Issue #29
“Never Step on a Scorpion”
By Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Sam Rosen.

First, thank you to Sean for letting me pitch in on this blog. I believe I will be doing two issues, and then Sean will be doing two, and then back to me and so on.  Sorry about the continuous delays getting this first one out.

Here goes:

Out-of-context reference: Betty Brant tells Peter that Ned Leeds is taking her to see the “The Golden Boy,” which I guess would be interesting small-talk if not for the fact that merely two panels before the NYPD arrived at the Daily Bugle to tell Jameson and his staff that The Scorpion is on his way over to kill JJJ. 

I'm getting ahead of myself.  The “Golden Boy” was a play about a young black man who became a prizefighter to escape the ghetto and raise money to become a surgeon. In the process he makes a Faustian pact with a shady promoter. I wonder how much Stan Lee took from that story of when he was spit-balling the story of the Marvel Universe’s most famous (and tragic) boxer, Battlin’ Jack Murdock and his son Matt.  Of course, it's not like that's the first and only story that's ever been made about a boxer who has made poor decisions.

But anyways, back to Scorpion. The Scorpion convinces his guards that he’s experiencing a mental breakdown and by that having his costume back would be therapeutic. Yep.   A silly premise, but it’s an awesome page that features this great three-panel sequence of Scorpion busting out of jail. 1. The reader sees Scorpion's fist bust through the bars into the outside. 2. He’s mid-air leaping over adjacent buildings. 3. He’s on the ground.

 

All sandwiched between four other panels. It’s not the most dynamic or action-packed scene in an issue that has all sorts of insanity,  I just really dig it.

So word hits The Bugle about The Scorpion's escape, Ned Leeds and Betty Brant plan their date (people were really lax about costumed maniacs threatening their boss’ life in the 60’s, it was a different time) while both Peter and Jonah hatch separate plans for Spider-Man to take care of Scorpion.

Peter and JJJ’s dueling plans are probably the best part of the issue. Somehow they contradict each other’s plans, fail in the execution and still lead to Scorpion being captured:

JJJ decides to lure Spider-Man by publishing an extra edition of Bugle with the headline that screams: “'SPIDER-MAN AND SCORPION ARE PARTNERS' SAYS PUBLISHER.” Jameson figures that Spider-Man will feel obligated to clear his name.

Spider-Man on the other hand decides instead to “…simply show myself swinging through the city until he attacks.” Not exactly Sun Tzu, but hey, there’s a real fun vibe that permeates this whole and the fact that Spider-Man’s master plan is exactly ten words really encapsulates that feel.

So Spidey never reads JJJ’s article, and Scorpion doesn’t attack Spidey.  Scorpion pretty much just waltzes into the Bugle through a window and goes straight for JJJ. In fact, the way The Scorpion gets right down to business is pretty admirable: “Break out of jail. Arrive at Daily Bugle. Kill Jameson.”

If this book was about a guy who sets out a goal for himself and accomplishes it, Spidey and JJJ would be dead in a puddle of blood by page 4.

Eventually Spider-Man smartens up and realizes that Scorpion has already arrived at the Bugle. The fight scene is great and takes up half the comic. Spider-Man balls himself up and propels himself like a cannonball, turns his webs into bolos, and eventually webs on Scorpion and swings all over NYC with him in tow. It’s great stuff. Screenshots do a better job of describing this better than I can:

 

So the issue ends with Scorpion back in jail and JJJ using the Daily Bugle to spin the story as if he single-handedly defeated both Scorpion and Spider-Man. Ned takes Betty away from the scene of the fight since she is pretty shaken up from the whole thing.  Jameson's reaction to the fallout is probably the funniest bit I've ever read in a Silver Age comic about insurance fraud:

I could probably write about 10 more pages just about the fight scene. It was a great issue to start out on.
 
I’d recommend it to anyone to go out and buy the Essential trade just for this issue if you have any affinity for classic Silver Age Marvel.  And apologies to A.A. Milne on behalf of Steve Ditko:

   

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.

The Amazing Spiderman #25

June, 1965

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Captured by J. Jonah Jameson

J. Jonah Jameson finally gets his wish. He can go after Spider-Man himself.

This issue introduces Sylvester Smythe, a builder of robots extraordinaire. Smythe walks into the Daily Bugle and Jonah immediately says, “I’m not listening to any more nutty mad scientists.” (Page 4) But I know that Smythe’s pitch will be successful because, though the robot he sells J.J.J is nameless, he will eventually become a prolific maker of Spider Slayers.

Oddly enough, it’s Peter Parker that talks Jonah into giving Smyth a try. Parker, who believes Smythe to be a crackpot, thinks, “Say! This would be a great chance to get even with Jonah for all the trouble he’s caused me in the past. I might even make some more dough selling photos of the Spider-Man ‘fight.’” (Page 4) And at this point in the series, Stan and Steve have the moral ebb and flow of the comics down to such a science that once we see Peter do something out of spite or greed, we know it will blow up in his face.

