Thursday, August 16, 2012

The Amazing Spider-Man #31



If this be my Destiny

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Steve Ditko

The title page to issue 31 is filled with Spider-Man fighting a group of soldiers in purple uniforms spraying deadly gas and springing nets at him in a desperate attempt to stop the one-man wrecking machine. The narration bubble proclaims “A new era in the life of Spider-Man. And you shall live it with him!” (Page 1). Exciting stuff, right?

Actually, ninety percent of the issue is about Peter Parker’s first day at Empire state University. Aside from issue #18 where Spider-Man didn’t even through a punch, this is the most actionless episode we’ve seen.
The villains, during their scarce appearance, are aquatic henchmen to an arch fiend who lives at the bottom of the ocean. They refer to him as “The Master Planner,” a title that might be better suited for local government than world domination. The Master Planner has his men stealing a nuclear reactor and then dumping it into the water where a rescue team nabs it and brings it to his under-the-sea lair. Think Sea Lab 2020 at the mouth of the Hudson.

The only interesting thing about the henchmen is their amazement at how well their capers are organized. They say things like, “There are the units…exactly as described!” (Page 3) and “It went like clockwork! We still have 30 seconds to spare!” (Page 2). They seem to almost expect some blunder to occur. It’s like when you start working at a new job and during the first days the working environment seems so common-sense-driven and efficient that it’s hard to believe. Then, a month later it becomes obvious that the efficiencies are just on the surface and everyone is really phoning it in. I expect one of the henchmen to walk in on the Master Planner in his underwater lair and see him quickly click away from Facebook and onto some floor plans of a bank vault.


The Master Planner storyline is not resolved in this issue and, like I said, most of the pages are spent on Peter Parker drama. Some hugely important characters are introduced in this issue: Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn.

Some of the same story-lines that occurred in Peter’s high school career will be revived in college. Ole’ Flash Thompson is still around and he still thinks Parker is a bookworm. He immediately strikes up a friendship with Harry Osborn and they bond over hating Peter. “If there’s one thing Harry Osborn doesn’t dig, it’s a swell-head who thinks he’s better than anybody else” (Page 10). And this from a guy wearing a little red bow tie. Sheesh. They begin pulling pranks on Peter, just like in high school.

Also, just like in high school, the girl that Flash is into has the hots for Peter. Gwen Stacy, though she runs with the popular crowd, is into the brainy outcast. She thinks “He’s not as husky as Flash, but he’s brighter and very attractive” (Page 9).

All in all, it’s an introductory issue. Lee is transferring Peter Parker from high school into college and defining his new friends and new preoccupations. He does this without a major villain and without any major plot lines. It was probably for the best, but the issue has an unsatisfying aftertaste.

Oh yeah, and Aunt May is sick again.