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.