Jenkins dons his armored suit he becomes the Beetle, and he carries this suit while walking out of the prison. He says, “They had to give me back my Beetle equipment. There’s no law against a man owning an armored costume.” (Page 1) There probably is a law because the suit is actually a high-tech weapon that Jenkins has mastered and used for evil purposes. But if there isn’t a law, there should be. Because Abner throws on the suit in the woods outside the prison and then flies to New York City in order to murder Johnny Storm.

The Torch, upon hearing about the Beetle’s release, cancels a date with Doris, his lady friend. This is Doris’ second appearance. She made her Spider-Man debut in AS #8, The Threat of the Living Brain. This means that she’s had one more appearance than the Lizard, one of Spider-Man’s major villains. And, in a way, she deserves it. She’s funny, smart, and constantly sassing Johnny Storm. They have a bit where she is forever unimpressed with the impressive Human Torch. He does something amazing and she points out how unamazing it was, constantly keeping the flying man firmly grounded. The Human Torch of the 60s is almost incomplete without her.

The Human Torch, and Doris to a lesser extent, have become regulars in Spider-Man’s world. A few articles ago I pointed out that every time there is a guest star the issue is ruined. And for the most part it’s true. But the Human Torch has appeared so many times now (six times in twenty-one issues) that he’s become a Spider-Man character. Just like Flash Thompson or J. Jonah Jameson, the Human Torch has his place and his role in the Spider-Man world.

The Torch, firstly, highlights Spider-Man’s competitive nature. Their fights are composed more of one-upmanship than an actual intent to do harm. Peter Parker, who attempts to scoff at the vanity of Liz Allen and Flash Thompson, can easily be pushed to the limit when going tic for tac with Johnny Storm.

Secondly, Storm’s inclusion shows Spider-Man’s inexperience. Two times, once in issue #19 and again in the fight with the Beetle, the two trip over each other’s feet in an attempt to beat the bad guys. It’s a joke, it’s bumbling Three Stooges bits from two normally graceful heroes, but it also shows that Spider-Man is no good working in tandem whereas the Torch, with his three Fantastic friends, is used to having someone watch his back.

And lastly, though Peter Parker will never admit it, The Human Torch is an idle. The respect that the Torch commands with the public is something that Spider-Man always strives for. Spider-Man has saved an astronaut from crashing to the earth, performed in a circus free-of-charge, tried to star in his own movie, appeared at a ball for his fan club and on and on, yet, at this point in his career, no one is even sure if he’s a criminal or a hero. P.R. comes naturally to the Torch.

But it’s not just the hero ego of The Human Torch that Spider-Man strives to emulate. Johnny Storm also lives the life that Peter Parker yearns for. Storm has no secret identity, he has a family member, Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, that he can discuss his life with, he has no money problems, and he has a girlfriend who is smart and challenging. Peter Parker has to keep his heroic life a secret. He constantly has to lie to and worry about his Aunt May. He is always on the look-out to make a buck. His girlfriend, Betty Brant, is weak and whiny and, really, no match for him. At least, not in the sense that Doris is for Johnny.

Ultimately, the freedom that Johnny Storm has to be himself is what makes Spider-Man jealous. At the end of the issue he stands over the city he protects and thinks, “I wonder if the world will ever acclaim me as it does others. Or am I always to go through life shunned and loathed? If only I could reveal my secret identity…if I could let people realize who I am…but I just don’t dare!” (Page 20)

22 Songs for Jeremy

Jeremy Sangster passed away in a fire this fall (www.jeremy22.com) Over the past few months, his friends have been working to compile a CD in his memory. The CD entitled 22 songs for jeremy consists entirely of friends or friends of friends of Jeremy’s, who donated a song to raise money for the scholarship in his honor. The songs on the CD run the gamut including Adult Contemporary, Electronic, Kid Folk, Reggae, Country, EMO, Punk, Alt-Country, Blue Grass and Indie Rock there is literally something for everybody.


The CD is available online for the suggested donated price of $10 http://www.jeremy22.com/songs.html
LOOK OUT FOR THE UPCOMING EVENT. Later this summer either in Bloomfield, NY or NYC or both some of the bands from the CD will get together to put on a benefit concert to raise more money for he scholarship.

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Amazing Spider-Man #20


January, 1965

Illustrated by Steve Ditko, Written by Stan Lee

The Coming of the Scorpion


Issue #20 introduces another classic Spider-man villain, Mac Gargan, the Scorpion. J. Jonah Jameson is intensifying his harassment of Spider-man and has hired a private detective, Gargan, to follow Peter Parker. Jonah wants to find out how Parker gets all these spectacular pictures of Spider-man so that he can somehow use this relationship to damage the webslinger.

During the investigation, Jameson comes across a news article about Dr. Farley, who has created a serum that can “cause artificial mutations in animals” (Page 4). For instance, he can make a rat swim like a fish or a fish breath oxygen. Jameson decides that this doctor, for the right price, could mutate a human to be stronger than Spider-man. And he is right. Thus, Mac Gargan becomes the Scorpion.

The Scorpion is a mean bastard and beats Spider-man within an inch of death twice before finally losing. During the series of fights, Dr. Farley is chasing the Scorpion down because he has realized that the serum he created is not finished working. He realizes that “the more his strength increases the more his evil nature will take over." (Page 11) Farley believes that the serum will erode Gargan’s morals and he will become a super-villain. But this isn’t necessarily telling the whole story.

The way Farley talks, Mac Gargan was a standup guy before the procedure. But Gargan’s not a stand-up guy; he’s a thug. He’s too shady to be a cop, so he takes small gigs trailing people for under-the-table money. And he’s clearly hurting for money. Right before the procedure that will turn him into the Scorpion, Dr. Farley says, “Your body would become more powerful than Spider-man’s…but I don’t know how it will affect your brain.” (Page 6) Gargan answers “Who cares? I’m getting $10,000 for my part in this…and I’d do anything for that kind of dough” (Page 6) His morals were already questionable before the serum entered his blood.

This got me thinking. There are a few examples of what Spider-Man's foes did before they acquired their powers . The Lizard was a biologist, for instance, and Electro was an electrician. Dr. Octopus was a physicist; Sandman was a career criminal recently escaped from jail. The Green Goblin, we’ll soon come to find out, is a brilliant business man and inventor, Mysterio was a stuntman. Dr. Doom is a computer genius and ruler of a small country and The Scorpion is a lowly private detective.

The Lizard tried to cure himself of his disability and went insane. Dr. Octopus was in a lab accident and was driven insane. The Green Goblin drank his own strength serum and lost his mind. Dr. Doom had his face disfigured in a failed experiment and went nuts. All of these men were brilliant and, if not entirely good, at lease neutral and law-abiding. They were decent citizens who were involved in accidents and then became criminally insane.

