1966
Written by Stan Lee
Art by Steve Ditko
So, as is often the case, the slow issue is followed by two
issues of almost pure action. The Peter Parker drama from Empire State
University is thrown aside for the next forty pages and is replaced by the type
of classic plot that defines what a good Spider-Man comic can be.
As stated in the last entry, Aunt May is sick with some rare blood disease. In issue 32 Peter overhears the doctors saying that there is a strange radiation in Aunt May’s blood and it is killing her. Peter instantly remembers that the last time Aunt May was sick (probably the last time, but she’s been sick so often that I’ve lost count) he gave her a blood transfusion to save her. Now, that very blood transfusion could mean her death.
Also, the identity of the Master Planner is revealed: Dr.
Octopus. He is trying to steal enough pieces of radioactive mumbo jumbo so that
he can make his own warhead.
While Doc Ock is brooding on how he hates Spider-Man and
wants so bad to jack up the world, Spider-Man goes to the one person he thinks
will know enough about radioactivity and blood to save his Aunt May: Curt “The
Lizard” Connors.
And here are all the elements of a good Spider-Man story: A
loved one is ill and only Spider-Man can save them. An iconic villain is
wreaking havoc on the city. The only person he can depend upon is a loose
cannon. And all action occurs under the mysterious umbrella of radioactivity,
the very source that granted Peter Parker the powers that changed his life.
The different plot lines are linked together by ISO 36, an
element recommended by Doc Connors to save Aunt May. Connors is having it flown
across the country in order to use it, but tragedy butts in. It turns out that
ISO 36 is also the last element that Dr. Octopus needs to complete his warhead.
Ohhhhhh Snap!
The ISO 36 is stolen and Dr. Octopus has poked the bear. Spider-Man goes nuts. He fights all of the purple henchmen from the last issue over and over again, has a deadly battle with Dr. Octopus which he wins handily, and then is trapped at the bottom of the ocean, under tons of wreckage while the leaking ceiling threatens to bring down the brine on him.
At this moment of pure exhaustion, Spider-Man recalls why he
is what he is. As he is trapped under the wreckage and struggles to summon the
strength to escape, visions of Uncle Ben haunt him. He thinks something curious
in these frames, and I found it rather moving. He thinks, “I’ll get the serum
to Aunt May and maybe then I will no longer be haunted by the memory of my
Uncle Ben” (Page 2).
I often think of the visions of Uncle Ben as moments of inspiration—moments where Ben appears and imparts some piece of wisdom—but here we see that that is not entirely true. The Ben moments are actually torturous and Spider-Man would do anything—any heroic feat he could manage—to be rid of them.
Spider-Man pulls himself up from the wreckage, defeats an
army of Dr. Octopus’s henchmen, and gets the ISO 36 to Dr. Connors, thus saving
his Aunt May. It’s a good, solid story.
One thing bugs me, though. And it’s a small thing, but it
makes me wonder about the Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s environment at the time of
writing these issues. As I understand it, the two of them were writing
something like 15 million different comic books at the time. In the second
issue while Dr. Connors is waiting for Spider-Man to get back with the ISO 36
he says, “There’s no way of knowing if it will assimilate with my own potion
until we try it.” (Page 12, Issue #32). I read this and instantly thought, “Geez!
Connors is going to try his own potion again. Do these goofball scientists
never learn?”
But then the story ended sans The Lizard tearing New
York City apart. I wonder if the issue went to print and then Stan Lee slapped
his forehead realizing that he forgot that thread of the plot.
