Amazing Spider-Man #118. The Smasher and the Disruptor

(Cover from March 1973.)

"Countdown to Chaos!"

Words by Stan Lee/Gerry Conway.

Art by John Romita/Jim Mooney/Tony Mortellaro.

Lettering by Rosen/Duffy.

Colours by Stan G.

Confusion. It was the title of an old ELO song and it might as well be the title of this titanic tale. At one point Spider-Man gets so befuddled, he calls Joe Robertson, "Joe Robinson". Never can a man have been so confused since Bruce Banner spent a whole issue of the Fantastic Four calling himself Bob.

But then there's no wonder our hero's confused. Anyone who wouldn't be baffled by the goings-on in this tale would need the mental storage-capacity of Einstein and the deductive powers of Jessica Fletcher. In a nutshell, this is it: Spidey tracks the Smasher to the Disruptor's HQ and discovers the Disruptor is in fact hugely popular mayoral candidate Richard Raleigh.

Well that's no surprise. Hands up anyone who didn't see that coming? What I didn't see coming was the total lack of explanation for any of it. The obvious assumption is that Raleigh was trying to boost his electoral chances by staging a series of attacks against himself. The only problem is, Raleigh was leading the polls all the way and didn't need to do any such thing. Certainly not anything this risky. It also doesn't come across as his motivation back at his lair, where his motivation seems to be... ...erm... ...er... ...erm...

That aside, the Disruptor's clearly a complete plank. Not content with wearing a terrible costume no self-respecting villain would be seen dead in, he does the old super-villain thing of completely ignoring his scientific advisor, thus getting carried away with his remote control and sending his own creation on the rampage.

Nice touch of the issue has to the be the "scrolling" news updates that accompany Spidey's fight with the Smasher.

Lowlight of the issue has to be Harry Osborn's startling resemblance to Aunt May when he spots the Smasher heading towards the gang's van.

Mary Jane has a strange personality transplant and is happy to see Gwen and Peter together, whilst chastising Harry for paying too much attention to them and not to her. That's the girl who's spent the last couple of years coming onto Pete in front of Harry at every possible opportunity? Does one spot the moment when Gerry Conway's rehabilitation of Mary Jane as a character began? Did he already have in mind what we later found out he had in mind?

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

(Cover from February 1973.)

"The Deadly Designs of the Disruptor!"

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

Colours by Stan G.

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

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

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

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

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

Amazing Spider-Man #116. The Smasher

(Cover from January 1973.)

“Suddenly… The Smasher!”

Words by Stan Lee/Gerry Conway.
Pencils by John Romita.
Inks by Jim Mooney.

Well, knock me down with a kipper. If it isn’t Stan (the Man) Lee, back in the writer’s chair and ready to thrill us all with his latest tale.

Well, not really. If my understanding’s right, this is a story devised for the original, short-lived Spectacular Spider-Man comic, way back in the 1960s, dusted off and redone for this era.

And it shows. The whole thing feels like a tale from six or seven years earlier and, as such, it’s oddly pleasing. You almost expect Peter Parker to drop into the Coffee Bean for a quick round of quick-fire banter with Flash and the gang. Sadly, it never happens.

The tale itself is oddly familiar, with strong echoes of the Bullitt storyline (whole city eager to vote for a politician who’s vowing to smash the crime wave. JJ flinging The Daily Bugle’s weight behind his campaign. Joe Robertson being suspicious about him), and Romita tips his hand way too early by letting us know from Moment One that Richard Raleigh’s a ranting basket case. It would’ve been more effective to leave us thinking he was the real deal. Instead, we’re left in no doubt that he’s going to turn out to be the villain of the piece and that, therefore, he’s the man behind The Smasher.

The Smasher, what can you say about him? Somehow, the name alone lets you know he’s not destined to go down as one of Marvel’s great villains and I know from trying - and failing - to sell these issues on eBay, how little interest in them there is. They’re pretty much the only issues from the early 70s that are next to impossible to shift.

Mary Jane’s into politics? Really?

On other fronts, yet again Peter Parker shows his tendency to defy all logic. He spots that the ceiling’s supporting beam is going, so he makes his excuses, slips away, wrecks the lights and leaps up onto the ceiling to fix it with his webbing - which isn’t strong enough - when he could just have shouted to people to evacuate the hall.

And now, because of it we’re all going to have to endure a cliff-hanger ending of unbelievable tension and drama.

Oh Peter, will you never learn?