Max Dillion, before he was Electro, was an electrician. He was asked to save a man stranded on a pole and he said, “Forget it! I don’t do anything for nothing. How much bonus will you give me?” (AS #9, Page 11) His accident didn’t affect his mind at all. He was evil to begin with.

The Sandman has no history but crime. In fact, one could assume that he dropped out of high school to begin his underground life. This is why he threatened Peter Parker’s high school principal in AS #4 by saying “Know what? I never graduated school. Maybe this is my chance to get a diploma (Page 11). He was already evil before his accident.

Mysterio was a stuntman for the movies and longed to be in the spotlight. Nothing ever happened to him. His mind is completely intact. But he went on a string of robberies and fought Spider-man several times, eventually joining the Sinister Six.

And back to the Scorpion. Though Dr. Farley’s serum might make him insane, he was clearly a ne’er-do-well before the injection.

The pattern is clear: If you’re educated you must have been driven crazy by something, but if you’re a blue collar worker you were already evil.

It’s even evident in some of the side characters. In AS #8 the two nameless workers who wheel in The Living Brain robot plan to steal it. “Then it’s a deal,” the first one says, “The first chance we get we steal the brain.” And the other answers, “We’ll make a fortune out of it and skip to some other country.” (AS #8, Page 5) And in issue #9, Electro stages a prison break to help him fight the police and the inmates are instantly chaotic. The prisoners are split between those those wanting to join Electro and those wanting to randomly run amok. None of them want to serve out their terms and work at being model citizens. After Spider-man knocks a few of them around, a prisoner shouts, “We didn’t realize how soft we had it in our nice quiet cells” (AS #9, Page 18).

And now, in issue #20, poor, hyper-educated Dr. Farley is riddled with guilt over creating the Scorpion. He risks his life and tracks the villain down saying, “I can’t live with the knowledge that I’m responsible for you!” (AS #20, Page 13). The reader is made to sympathize with the doctor. His conscience will punish him justly for his crimes. Fortunately for the good doctor, the Scorpion throws him off a building. He dies before his conscience can really get to him.

And this is the crux of it. Those who are intelligent, the comics teach us, could never be evil because their great intellect would torture them with the knowledge of the evil they’ve committed. Something must have happened to them to make them that way. The uneducated, however, will jump at any chance to gain fame and riches. They will not think twice about hurting innocent people so long as they can drag themselves out of the gutter at another’s expense.

It’s an odd lesson and I don’t know exactly what to make of it. It doesn’t seem like a great moral to teach, and I’m sure Stan Lee didn’t set out to push this agenda, but the examples happen over and over again.

It could be an elitist view in the style of Ayn Rand: Those who are down should stay down. They are there for a reason and rising to another level is the equivalent of theft.

It could be anti-communist sentiment, prevalent in the early sixties: Everyone cannot be treated equally, because people will react differently to similar situations. Certain people cannot be trusted to play their part fairly.

Or, it could be as J. Jonah Jameson says at the end of AS #20, “I know now that anyone with too much power is liable to turn into a menace sooner or later.” (AS 20, Page 20) Jameson, in his own way, believes that power either seeks out those that are corrupt or corrupts those that are good.

Jameson's life morale makes him the antithesis of Peter Parker. Jonah's credo is like the bizarro world version of “With great power comes great responsibility.” It’s true, Jonah would argue, with great power does come great responsibility. Therefore, no one should have great power.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Amazing Spider-Man #19


December, 1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Embarrassing Reference: "If anyone asks you guys what happened to you, remember to spell my name right. There’s a hyphen in it remember!” (Page 3) So, thank you Uthor, but Spider-man himself would have told me eventually. (See the comment section of issues #11 and #12)

Spidey Strikes Back

After the fightless issue #18, Spider-man goes on a rampage of ass-kicking. He beats up a large gang of bank robbers (who, along with jewel thieves, seem to be abundant in 1960s New York), fights the Enforcers twice, and tackles the Sandman along with tons of faceless henchmen mixed in.

The Enforcers are now working for the Sandman. Apparently, the Enforcers are terrified of Spider-man (as well they should be, having lost to him more than any other villains up to this point). When Sandman finds out that Spider-man has returned after his short hiatus he tells his thug, “Quiet, fool! I don’t want the Enforcers to hear. They only joined forces with me because they figured they wouldn’t have to worry about Spider-man.” (Page 5). The four of them have captured the Human Torch and are planning to capture any costumed hero they can get their hands on so that they can go on their crime spree uninhibited.

Spider-man gets on the case and begins tracking down the Enforcers. I believe this issue and the last mark a maturing for Spider-man in a few different ways. The first noticeable thing is experience. He’s known around the crime circuit at this point and has certain people he goes to for information, much like a private detective would. He finds Louie. Louie, in previous Spider-man comics, would have been a nameless thug. But Spider-man’s been around the block a few times and he and Louie, and assumedly a cast of other seedy characters, are on a first name basis. Spider-man confronts Louie and the terrified criminal asks what he wants. “Just a little information, Louie. The kind a stoolie like you is sure to have. I know the Sandman and the Enforcers are back in town. Where are they holed up? Talk, you weasel!” (Page 14). Spider-man has turned from a young punk into a Raymond Chandler detective.

When Spider-man breaks into the hideout, he doesn’t fight his way in, like he did with the Enforcers hideout in issue ten. He sneaks all the way through the lair and finds the cage they’re keeping the Human Torch in before he’s jumped by the Sandman. And in his fight, he doesn’t try to take on all comers single-handedly, like he did in the first Annual when he turned down the Torch’s help. (AS Annual 1, Page 36). He makes sure to break the Torch out of his cage so they can fight together.

And even in Peter Parker’s life, the decisions seem to be more mature. Parker finds that his former girl, Betty Brant, is now dating a writer for the Daily Bugle named Ned Leeds. Instead of stressing about it or trying to steal Betty back, he introduces himself to the guy and they become friends. (Page 10).

These examples, combined with the abstinence from fighting in issue # 18 in order to spend more time with Aunt May, shows a dramatic change in Peter Parker’s demeanor. Just a few issues ago, in Kraven the Hunter (Issue #15), Peter is terrified that Aunt May will fall on hard times if Kraven manages to take him down. But in that instance, he was unable to quell his desire for competition. He used to think about fame and money for his own personal gain. Now, the only time it comes up is when he needs it to give to Aunt May. His motives have turned from juvenile to adult. The maturation of Spider-man has taken nearly twenty issues, and he’s not fully there yet, but growth is happening and the adventurer is becoming the hero.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The Amazing Spider-Man #18


November, 1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Bizarre Line: There’s an aside from the super heroine The Wasp as she discusses Spider-man’s woes: Wasps and spiders are natural enemies, so I don’t feel that bad for him. (Page 2)

This is actually true. There are certain types of wasps, particularly the South American Spider wasp, which kill and lay their eggs inside large spiders. While freakishly horrifying, I don’t think that this should rule the sociability between The Wasp and Spider-man who are both generally nice people.

