Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2. Dr Strange

(Cover from 1965.)

"The Wondrous World Of Dr Strange!"

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

"Whoa-ho-ho, it's magic," sang 1970s' hit-makers Pilot. "Never believe it's not so." They also sang a song about their Auntie Iris. Sadly only the first of these ditties is relevant here as Spider-Man officially meets Dr Strange for the first time ever.

Of course, those with memories that stretch all the way back to yesterday's review'll recall Peter Parker met Dr Strange in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (as did Flash Thompson's fist) but this time it's Spider-Man's turn. Sadly this is the only new tale in the mag, as the Herculean efforts of the first annual aren't repeated and this one's bulked out by a bunch of already reviewed tales from Spidey's early days [1][2][3].

In our one new outing, Spidey and Strange find themselves up against the power of Xandu the magician. Xandu has one half of the handily alliterative Wand of Watoomb and needs the other to become all-powerful. Trouble is, Dr Strange has it. So, Xandu hypnotises two bar-room bullies into being unstoppable engines of destruction and sets them on Dr Strange. Despite being the Master of Mystic Arts, Strange proves surprisingly inept in his attempts to thwart them, and Xandu has his hands on the wand.

Spider-Man though has blundered onto the scene and he and Strange join forces to defeat Xandu. The villain defeated, Dr Strange flies off, a plug from Stan Lee for Strange Tales ringing in our eyeballs.

It's an oddly naive but pleasing tale with Steve Ditko having to balance the otherworldly look of Dr Strange's mag with the more everyday style of Spider-Man's adventures. He does this pretty well although it's never going to be a totally perfect fit, and the two hypnotised thugs seem oddly simplistic visually, and out of place, in a Dr Strange tale - especially the section where they beat Strange up. The Master of Mystic Arts succumbing to mere fisticuffs? The indignity of it all. Spider-Man's not strictly central to events - serving more as a distraction to Xandu at key points in the tale, while Strange finishes off Xandu and robs the Wand of its power. But it's a pleasant bit of fluff, and even the fact that Xandu looks a bit of a berk, with his monocle and silly moustache, can't damage it.

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 #38. Ditko departs

(Cover from July 1966.)

"Just A Guy Named Joe!

Scripted by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Artie Simek.

After 38 issues, Steve Ditko leaves behind the strip he helped create and, judging by the front of it, he couldn't wait to get out the door, as it's clearly cobbled together from panels taken from the comic within. All of which implies he left before even doing a cover for it. Did he leave in a huff over the planned revelation of the Green Goblin's true identity? Did he leave in protest at publisher Martin Goodman not honouring financial promises he'd made? Did he leave over both? Did he leave over neither?

I've no idea.

Did he leave on a high?

Well, not really. I don't think the story's going to be regarded by many as an all-time classic, although it's entertaining enough, as Joe Smith, a no-hope boxer-come-wrestler, lands a small job as an extra in a movie, only to get zapped by a mixture of electricity and chemicals , giving him the inevitable super-strength and a temper to match. Needless to say it's all resolved with a punch-up and - restored to normal - he gets the good news that the movie company loved the footage they got of his rampage and're offering him a film deal on the strength of it. Hooray for Hollywood and everyone's a winner.

Well, no. Spider-Man's not. He's discovered Betty Brant didn't leave to be with Ned Leeds, meaning Peter Parker has no idea what happened to her. On top of that he's discovered there's a twenty thousand dollar reward out for his demise. On top of that, he's just seen some bloke called Joe Smith land a movie deal while all anyone wants to offer Spider-Man is a knuckle sandwich.

Meanwhile, Harry and Flash are still Peter Parker's fiercest critics and Gwen Stacy's still obsessing about him. I mean really obsessing about him. Every time we see her - every time we've ever seen her so far - there're no thoughts in her head but thoughts of Peter Parker. I'm telling you, that's one girl he needs to avoid like the plague.

If only there was another girl, around, one who's so far stayed behind the scenes, maybe a neighbour or a relative of a neighbour...

