Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. The Sinister Six

(Cover from 1964.)

"The Sinister Six!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

In the early 1960s, men were men, women were women, sheep were sheep and money was money. You could get a house for thruppence, a yacht for two-and-six, and the Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 for a mighty twenty five cents. For your money, you got a whopping 72 (BIG) pages of your favourite wall-crawler and none of that reprint rubbish.

That's not all you got. You got a positive epic as Spider-Man takes on not one but a whole clutch of his old foes in the form of the Sinister Six. On top of that, we get cameos from Iron Man, Giant Man, the Wasp, Thor, Dr Strange, the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Captain America, each with a nice little caption beneath telling us we can read their adventures in the appropriate comic. This thing gives us the very definition of the phrase, "Pulling out all the stops."

Escaping from a jail that's conveniently stored his metal arms nearby, Dr Octopus gathers Spider-Man's five other greatest enemies (no Green Goblin) and says that together they can defeat Spider-Man. Then, showing the level of intelligence that got them all defeated in the first place, they decide the best way to beat him is to fight him one at a time!

Gang up on him, you idiots! Gang up on him!

Needless to say, given this tactic, Spidey beats them like he always beats them. I especially like the Sandman defeating himself by locking him and Spidey in an airless room and then passing out from lack of oxygen (Doh!). Aunt May shows her usual stupidity and lays the groundwork for future stupidity by totally failing to realise she's been kidnapped by Dr Octopus, and Betty Brant's in one of her liking Spider-Man moods. We also get the sight of J Jonah Jameson trying to communicate with a spider.

It's difficult to describe how great this is. The sheer level of effort that's gone into this comic's startling and we get some of the best artwork Steve Ditko ever did on the strip, including a splash page for every encounter Spider-Man has with a baddie. We also get the, "Spider-Man loses his powers," thing that got used in the second Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie. Now, as then, it's all psychosomatic and Spidey gets his mojo back once he realises he does want and need to be Spider-Man. If that's not enough, we get a multi-page gallery of Spider-Man's greatest foes, a nine page Secrets of Spider-Man feature, various bits and bobs about Peter Parker's private life and a story showing us how an issue of Spider-Man's put together, in which Stan Lee keeps annoying Steve Ditko by telling him what to do. I make no comment.

My only complaint is I'm a little worried that Spider-Man saves himself from death at the hands of Electro by grounding himself with his webbing. I'm no electrician - and I'm even less a super-hero - but isn't grounding yourself the worst thing you can do when confronted by deadly levels of electricity?

Amazing Spider-Man #19. The Sandman, Enforcers and Human Torch

(Cover from December 1964.)

"Spidey Strikes Back!"

Written by Stan Lee.
Drawn by Steve Ditko.
Inked by Steve Ditko.
Lettered by Sam Rosen.

Somehow I suspect they won't be handing out prizes for guessing who the guest star is this month.

That's right, it's the Human Torch. He's spending so much time in this mag it's a miracle he doesn't just quit the Fantastic Four and move in with Spidey.

So, having shown his face, what does the fiery one get up to?

Mostly he hangs around in a big glass case, having been captured by the Sandman and his cronies the Enforcers. Why the Sandman and his cronies capture him isn't entirely clear, nor is any other part of their plan - assuming they have one and aren't just committing random acts of villainy - but, having got him, they decide he's a great hostage to use in their war against Spider-Man. It never seems to occur to them that, if they make it common knowledge they have the Human Torch then the rest of the Fantastic Four'll come down on them like a ton of bricks. Happily for them, it doesn't seem to occur to the Fantastic Four either who make no appearance till the story's all over.

As always, the Enforcers turn out to be as much use as a parasol in a monsoon, which makes you wonder why the Sandman's teamed up with them. It also makes you wonder why Stan Lee and Steve Ditko kept bringing the useless bunch of bums back. My lack of respect for the less than stellar Kangaroo's no secret but I have the feeling that even he'd wipe the floor with the Enforcers and that's saying something. I suspect Ditko was just getting into drawing rambunctious Kirby-style fight scenes by this stage and simply liked to show Spidey knocking them about a bit.

