Amazing Spider-Man #115. Dr Octopus and Hammerhead

(Cover from December 1972.)

"The Last Battle!"

Words by Gerry Conway.

Art by John Romita/Tony Mortellaro.

Lettering by Artie Simek.

Two facts emerge from this tale.

One. Aunt May has the intelligence of a cabbage. Even after all these encounters with Doc Ock, she still hasn't figured out he's a bad guy.

Two. Her heart's clearly coming on in leaps and bounds. A woman who traditionally collapses at the sight of a kitten, somehow manages to get through an armed siege on a house and two encounters with Spider-Man - during one of which she tries to shoot him - and her heart seems fine. You start to wonder if she's been putting it on all these years, just to get sympathy.

May Parker aside, you can't get away from it, this is one of the most action-packed issues of recent years - and all the better for it. After a couple of not very memorable months, the tale suddenly bursts into life, with out-and-out war between its two villains, and also starts to set things up for the future. At the very end of the story, Hammerhead even briefly manages to become an interesting character; and that takes some doing.

Highlight of the month has to be the "gentleman" act Dr Octopus puts on for Aunt May during his confrontation with Spidey. You get the feeling Conway was having fun with it.

On other fronts, Gwen's still calling Aunt May, "Mrs Parker." Sigh.

Amazing Spider-Man #114. Dr Octopus and Hammerhead

(Cover from November 1972.)

"Gang War, Shmang War! What I want To Know Is...Who The Heck Is Hammerhead?"

Words by Gerry Conway.
Art by John Romita/Jim Starlin/T Mortellaro.
Lettering by Artie Simek.

Hammerhead. What images that name conjures up. Right from the moment you first hear it, you know what a character called Hammerhead's going to be like; a deadly opponent of the Sub-Mariner. Sleek and deadly, armed with huge strength and cunning.

What's that? He's not? Turns out he's just some two-bit hood with a hard head?

You may have guessed I've never been a huge fan of Hammerhead. I mean, if Spider-Man - or anyone else - wants to beat him, all they have to do is make sure to hit him anywhere except the noggin.

Sadly, this never seems to occur to either Spidey or Doc Ock, two men of proven genius. The story itself''s OK but I don't think anyone's going to be putting it on their list of Spider-Man classics. I also have to say that Hammerhead's revolving office is plain ludicrous. Exactly what purpose it serves for the villain is anyone's guess.

Highlight of the tale has to be its climax, with Aunt May in league with Dr Octopus and clobbering Spider-Man - also introducing the concept that Spidey can't sense threats if they come from friends or loved ones. It's an idea Gerry Conway would use again in a far more significant tale than this but, right now, it's new, and if there's an ending you didn't see coming, it has to be this one.

On the art front, it's the second issue running that Jim Starlin gets an art assist credit - and the second issue running that I can't see even the vaguest hint of his involvement. I guess that, despite having once been bitten by a radioactive artist detector, my artist detector sense isn't all it could be.

Or perhaps I can only detect art assists from my enemies and not from my friends and loved ones...?

Amazing Spider-Man #113. Dr Octopus and Hammerhead

(Cover from October 1972.)

"They Call the Doctor, 'Octopus!'"

Words by Gerry Conway.

Art by John Romita, Jim Starlin, T Mortellaro.

Lettering by Artie Simek.

What an unbelievable Doctor Dr Bromwell is. Just by planting a stethoscope on Peter Parker's chest, and having been told none of his symptoms, he can tell instantly that he has a duodenal ulcer. No wonder Americans don't want a National Health Service if their system produces medics of this calibre.

But then, doctors have always been clever in Spider-Man. Look at Doc Ock. Not content with seeing off our hero - and removing his mask in the process - he then refuses to fall into the trap of his mysterious new rival for control of the local crime scene. But, in truth this isn't that much of a story. Spidey fights Octopus a couple of times, ultimately beats him with one punch and then Octopus's mystery rival's revealed.