The End of Spider-man


Spider-man does not get into a fight in this issue. This is the only hero-based comic I’ve ever seen where the main hero does not get into some type of altercation. And it was a really good issue to boot.

The premise is based on Spider-man’s fight with the Green Goblin in issue #17, which I pretty much didn’t cover. I didn’t care much for the Green Goblin when he first appeared in issue #14 and I don’t find him much improved now. At least his drama has not improved. He’s basically some mysterious guy that wants to kill Spider-man in order to become famous. But he does have some new toys, like his jet flyer which replaced the motorized broom and pumpkin bombs. The new weapons made a difference in the level of action and it was a decent fight. But, as I said in the blog about issue 17, Spider-man has to run out on the fight in order to attend to Aunt May who has fallen ill.

His retreat is witnessed by hundreds of people and Jameson jumps on it. He starts running press about how Spider-man has “turned yellow” and how the Daily Bugle has been calling him a fraud since day one. And, for whatever reason, the fickle New York City of Stan Lee’s imagination buys Jameson’s crap again. Everyone starts calling Spidey a chicken.

Peter Parker also decides that, while his Aunt is sick, he can’t get into any fights as Spider-man. He knows that if something happens to him, May will definitely die. This leads to an amusing scene where he sees the classic three-guys-robbing-a-jewelry store and instead of stepping in and stopping the crime he finds a pay phone and calls the police.

He also randomly runs into the Sandman who was just walking down the street in his green and black shirt, apparently having broken out of prison since the Sinister Six escapade. We’ve reached the point where Lee is no longer writing prison break stories before every villain repeat. Spider-man knows he shouldn’t fight the Sandman while Aunt May is sick and, again, publically flees a fight, further damaging his reputation.

This is definitely a maturing issue for Peter Parker. He realizes that many of his problems, his difficult relationship with Betty Brant, the constant lying to Aunt May, his aloofness towards his classmates, all stems from his escapades as Spider-man. He thinks that every time he gets into a fight, he risks leaving his Aunt stranded and helpless. He decides that he will quit being Spider-man forever and begin to lead a normal life. He thinks, “I should have done this long ago…but I was too conceited. I enjoyed being Spider-man. It made me feel like something special. What a laugh that turned out to be!”(Page20).

Peter has finally realized that his adventures and his desires are not what drives his life. Aunt May and his love and appreciation for the woman who raised him is his main motivation and her safety and well-fare are put above everything else. Peter’s vices, his addiction to money, fame, and competition, are put on the backburner when May is in trouble.

He comes downstairs the day after his retirement to find that Aunt May is up and walking around, spritely as a young maid. She says, “Even though I’m an old woman, I’m no quitter. A person needs gumption- the will to live- the will to fight! You mustn’t worry about me too much, Peter dear. We Parkers are tougher than people think.” (Page21) Who can deny a woman when she drops a ‘gumption’? Of course, Peter takes this speech as inspiration and vows to come back next issue and kick some serious ass. And so ends an issue with no fighting.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1


1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Bizarre Reference: From Spider-man to Kraven: “You can’t leave yet, Gunga Din!”

Wikipedia tells me that Gunga Din is a character from a Rudyard Kipling poem. Like in many Kipling works, Gunga Din is a native from a tribal area that ends up having stronger morals than his civilized counterparts. But Spider-man is probably referencing the famous movies about Gunga Din, one starring Carey Grant and the other in which Sammy Davis Jr. play Din.

The Sinister Six


The first Spider-man annual is action packed. And that’s about all it is. There’s not much to the storyline and there are numerous holes in the plot. Normally, this would sort of piss me off. But the annual is the one time of year where a comic should go big, throw caution to the wind, and just make something fun. And this is what Lee and Ditko have done.

This comic is actually pretty funny. It marks the first incarnation of The Sinister Six. This super group is comprised of nearly every meaningful villain Spider-man has fought so far (Only the Chameleon, The Lizard, and the Enforcers are left out).

Octopus has captured Betty Brant (for the third time) and Aunt May. Instead of just ganging up on Spider-man and beating him to death like real evil people would do, they decide to fight him each one-on-one. All the villains have a card on their person telling them where the next member of the Sinister Six is waiting to receive a quick punch in the face. Spider-man follows this ill-planned scavenger hunt all over the city defeating foes that nearly killed him in the past in just a few panels each. He ends up at a giant castle to fight Dr. Octopus in a giant fish bowl. The plan seems like it was designed by Jeff Probst instead of Dr. Octopus

J. Jonah Jameson is terrified the whole time because he was responsible for making sure Spider-man found out about the kidnapping. The Vulture tells him, “See that Spider-man gets this message- or we’ll hold you accountable!” (Page 12). This sends Jameson on into a tizzy, calling every super-hero he knows in an attempt to contact Spider-man. At one point, he sees a spider in his office and starts screaming at it, assuming that Spider-man has sent it to him with a message.

Aunt May is equally comedic. She is completely charmed by Dr. Octopus and never once realizes that she’s been kidnapped. Betty Brant, completing her hat trick of kidnappings at the Doctor’s hands, says something nasty about Octopus and May responds, “Now, now dear…we mustn’t be prejudiced against the poor man just because he seems to have some trouble with his arms.” (Page 11). Aunt May, who has the tendency to be strict and sharp, totally dons the old lady persona in this book and it ends up, while out-of-character, pretty entertaining.

And Stan Lee’s not the only one to let his creativity run wild. Steve Ditko is given full page pictures for every character of The Sinister Six. The picture that encompasses all of page 16 is particularly impressive. Spider-man is punching Electro in the face and the detail that Ditko is able to accomplish because of the extra space adds a new dimension of reality and violence to his art.

I wouldn’t, at any level, call this episode classic. But it was definitely a good read.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

A Note about Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited


Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited has the first 100 Amazing Spider-Man issues available online. And it's really cheap. If you like the blog and want to read the comics as I do, check it out. $4.99 a month gets you unlimited classic and new comic books. This is a link directly to the Spider-Man page:

http://www.marvel.com/digitalcomics/titles/amazing_spider-man.1963

Thursday, June 4, 2009

The Amazing Spider-Man #17


October, 1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Bizarre Line: Flash Thompson says, “That creep is as funny as a second hand crutch” (Page 16)

Does anyone know what this means? I couldn’t figure it out. I suppose a second hand crutch would be a crutch that someone else has already used. But I don’t know why this would be funny or not funny. Little help?