Aw but where's he ever going to meet a girl like that?

Amazing Spider-Man #37. Professor Stromm

(Cover from June 1966.)

"Once Upon A Time, There Was A Robot...!"

Scripted by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Artie Simek.

If I confess that I fell asleep while reading this tale it shouldn't be taken as proof that I didn't like it. It's just proof that I'm not always bright enough to get any sleep the night before and that our past actions have a knack of catching up with us.

Norman Osborn could tell you about that. His past actions have well and truly caught up with him as, cheated of his inventions by the businessman, Professor Stromm is out for revenge.

Who he? Well, the truth is that, apart from a few brief cameo appearances by Osborn, we've never heard of either character before. But we have heard of Norman's son Harry Osborn and, for those of use familiar with later events, it's odd to see how unpleasant Harry is in this tale. Within just a few issues of it, he's Peter Parker's best friend in the whole wide world but, here, he's a complete jerk and really does look weird. You do have to wonder if Steve Ditko's plan, even at this stage, was to reveal that Harry was the Goblin. He's certainly drawn in a way that suggests it was.

Then again, maybe it was just Ditko throwing us a curve ball.

As for Norman, from the outset we're left in no doubt that he's not on the side of the angels, revealing that he ripped off Stromm, talking of, "dealing with Stromm," hoping that Stromm's robot will kill Spider-Man and then, just to let us know he's up to no good, bashing Spidey over the back of the head when the webbed wall-crawler's trying to save him!

The big mystery of the tale is that, after Spidey sees off Stromm's robots and is about to administer some justice to the sinister scientist, some unknown assassin tries to shoot Stromm dead from a window that could only be accessed by a person who can fly, a person who can move fast enough to vanish from the scene before Spider-Man can even reach that window to investigate. On the next page, the would-be assassin's revealed to be Norman Osborn, which is hardly a shock, bearing in mind his behaviour all through the story.

I have to say this tale's much better than most recent offerings from Ditko, and proof there could still be lead in his plotting pencil as he approached the end of his reign. After far too many issues that have been nothing more than protracted punch-ups, we get one with barely a punch-up in sight as Ditko concentrates instead on introducing us to Norman Osborn and letting us wonder just what the deal is with him. OK, so Spidey has a couple of battles with distinctly odd looking robots but neither battle could accurately be labelled a punch-up and neither outstays its welcome. I also have to praise the art too. It's startlingly fluid and clean-looking in this tale. It really does feel like Ditko's style is changing slightly from tale to tale and, here, it's at its most elegant. His figure work on Spidey is particularly impressive.

But, let's see... ...Norman Osborn was at a window that could only be accessed by a man who could fly, and he left the scene so fast that Spider-Man could find no trace of him mere moments later. Norman Osborn can fly? He has a high-speed mode of transport? Whatever can it all mean?

Amazing Spider-Man #36. The Looter

(Cover from May 1966.)

"When Falls The Meteor!"

Script by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Art Simek.

A wiser human being than me once said, "Names are for Tombstones, baby," and someone else once said, "A rose is a rose by any other name."

Well, they might've both been wiser than me but they were both wrong.

If you suddenly gained super powers from hitting a meteor there's only a small range of names you could call yourself. Right? You could call yourself Meteor Man or The Living Meteor. If you were a complete and total imbecile who'd been reading too many Stan Lee/Jack Kirby monster comics of the early 1960s, you might even call yourself Meteoro; The Asteroid That Walks. Well, having got his powers from just such a source, Norton G Fester knows exactly what to call himself.

He calls himself...

...The Looter.

Not only does this demonstrate he doesn't have a clue what a good name is but such a hum-drum appellation guarantees he's never going to achieve any kind of immortality as a Spider-Man foe.

And, you know what?

He doesn't.

The truth is he's a rubbish villain, no more than a petty crook with just enough strength to make Spider-Man take three pages to pummel him unconscious instead of one. His total naffness is exemplified by the fact he has a helium balloon built into his costume.