Something that does leap out at me during this issue is a strange thing that happens only in the world of comic books, where people who're basically friends insist on calling each other by their surnames. It happens in The Fantastic Four all the time, where, for instance, Mr Fantastic and Ant Man will have a conversation, and Mr Fantastic will be calling Ant Man, "Pym," and Ant Man will be calling Mr Fantastic, "Richards." The very same thing happens in this tale with Peter and Ned calling each other by their surnames even though they've known each other for years. Why is this? As every writer seems to do it, it's clearly a convention of the comic book industry but I've never been able to work out why.

On the Gerry Conway front - not content with giving Spider-Man an ulcer - for some reason, he decides to lumber him with a comedy mask he can't breathe through. In my book, the replacement mask has to be one of the most annoying subplots the strip's ever had and it's a blessed relief for us all, not just Spider-Man, when the day finally arrives where the mask is disposed of.

Trouble is, that's not till issue #116 and we're only on issue #113. :(

Amazing Spider-Man #112. Spidey cops out

(I'd heard the crime rate in New York was high but...

Cover from September 1972.)

"Spidey Cops Out!"

Words by Gerry Conway.

Art by John Romita.

Lettering by Artie Simek.

It's surprising how an issue can be made by just four panels. In the case of The Amazing Spider-Man #112, it just so happens to be the last four panels.

John Romita's claimed in the past that every time he inked Gil Kane, he learned something new from him. And it shows here. The three vertical panels of the penultimate page are pure Gil Kane both conceptually and in execution, and the panel-by-panel arrival of the villain's shadow - a thing you only fully appreciate on close inspection - is sheer genius.

As for the final - and mightiest - panel of them all, the sense of menace, danger and anticipation Romita creates is irresistible, Just look at the way Octopus smashes bricks from the surrounding walls, the way one tentacle heads for Spidey, its ruthless claw packed with intent, the sense of space and height and of Spider-Man's smallness relative to his surroundings. Kane in many ways rehabilitated Octopus and now Romita carries that on.

As for the rest of the tale, on first glance it's just a rehash of issue #50, with Peter Parker deciding he can't be bothered fighting crooks anymore because of its affect on his personal life and those around him. But Conway and Romita bring a new element to the tale. It's not that Peter Parker wants to give up being Spider-Man but that, for once, he's determined to use the identity to get what he wants. This concentration on the needs and life of Peter Parker strengthens the story considerably. Stan Lee always talks of Spider-Man as a soap, and this issue's focus on Peter's interactions with those around him fulfils that claim. At times (especially the Daily Bugle scenes), it really does feel like you're watching an episode of a TV show - which I suppose is inevitable given Gerry Conway's later career path.

And of Conway himself? Interesting that, in the credits, he still has second billing to Romita. It seems he yet has some way to go before he convinces the powers-that-be that his name too can sell a comic.

Amazing Spider-Man #111. Kraven and the Gibbon

(Cover from August 1972.)

"To Stalk a Spider!"

Words by Gerry Conway.
Art by John Romita.
Lettering by John Costanza.

For the first time ever, an issue of Spider-Man has no writing credit for his creator, as Stan Lee steps down to be replaced by Gerry Conway who, by my reckoning, can have been barely more than a foetus when he started writing the strip.

And how does he do?

Pretty well. The truth is that, this early on, it's hard to spot the difference between his writing and Stan Lee's. Clearly his own style developed as it went along.

One thing that does seem to be typical Conway though is the idea of Kraven using the Gibbon as his pawn. "Scheming villain using a more malleable villain/character for his purposes," is a theme Conway returned to repeatedly throughout his stint on the strip. Remember the machinations of the Jackal and Dr Jonas Harrow?

