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 #34. Kraven again

(Cover from March 1966.)

"The Thrill Of The Hunt!"

Scripted by Stan Lee.

Plotted, Drawn and Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

Poor old Kraven the Hunter. He just doesn't seem able to grasp that, when it comes to fighting Spider-Man with his bare hands, he's completely out of his depth. And so it is that, still smarting from his last defeat, the rain-forest wrong-doer comes up with yet another scheme.

It's not much of one. It involves dressing up as Spider-Man and annoying Daily Bugle publisher J Jonah Jameson till Spider-Man comes looking for him, before spraying Spider-Man with perfume for no noticeable reason then having a punch-up with him.

Needless to say, as always with Kraven, Spider-Man wins the punch-up and that's the end of that, another Steve Ditko plotted tale ending with our hero winning purely by beating up his opponent. Oh for the days when Stan Lee was in charge of plotting, and our hero won his fights by showing wit and invention.

When I say Kraven has no reason for spraying Spider-Man with perfume, Stan Lee tries to rationalise the pictures he's been given, by saying it's designed to switch off Web-Head's spider-sense. Sadly for this explanation, Ditko shows that self-same spider-sense working perfectly normally throughout the entire rest of the tale. I suspect Ditko's intention was the perfume'd make Kraven able to follow Spider-Man wherever he goes, meaning he can neither hide nor escape. Either Stan Lee was having difficulty understanding the infamously uncommunicative Ditko's pictures or he decided such a use for perfume wasn't suitably dramatic. Either way, the perfume does indeed serve no purpose whatsoever.

On the domestic front, we see the last of Betty Brant for a while as, following a nightmare that Peter Parker's Spider-Man, she quits the Bugle and flees town.

Not that Peter Parker should be that worried because like an Exocet of desire, Gwen Stacy's becoming obsessed with the only boy in college who never pays her attention.

Actually this subplot is the real interest in this tale, and the panel where she slams her foot down hard on her dropped book, in order to prevent Peter Parker picking it up is, however unlikely as it might seem, the highlight of an otherwise workmanlike issue. You do have to worry when Gwen Stacy's foot is a highlight.

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 #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 #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.

Amazing Spider-Man #103. Ka-Zar, Kraven & Gog

(Cover from December 1971.)

"WALK THE SAVAGE LAND!"

Written by Roy Thomas
Drawn by Gil Kane
Inked by Frank Giacoia
Lettered by Artie Simek

What happens:
The Daily Bugle's in financial trouble. It needs a big story and it needs it now. So J Jonah Jameson decides to mount an expedition to the Savage Land to get photos of a giant creature called Gog, rumoured to be lurking there. Among the team he takes are Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy but, once there, Gog appears and takes Gwen, with Peter sent flying into a river.

Away from the prying eyes of the others, Peter changes into his Spider-Man suit and goes after the beast. But, getting over-confident, he lands in quicksand and, at the tale's end, is rapidly sinking, with no means of escape.

The Verdict:
So, after last issue's take on Dracula, this month we get Roy Thomas' take on King Kong in what has to be one of the silliest adventures Spider-Man's ever had. It's interesting to contrast Thomas' approach to that of Stan Lee. Whereas Lee had worked hard to tie Spidey into the real world, keeping his adventures in New York and introducing real life political and social issues, Thomas goes for out-and-out fantasy. I have to say I prefer the Lee approach. I'm a big fan of Thomas' work on things like the Avengers and Conan but, somehow it never quite feels like it belongs on a strip like Spider-Man. It's a beautifully drawn tale though from Gil Kane. I especially like the Daily Bugle scenes with the editorial conference.

I have to say the handling of Gwen Stacy in this issue irks me. For one thing, she's blubbing her eyes out again - I really wish she'd stop doing that - and, for another, the whole blundering around in the jungle in a bikini is terrible. I know Roy Thomas has been accused of sexism over the years but this is taking liberties.

Peter Parker uses a gun. Peter Parker should never use a gun.

