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.