The Return of the Green Goblin


This issue is based around Flash Thompson’s attempt to make a Spider-man fan club. He’s thought long and hard about how cool Spider-man is and how awesome and he’s decided that he doesn’t think it’s enough to talk about him all the time or to use Spider-man’s name while picking on Peter Parker or getting in fights over who is the best super hero anymore. He wants to make it official. He loves Spider-man and wants to be the president of his fan club.

Here are some of the things that Flash has been saying about Spider-man:

“He’s the greatest guy in the world! (pounds his chest) And he’s all heart!” (Page 7)

Clapping his hands on page 12, “What a great guy!”

“Now are you convinced? Didn’t I tell you ol’ Spidey’s the greatest?” (Page 14)

And after someone makes fun of Flash for liking Spider-man a bit too much, “No, he’s not a relative. He’s just the greatest guy in the world. And you’ll all admit it some day. Just wait and see.” (Page 21)

So Flash clearly thinks Spider-man is great. And he clearly has only one word for things he likes. It was apparent in previous issues that Flash is a big Spider-man fan, but this storyline takes it a step further. Flash Thompson is willing to stake his lofty reputation on the fact that Spider-man is, in his words, the greatest. He organizes a banquet in Spider-man’s honor and even advertises in the paper for it. At the end of the issue, Spider-man receives news that Aunt May has fallen ill again and has to run out on his fight with the Green Goblin. Everyone starts calling Spider-man a coward for fleeing. And there’s nothing to make one think that he’s not retreating from the fight. But Flash continues to stick up for Spidey, going as far as threatening his friends.

Now, if you’ve been following this blog, you probably think I’m going to infer that Thompson has a gay crush on Spider-man. You probably think I’m going to read homosexuality into all his macho rage and say something about how the archetypes of the fifties and sixties are clashing in Flash’s mind with his physical attraction to Spider-man.

But, while it’s tempting to read the sensational into it; I actually don’t think that.

I think that this is just another example of Stan Lee masterfully writing the
teenage personality. Here, he focuses on the aging bully. Being a successful bully, much like living in Never Never Land, is a gig set aside for young children only. Passed twenty years old, the bully is referred to as the “meathead” and no one really likes him. Remember, though Flash is bigger than his contemporaries, he’s still a teenager. He’s definitely not over 19 and could be as young as 17.

He was on top of the world just a few years ago. No one cared that he wasn’t smart, it was cool to like sports and Spider-man, and Parker was nothing but a bookworm. But his alpha male status grows feeble with each passing day. His friends are becoming interested in music and art, his girlfriend is trying to take him to museums (AS #6), and suddenly it’s cool that Peter Parker is smart. Flash is still of the mentality that he would make fun of Parker for reading (AS #17, Page 6).

Flash sees his high school kingdom falling apart and he grabs onto the one thing that remains solid: Spider-man. Spider-man is the constant in Flash’s life. He’s strong and agile, like Flash. He seems to view the world in black and white, good and evil, just like Flash does. And, just like Flash, Spider-man is polarizing and misunderstood.

Flash relates to Spider-man more obsessively as his high school popularity wanes because he sees similarities in the way that Spider-man is treated by the press and the way that his fickle friends are turning on him. Even if Spider-man messes up, Flash thinks, at least his heart was in the right place. And this is how Flash feels about himself, no matter how misguided that might be.

In Spider-man, Flash sees a Christ-like figure. Spider-man is someone who always works hard towards noble purposes and will be spit upon by the crowds because of it. The teenage vanity that has built up from being top dog for so long overwhelms Flash’s sense of reality and he sees himself in this fashion as well. In his mind, he constantly works towards noble pursuits and no one notices. Everything that Flash Thompson says about Spider-man is a veiled self-compliment. When he’s arguing that everyone should see how ‘great’ Spider-man is, he’s also arguing that his own greatness should be appreciated.

Also, the Green Goblin and Human Torch were in this issue. And I know it seems as if I’m skipping the villains a lot to focus on side-character-drama, but it turns around next issue. The Sinister Six are coming.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The Amazing Spider-Man #16


September, 1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Duel with the Daredevil

This issue is pretty much an advertisement for Daredevil. Stan Lee is set on Daredevil riding Spider-man’s coattails to success. They even had Electro appear as the villain in the second issue of Daredevil’s comic. Now they have blind ole’ Matt Murdock showing up with his cane, hogging one of Spider-man’s issues. But more on that later.

There’s a bit in the past two issues that I really like. Aunt May and her neighbor have cooked up a scheme that their niece and nephew should date. Aunt May says, “She’s a niece of our neighbor, Mrs. Watson. And she’d just love to meet you, Peter” (Amazing Spider-man #15, page 11). This is, of course, Mary Jane Watson, the future Mary Jane Watson-Parker, the love of Peter’s life. I had no idea she showed up this early in the series. If I have my Spider-man time-line straight, there should still be a few years dedicated to beautiful, doomed Gwen Stacy.

But Mary Jane is on the scene, if not in person, in spirit. She actually hasn’t made an appearance yet. It's almost like a running gag. Peter nearly gets stuck dating Mrs. Watson's niece and it falls through at the last second.

Despite the excessive absences, Aunt May has been all up in Peter’s shit about dating her. And it’s not just nagging old-woman-nosiness. May gets aggressive. She knows that Peter is seriously dating Betty Brant and occasionally flirting with Liz Allen. She doesn’t care. She’s decided to get Mrs. Watson’s niece laid and she’ll pull out all stops to accomplish this. At first, she takes the matronly approach, saying “It’s time you began to think seriously about your future.” (Page 11). But she knows Peter already has a girlfriend so she adds, “You’ll want a girl who will make a good housewife- someone like Mrs. Watson’s niece!” This implies that Peter wouldn’t want to be with someone like Betty Brant. A woman who has secured her own job and supports herself. In other words, a hussy.

Peter blows May off and she tries again. Peter says, “I’ve got a girlfriend, Aunt May. I don’t want any blind dates” (Amazing Spider-man #16, page 1). She comes back at him, “But Mary Jane would love to meet you. And you’re not really engaged or anything.” (Page 1) Now, that's pretty forward. This isn’t a plea you hear from your nagging Aunt, this is something that’s said over a line of coke in a strip club bathroom.