Something odd appears to be happening to time in this tale. For Spider-Man, the gap between his meetings with the Gibbon seems to have been just a few hours but, the way Kraven and Blank are talking when they're back at the hunter's lair, it seems like they've been working together for weeks, with Blank talking about the training Kraven's given him - and the seemingly lengthy course of herbal draughts. Clearly Kraven's the kind of man who'd tear up a "Learn to Play Guitar Like Jimi Hendrix in Three Days," book because it was taking too long.

Also interesting to see Kraven's latest attack on Spider-Man being motivated by a desire to avenge the death of Gog, showing a "moral" side to the man that we've never even had hints of before. So, perhaps, "the man who killed Gwen Stacy," is already starting to impose his own ways on the strip after all.

On the art front, John Romita's busier style of these stories is starting to grow on me. I'm never, I think, going to like it as much as his simpler work of the late 1960s but it's more appealing than I once thought.

Amazing Spider-Man #110. The Gibbon

(Cover from July 1972.)

"The Birth of the Gibbon!"

Words by Stan Lee.
Art by John Romita.
Lettering by John Costanza.

At the start of this tale, Stan Lee declares the Gibbon to be, "One of the greatest new superstars in the Mighty Marvel Universe." He doesn't just say it once, he says it twice. Whether he really believed this hyperbole is anybody's guess but he was clearly wrong.

Martin (the Gibbon) Blank was never in the running to knock the likes of Spider-Man and Wolverine off their plinths of popularity. But that's only fitting. His entire ability to hold our attention comes down to his total irrelevance. Indeed, he's an oddly haunting character. In so many ways he echoes Hobie (The Prowler) Brown, a character so beaten down by the injustice of his life that the only escape he perceives is to wear a bad costume and run around town not totally sure if he's a hero or villain, just as long as he's not a nobody.

But Hobie Brown's "tragedy" was never really that. However bad things got for him, he always had the ingenuity, and the love of a good woman, to help him turn things around. The Gibbon's alone, despised and ignored, doomed to a life of failure; the one talent he has - the agility of an ape - being the very thing that's held him back as people have labelled him a freak. Thus his despair at the climax, as Spider-Man can't even be bothered to fight him but leaves him alone on a rooftop, his attempts to be first a hero and then a killer, both thwarted. There can rarely have a been a character so bleakly drawn in all of comics and it's a tribute to both Lee and Romita that they were willing to excavate so far beneath the skin of a putative, "villain."

It's also a tribute to them that they were willing to make Spider-Man's treatment of the Gibbon so crass. To anyone with a functioning brain it'd be obvious that what the Gibbon needs most is the one thing he's never had - a friend. But, no, Spider-Man, with that customary ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, acts like a complete jerk, ridiculing him and dismissing him, even as the man's trying to kill him; leaving his foe's psyche to implode into a sense of total despair. One of the appeals of this series is that it's hero isn't always as clever as he should be and here's a perfect example of him putting both feet in it completely.

Away from the action, there's a nicely rendered dream sequence by John Romita. He was never flamboyant but he really was a master story-teller. And there's the revelation that Gwen Stacy still calls Aunt May, "Mrs Parker," even after all these years.

But there's one more character in our little tragedy. Who can it be, this figure at the story's very end, the sinister pair of eyeballs with plans for Martin Blank?

Amazing Spider-Man #109. Dr Strange

(Cover from June 1972.)

"Enter: Dr Strange!"

Words by Stan Lee.
Art by John Romita.
Lettering by Art Simek.

What's this on the splash page? Why, it's Stan Lee, promising us the imminent arrival of a surprise guest star. As Dr Strange is on the font cover, we might foolishly assume that guest star to be Dr Strange.

And we'd foolishly assume right.

Dr Strange, ex-world-class surgeon, ex-rehab candidate and now world-class mystic, created back in the days when a man might walk the streets of Greenwich Village, calling himself Dr Strange, without people asking questions.

But, as it turns out, Spider-Man, has questions. He has more questions than a hyper-active attorney. Upon being intercepted by the occultist - as he finally finds a way to escape the clinging clutches of Gwen - our hero wants to know just what's the deal with Flash.