Interesting to see that Kraven wants Gwen for his mate. Clearly we should never read anything into the fact that he barges around looking like the sixth member of the Village People.

Amazing Spider-Man #49. The Vulture vs Kraven

(The Summer of Love completely bypasses Kraven and the Vulture. Cover from June 1967.)

"From The Depths Of Defeat!"

Written by Stan Lee
Drawn and inked by John Romita
Lettered by Sam Rosen

For the second issue running, a man lies dying. For the second issue running, that man's having flashbacks. Clearly, however, Spider-Man's had a slightly more interesting life than the Vulture because, where that feathery fiend had flashbacks only to his battles with Spidey, Spider-Man's flashbacks include his friends, his Aunt May, his boss, the Vulture and Kraven the Hunter. Quite why he'd be having flashbacks to Kraven the Hunter is anyone's guess but Kraven features in this issue and so flashbacks to him, he must have.

But, it seems we've been misled because, suddenly, our hero, still lying on the snow-covered rooftop where the new Vulture left him, starts to move. The freezing weather that should have finished him off has in fact revived him. Cagily, our hero starts to move and, even more cagily, he makes his way down a nearby ladder.

Making his way home, he rips off his mask, just as he hears flatmate Harry Osborn about to enter the room. Quickly, he leaps into bed, pulls up the sheets to cover his spider suit, and poor old Harry's left suspecting nothing.

Meanwhile, flashback gate-crasher Kraven's annoyed. When isn't he annoyed? His wonderfully silly TV (framed by bamboo, to let us know it's a jungle TV), is now labelling the Vulture the deadliest menace in town. Kraven hits something and smashes it. It's not fair. He defeated Spider-Man before the Vulture did. He should be considered the biggest menace in town.

Frankly, it doesn't reflect well on a man's psychology that he wants to be considered the biggest menace in town. And, just to prove how big a menace he is, he heads down into his cellar and does what we all do when we're a bit fed up. He beats up a tiger.

Having been flung around a bit, the tiger walks off, frankly not looking that bothered about its ordeal. maybe it's a bit on the docile side, or a bit lazy, or maybe it's just got bored with its, presumably, regular flingings around. Kraven doesn't care. He's got a Vulture to pulp. It does pose the question of why we've never seen Kraven go after a fellow super-villain before. After all, if he fights the deadliest prey of all, then you'd have thought super-villains would have been high on his hit-list.

Back at the Parker pad, Aunt May decides to turn up and be annoying, fussing and fretting over Peter, who's still in bed and still in his spider suit. Not convinced our hero isn't doomed, she calls Dr Bromwell, and Peter is stuck in bed until he gets there.

Across town, the Vulture decides he's going to attack a helicopter. He does this by flinging himself at it. Now, if you or I flung ourselves at a moving helicopter, we'd break every bone in our body but, in this case, the impact does our villain no harm at all while sending the chopper spinning out of control.

The pilot manages to regain command of the whirlybird but the Vulture makes it clear that, if they don't hand over the bagfull of diamonds that're on board, he'll fling himself against the craft again - and this time bring it crashing down.

Again, this raises the question of strength. How can the Vulture, just an ordinary man with wings, possibly have such an impact on a great mass of metal like a helicopter? The only conclusion you can draw is that his Vulture suit must contain some kind of exo-skeleton that boosts his strength and durability but, if it does, no mention's ever made of the fact.

From a lofty perch, Kraven squats watching.

Back at the Parker residence, Pete's still in bed, and Gwen and Mary Jane arrive to cheer him up. Gwen and Mary Jane then leave without ever having seen him. The two women, previously seen as rivals, now seem to be genuine friends, indulging in friendly teasing and banter with each other.

It does come across that Gwen seems to be slightly the older of the two. If she's eighteen, like Pete, how old would that make Mary Jane? Sixteen? I'm not sure the issue of Mary Jane's age is ever explored in the strip at this time but, if she's a couple of years younger than the others, it might explain her seemingly less mature mindset.

Is our hero ever going to get out of bed this issue?