And she won't give up. There's a scene where Peter's head is buried in a book and she continues pestering him. Peter’s just trying to study and May’s hanging over his shoulder talking about pussy. May is like a really annoying college roommate. When Peter concedes to meet her, Mary Jane calls off the date due to a headache. Sounds like a drama queen already.

This is really the only part of the issue I care to discuss. As I said before, the rest of the story is focused on ramming Daredevil down your throat. The Ringmaster’s there with a circus and his hypnotizing hat and he’s sorta stupid too. There have been four guest appearances in the series so far: The Fantastic Four, The Human Torch in a solo appearance, The Hulk, and Daredevil. They’ve all been bad in one way or another. The guest stars are either thrown into the story needlessly, as with the Hulk and Daredevil, or Spider-man acts completely out of character in the presence of his guests so that they can fight each other, as happened both times when members of the Fantastic Four barged in. I know Stan Lee needed to cross-pollinate his fan base, but I wish he would have put the story line above his need to advertise.
It's not like you're hittin' that anyway...

Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Amazing Spider-man #15


August, 1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

My Favorite Bizarre Reference:

Under Stan Lee’s name in the credit box it says “Because we couldn’t afford Micky Spillane.”

Wikipedia tells me that Mickey Spillane is a crime novelist, most popular in the seventies and eighties, whose most famous character is Mike Hammer. He got his start writing comic stories for Captain Marvel, Superman, Batman, and Captain America. I think Stan Lee probably could have afforded him if he really wanted to.

Kraven the Hunter


This was a good recovery from the last issue. The Chameleon, the first villain Spider-man ever faced, is back. He’s portrayed as a man of the world, a spy with fine tastes and a hatred for heroism. He knows that he can’t beat Spider-man on his own, so he’s brought in a ringer: Kraven the Hunter.

Kraven is an impressive character. He spews out a couple of clichés, such as “It’s an old jungle trick” and “I am here to hunt the most dangerous game of all: man!” (Page 6) But for the most part he’s an engaging villain who deserves a lot more issues.

He’s not necessarily evil. He’s a hunter and he wants to hunt the most difficult prey he can find. The Chameleon befriended him at one point and has now put him on the trail of Spider-man. What makes Kraven interesting is the way he fights. He has a more realistic style and therefore is more frightening than most Spider-man characters. Example: In their first encounter he poisons Spider-man with some type of nerve agent. The poison makes Spider-man woozy and causes his hands to shake for over forty-eight hours. This seems spookier than a giant metal arm or an electric bolt to me.

Here’s the unrealistic part: Kraven keeps himself strong by drinking some crazy juju juice that he stole from an African shaman. He can run as fast as a cheetah and drop a charging rhino with a single punch. But, despite these powers, Spider-man is faster and stronger. So Kraven has to rely on technique and his bag of tricks to fight the webslinger.

Spider-man's opinion of Kraven highlights a great personality flaw. Kraven announces that he plans to hunt and capture Spider-man and Peter Parker thinks, “He’s the worst kind of enemy- a nut who fights you just for the sheer fun of it.” (Page 9) He doesn’t realize that he and Kraven share the exact same pass time. In nearly every issue Spider-man is either commenting on how much he’s enjoying fighting people or wishing he could tussle with someone who can give him a run for his money. He enjoys the thrill of the fight as much as Kraven. In fact, just a few scenes before he calls Kraven a nut, Spider-man beats up a group of drunks and thinks, “Now that was a pleasant way to spend a few idle minutes.” (Page 8)

The difference between Spider-man’s penchant for violence and Kraven’s hunter lifestyle is that while Kraven brazenly wears his unbalanced excitement on his sleeve, Spider-man tends to make excuses and punish himself for it. Kraven, after finding that Spider-man is much stronger than he anticipated, is ecstatic. The Chameleon comments on his state of agitation saying, “I don’t get it, Kraven! You say he’s far stronger and far more dangerous than you anticipated- and yet you’re happy about it!” (Page 10) Spider-man, on the other hand, morosely imagines what will happen to Aunt May if Kraven captures him.

Keep in mind, there’s no need to fight Kraven. The Hunter has not broken any laws and is not even necessarily a bad guy. He also doesn’t know Spider-man’s secret identity, so if he remains Peter Parker for a few days Kraven very well may leave the country. But instead of the peaceful road, Peter concocts some dip-shit scheme to plant a tracking device on his enemy so he’ll know where he is all the time.

He doesn’t need to know where he is.

If Peter’s truly worried that he might be captured by Kraven thereby ruining Aunt May’s life, he should just not dress in tights for a week or two. But, just like Kraven, he desires the test of skills. He wants to prove his manhood and he wants to battle.

Spider-man “hunts the hunter” (Page 20), as Stan Lee was destined to write at one point in this book, and comes out on top. Peter Parker is as macho as Kraven, more macho, perhaps, than Flash Thompson, but excuses himself for it with a deprecating self-image and mental flagellation. Spider-man defeats Kraven and the Chameleon and the two are deported to South America where the hunter will hunt and plan his vengeful return.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Amazing Spider-man #14


July, 1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Favorite Reference:

While speaking to Flash’s chances with Liz Allen, Peter says “You’ve got as much chance with her as Khrushchev has with J. Edgar Hoover.”

This one was tough. I know J. Edgar Hoover was the founder of the F.B.I. And Wikipedia tells me that Khrushchev was a Russian that took over after Stalin died and was one of the faces of the Cold War. So I suppose that he and Hoover wouldn’t be buddies. But I have to agree with Flash here. If someone said that to me, I would assume they need a punch in the face.

The Grotesque Adventure of The Green Goblin

The Enforcers are back! The Incredible Hulk guest stars! The first appearance of the Green Goblin!

This issue was actually terrible. The storyline wasn’t thought out very well, the action was lame, and even the Peter Parker drama was rehashed, throwaway crap. The Green Goblin is probably the most recognizable villain in the Spider-man pantheon, second possibly to Dr. Octopus or Venom, but his introduction was a dud.

The opening scene was really good, though. Ditko draws a portrait of the Green Goblin, out of his costume, working on his mechanical broom. (It’s a broom in the first issue and not the hover craft the Goblin eventually uses) In the foreground is the goblin mask, setting on its holder, eyes wide and white, the mouth open in a silent scream. I don’t know why, but the goblin mask on its holder always spooks me. Gives me a chill. And Ditko must know what he has, because he opens and closes the comic with it. It might have to do with the fact that the Goblin takes care of his things. He wants the mask to retain shape, so he keeps it on the holder when he's not viciously attacking people. It's organized insanity, like Buffalo Bill working diligently on his girl skin. Criminal madness coupled with attention to detail freaks me out.