And it does. Smythe’s robot actually defeats Spider-Man. Jonah, controlling the robot remotely, tracks the webslinger down and binds him with the robot’s metal tentacles, gloating and blustering the whole time. Spider-Man only frees himself when Jameson and Smythe leave the controls to come and find the ensnared hero. He kills the battery and easily escapes, thus publicly embarrassing Jonah once again.
It was a good issue for the most part, heavy on action but left a bit to be desired in the drama department.

And, without further ado, on to the 25th Anniversary Spectacular of It’s Amazing.


Everybody loves a good list. So here is one.

Best Spider-Man Side Characters

5. The Human Torch: The Human Torch makes so many appearances in the first 25 issues of Spider-Man that I definitely consider him a side character. He and Spider-Man have a great back and forth and, in true bad comics style, often fight each other for little or no reason.

4. Mary Jane Watson: Mary Jane doesn’t appear in any of these comic books but she still makes the list. She was first mentioned in #15 and Aunt May brings her up nearly every issue for an entire year. She is actually in #25 but you never see her face. Her lack of appearance is hilarious.

3. Aunt May: Aunt May is the all-purpose tool of Stan Lee. She can be anything he wants at any time, depending on what the plot needs. Aunt May has been the doddering Grandma, sick in the hospital three times, inspirational confidante, amateur pimp, and obsessive mother.

2. Flash Thompson: Spidey’s #1 fan is a larger than life bully with a heart of gold. Flash hates Peter for his uppity attitude and loves Spider-Man for his believed altruism. The anti-wisdom of Flash is some of the best stuff in the series.

1. J. Jonah Jameson: This was a tough pick for me, because I’m a big Flash fan. But Jameson is definitely the best side character in these 25 issues. He’s a blustering blowhard who hates Spider-Man for his flashy style and his greed. And, although the newspaper man is willing to lie and cheat to bring Spider-Man down, many of his critiques are right on the mark.

Here are some basic rules we learned in the first 25 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man.

Laws of Spider-Man

1. Peter Parker is a teenager before he’s a hero. In these first few years of Spider-Man, the decisions are not always moral and heroic. They are often bratty and senseless, because we’re dealing with a super-strong fifteen-year-old.

2. Only Spider-Man’s villains of low social stature are naturally evil. I covered this in issue #20, but it’s true for the whole series so far. It probably has to do with Steve Ditko’s obsession with Ayn Rand. If the villain is educated he must have been driven crazy by something, but if he’s a blue collar worker he was already evil.

3. Spider-Man could have become a villain just as easily as he became a hero. The early, young Spider-Man was driven by greed and a desire for fame more than he was driven by good will. And this is the subject of the audience participation question.

Audience Question

Many of the essays focused on Rule #3, that Spider-Man could have easily turned out to be a villain. So, let’s say that happened. Spider-Man is a villain and not a hero. For the most part, villains don’t get their own comic books. So the question is, Whose comic book is Spider-Man a villain in? Would he be in Daredevil? Captain America? The Incredible Hulk? Leave your answer in the comment section.

Thanks for following through 25 issues! Hope you enjoyed them and I'll try to do at least 25 more. Since you read my 25th Anniversary Spectacular, here's a little treat. It's Jenny dressed as Spider-Man taken on Spring break a few years ago. Enjoy!

The Amazing Spider-Man #24

May, 1965

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

Spidey Goes Mad

Great issue. Great frickin’ issue. Let me tell you why.

Basically it happened like this: J. Jonah Jameson has started a new campaign against Spider-Man. Again. This time he has a reporter on the street asking loaded questions to people about Spider-Man such as “Why do you hate Spider-Man?” and “Why do you think Spider-Man is a menace?” If the walkers-by say they don’t particularly hate Spider-Man the reporter retorts, “Look, do you want your name and picture in the paper or don’t you?” (Page 6). Sorta like a Fox News reporter.

Eventually some famous-in-Europe-Sigmund-Freud-knock-off psychologist catches wind of what the Daily Bugle is doing and pays Jameson a visit. The psychologist's name is Dr. Ludwig Rinehart (hee hee) and he thinks that Spider-Man is sure to lose his mind soon. He says, “It is only a matter of time before his Id and his Ego get so confused that he forgets who he really is…and then he will suffer a severe breakdown!” (Page 7) As you can see, it’s a pretty convincing diagnosis.

So the Daily Bugle publishes the doctor’s findings, basically that Spider-Man is leading a double life and this will cause him to eventually schizoid and lose his mind. Peter Parker, upon reading this diagnosis, decides that he has to meet this doctor, partly to convince him that Rhinehart’s wrong about Peter’s mental state and partly to make sure he’s not right.