In truth, the main story's a fairly disposable bit of fun that's there more to reintroduce Spider-Man to the world of bad-guy bashing than anything and was probably forgotten by most readers by the time next month came round. The most important development is in fact that we get to meet the new man in Betty Brant's life.

His name's Ned Leeds and the whole caboodle is a little odd as Peter Parker doesn't seem in the slightest bit bothered to see the woman who up until this tale has been his girlfriend suddenly hanging round with another man.

Ah well, given his ubiquitousness lately, perhaps Pete was just relieved the new man in Betty Brant's life didn't turn out to be the Human Torch.

Amazing Spider-Man #18. The Sandman's back

(Cover from November 1964.)

"The End Of Spider-Man!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

Rule books are there to be shredded; and no one seemed more aware of that than Stan Lee. He did it most famously with issue #50 of The Amazing Spider-Man, showing Peter Parker giving up his life as a hero.

But it wasn't without precedent. Why? Because he'd already used the idea here in Amazing Spider-Man #18, in which, having to look after his sick Aunt May, Peter Parker manages to go through the whole issue without having a single fight.

That's not to say we don't get to see Spider-Man but when we do, it's in a distinctly un-heroic light; first managing to fail to get a trading card deal then failing to sell his web formula to a glue factory and then running away from the Sandman rather than risk getting hurt.

Needless to say this has the whole of New York wondering just what's going on as J Jonah Jameson crows about it all.

But, of course, whatever Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's willingness to experiment, The Amazing Spider-Man wouldn't have lasted long had its hero never shown his face again and so, by the end of the tale, fired up by a speech from Aunt May about how the Parkers have never been quitters, Spidey has his costume back on and is ready to show the world what Spider-Man's really all about.

There's lots to love in this tale. Early on we get various villains and heroes ruminating on the, "Spider-Man turns yellow," situation. We get J Jonah Jameson gloating. There's also Spider-Man's inability to make any money despite being a genius. We get Flash Thompson trying to restore Spider-Man's reputation, by passing himself off as the webbed crusader but only getting a hiding from a gang of minor crooks for his trouble. But my favourite scene of the issue has to be where the Human Torch (yes, he's guesting again!), refusing to believe his old sparring partner can have turned yellow, sits atop the Statue of Liberty all night, hoping against hope that Spider-Man will answer his fiery summons and prove himself not to be a coward. The respect the Torch has for a man he always makes out to be an enemy is actually quite touching, and nicely handled by Steve Ditko.

And that's the point. It's the reaction and behaviour of the supporting cast that makes this issue. The effect his withdrawal from the fray has on them's the real reason The Amazing Spider-Man was such a success. The story-telling and characterisation had become so strong by this point that the strip's central character didn't even need to be in it for it to work. And, when you get down to it, how many comic books can you say that about?

Amazing Spider-Man #17. The Green Goblin and the Human Torch

(Cover from October 1964.)

"The Return of the Green Goblin!"

Written by Stan Lee.
Drawn by Steve Ditko.
Inked by Steve Ditko.
Lettered by Sam Rosen.

If a rose is a rose by any other name, Liz Allan must be a very relieved flower to hear it, as Stan Lee still doesn't seem able to make up his mind whether she's Liz Allan or Liz Allen. To make matters even worse, we're then introduced to her father who gets referred to as, "Mr Brant," implying that Smiling Stan now thinks she's called Liz Brant! I can only assume the Mr Brant reference was a mistake and Stan Lee wasn't implying the two rivals for Peter Parker's heart, Liz Allan and Betty Brant, are in fact secretly sisters.