So the basic plot is this: the Green Goblin finds The Enforcers who have just got out of jail and are hanging out in “a sleazy hotel room” (Page 1) I would think Fancy Dan would demand something a little more high class, but there it is. There are many mistakes in this scene. The Goblin says, “I’m willing to give the four of you your orders.” And Montana answers back “You’re nuts, Goblin. The Enforcers don’t take orders from anyone” (Page 1). First of all, there are only three Enforcers: Fancy Dan, Montana, and Ox. Secondly, The Enforcers do so take orders. They were certainly taking orders from The Big Man in issue #10. In fact, their name itself implies that they take orders. They are The Enforcers. Someone makes a decision and they enforce it. They are meant to take orders. And, of course, they end up taking orders from the Goblin.

The Goblin’s big idea is border-line retarded. In Hollywood, he pitches an idea to a movie director to make a bio pic about Spider-man. He and The Enforcers will play the villains. He then flies to New York, tells Spider-man about the movie, and flies back to Hollywood. He bides his time and when they are about to start shooting the movie he asks Spider-man if he wants to go off somewhere private with him and The Enforcers to rehearse their lines. Spider-man agrees and then they jump him. This is his plan. I don’t see why he couldn’t have just hired The Enforcers and went after him in New York.

They end up fighting in a cave where the Hulk was hiding. I don’t even want to discuss how stupid this is. I really like the Hulk. He’s probably my favorite comic book character. He came out of no where, had nothing to do with the plot, and fought for a bit. It was the equivalent of a walk-on on the Ed Sullivan show, minus anything that is interesting or skillful about doing a walk-on on the Ed Sullivan show.

This issue was a total bust. It does peak my interest about the Green Goblin, though. He ends up being an integral part of the Spider-man legend and it will be fascinating to see how they reform his character after this absurd introduction.

DUMB

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Amazing Spider-man #13


June, 1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

The Menace of Mysterio

This issue opens with Spider-man going on a crime spree. The entire city is talking about how they always knew he’d one day go bad, and now here it is. Jameson is ecstatic, Flash Thompson is depressed, and Liz Allen remains fickle and goes with the crowd. The most interesting reaction to the crime wave is Peter Parker. He doesn’t wonder who is framing him. He doesn’t wonder who has dressed up like Spider-man and gone on this rampage. He assumes he is losing his mind.

Parker wonders “Am I becoming a split personality? Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Perhaps I did it in my sleep without knowing” (Page 3). This might seem like a drastic assumption, but really it’s not. At the age of fifteen he gained the ability to walk sideways up walls and developed a buzzing sensation in his head that warned him of danger. To accept these turn of events as common place would be foolish. To not doubt his sanity would be insane. So Peter does the rational thing and swings into a psychiatrist’s office to get his head shrunk. I would have liked for this scene to take place, but he freaks out at the last second and leaves before the doctor gets him on the couch. The psychiatrist yells after him, “Stop! You’re the kind of patient every psychiatrist dreams of!” (Page 5)

He figures out the framing scheme once he meets Mysterio. In my youth, I read Spider-man comics from approximately 1990 to 1995. During this time, Mysterio never had a full comic where he was the major villain. He showed up occasionally for a few frames in books where the basis was Peter Parker’s social problems and they needed some filler. And he’d also hang around in the background every time the Sinister Six made a reunion tour. But I always thought he was generically evil and uninteresting.

Not so. It turns out Mysterio is actually a media hound. Like Paris Hilton. And like Paris Hilton, Mysterio is willing to do strange and morally questionable things to become famous. Mysterio wants to be recognized and loved in New York City. This is his main goal. The most interesting thing about Mysterio is that he would not exist if not for Spider-man. He was a stunt double for the movies and decided that he could artificially imitate all of Spider-man’s powers. He figures out how to be Spider-man and then moves on to create Mysterio.

He went on a crime spree as Spider-man in order to frame him and then set himself up as the hero of the city when he fought the webslinger. Like in most issues, Spider-man loses the first fight, learns a lesson, and then comes back to beat the villain. After Mysterio gets his win, there’s a scene of him being driving down the street in a parade, waving to everyone and just as happy as can be. So, yes, he stole a bunch of money and jewels, but it really seems like he was in it for the adoration. How much can you begrudge a guy for just wanting to be loved? Besides, it’s not like he was drunk driving or leaking out videos of night vision blowjobs.

Friday, May 22, 2009

The Amazing Spiderman #11 and #12



May, 1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Dikto

Favorite Reference: Frank Buck

Spiderman helps to round up dangerous animals after they’ve escaped from the zoo and a police officer says, “That Spiderman is a poor man’s Frank Buck!” (#12, Page 13)
Wikipedia tells me that Frank Buck was a famous naturalist and movie man from the 1930s and 40s. He wrote a renowned book called “Bring’em Back Alive” about his trips around the world to capture exotic animals. So this reference makes perfect sense.

Unmasked by Dr. Octopus

This is a two-part series in which Dr. Octopus has escaped from prison and is hell-bent on fighting Spiderman. The subplot in the first issue deals with Betty Brant’s terrible secret and the next with Liz Allen finally turning her opinion of Peter Parker around.

The first thing that’s apparent is that Peter Parker has aged. This is one of the things I’ve been most looking forward to. Peter Parker starts out as a fifteen-year-old boy, but eventually attends college, gets married, and, I think, becomes a science teacher or something. So, if I were to guess, Parker has to age fifteen to twenty years from 1963 to 2009. That’s about forty-five years aging approximately four years a decade. The jump that I’ve noticed is most likely from 15 to 17 or 18.

In issue #6, Face-to-Face with the Lizard, Peter Parker wants to travel to Florida. Aunt May will not let him go because he’s too young and only concedes when she knows he’ll be chaperoned by J. Jonah Jameson. Aunt May is a terrible judge of character. In issue #11, Peter takes a train to Philadelphia by himself and Aunt May says, “How nice, Peter! That trip will do you good.” (Page 7) Now, I know a train ride to Phillie from New York is a little different than traveling all the way to Florida, but it’s not a journey you’d let a fifteen-year-old take by himself.

Peter Parker wants to go to Philadelphia because he witnessed a conversation between Betty Brant and Dr. Octopus indicating they were driving there together.

What!?!

Yeah. Betty Brant is driving a raving lunatic with four metal arms across state lines. Doc Ock has just been released from prison for “good behavior.” This is another indicator that some time has passed. He was originally arrested for kidnapping, probably, and it would take at least two or three years for him to be out on probation. He’s spent the whole time seething over his fight with Spiderman and he’s raring for a rematch. He’s also gotten very interested in organized crime, which is a pretty large detour from the mad scientist bit he was playing before.