Oh yes, and, as usual with Ditko plotted tales, Spider-Man defeats him simply by beating him up.

Thankfully, things are more interesting on the domestic front, where the only recently introduced Gwen Stacy's doing an impression of a top-class loon.

First, for no reason other than he doesn't seem to fancy her, she starts stalking Peter Parker, then she starts randomly bursting out in fits of laughter to try and convince everyone else that she doesn't fancy him. Trouble is, in the process, she also manages to convince Peter that she doesn't fancy him, which isn't necessarily the best way to get a date. At this stage in her development, she's certainly a more interesting character than Betty Brant ever was and a zillion times more interesting than the simpering wimp she herself later became. The only problem is, she comes across as being half-deranged and totally unlikeable. There can't really have been any readers, way back in the Spring of 1966, who were hoping Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker were going to get together, could there?

Amazing Spider-Man #35. The Molten Man returns

(Still not actually molten. Cover from April 1966.)

"The Molten Man Regrets...!"

Scripted by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Artie Simek.

Thwoop!

Puh-Twee!

Brrakkk!

This story's rubbish but it has great sound effects. In fact, pages 11 and 12 are virtually all sound effects as Stan Lee (I assume it was he who wrote them) reaches into his full repertoire of noises. My favourite has to be Spwat! a word that's probably never featured before or since in the long annals of literary history.

Frankly, this issue needs all the sound effects it can get to keep us interested because the story quickly degenerates into yet another Steve Ditko slug-fest. Mark Raxton, the Molten Man, is out of jail, having been released from custody with a suspended sentence. So, it's time for that all-important question. Has he learned his lesson?

Of course he hasn't. No sooner is he out of jail than Raxton almost immediately sets out to rob a jeweller's store.

But, wouldn't you just know it? Spider-Man turns up and thwarts him. Cue protracted punch-up.

This time, for once, Steve Ditko doesn't end the fight with Spider-Man simply knocking out his opponent. This time he does it by tying the Molten Man up with a rope. Under normal circumstances, such a change of methodology'd be welcome.

Except for the fact it's exactly the same method by which Spider-Man beat Raxton last time round.

You can't get away from it, by this stage in Ditko's tenure, the strip was running out of steam badly. Ditko might have been handy with a pencil and brush but, when it came to plots, the sad truth is he was no Stan Lee.

Ditko's artwork looks slightly different in this issue. Because I'm not too bright, it took me a while to figure out why. At first I thought he was using bigger panels but there's the same standard six or so to each page that we're used to from him. However, comparing this tale directly to last month's issue, it quickly becomes clear there's noticeably less black in it than we're used to. I don't know if this was a conscious choice on Ditko's part or if he was simply using new pens/brushes and it affected his style. Either way it's an appealing change of visual direction and, with an eerie propheticism, almost drifting towards the look of John Romita Sr in places.

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 #33. Dr Octopus and the protracted straining

(Cover from February 1966.)

"The Final Chapter!"

Scripted by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Artie Simek.

If a certain Dutch duo were right and there really are no limits then, this tale sets out to prove it, as we get to see Spider-Man pushed to what should be his limits and beyond as he takes a full five pages to get a gigantic lump of machinery off him then gets half drowned and then has to take on all of Dr Octopus' men single-handed.

Granted, five pages doesn't sound a lot by the standards of normal story-telling but, when all's said and done, it's a quarter of the length of this tale, all devoted to Spider-Man lying around battling with gravity and his own inner doubts and demons. Steve Ditko and Stan Lee add a whole new dimension to comic book story-telling with this scene, and the sequence's legendary status is clearly deserved; "Anyone can win a fight -- when the odds are easy!" Opines our hero. "It's when the going's tough -- when there seems to be no chance -- That's when -- it counts!" Just dig those double dashes. You can practically feel the weight with him as he strains and struggles to lift it.

This scene, plus the battle with Octopus' men, shows us the sheer strength of Spider-man's will. There's really no way he should come out on top after all this but still he does. In that sense, it can be seen as a continuation of his first battle with the Scorpion where, no matter the level of physical punishment he has to endure, he just keeps on going.