Meanwhile, the world may view Spider-Man with distrust and suspicion but not Flash Thompson - he merely views Peter Parker with distrust and suspicion - and so he forms the Spider-Man Fan Club, as Liz Allan/Allen/Brant gets her rich father to lend the kids his night club for a venue.

Needless to say, nothing goes any more right for Flash Thompson than it always does for Peter Parker as, first, Spider-Man, and then the Green Goblin, and then the Human Torch, crash the meeting. Stan Lee really was keen to play up the rivalry/grudging friendship between Spider-Man and the Torch in the strip's early days. It's only issue #17 and I've already lost count of the number of time's Johnny Storm's turned up. He's here again and, for once, he doesn't get to fight Spider-Man, instead, spotting that the Green Goblin's the real enemy, he rushes to Spider-Man's aid.

Not that Spider-Man seems to need it because it's an odd little outing for the Goblin. Despite being armed to the teeth with new gadgets - and a new "glider" - he seems so much less dangerous than he did last time out, in a tale mostly played for laughs. Even the Goblin's fight with Spider-Man and then the Torch and then Spider-Man has an oddly frivolous feel to it, like they're all fighting mostly for the fun of it.

But fun can't last forever and, as the fight's about to reach its climax, our hero overhears a phone conversation that tells him his Aunt May's in hospital, prompting Spider-Man to flee the scene to rush off to see her. Now all the world thinks Spider-Man's a coward, and the Green Goblin's still on the loose. Shakespeare might have been right and a name might not matter but, right now, Spider-Man's name is mud and he's not at all happy about it.

Amazing Spider-Man #16. Daredevil and the Circus of Crime

(Cover from September 1964.)

"Duel With Daredevil"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

As Mary Jane Watson once said, "Well pierce my ears and call me drafty!" because Spider-Man gets to meet another super hero -- and, for the first time ever, it's not a member of the Fantastic Four.

This time it's Daredevil who gets the privilege, which seems an appropriate choice as there are many parallels between the two heroes: Spider-Man's spider-sense/Daredevil's radar sense; both men's heightened athletic ability; both having lost father figures during their teen years, at the hands of a criminal; both having an on-off romance with a secretary; both with home-made gadgets that fire a line they can swing from. And then there's the fact that, when we first met both of them, they were ridiculed by the other kids for being bookworms. In fact, you have to wonder if the similarities are coincidental or if, knowing he had a hit on his hands with Spider-Man, Stan Lee had decided to repeat the formula with another hero.

Whatever, it's still clearly early days for the man without fear when this tale takes place because he's still wearing his original, short-lived costume, the yellow and black one that some of us have always preferred to the all red version.

But heroes are only half a story and the bad guys of the piece are the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime. I assume that, "Circus of Crime," isn't how they're billed on the posters. It might be somewhat of a giveaway.

Needless to say, like the two-bit crook he is, the Ringmaster's planning on using his hypnotic powers to rob the audience at tonight's show but, just to show the sort of luck the Ringmaster has, both Peter Parker and Matt Murdock are in the audience, which means that, before long , both Spider-Man and Daredevil are stepping in to stop him.

It's a good fun tale and oddly reminiscent of Jack Kirby, in the fun Steve Ditko seems to be having with the non-stop action as, first, Daredevil and Spider-Man go head-to-head before Spider-Man takes on the entire Circus of Crime on his own.

Actually, that's the one disappointing thing about this tale, that, after he's snapped Spider-Man out of his trance, Daredevil decides to leave the rest of the scrap to Web Head and sit in the crowd, as Matt Murdock, "watching." It would've been a lot more fun to see the pair of them team up to take on the circus.

Oh well, what can you do? This is Spider-Man's comic and it seems it's therefore been ordained we have to see Spider-Man - and Spider-Man alone - tackle the pernicious performers.

But the Ringmaster really is an idiot. Not content with wasting his powers of mind control on what's essentially nothing more than glorified pick-pocketing, he comes up with a scheme that practically invites Spider-Man to come along to the show. Why risk attracting the attention of a super hero if you're going to commit a crime?