Happily for all of us, the good doctor can tell him. Apparently, some Vietnamese cult want to sacrifice Flash so that their holy one can live again. He was the old man we saw Flash befriending in "flash-back" last ish and he was killed by the US attack on his temple. The cult hold Flash responsible and they aim to make him repay that debt.

Now, most people in their boat might bring in the lawyers but these are men of sterner stuff and they want real compensation. The sort that only comes with a human sacrifice. We should, I think, remember that this was almost forty years ago and such stereotyping of South-East Asians as mad cultists, ready to stick a knife in you at the drop of a hat, had yet to go the way of the dodo. Their plan revealed, the obvious thing to happen now is for Dr Strange to fire a spell halfway across New York at them and sort it all out.

But, of course, that wouldn't be much of a story - nor would it give us the class of action we crave. So he and the wall-crawler make their way to wherever it is in the city that Flash is being imprisoned and quickly sort it all out. As Spider-Man keeps the others occupied, Strange brings the "dead" man back to life with a quick spell and everyone's happy. Not least the old man. It seems he'd never been dead at all but had merely avoided being blown to pieces by going into a trance. You have to hand it to him, that's one hell of a trance that can make mortar fire bounce off you.

So now Flash is saved, the old man's saved and everyone's happy. Web Head can go home and get down to some good old-fashioned canoodling with Gwen right?

Wrong.

Sadly, by the tale's end, it's all doom and gloom again for our masked law-enforcer as he ponders the possibility that, now that Flash is back on civvie street, Gwen might be more attracted to him than she is to Peter. Poor old Peter, his personal life really is one big long car crash, isn't it?

Amazing Spider-Man #108. Vengeance from Vietnam

(Cover from May 1972.)

"Vengeance From Vietnam!"

Words by Stan Lee
Art by John Romita
Lettering by Artie Simek

I've got to admit I've always viewed the period between Gil Kane's initial departure and his later return as the weakest period the comic endured in the time frame I'm reviewing but I have to admit that, on closer inspection, this story's way better than I always thought it was. It still has the problem of John Romita's art being noticeably busier and fussier than it once was but it also has plenty of Flash Thompson.

Once upon a time, that would've been a bad thing but now, with Flash becoming ever-more recognisably human, it's good to see him being fleshed out. It makes you realise that, of all the major characters in the web-swinger's soap, he's the one we know the least about. Who're his parents? Where does he live? Does he like Coke or does he like Pepsi?

We've no idea.

Even Mary Jane's had more revealed about her outer and inner life over the years than Flash has. But, at last, Lee and Romita give us some insight into his existence and what he's been up to during all those absences of the last few years.

As for the story itself, in truth, the villains are a bit run-of-the-mill, a small bloke and a big bloke, but the action sequences are well rendered by Romita, especially Panel 1 of page 18, where Peter, in his civvies, smashes through the windows to kick, "The Giant One," in the back. It's a minor masterclass in dynamism.

My favourite bit of this tale has to be where Pete, having gone barefoot so he can climb up a wall, tells Gwen that he doesn't have any footwear on because an explosion blew his shoes off. The mind boggles.

Sadly, Gwen's back in Annoying Mode again, demanding, at the issue's conclusion, that Peter proves he's not a coward by staying with her, when all our hero wants to do is go off and rescue Flash. Exactly how Gwen thinks that Peter staying with her, when the danger's somewhere else altogether, will prove he's not a coward is anyone's guess but that's Gwen for you, never happy unless she's being an obstacle.

Amazing Spider-Man #107. The Spider-Slayer

(A cover not exactly designed to ramp up the tension, as loon pot scientist Professor Smythe, in his moment of orgasmic triumph, can only think of the line, “I’ve got you at last,” and Marvel maestro Stan Lee loudly proclaims the web-slinger to be headed for his greatest ever triumph. April 1972.)

“Spidey Smashes Through!”