Meanwhile, of Dr Octopus there's no sign but, somehow I get the feeling he probably survived the flooding of his base and'll be back before we know it.

But even after all his trials and tribulations, Spider-Man still doesn't yet have his reward because, having liberated it from Octopus, our hero has to get the serum that'll save Aunt May to the hospital. Needless to say, he manages it with barely a second to spare and she's saved.

This is great stuff, the second consecutive issue where the drama's ramped up to Eleven on the dial.

But it's not all triumph for our hero. Having dealt with his various crises, he finds himself having to do all he can to drive Betty Brant away, having finally realised there can be future for him and her as long as he puts his life in danger every day of the week. The big question is, now that Steve Ditko and Stan Lee have got the strip well and truly back on the right track, can they keep it there? Well, according to the last panel, next month we get the return of Kraven.

Somehow, I fear the camp factor may be about to boom.

Amazing Spider-Man #32. Dr Octopus and the Master Planner

(Cover from January 1966.)

"Man On A Rampage!"

Scripted by Stan Lee.
Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.
Lettered by Artie Simek.

This is more like it. After a whole string of stories that would've made me give up on the project if not for my bloody-mindedness, at last the Amazing Spider-Man gets good again as Peter Parker discovers that, thanks to his radioactive blood, the transfusion he gave Aunt May back in Amazing Spider-Man #10 is what's responsible for her condition now. Seeking the help of Dr Curt Connors, AKA the Lizard, he realises that, to save her, he's going to need to get his hands on a rare isotope.

The only problem is, as it's on its way, it's stolen by the Master Planner's gang. Cue Spider-Man tearing half of New York apart to try and find the Master Planner.

He finds him, in his underwater base, and learns that his opponent's none other than his old foe Dr Octopus. For once, Octopus is no match for his hyped-up nemesis and tries to flee but, in his fight with the villain, the ceiling collapses, trapping Spider-Man beneath a pile of concrete and steel as the river starts to leak into the base, and time ticks away for poor old Aunt May.

It's great to see some genuine urgency and drama back in the strip, the sense that events actually matter; also the irony that it's Peter's earlier attempt to save Aunt May that's now responsible for her potential demise. We might love Peter Parker but that's the kind of torment we want to see him put through at every possible opportunity.

The ending's the sort of torment we want to see him put through too, as the odds are stacked well and truly against our hero as he gives in to despair and the knowledge that he's failed when he most needed to succeed. There's even been time for Peter Parker to cram in a bust-up with Ned Leeds along the way. If only every issue of Spider-Man from this era had been like this.

Amazing Spider-Man #31. The Master Planner

(Cover from December 1965.)

"If This Be My Destiny...!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

As well as inventing baby powder, Dr Johnson once wrote, "When a man is tired of Spider-Man he is tired of life." Well, OK, he didn't. But, if he hadn't been too busy with the baby powder, I'm sure he would've done.

And, if that analysis is true, I might as well end it all right now because I really can't muster any great enthusiasm for this tale. People tell me it's a classic but, for the most part, it just feels like bog-standard Spider-Man to me. There's a gang going around committing crimes under instruction from a mysterious mastermind called the Master Planner, who, unlike previous would-be masterminds like the Big Man and the Crime-Master, at least has the originality and coolness to have an underwater base. He's also got his act together enough now to realise his name shouldn't be the Cat.

Also on the familiarity breeds contempt front, Aunt May's at death's door again.

The one new element, apart from Spider-Man having the sense to wear a gas mask against foes he knows are carrying gas, is that Peter Parker starts university. And so we get the first appearance of both Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn who does look remarkably like the Green Goblin in his depiction here.

Could it be Harry and not Norman Osborn that Steve Ditko was at this stage intending to reveal as being the villain? Then again, was wily Steve just toying with us and trying to lead us all up the pixie-garden path with it?