Then again, why use your awesome powers of mind control just to rob a few punters of a few dollars each when you have it within your abilities to take over an entire nation?

I suppose that explains why the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime never amounted to a hill of beans in the overall scheme of things and why, ultimately, they rarely seemed anything more than a comedy outfit.

Amazing Spider-Man #15. Kraven makes his debut

(Cover from August 1964.)

"Kraven The Hunter!"

Written by Stan Lee.
Drawn by Steve Ditko.
Inked by Steve Ditko.
Lettered by Artie Simek.

As Clint Eastwood could tell you, a man has to know his limitations, and the Chameleon certainly does.

In case we'd forgotten about the menacing master of disguise - Spider-Man's first ever foe - he's back again. But this time, having decided he can't tackle Spider-Man himself, he brings in his best mate in all the world; Kraven the Hunter, who's something of a nutjob and lives only to fight things. He starts off by fighting some snakes and gorillas, down at the dockside, before turning his attention to Spider-Man.

The only problem is he's out of his depth and so he cheats.

The only problem is that doesn't work either.

So, he runs away and, when that doesn't work, he gets captured and deported. As a first outing for our villain it's all a bit of a wash out. Still, he may be a cheat, a braggart, a coward, a bully and a man who talks to himself but Kraven is at least persistent and he'll be back to mildly annoy Spider-Man on repeated occasions.

Someone else who'll be back is Mary Jane Watson whose name makes its first appearance here - although it has to do so without the company of the girl herself who's supposed to be meeting Peter Parker for a kind of blind date - courtesy of Aunt May - but pulls out with a headache.

It's just as well because, by this stage in the strip's history, Peter Parker has two girls, Betty Brant and Liz Allan fighting over him. How could the strip possibly find room for another? And just how did Puny Parker become such a babe magnet?

Amazing Spider-Man #14. The Green Goblin, Enforcers and the Hulk

(Cover from July 1964.)

The Green Goblin"

Written by Stan Lee.
Drawn by Steve Ditko.
Inked by Steve Ditko.
Lettered by Art Simek.


Value for money. Sometimes you have to check what's behind it.

Seeing how much is crammed into this issue, I assumed the price must have gone up and Marvel Comics were making an effort to cram as much in as they could to justify it.

But not at all. A quick look at the cover tells us the price is still 12 cents. But, even if it had gone up, we can hardly be accused of being short changed this month. Not only do we get the debut of the Green Goblin. we get the return of the Enforcers and Spider-Man's first meeting with the Incredible Hulk.

It's the debut of the Green Goblin that is of course the main event in this tale - although, at the time, it must have seemed to readers that the Hulk's guest slot was the bigger deal. We, however, have the benefit of hindsight and the readers of 1964 didn't.

It's an odd plan the Goblin concocts, tricking Spider-Man into agreeing to appear in a movie so he and the Enforcers, posing as fellow cast members, can attack him. There's really no need for any of this charade, they could have attacked him easily enough anywhere and at any time and it's a plan that does rely on Spider-Man being unbelievably stupid. He's stood in a room with the Enforcers and doesn't recognise them as the real thing, convinced they're just actors pretending. It's a scenario worthy of the old Adam West Batman series in its unlikelihood.

But you suspect that Steve Ditko's clear love of having battles take place in not previously seen locations, like sculptor's studios and film sets, was coming into play here. It gives him an excuse to stick Spider-Man in a desert and then in cave, neither of which he was likely to encounter in Manhattan. It was also a convenient way to bring the Hulk into the story.

So, how does the Goblin fare on his debut?

He comes out of it pretty well. This being his first appearance, he's not yet developed the out-and-out psychotic nature of later years. Here he's merely an ambitious novice criminal out to get himself some power by defeating Spider-Man. But the fact that Spider-Man fails to defeat him and that, at the end of the tale, the Goblin still has his secret identity intact marks him out, even at this point, as a major villain of the future.

