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 #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 #82. Electro

(Cover from March 1970.)

"And Then Came Electro!"

Written by Stan Lee
Art by John Romita and Jim Mooney
Lettering by Sam Rosen

Argh! It's happened! At last, after seventeen consecutive months of absence, Mary Jane Watson reappears. It seems she's just got back from Florida with her Aunt Anna. What she was doing in Florida is anyone's guess, as this trip has never been mentioned before and all indication, for all this time, is that she's been in New York, dating Harry. Still, she's back and already that old rivalry between her and Gwen's starting to raise its playful head once more. Mary Jane's return isn't only good news from the point of view of the strip having a lively character back in the fold but it instantly helps steer Gwen away from the dull-as-ditchwater drip she's been in recent months.

Of course, that still doesn't cheer Peter Parker up. He's too busy worrying about all the things he's always worrying about. Chief among them being how to make money.

And then he has it.

TV!

He'll do a chat show. They'll pay good money for an exclusive interview with Spider-Man. So, he drops in on some TV executives and sets up the deal.

But Peter Parker's most notable accompanist in life is a thing called Coincidence and it's dogging his every step again. It turns out that one of the electricians at the TV network is Max Dillon. That name may not mean much to everyone but his pseudonym will.

He's Electro.

What's he doing there? He's on payroll and he's keeping his nose clean until he's ready to strike again.

He's ready to strike again. Getting wind of Spider-Man's planned chat show appearance, he reasons that J Jonah Jameson'll pay him a fortune to unmask the arachnid adventurer on live TV.

Jonah's in 7th Heaven. He's just struck the deal with Electro and is determined to be there. He won't be alone. He's also taking Joe Robertson and Captain Stacy. Oddly, it doesn't seem to occur to him to take Peter Parker, even though you'd've thought a photographer'd come in handy under the circumstances.

Spidey arrives at the chat show but, no sooner has the interview started than Electro's flinging lightning bolts at him. Everyone flees in a panic, leaving the two to battle it out. Blimey it's a short-lived battle. There was a time, in the early days, when Spidey would take up the main part of an issue trying to even survive an encounter with Electro. Here, he polishes the villain off in just three pages, by webbing his hands and feet together to short-circuit him.

It has to be said, the tactic isn't an altogether out-and-out triumph. It beats Electro but it also defeats Spidey as he's hit by the electrical feedback travelling down his webbing and is knocked out.

Electro recovers first but, not realising that Spidey's out cold, staggers away from the scene, scared that the hero will easily defeat him in his current (no pun intended) state.

Spidey quickly recovers...

...but he's back to square one. The interview was wrecked, after what's just happened, no TV show'll touch him with a barge pole, and all he's got to show for it are a few burns and bruises. Just another normal day in the life of Spider-Man then.

Mary Jane vigil.

She's back!!!