We finally get the dirt on Betty upon reaching Philadelphia. It’s not that bad. Her brother is the lawyer for a Pennsylvanian gangster and has fallen into deep gambling debts that he can’t pay. Betty has been trying to pay off the debt for her brother and has somehow arranged for the newly released Dr. Octopus to break the crime boss out of a high security jail. This should release her brother from his obligations. But one should never trust generic crime bosses. They are destined to break promises.

The crime boss’s escape plan includes sailing away on a boat with Betty and her brother as hostages. Doc Ock announces to the boat load of gangsters that he is double crossing the crime boss and taking over the syndicate. A gun fight breaks out and Spiderman shows up to punch everyone in the face.

Spiderman fights a sloppy fight, often leaving Betty and her brother unprotected and even putting them in danger. At one point he is tussling with the crime boss as the leading gangster wildly fires his weapon. One of the stray bullets hits Betty’s brother and he dies shortly after. Betty says to him, “If you hadn’t interfered, if you hadn’t tried to be a hero, it might not have happened!” (Page 13) Thus begins what will most likely be a problem in the future, Betty Brant loves Peter Parker, but blames Spiderman for her brother’s death. There’s a long, violent fight on the boat and Dr. Octopus gets away, ending the first issue.

The next book opens with J. Jonah Jameson’s replacement secretary quitting. She says, “You don’t need a secretary, you need a psychiatrist. (#12, page 1) Read the blog on issue #10 and you’ll see that I completely agree with her. This resignation paves the way for Betty to return to the Daily Bugle, which she promptly does.

Meanwhile, Octopus is ravaging the country, going from city to city robbing banks and high jacking trucks in the hopes that Spiderman will come fight him again. When nothing seems to draw the web-slinger out, he returns to NYC and kidnaps Betty Brant. He challenges Spiderman to fight him in Coney Island and has Jameson run an ad for Spiderman in the paper. In a twist that could only happen to Peter Parker, our hero comes down with the twenty-four hour flu. He’s so sick he can barely walk. But he fights Octopus anyway, gets his ass handed to him, and has his secret identity shown to everybody watching. The trick is that he was so weak that Octopus, and everyone watching, assumes that Parker dressed up in a Spiderman outfit because he didn’t think the real thing would show up and he wanted to save his girlfriend. Peter gets healthy and then returns to defeat Octopus.

Things are going well for Peter Parker. Because Liz Allen thinks he risked his life to save Betty, she immediately goes about trying to steal Peter away from her. Flash jabs at Peter like he always does and Liz yells, “As far as I’m concerned, Peter Parker proved he has enough courage to match his brains.” (Page 10). She spends the rest of the issue shamelessly flirting with Peter.

Liz Allen is a complete drama case and I’m really glad Peter went for Betty instead. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Liz Allen eventually becomes Liz Osborn after marrying Harry Osborn, heir to the Green Goblin insanity. I remember there was a whole story-line in the Spectacular Spiderman series where the reader was made to feel bad for her. Whatever. She gets what she deserves. She asks Peter out on a date at the end of the issue and he turns her down saying, “I’m sure Flash will be happy to go instead of me. Although I know how boring it must be to use all those one-syllable words when you talk to him. Anyway, you two deserve each other.” (Page 22) Zing! Tell her, Peter.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The Amazing Spiderman #10


Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

The Enforcers

The Enforcers are hilarious. They are bad-guy mobsters straight out of Dick Tracey. Their leader is known as The Big Man and he introduces his gang as if they played bass, drums and lead guitar in his band a few pages into the comic . There’s Montana, who is an ace with a lasso and speaks with a Texas drawl, Ox, the big man, and my favorite, Fancy Dan. Fancy Dan is a very small black belt in judo. Fancy Dan often talks about how small he is and how good at judo he is. He loves to point out the fact that, though he’s small, people should not underestimate him because he holds a black belt in judo. Plus, he’s fancy.

The Big Man is strong-arming all the mobsters in New York City into working for him. If they don’t obey, the Enforcers clean house. He wears a mask and no one knows his identity. J. Jonah Jameson, of course, thinks Spiderman is the Big Man and forces his poor lead writer, Foswell, to write articles supporting this theory. Spiderman sees Jonah at the scene of several of the mob bosses crimes which leads our hero into thinking J.J. is the culprit. So the two main characters are pointing fingers at each other and it turns out to be Foswell, the lead writer of the Daily Bugle who came out of no where for this one issue. Both sides are chagrinned at not seeing the obvious. It sounds unbearably hokey, but it was a pretty decent issue, filled with amusing gangster pastiche.

The meat of the story is the character development of both major characters from the Daily Bugle, Jameson and Betty Brant. Jameson has a particularly pathetic soliloquy at the end of the book. He stands by himself in the darkness, shoulders slumped, and regrets trying, once again, to pin Spiderman as a criminal. He says, “All my life I’ve been interested in one thing: money. And yet, Spiderman risks his life, day after day, with no thought of reward. If a man like him is good- is a hero- then what am I?” (Page 22)

This is the first time Jameson appears in private and his behavior is radically different from his public persona. In the public forum, he seems incapable of introspection. He’s a blustering know-it-all that won’t take guff from anyone. He has an unlimited supply of energy and will work tirelessly to prove that his world view is the correct one. But the private Jameson is depressed, painfully self-aware, almost suicidal. He says, “Spiderman represents everything I’m not. He’s brave, powerful, and unselfish. The truth is, I envy him. I, J. Jonah Jameson- millionaire, man of the world, civic leader- I’d give everything I own to be the man he is. But I can never climb to his level.” (Page 22) At first glance, Jameson is a megalomaniac, a demigod in his land of newspaper, but upon further inspection, he doesn’t simply have a vanity issue or a quirky personality, but may be manic depressive. His highs are unbelievably high and his lows are rock bottom.

Betty Brant is also falling apart. We received a hint last issue that she may have some dark secret when she correctly identified one of Peter’s personality traits saying, “You’re beginning to enjoy the danger- the excitement. Just like someone else I know”. (AS #9, page 14) She had to drop out of high school because of her secret and the mystery also involves money that she owns to a lone shark. This is where the Enforcers come in. The Big Man has taken over all the loans in the city and the Enforcers are going around, person to person, collecting.

Also, somewhere between issues, Peter and Betty have begun officially dating. Peter shows up when the Enforcers are threatening Betty and almost gets into a mild-mannered fight. Betty promises the Enforcers she’ll pay if they just leave Peter alone and thinks, “I can’t let the dearest, most wonderful boy I’ve ever known get mixed up with the Enforcers because of me!” (Page 8) She freaks out, won’t return Peter’s phone calls, and skips town. This has been building for a few issues now and the tension is at its height for the next storyline, which is a two-parter featuring the return of Dr. Octopus. This is going to be good.