Sadly, not major villains of the future are the Enforcers, as out of their depth against Spider-Man as Spider-Man is against the Hulk. Despite their boast that they take orders from no one, they're never going to be anything more than lackeys for more important criminals. It has to be said that even if you hired the Enforcers for nothing, value for money is one thing you would never claim to be getting.

Amazing Spider-Man #13. Mysterio makes his debut

(Cover from June 1964.)

The Menace Of Mysterio!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Art Simek.

Thirteen. It's unlucky for some.

Or have I already said that?

It seems to me I have. So, instead I'll merely say that, for Spider-Man's baker's dozen, we get the debut of one of my favourite Spider-villains of them all, as Mysterio makes his first appearance.

I mean, what's not to love? The man wears a goldfish bowl over his head, has eyes on his chest and walks around in a cloud of smoke. He also talks like a prize cornball. After all, how many people have you ever met who say things like, "Bah!" and refer to themselves in the third person? Quite frankly, if there's one Spider-Man villain I'd choose to be, it has to be Mysterio.

Mysterio, oddly enough, is more interested in being Spider-Man, as he starts the tale by committing a string of crimes while disguised as the arachnid adventurer. This being The Amazing Spider-Man, our hero doesn't respond in the time honoured manner by assuming there must be an imposter on the loose. Instead, he assumes he himself must be behind the crimes and doesn't know about it because he's going mad. Cue a trip to the psychiatrist.

Happily his malaise doesn't last long as Mysterio turns up and gives him a good pounding before Spider-Man escapes, hoping to fight another day. Oddly enough, this seems to put our hero in a better mood.

The fight scene in the second half of this story's fantastic. Steve Ditko was never a conventional super-hero artist and proves it here as Spider-Man and Mysterio battle each other on a movie set. The studio's clearly playing host to a science fiction movie when they barge in, meaning the fight takes place against a whole barrage of unworldly backdrops before the menacing master of illusion gets his come-uppance. Steve Ditko's in his element with this story, his background in drawing horror and fantasy comics coming in perfectly for his handling of Mysterio who, in his early panels, really does seem like some kind of supernatural, Dr Strange type, being.

On Peter Parker's domestic front, not only does our hero have Betty Brant swooning all over him but now Liz Allan's got the hots for him too.

And this is the man who claims he's unlucky in love.

Amazing Spider-Man #12. Dr Octopus unmasks Spider-Man

(Cover from May 1964.)

"Unmasked By Doctor Octopus!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Art Simek.

Expectations, according to that masterful master of words Charles Dickens, they can be great.

But we also know they can lead you astray or, worse than that, they can simply lead you nowhere. Take me. Some stories you find you have a whole kaboodle of things to say about, even when you wouldn't have thought you would, and some tales you find you have next to nothing to say about, even though you know you should.

Issue #12 of the Amazing Spider-Man falls into the latter camp. I mean, here's a tale to build epochs around, isn't it? Our hero's made it to his first dozen issues and we get to see Spider-Man unmasked by Dr Octopus.

So why then do I have so little to say about it?

Is it the artwork?

No.

Is it the writing?

No.

Is it the villain?

No.

Then what is it?

I don't know. Some critic I turned out to be.

So Spider-Man gets his first two parter as, having failed to capture Dr Octopus last time round, he gets another go at him.

And what a sad case Dr Octopus turns out to be, committing a string of crimes around the country purely to force Spider-Man to fight him, before returning to New York to kidnap Betty Brant purely to force Spider-Man to fight him. Not that he's obsessed or anything. But really, what does it say about a super villain when his only motivation for committing crimes is to pick a fight with his arch-enemy?

As with last issue, Spider-Man doesn't actually defeat Dr Octopus, he just gets lucky, which is a pleasing touch. It doesn't pay to make a super hero too successful against the opposition. After all, we might want him always to win but if he always triumphs no matter the odds, what happens to all the tension?