But then the strangest thing happens: Spider-Man starts seeing shit. Hallucinations of his greatest foes, Dr. Octopus, The Sandman, The Vulture, all appear before him, angry and threatening. But when he reaches out to strike them he realizes they’re not actually there.

Parker starts freaking out. He’s convinced that Rhinehart’s prophecy is coming true and he’s terrified that he might hurt someone he loves. He finds the psychologist’s home office (and it’s weird that he has a home office because he told Jameson that he was just in visiting the states on vacation) and lies down in the chair to confess everything.

Dr. Ludwig stands, one arm behind his back, the other discreetly holding a smoking pipe, and says “The root of your problem is, of course, your dual identity. But, if you were to make you true identity known, much of the strain would be gone.” (Page 17) And Spider-Man is convinced. But just before he confesses to his secret identity to Ludwig Rhinehart, Jonah Jameson breaks in closely tailed by an irate Flash Thompson.

‘Where did they come from?’ you may wonder.

Well, Flash periodically appeared throughout the issue every time one of The Daily Bugle’s reporters were trashing Spider-Man. He grew angrier and angrier as the issue progressed and, by coincidence, saw Jameson getting out of a car in front of Rhinehart’s house while Spider-Man was inside. Jameson was visiting Rhinehart because his former-convict-turned-lead-reporter Foswell tipped him off that Rhinehart is actually a fraud.

Not a doctor at all!

Jameson, who has highlighted Rhinehart in several articles of his paper, is furious. He rushes into the doctor’s house to confront him and interrupts the scene before Spider-Man can confess his identity.

As things are sorted out we come to find that Mysterio is actually Dr. Ludwig Rhinehart (I can’t believe that’s not a real name!) and the whole thing was a scheme to convince Spider-Man to believe he was mad and give up being Spider-Man.

Mysterio is once again arrested, Jonah is crushed that he stopped what might have been the destruction of that menace Spider-Man, and Flash is jubilant that he helped save his hero and got to see him fight in person. And I just love when Flash is happy.

It was a great issue, well-plotted, funny, and it included all my favorite side characters. Home run.

Check back next week for the 25th Anniversary Spectacular!

The Amazing Spider-Man #23

April, 1965

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

The Goblin and the Gangsters

This is the Green Goblin’s third appearance and his character is beginning to have the depth needed to become a major character. He first appeared in the infamously terrible issue #14, The Grotesque Adventure of the Green Goblin. In that issue he concocted some shitty scheme to convince Spider-Man that they were going to make a bio pic about him in order to lure him out to California where the Enforcers were waiting to kill him. It was totally stupid.

He came back in issue #17, The Return of the Green Goblin. But this title is a misnomer, the issue being much more about Flash Thompson than anything else. The Goblin didn’t exactly annoy me in any specific way, but I didn’t see how this character was on his way to being iconic. While I wouldn’t argue that he takes his first steps towards legend status in this issue, he at least holds my interest and at times even peaks my curiosity.

I suppose I’m hindered by the fact that I know the Green Goblin’s secret identity. Lee is definitely playing up the mystery of the Goblin’s identity and I’m well aware that it is Norman Osborn, a character who hasn’t even been introduced yet. This issue focuses on Frederick Foswell (first appeared in AS #10 as The Big Man) as a red herring. Foswell comes across the same information that the Goblin acquires and the two are shown in successive frames making the reader believe they are the same person. But, unfortunately, I know better.

I think the Green Goblin improved because he now has a clear goal. He wants to be the “King of Crime” (Page 3). He wants to rule the New York underworld and has begun threatening local gangsters in an attempt to take over their mob. This might sound trite, and to some degree it is, but just seeing the Goblin focus on something that isn’t dip-shit-crazy is enough to turn him around. Because he is an engaging character if all the distractions and imperfections are removed.

He’s the only villain with a secret identity, he’s arguably the creepiest looking villain that Spider-Man faces (besides the Chameleon from AS #1), and he’s actually too much for Spider-Man to handle in a fight.

Spider-Man’s had his ass kicked by nearly everyone he’s fought, but he generally comes back in the second half of the issue to give back harder than he received. Not so with the Goblin. And it’s not because the Green Goblin’s incredibly strong or he has such great weapons. It’s all speed based. He’s the only villain Spider-Man has fought who is faster than he is. As simple as that sounds, it makes for interesting battles.

So, I’m turning around on the Green Goblin. But he still needs to go through a lot of improvement before I think it’s acceptable that he gets to kill Gwen Stacey. It’s quite an honor for a villain to be allowed to kill a major character, especially a love interest. If it were right now, that is, right as in April 1965, I’d say that that would be Dr. Octopus’s right.