Elsewhere, it's time for action as, flying high above the city, talking to himself, the Vulture finds his ankle suddenly snared by a rope. It's Kraven! The attack's begun! Kraven leaps at the man-bird and they go crashing through the skylight of an exhibition hall.

Hearing of this on his dinky little radio, Peter Parker can stand no more. He doesn't care if the doctor's on his way, he's got to risk it. He's got to climb out of bed and deal with the pair.

Fortunately, he's now completely over his virus and, within moments, he's at the exhibition hall, where Kraven and the Vulture are still going at it. He gives them something else to think about by launching himself at the pair. In the next couple of pages, Romita's gift for simple but effective composition really shows through in a series of beautifully conceived panels. Romita was never the flashiest of artists but he knew how to tell a story in pictures.

Spidey tangles with Kraven. Kraven repeats his trick of a couple of issues ago and tries to zap him with his nipple lightning. This time, however, Webhead's ready for it and leaps over the twin blasts. The Vulture's not so alert, gets the blasts full force and hits the ground, taken out of the fight. Spider-Man's on Kraven, knocks him to the foor and tears apart Kraven's wiring, wrecking his nipple-zapping capability. Kraven doesn't care. He knows he has the strength to whup Spider-Man.

No he doesn't, because Spidey lets him have it, whumping him in the solar plexus with a punch that we're reminded once wobbled the Hulk.

After a moment's pause, thump, Kraven hits the floor.

Spidey ties the two unconscious wrong-doers together with webbing, gets a snap with his trusty camera and heads back home.

He gets there just in time for the arrival of Dr Bromwell who declares him to be in perfect physical condition and, for once, a Spider-Man tale ends on a happy note.

It won't stay happy.

Amazing Spider-Man #47. Kraven vs Norman Osborn

(Cover from April 1967.)

"In The Hands Of The Hunter!"

Written by Stan Lee
Drawn and inked by John Romita
Lettered by Sam Rosen

Hold on tight because we kick off with one of the most confusing openings in the history of the strip, as the Green Goblin gleefully watches Spider-Man slugging it out with Kraven in a flashback to a story that never happened. Defying everything we were told at the time, it turns out that, on the previous occasions when Kraven fought Spidey, he wasn't doing it for the glory. He was doing it for money - the Green Goblin's money.

Cue yet another flashback, this time to a meeting after that unsuccessful first fight, a meeting between the Hunter and a stooge of the Goblin, at which, Kraven's told he'll only get the money if he actually defeats Spider-Man. His nose out of joint, our villain follows the Goblin's stooge and discovers that he's none other than Norman Osborn. Of course, if he wasn't too mean to hand over 12 cents every month, he'd have known what we know, that Osborn wasn't only the Goblin's stooge, he was the Goblin himself. Regardless, determined to get the Goblin's money, Kraven has another go at Spider-Man, gaining only his customary hiding and a one way ticket to the nearest penitentiary.

Now, his debt to society paid, Kraven's out for revenge on Spider-Man and, more importantly the money he thinks the Goblin owes him. Why he thinks the Goblin owes him, when he's singularly failed to fulfill his agreed mission of defeating Spider-Man is anybody's guess but Kraven clearly doesn't see it that way and, with the Goblin dead, he decides Osborn's the man to stump up the cash.

And where's sometime super-villain Osborn? Why, he's visiting the apartment his son Harry shares with Peter Parker. Oh the irony of it all, that the man letting Pete live rent-free was once Spider-Man's deadliest enemy.

Meanwhile, Kraven turns up at Osborn's office, only to be told he's out of town. Undaunted, he returns to his somewhat camp HQ and, in a fit of talking to himself, unveils his latest weapon, a device that will shoot what seems to be lightning from his nipples and remove Spidey's speed, leaving him vulnerable to Kraven's next attack.

Not that Peter Parker knows about any of this. He's back at ESU, where gorgeous Gwen Stacy's busy doling out invites to Flash's draft party. It seems, from what we're told, that she's now going out with Flash and she tells Pete to bring MJ with him. This instruction to bring MJ strikes Peter as proof that Gwen's not interested in him.