Highlight of the tale has to be Spider-Man and Doc Ock's fight in the sculptor's studio. It doesn't last long, thanks to Octopus getting himself trapped under a falling statue, but it's a pleasingly surreal venue for such a clash.

In fact, this issue's memorable for two things. One, Spider-Man gets to fight a bunch of animals Octopus has released from the zoo and, secondly, as touched on before, it's the tale where Spider-Man's true identity is at last revealed to the world, as, having defeated our flu-weakened hero, Dr Octopus pulls off his mask to reveal the face of Peter Parker beneath.

But there's the twist. No one believes Peter Parker could be Spider-Man and so, although people have seen his face, his identity remains a secret. It's those expectations again. If only Dr Octopus hadn't had expectations about how difficult to beat Spider-Man would be. If only J Jonah Jameson and Betty Brant hadn't had expectations about how puny Peter Parker is, his secret would be out. Maybe, from the viewpoint of our hero, sometimes false expectations are a whole lot better than great expectations.

Amazing Spider-Man #11. Dr Octopus is back

(Cover from April 1964.)

"Turning Point"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

Forget jet packs, ray guns and rocket ships, I sometimes think the invention we need most in this world is the robot from Lost in Space, the one that kept declaring, "Warning! Warning!" while waving its arms around. Certainly, the characters in The Amazing Spider-Man could do with it.

The judges and juries of Marvel Comics' New York city could definitely do with it. Only eight issues after being sent to jail for trying to take over the world - or something - Dr Octopus's sentence is served and he's free to go and look for alternative work. It's hardly surprising New York's crawling with crooks if sentencing in the city's this lax. Still, it does however mean Spider-Man's never short of someone to fight.

Another person in need of a good warning's Betty Brant who, in time-honoured tradition's done a runner. It seems her brother Bennett Brant has got himself mixed up with a crook called Blackie Gaxton who's blackmailing him into aiding his escape from prison. To do so, Gaxton's enlisted the aid of Dr Octopus and so, by the sort of coincidence that only happens in comic book land, Spider-Man's search for Dr Octopus and his search for Betty Brant lead him to the same place.

In fact, it's a slightly disappointing return for Octopus. Established as a major menace on his first appearance, here he's merely working as a lackey for someone we've never heard of before and, to my knowledge, never hear of again. Still, on the plus side, at the tale's climax, Spider-Man merely escapes Dr Octopus, rather than defeating him, thus preserving some of the not-so-good Doctor's menace.

In the first appearances index: we get the debut of the spider-tracer, although the idea that Spider-Man can detect it with his spider-sense has yet to be hit upon and so he uses a portable radio, hung around his neck, to detect it.

Steve Ditko's art goes from strength to strength. It may seem quite dated - and even quaint - these days but it has a simple elegance to it and it's quite surprising to see Betty Brant looking quite so glamorous.

As for Blackie Gaxton, he hangs around long enough to shoot dead Betty Brant's brother, making Betty the first of Peter Parker's girlfriends to lose a relative thanks to her involvement with Spider-Man's other half. Warnings again. If only she'd been able to warn Gwen Stacy what she was getting into. But hindsight, it's a wonderful thing.

Amazing Spider-Man #10. The Enforcers

(Cover from March 1964.)

"The Enforcers!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

"With this classic tale, the Marvel Age of comics reaches a new plateau of greatness!" You have to hand it to Stan Lee, he's never believed in under-selling things, and he doesn't do so here.

But is he right? Does the Marvel Age of comics reach a new plateau of greatness with this issue?

Well, inevitably not. I've never heard this tale being referred to as the high watermark of Marvel Comics history, or even of that month - although it does set a few things up for the future, in that it introduces the Enforcers who, despite the build-up they're given, prove to be more an annoyance to Spider-Man than a threat. Even with him weakened by having given a blood transfusion, the Ox, Fancy Dan and Montana still can't do anything more than distract him for a short while.

