Amazing Spider-Man #117. The Smasher and the Disruptor

(Cover from February 1973.)

"The Deadly Designs of the Disruptor!"

Words by Stan Lee/Gerry Conway.
Art by John Romita/Jim Mooney/T Mortellaro.
Lettering by Sam Rosen/Artie Simek.

Colours by Stan G.

The Amazing Spider-Man goes into full-blown cornball mode with the arrival of... ...the Disruptor. So-called, presumably, because he disrupts political meetings. Let's face it, as concepts go, disrupting political meetings isn't quite on a par with Galactus, the eater of worlds, and the man seems to have the same blind costume designer as Daredevil's Masked Marauder.

Regardless of his less-than-classic status, we're left to ponder just who the Disruptor could be.

Except that anyone with a brain between the ears already knows who he is; especially as Peter Parker keeps dropping hints that all might not be right with Richard Raleigh - as does Joe Robertson. And, of course, that fabulous judge of character, J Jonah Jameson is a big fan of Raleigh's. So why do I get the feeling readers aren't exactly going to be gobsmacked when the big reveal happens next issue?

The Smasher's still in this saga but might as well not be, appearing only briefly in the middle and end of the issue and suffering from the fact that he has no mind of his own and we never got to see him before he became The Smasher. Herein probably lies the basis for why - in the annals of comicdom - despite looming so large he ultimately left no shadow.

Nice to see that Mary Jane's previous interest in politics seems to come down to nothing more than lust.