But Kraven's still not given up his hunt for Osborn. He shows up at the zillionaire's mansion and demands the butler tell him where the owner is. The butler tells him the same thing as he was told back at the office, that Osborn's out of town. It has to be said that, for the world's greatest hunter, Kraven seems to be having an awful lot of trouble tracking down a fairly high profile individual.

If Osborn's out of town, Peter, meanwhile, is out on the town - or at least, he's about to be. As he gets ready for Flash's big do, it's revealed - only a few pages after we were reminded that Flash is going out with Gwen - that Harry's going out with Gwen. Frankly, it's getting difficult to work out just who Gwen's going out with. Whoever it is, it's not Peter and frankly this bothers him.

Arriving at the party, it's clear there's been some sort of policy-change on behalf of Lee and Romita because Gwen's acting in a manner she's never been seen behaving before. She's acting like MJ, the life and soul of the party, firing off one-liners left right and centre and stealing the limelight with her somewhat unrestrained dancing. The boys are impressed. MJ isn't. The living embodiment of the swinging 60s is actually been out-partied by another woman.

And then? Fa-Thoom, Kraven smashes his way in through the wall. He still can't find Norman Osborn but he knows how to get him, by kidnapping his son. How he knows where to find Harry is anybody's guess but find him he has.

He grabs the hapless boy and, quick as a flash, Flash Thompson rushes forward to help him. Kraven swats him aside like a fly and then, virtually everyone at the party descends on the hunter to give him the hiding he's asking for.

Needless to say, such puny youths are no match for a man who boasts he can stop a charging bull elephant in its tracks (How does he know that? How would you first discover you could do such a thing?).

Seconds later, Spider-Man and Kraven are all over a semi-constructed building, trading blows. The truth is, it's clear that Kraven's outclassed by a foe who's better suited to clambering all over buildings than he is but Kraven's nothing if not a cheat and, just as it seems Spidey's going to mop him up like gravy, Kraven lets him have it with his nipple lightning. Zapped, Spidey can't get his body to move fast enough - or, in all honesty, at all and Kraven takes to giving him a good pounding as our hero lies on the floor helpless.

But then, as so often happens when a super-hero's about to get totalled, fate intervenes as, concerned for his son's welfare, Norman Osborn arrives. Kraven spots him, lassoes him and pulls him up onto the building. He demands his money but Osborn professes ignorance of what he's talking about. Kraven, like most super-villains, isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer but his jungle instincts tell him Osborn's telling the truth; that he really does have no knowledge of any deal struck between Kraven and the Goblin. We, of course, know that he has no knowledge because he has no memory of ever having been the Goblin. Kraven, however, still hasn't spent that 12 cents and still knows nothing of this. For no noticeable reason, he declares himself triumphant and departs, leaving Spider-Man to make a full recovery. Our hero's about to go after him him but, in struggling to free himself of Kraven's lasso, Osborn falls from the building.

He's doomed!

Well, of course, he's not doomed at all because Spider-Man's around to swing down and catch him, saving his life. How ironic these few panels are, bearing in mind the circumstances of the much later death of Gwen Stacy.

But that's for the future. The excitement all over, Spidey quick-changes back into Peter Parker and rejoins the ex-party-goers, concocting a lame excuse for his disappearance that seems to fool everyone, including Flash Thompson whose hand he shakes as he wishes him luck in the army.

How the strip has changed. Once Parker and Thompson were deadly enemies. Now Parker's wishing him luck. The strip's not the only thing that's changed because Marvel's changed. As he walks home, Parker speculates on the all too real possibility that Flash may never come back from the army. That he may be going to Vietnam purely to die. In Marvel's early years, Vietnam, when it was mentioned, was used as nothing more than a backdrop for gung-ho adventure and a place for Marvel's heroes to go when it was time to smack up a commie. But this is the late 1960s and the reality of that war has seeped through even into the world of comic books.