Words by Stan Lee
Pencils by John Romita
Inks by Frank Giacoia
Lettering by Artie Simek

So, like a National Lottery winner, Smythe has his wish at last. He has the masked web-spinner trapped, helpless and defeated. Now, at last, he can fulfill his all-consuming ambition of killing the wall-crawler.

Except he doesn’t. For no noticeable reason, he leaves him literally hanging around, guarded by his operator-less robot, while the mad scientist sets about orchestrating a bank robbery.

You see, this is why Smythe’s a loser. He’s choreographing a bank job so he can become rich. But hold on, the man’s a cybernetics genius. He’s the best builder of robots this side of Dr Doom. With knowledge and expertise like this, he could become as rich as Bill Gates, without ever having to commit a single crime ever. It’s like Warren Buffett suddenly deciding that making fifty billion dollars a minute on Wall Street isn’t enough for him; instead, he’s going to go out and rob McDonalds.

Clearly, none of this has entered our master villain’s head and so he ploughs on with his inherently redundant plan.

Not for long he doesn’t because Spidey soon breaks free of his bonds, gets the cops to take down the cameras that Smythe is using to co-ordinate the heist and then goes back to deal with his antagonist and his infernal contraption.

And that’s that. Easy as pie. As always, for all his boasting about how Spider-Man can’t possibly thwart it, the professor’s creation’s defeated with stunning ease.

Sadly, someone who’s not finding things easy is Flash Thompson. First he’s lurking in some bushes, waiting for Gwen Stacy, and dropping great big clunking hints that he loves her, and then, at the tale’s climax, he’s taken away in a big car by some military types as Gwendolyn bursts into tears. It’s practically Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting video all over again, only without the rain and the machine and Donald Sutherland.

None of that matters right now. What matters is that the humanisation of Flash continues apace - no longer is he the empty-brained high school meathead - and that Gwen’s in tears. Remember, the blonde bombshell’s made of sterner stuff these days than once she was. It’s actually been quite some time since she last sobbed or fainted. So, whatever it is, we know it has to be serious.

Amazing Spider-Man #106. The Spider-Slayer

(No spiders were squashed during the making of this comic. Cover from March 1972.)

“Squash Goes The Spider!”

Words by Stan Lee
Pencils by John Romita
Inks by frank Giacoia
Lettering by Sam Rosen

Well, last issue was one for come-backs and this one continues the trend, as John (Ring-A-Ding) Romita is back at the drawing board. It has to be said that, although his story telling’s as accomplished as ever, his draftsmanship isn’t as appealing as it once was. It lacks the smoothness, slickness and elegant simplicity of his late 60s’ stint. Too many lines. Too many details. Maybe it’s down to Frank Giacoia’s inks but there are one or two places that don’t even look like Romita’s work.

The main cliff-hanger of last issue (Spider-Man unmasked) turns out to be a total damp squib. What could have been a major storyline is dispatched far too easily, especially as it ascribes a mask-making skill to Web Head he’s never before shown even a hint of.

This does, of course, leave Spidey to concentrate on the issue’s big threat…

…the new Spider-Slayer!

That’s right. We saw a new Spider-Slayer last month - but, this month, we get an even bigger one. At some point, someone’s going to have to point out to Professor Smythe that, when you spend all your time making giant mechanical spiders in order to catch a man who’s like a spider, then perhaps you’ve reached a point where an interest becomes an obsession.

Elsewhere In the tale, MJ’s acting pretty obsessed herself, still coming onto Peter Parker and still showing no noticeable concern whatsoever for poor old Harry Osborn. I really don’t like this phase of Mary Jane’s portrayal at all. She was always conceived of as a fun, if irresponsible character but, in this period of the strip, she really is startlingly repellent.