The other thing the tale does is introduce would-be crime lord the Big Man, and also the reporter Frederick Foswell. As it turns out, the Big Man and Fred Foswell are the same person, which I suppose is obvious as we've never seen either of them before this issue.

Exactly why Foswell is the Big Man's a whole other matter. After all, why's a major crime lord working as J Jonah Jameson's doormat at the Daily Bugle? I suppose it could be put down as a cover. But then, I don't see the Kingpin working at McDonalds, or Kraven the Hunter busting his gut in Burger King.

Steve Ditko's art's superb in this issue, although his tendency to show Peter Parker with his face half Spider-Manned is over-used as we see the trick repeated in panel after panel.

But my big let-down of the tale arrives on the final page where we get J Jonah Jameson pontificating to himself as to why he hates Spider-Man. He declares it to be because he's jealous of a man who's clearly so much better than him. While it might be true that that's the reason for the antipathy, it doesn't feel right for him to be acknowledging it. Happily, I don't think this explanation - or its level of self-awareness - was ever displayed again. So, if we choose - and I do - we can brush it under the carpet and put it down as a rare lapse from Lee and Ditko.

My favourite moments of the tale actually come from Flash Thompson. It would've been easy for Lee and Ditko to have always portrayed him as nothing more than the school bully/loudmouth but, twice in this tale, Flash displays his more caring side, as he first visits Aunt May in hospital and then, later in the story, warns Peter Parker about the risk he's taking in telling everyone that he knows the Big Man's true identity. Needless to say, Peter Parker responds with sarcasm, which does start to give you insight into why Flash has a problem with him in the first place.

Can it be? Can it be that, all along, we've been on the wrong side and that, in the end, the attitude problem's been with Peter Parker and not with Flash Thompson?

Amazing Spider-Man #9. Electro

(Cover from February 1964.)

"The Man Called Electro!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Art Simek.

Time to say hello to what would become two familiar enemies. In this tale, we get the first appearance of Max Dillon, AKA Electro, and we get the first appearance of Aunt May's sick bed.

To be honest, it's the arrival of Electro that's most welcome. Maybe if Aunt May's sick bed hadn't turned up in nearly every story from this point on, it would have been more welcome but, as it is, it's a rather ominous arrival for both Peter Parker and for us.

But this tale seems a little odd. It sort of feels like there's been an issue in between the last one and this. One we've not been privy to. All of a sudden Aunt May's at death's door and Betty Brant seems an awful lot closer to Peter Parker than she ever has before - even visiting Aunt May in hospital, although, before now, there's been no indication she's ever even heard of May Parker, let alone met her.

Nice to know there's a psychic available. As Electro climbs up a building - Spider-Man style - an onlooker kindly explains the principle by which he's managing to do it. Clearly that's one clever onlooker.

As with other villains so far in the strip's brief history, Electro's plan makes no real sense. In fairness, at first he doesn't have one. He's happy just to rob people. In fact, in these early pages, he seems quite nice, only giving his victims a mild electric shock that, in all honesty, seems to be doing nothing more than tickling them. He even expresses regret at having to hurt Spider-Man.

But then he decides the best method in the world to avoid being captured and sent to prison is to break into the local prison. His plan? To free the prisoners so they can work for him and protect him from going to prison.

But you're already in prison, you buffoon!

You've just broken in! And now you can't leave because the place is surrounded by cops who'll shoot you like a dog if you try to. And then super villains wonder why they never win.

And of course he doesn't win. Following on in his tradition of defeating seemingly unbeatable opponents in unlikely ways, Spider-Man stops Electro with a hose pipe. First the Sandman with a vacuum cleaner, now this. The super villains union will not be happy.

