The Amazing Spider-Man #28

The Menace of the Molten Man


Written and edited by Stan Lee
Illustrated and plotted by Steve Ditko


Bizarre Reference: Spider-Man says to Molten Man: Don’t let a couple punches go to your head, Raxton. You’re not exactly fighting a Maypole dancer. (Page 11)

Oooookay. Well, I sort of know what a Maypole dance is because I used to work with a Pagan lady named Anna. I thought, perhaps, that it had multiple meanings that I was missing but I can’t find another way to define it.
A Maypole Dance is an ancient Germanic Pagan dance around a pole where the participants hold ribbons attached to said pole. It is known to increase fertility. This is one of the most confusing things Spider-Man has ever said. If anyone has any insight on what this could mean, please let me know.

The Molten Man was one of my favorite comic villains growing up. He was a major character in “The Web of Spider-Man” in the 1990s. During this time he crossed over from villain to good guy after serving time in jail and coming to terms with his sister, Liz Allen. There was lots of family drama and moral dilemma every time the Molten Man made an appearance. None of this is apparent in this issue, but his introduction was still pretty good.

Spider-Man goes to see the scientist Smythe, the guy that made the robot that tried to kill Spider-Man in issue #25, to get his costume back. He’s been without his original costume for over three issues now and it’s about time this storyline ended. While Peter’s lifting his costume, a guy named Raxton breaks into the lab. Raxton has been working with Smythe to create some magical metal alloy and now that it’s nearly finished, he’s planning on stealing the stuff and selling it.

The bottle containing the alloy breaks during a struggle with Spider-Man and Raxton is covered in it, thus becoming the Molten Man. He runs away and Spider-Man tracks him down to his apartment. By this time, Raxton has discovered he has super strength and metal skin and has, of course, decided to begin a life of crime. He kicks the crap out of Spider-Man for a while before the web slinger pulls a trick with his webbing and wins the day. It was good action and I look forward to the return of the Molten Man.

The really good stuff, though, came at the end of the comic. It’s Peter Parker’s graduation day. He’s leaving high school and going out into the big world. And, normally, this might be a boring thing to put in a comic. But not with the great side characters in The Amazing Spider-Man. The high school gives out two scholarships; one for athletic achievement and one for scholarly achievement. Can you guess who receives them? Yes, Peter and Flash Thompson will both be attending Empire State University on full ride scholarships. Awesome. Totally awesome.

Amazing Spider-Man #27

August, 1965

Written by Stan Lee, Plotted and Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Favorite Bizarre Reference:

A double feature of Bizarre References: Firstly, on page 2, the Goblin tells the Crime Master “This will knock your plans to get the mobs into a cocked hat.” Phrase Finder tells me that ‘knocked into a cocked hat” refers to a game, sort of like bowling, from the 1800s called Cocked Hat. Cocked Hat used three pins and when you knock them all down you’ve “knocked a cocked hat.” The phrase means that someone’s plans of success are now in disarray.

The second reference comes from Spider-Man. He says on page 4, “I feel like Steve Reeves in one of those Italian costume movies.” Wikipedia tells me that Steve Reeves was a body builder in the 1950s who starred in a slew of movies, most famously Hercules and Hercules Unchained, both Italian films. I should note that Spider-Man was breaking free from chains when he referenced Reeves. Probably important.

Bring Back my Goblin to Me

In our last issue the Crime Master, a new villain with a much debated secret identity, had positioned himself to take over the city’s mobs, thus earning the name he’d already given himself. He has a big meeting planned down at the docks where he’s telling all the mobsters what’s what when the Green Goblin breaks in with an unconscious Spider-Man in tow, looking to steal his thunder.

There’s a criminal named Patch at the meeting that we know from last issue is an informant to the police. Patch sneaks out of the meeting when he sees that Spider-Man is in trouble and calls the police again. Spider-Man wakes up and fights the mob, the Crime Master, and the Green Goblin, all while bound in chains. The police come and aid Spider-Man and all the bad guys are defeated, the two main villains escaping in the fray.

There’s a moment of mass disappointment when we find out later, after the capture of the Crime Master, that he’s some no-name mobster that Frederick Foswell knew from his days as the Big Man. Spider-Man, who suspected Foswell to be the Crime Master, thinks, “It’s kinda funny, in real life when a villain’s unmasked it’s not always the butler or the one you suspected. Sometimes it’s someone you don’t even know.” (Page 10) This sorta made me mad. I agree with the theory, I suppose. In the real world it’s not always going to be the perfect ironic person that it should be. But, come on. This isn’t the real world. You stick to walls, right? To not give me a shocking twist is simply unimaginative.

Lee and Ditko make up for it somewhat at the end when we find that Frederick Foswell was actually disguised as Patch, the police informant and that he is the true hero of the story. For the first time ever in the Spider-Man series, a villain has rehabilitated and come over to the good side.

This two-parter loosely promised to give up some dirt and pay off. It didn’t. There was some good action and decent Parker character development, but the suspense with the Green Goblin’s identity needs to end soon, because it’s not that interesting.

Amazing Spider-Man #26

July, 1965


Scripted by Stan Lee, Plotted and Illustrated by Steve Ditko

The Man in the Crime Master’s Mask

This one opens up with Peter Parker searching for his lost costume. If we remember correctly, Aunt May confiscated one off him and J. Jonah Jameson took the other when Spider-Man used it as a decoy. Parker has been costumeless for a few days and unable to prowl as Spider-Man. He starts to get anxious and his violent side comes out.

First, he gets in a fight with Betty Brant. She’s pissed because she believes that Peter helped Jameson try to capture Spider-Man in the previous issue. I’m not 100% sure why she is so into Spider-Man since she sort of blamed the web-spinner for the death of her brother, but I suppose Stan Lee is a big supporter of fickle women. Parker says as the end of the fight, “Boy! The only thing worse than a hot-tempered female is a jealous hot-tempered female (Page 6).”

Parker then goes to his high school and endures the normal ribbing from Flash Thompson and his pack of goons. But this time Peter flips out. He charges the whole crowd of students and starts kicking ass until Liz Allan breaks it up.

We’ve seen this in the past. The teenage Peter Parker has some seriously violent tendencies and when he can’t fight criminals as Spider-Man he will start, both physically and verbally, to attack those around him. He finally breaks down and buys a Spider-Man suit from a costume store.

The other story involves the Green Goblin and a new villain called The Crime Master. These two apparently had a plan to take over the mob “racket” and the Crime Master is now cutting the Goblin out of the deal. The Crime Master is able to do this because he has the Goblin’s secret identity locked in a safety deposit box somewhere and if he dies the world finds out.

So, these two are fighting each other as Spider-Man is out of commission. When Spidey finally comes back he gets on the case and is quickly beat up by both villains. The Green Goblin actually succeeds in knocking him unconscious and bringing him to a mob meeting where the Crime Master plans to take over the city. Luckily for Peter, the costume he bought was defective and he needed to web his mask on because it kept stretching out of shape. There will conveniently be no unveiling of a secret identity.

We’re left with a bit of a cliff hanger, so we’ll have to see what happens next issue.