Someone who is showing concern is Gwen Stacy -- for Flash Thompson. Apparently, he’s not been the same since he came back from Vietnam; and she wants to know why. Needless to say this interest in his old high school tormentor makes her boyfriend jealous. Oh, Petey, haven’t you learned yet - from all the previous such occasions - that Gwen has eyes for none but you? Why, next you’ll be suspecting her of having had a fling with Norman Osborn while she was in Europe. And that really would be insane, wouldn’t it?

Amazing Spider-Man #105. The Spider-Slayer

(Cover from February 1972.)

"The Spider Slayer!"

Words by Stan Lee.
Pencils by Gil Kane.
Inks by Frank Giacoia.
Lettering by Artie Simek.

Well well and thrice well, it seems like this is an issue for comebacks. Spidey's back in New York, Stan Lee's back in the writer's seat, Flash Thompson's back from the war, Harry Osborn's back from the hospital, Randy Robertson's back on the picket lines, and Professor Smythe's back with his Spider Slayer.

Under normal circumstances, the last of those returns would be the least welcome. After all, we've had the Spider Slayer storyline before - twice - and I doubt too many readers were in a rush to see it again. Happily, this time, there's a twist, Smythe wants to use the slayer not to kill Spider-Man but to frame him for a crime of Smythe's own doing.

Not only that but he's planted cameras all around town and thus, at the end of the tale, he discovers Spider-Man's true identity.

Of course, despite this increased competence, Smythe still has his eccentricities. For some reason, he declares that his previous slayers failed because they were human-shaped and that this one will succeed because it's spider-shaped. With logic like that, you can see why his previous plans failed.

On the art front, Gil Kane's pencils are as excellent as ever, though Frank Giacoia's inks are a little too heavy-handed and do much to obscure the elegance of the maestro's work.

Sadly, MJ's still going through her bitch phase and insists on coming onto Peter in front of Gwen Stacy - even as she's waiting for her own boyfriend Harry's return from the hospital. Oi, Watson, no.

Amazing Spider-Man #104. Kraven, Gog and Ka-Zar

(A not noticeably accurate representation of what goes on within the comic. Cover from January 1972.)

"The Beauty and the Brute"

Story by Roy Thomas
Art by Gil Kane
Inks by Frank Giacoia
Lettering by Artie Simek

Spinning spiders, I'm back, after a six month absence, and poor old Spidey's still stuck in that quicksand. How could I have abandoned him at such a vital time? Well, thanks to the vagaries of misfiring technology, all-too easily. But how will he get out of this mess?

Happily, Ka-Zar's there to rescue him and the pair set off together to deal with Kraven.

Bearing in mind that he's already come across Mary Jane - way back when he was trying to do away with Norman Osborn - it is a bit baffling that Kraven's decided he wants to take Gwen as his mate. You'd've thought sweet Gwendolyne'd seem a bit insipid after MJ but still, he clearly works on the principle that beggars can't be choosers.

Despite Roy Thomas' tendency towards escapism with these tales, it's a surprisingly nasty outing, with Ka-Zar being hanged by the neck at one point and the poor hapless Gog drowning in quicksand of a sort that only seems to exist in the land of fiction. Still, it's nice to see a more human side to J Jonah Jameson, even if it is forced on him by the seeming death of Peter and Gwen. Plus, Thomas and Kane neatly avoid the problem of having to explain to the other characters how Spider-Man and Petey both happen to be in the Savage Land at the same time. They do it by contriving to have no one notice that Spidey's there - apart from one panel when JJ thinks he's spotted him then decides it's just his paranoia taking over.

This "invisibility" does pose the question of why Spidey's actually present in this tale at all; as it might as well be a Ka-Zar solo outing. Admittedly, Spidey does dispose of Gog but it's Ka-Zar who disposes of #1 villain Kraven, and the truth is Zabu could probably have despatched the monster in exactly the same manner as our hero does.

Maybe it's my imagination but Gog's origin seems to be a nod to Ray Harryhausen's classic 1950s' movie Twenty Million Miles to Earth. For some reason, this reference makes me very happy.