Some might point out that Electro's powers break the laws of physics in places, his own brand of special electricity seeming not to need to be grounded to work. But, hey, it's a comic book, what can you do? If anyone practised any kind of scientific accuracy there'd be no story. "Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and then his hair falls out and he dies," probably wouldn't have spawned a strip that's lasted nearly fifty years and launched a clutch of movies.

Electro's debut aside, the issue's main interest comes from the supporting cast, with both Flash Thompson and Betty Brant being fleshed out noticeably. Flash has second thoughts about the way he's been treating Peter Parker and tries to bury the hatchet, only to be ignored by the teenager who has other things on his mind, instantly turning Flash back into being an enemy.

Betty Brant meanwhile reveals she once knew a boy like Peter Parker, who she had to break up with, seemingly because of his love of danger. Keep watching this space, kids. We're clearly being set up for future events.

Amazing Spider-Man #8. The Living Brain

"The Terrible Threat Of The Living Brain!"

(Cover from January 1964.)

Written by Stan Lee.
Drawn by Steve Ditko.
Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Artie Simek.

If you're looking for trouble, you've come to the right place. You've come to Peter Parker's high school. Trouble certainly does seem attracted to it. Only four issues back it was hi-jacked by the Sandman and now it's the turn of a homicidal robot.

Meanwhile, no one could ever accuse Stan Lee of lacking commercial nouse or of not knowing his market, and so Amazing Spider-Man #8 finds itself billed as the, "Special, 'Tribute to Teenagers' Issue!!" A matter so important it even gets two exclamation marks.

It has to be said that, when you get inside, this tribute to teenagers is nowhere in sight. I mean, there are teenagers but where the tribute is anybody's guess.

Oh well, what can you do? These are comic books, the medium that used to sell you Sea-Monkeys and X-Ray specs. They're not the place to go if you demand honest advertising.

Instead, we get one of the sillier tales of the era, when Spider-Man find himself up against the Living Brain, an out of control robot that may or may not know his secret identity. He finds time to do this and, in one of the early years' most memorable scenes, have a boxing match with Flash Thompson.

I said it was silly, and it is, as the Living Brain blunders around the school on castors, as poor old Flash becomes comic relief. But that's not to say it doesn't hold a special place in my heart. As with the previous issue, there's a sense of fun here and one that probably works better in this tale, than it did in that.

Slightly odd to discover that Peter Parker's high school teacher's called Mr Warren. Apparently, it was later retconned that this Mr Warren and the later Professor Warren were brothers. I can't say I can see the family resemblance.

In terms of significance, this is the issue where Peter Parker broke his glasses and decided he didn't need them anymore.


"Spider-Man Tackles The Torch!"

Written by Stan Lee.
Drawn by Jack Kirby.
Inked by Steve Ditko.
Lettered by Sam Rosen.


Fixated with the Fantastic Four?

Stan Lee?

It seems like it. I've lost count of how many times Spider-Man's come up against one or more members of the group in his first few issues but he's at it again, first gatecrashing the Human Torch's party and fighting him for no reason at all other than to fill some comic book pages, and then picking a fight with the rest of the Four, again for no reason whatsoever. I suppose the tale's real importance is that it's drawn by Jack Kirby, the man originally pencilled in (sorry) to draw Spider-Man before the task was given instead to Steve Ditko.

So, What kind of a job does he do?

A pretty good one, though it has to be said the difference is most apparent in the nature of the tale, which, in good old Jack Kirby tradition is one non-stop fight. Kirby's love of gimmicks shows through, with him having Spider-Man make a web bat, two web parachutes, two web scoops, a web heart and a pair of webbed wings - all in the space of just seven pages, which I suppose gives us some insight into what the strip would've been like if, as planned, he'd drawn it.

In the end it's just a throwaway tale - and the reason for Spider-Man and the Torch's antipathy to each other's never explained. They'd shown no sign of it before, though it was to surface over and over again over the years before they finally admitted they were friends.