The Amazing Spiderman #2

May, 1963

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

The second Amazing Spiderman is broken up into two parts. But to call them ‘short stories’ is deceiving. It actually takes me longer to read one of these short stories from the 60s than it does to read a complete comic book from the 90s. There’s a lot more writing. There’s rarely a box without text in it and the text bubbles run down half the page. Even the advertisements expect you to read a lot. There’s a full-page ad offering to train people to repair refrigerators consisting of one picture and at least eight-hundred words. CTI’s home learning kit is expertly written, clearly illustrated, and easy to understand. It offers up-to-date knowledge and includes kits of tools and parts that you assemble into a working unit! And it goes on. If this offer was put into a comic book today it would read, “$ Fix Fridge!! $” with a picture of a naked girl holding a jug of milk in front of an open refrigerator.


$Fix Fridge!$


Attention spans aren’t what they used to be.

Part one is called “Duel to Death with the Vulture.” It’s the first appearance of the Vulture who will become one of Spiderman’s classic villains. The Vulture is a criminally insane mastermind who has created a device, that turns out to be electromagnets or something, so that he can fly soundlessly. He plans big heists and taunts the police like any good criminal should.
There are some interesting developments in Peter’s character during this issue. J. Jonah Jameson is brought back for a reprise and his magazine (Now Magazine, not yet The Daily Bugle) wants pictures of the Vulture but no one can get them. So Peter, thinking only about making some cash and not even considering that what the Vulture’s doing is criminal, sets out to get those photos. This will set off a long career as a photographer for Parker and I find it interesting that he goes after his first super-villain for a cash prize.
During their fight, Spiderman runs out of web fluid. This is the second time in two issues. Once he gets home he decides that he needs to make some adjustments so that this doesn’t happen again. He thinks, “Originally I designed my Spiderman costume to give me some color, so I could make money as an entertainer. But if I’m really going to be a secret adventurer, I’m going to have to make some changes.” (Page 6) I think it’s an interesting distinction that Parker doesn’t think of himself as a ‘hero’ yet. He was an entertainer, now he’s a secret adventurer. Both of these imply that he’s in it for fun and money, not because of the terrible lesson he learned with Uncle Ben’s death.
And speaking of ‘terrible,’ part two of the issue is titled “The Uncanny Threat of the Terrible Tinkerer.” I thought the Tinkerer might have been a one-shot flop, but after discussing the villain with some workmates, I found that he has survived through the forty some years since his creation and still plays a role in comics today. It’s hard to believe. This story is ridiculous.
The Tinkerer has a radio shop where he’s implanting vague, secret devices in the property of “important people.” It turns out he’s working with a bunch of green aliens and they want to take over the world. Spiderman comes in and beats them all up and they decide to leave Earth. Peter Parker has little to no reaction over his first witness of alien life form. The Tinkerer disappears in a fire at the end and will, unfortunately, be back. This little episode was a step back in the evolution of Spiderman. They can’t all be homeruns.