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Amazing Spiderman #9


Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

The Man Called Electro

This issue marks the first appearance of everyone’s favorite electricity-based villain (besides the Shocker and Living Lightning), Electro. Electro is a former electrician and professional son of a bitch. There’s a flashback sequence on page 11 where Electro, pre-powers, then known as Max Dillon, is asked to save a man who is stranded on a telephone pole. Dillon is a wiz electrician and can climb telephone poles really well. The comic treats these two traits as if they are non-exclusive, but I don’t think they are. If you want to be an electrician but aren’t the best climber, don’t give up on your dreams.

Anyway, Dillon saves the man, but only after he extorts money from him, thus proving his son-of-a-bitchedness. Later, he’s up on the pole and gets struck by lightning while working on the lines, gaining mastery over electricity. He immediately begins a life of crime.

While robbing a bank, Electro has a run-in with J. Jonah Jameson. The two converse as Electro cleans the place out and J.J. is left with the unshakable hunch that the villain is a second identity for Spiderman. In other words, he believes Electro and Spiderman to be the same person.

Jameson wants photographic proof so that he can sell it in the papers and he charges Peter Parker with this task. Of course, Parker knows this is impossible because he is, in fact Spiderman. But there is a second plot line that comes into play.
Aunt May is sick. There are no specifics given, but she is eventually hospitalized and must have some type of surgery. The Parkers are on a tight budget and Peter is stressed about finding the money. He compromises his morals and fakes a picture to make it look as if Spiderman is actually Electro. He thinks to himself, “I hate taking money under false pretenses, but I’ll make it up…somehow.” (Page 11)

There was (maybe still is) a comic series called “What if...” Each months this series gave an alternative history for the Marvel Comics world; What if the Silver Surfer was trapped on Earth, it might inquire, or What if the Punisher killed Spiderman? What if Wolverine was king of the vampires? Seriously. They asked this. I own the issue. It’s actually pretty good.

I don’t know that “What if…” ever covered The Amazing Spiderman #9, but they should. This is a definite crux in Peter Parker’s life. He has been tempted already to fall into villainy. First, he thought about robbing armored cars (Amazing Spiderman #1, Page 3), and then he momentarily entertained joining Doctor Doom (AS #5, Page 5), and in that same issue he nearly let Flash Thompson die because of a petty grudge (Page 11). Now Peter has some stress that is not so petty. Aunt May is seriously ill and he needs quick cash. He compromises his morals and fakes the picture, ripping off the Daily Bugle and misleading all of New York City. Aunt May gets better, he renders Electro unconscious, and everything works out in the end.

But What if…

If Aunt May hadn’t made it through her surgery it would have been a different story. She is the road block to Peter choosing a life of crime. When his mask rips while fighting the Sandman (AS #4, Page 5) and he has an identity scare. He instantly thinks of what would happen to Aunt May, how he would be arrested and she would end up selling shoe laces on the street for ten cents.

Again, seriously. There’s a picture of Peter imagining Aunt May with a sad babushka over her gray hair, standing on the street hocking shoe laces. Seems like a bad business plan.

Without this safety, without Aunt May, Peter would have no reason to hold back his need for violence and competition. He would have no reason to squash his greed. Peter Parker would disappear and a chaotic Spiderman would roam New York City full-time. But she pulls through and he remains a hero. He hasn’t resolved his issues, far from it, but he survived a close call.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Amazing Spiderman #8


January, 1964

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Bizarre Line:

Peter won’t let Flash Thompson have a piece of paper and Thompson says, “Well, well. So the worm turns, eh? And in your case I do mean worm!”

Wikipedia actually didn’t know what this meant. But Phrasefinder did. “The worm turns” is a phrase meaning that someone previously downtrodden gets his revenge or that an unfavorable situation is reversed. It probably derives from an old proverb, 'Tread on a worm and it will turn.' It means that even the most humble creature tries to counteract rough treatment. Flash has actually used this phrase correctly.

The Terrible Threat of the Living Brain


I’m going to keep this short, because this issue is awful. The cover says it’s a “Special Tribute to Teenagers.” This made me wary and I was right to be so. ‘Tribute to Teenagers’ means ‘dumbed down more than normal.’

Basically, Midtown High has brought in a super-robot to demonstrate in the science class. The machine is really smart and can answer any question. The scientist in charge of the robot, Dr. Petty, gives it the name ‘The Living Brain.’ This is a complete misnomer as a normal brain, one which resides in a mammal or reptile, is living, whereas this one is not. He might have named it ‘The Only Non-Living Brain.’ This would have been more accurate. The robot runs amuck after someone bumps it and Spiderman has to figure out how to shut the thing off.

The social aspect of the issue features the final showdown between Peter Parker and Flash Thompson. Their science teacher, sick of the verbal jousting in his classroom, suggests that they go to the gym and box.

Of course.

Peter spends the whole time trying to pull his punches but ends up knocking Flash unconscious twice, one time for over half an hour. He might have damaged Flash’s spinal cord and he definitely gave him a concussion. I will pay attention to see if Flash is markedly stupider after this issue. Peter still comes out as the heel because of a foul during the boxing match.

Stan Lee couldn’t drag The Living Brain story out for the whole issue, so there’s a short story at the end. It goes like this: Spiderman visits the Human Torch’s girlfriend’s house in order to try and steal her away from Johnny. The Torch is there and everyone’s having a good time. Spiderman creeps in the back door and throws webbing on everyone, then proceeds to ridicule the party. He fights the Torch, the same Torch that gave him the inspirational speech which helped him defeat Dr. Octopus (Amazing Spiderman #3). After fighting the Human Torch for a while, the rest of the Fantastic Four shows up. He fights them too. Then he makes a pass at Sue Storm and leaves. The end.

I guess Stan Lee was receiving a lot of letters asking who would win in a fight, Spiderman or the Human Torch, and, since this was a tribute to teenagers, he decided to give it to them. Spiderman behaves completely out of character the entire time and I don’t tend to treat this small piece of poop as part of the series.

The only point of interest in this whole comic was that Jack Kirby drew his first Spiderman in the Spidey vs. Torch section. There are some differences. Spiderman’s a little bulkier and the eyes on his costume are smaller. Kirby also draws regular people in a more classic way which reminds me of art deco from the twenties. If I had to pick, I’d say I’m a Ditko man. I like Spiderman small and wiry, and his extras have more personality and a unique look to them. Let’s just move on to the next issue. I think it’s the first appearance of Electro. So that should be good.