Sadly, given Mr Ditko's lack of enthusiasm for interviews, maybe we'll never find out. The trouble is, the whole Goblin thing aside, while these are new characters in a new setting, they act just like the kids did in high school in the strip's early days so it doesn't feel like the strip's making any kind of move forward. In fact, if anything, it feels like it's going backwards. It does worry me that, as I review these issues, I increasingly find myself longing for the moment we get to the John Romita issues and a fresh new slant on things.

Amazing Spider-Man #30. The Cat and the other Cat

(Cover from November 1965.)

"The Claws Of The Cat!"

Scripted by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Artie Simek.

"Confusion," said ELO, "it's such a terrible thing." Presumably, they'd been reading Amazing Spider-Man #30, as we're handed a tale that seems designed to bamboozle the life out of the best of us. Why? Because Spider-Man comes up against a break-in artist called the Cat Burglar or occasionally the Cat. He also comes up against a gang of crooks working for a never-seen villain called the Cat. Now, obviously, those crooks work for the Cat Burglar.

No they don't. They have nothing to do with him. What possessed Stan Lee to give both villains in one story the same name is anyone's guess. I can only guess that, like Jeff Lynne, he was feeling somewhat confused at the time and it does make the story completely baffling for large chunks of it as you try to figure out why a high-powered gang are working for a small-time crook who seems to work alone.

On matters more personal, Betty Brant announces Ned Leeds has asked her to marry him, although it turns out she doesn't want to because it's Peter Parker she loves. However, she also makes it clear she could never marry a man like Spider-Man whose life is one of non-stop danger, meaning Peter Parker finally realises his relationship with Betty can have no future. Cue spectral image of Spider-Man pushing Betty and Peter apart in the final panel.

Interesting that, having been written out, seemingly permanently, just two issues ago, Liz Allan's back already, and having problems with Flash Thompson hanging around. It gives the impression she's going to remain a regular character after all, which is odd as, to my knowledge she disappeared from the strip for years after this brief appearance. As we see the final break-up of Peter and Betty in this tale, it gives the impression that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko were intending to pursue a relationship between Liz and Peter but, for whatever reason, the idea was promptly ditched. There are times where you'd just love to know what was going on behind the scenes and why certain decisions about the long-term future of the strip were made.

Amazing Spider-Man #29. The Scorpion returns

(Cover from October 1965.)

"Never Step On A Scorpion!"

Script by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

Qualifications, they always reckon a man's nothing without them, which does make you wonder exactly what qualifications you need to work in New York's penal system.

Seemingly none whatsoever as the local prison authorities are at it again. The people who'd later let the Tarantula create a new pair of deadly shoes and the Shocker create his vibro-equipment in their workshops show their genius here by giving the captive Scorpion his costume and tail back, in order to cheer him up a bit. And what a surprise, upon being given them, he promptly uses them to escape.

On the face of it, while this might be bad news for the jewellers of New York city - not to mention Spider-Man and the Scorpion's creator J Jonah Jameson - this should be great news for the reader. On his last appearance Mac Gargan's alter-ego, more than any other super-villain, displayed the credentials to be Spider-Man's number one nemesis, twice defeating him with ease in one issue.

Trouble is, that was Ditko's stint at its peak and we're now on the downhill slide, where, all semblance of plotting and ingenuity are out the window and the tales have a wearyingly linear quality, so the Scorpion shows up, Spider-Man fights him, Spider-Man beats him and it's all over.

It's as simple as that, with no twists, no turns, no surprises and no rugs pulled out from beneath our hero's sticky feet. This time Spider-Man wraps it all up by squirting the Scorpion with webbing, just like he beat the Molten Man last issue by squirting him with webbing. The fact that it's previously been established that the Scorpion's pincers can cut through Spider-Man's webbing, making it useless against him, is completely ignored. The story's running out of pages and so Spider-Man (and Ditko) ends it.

There's some nice action sequences in this tale and it's pleasing to see the Daily Bugle's J Jonah Jameson get so much of the issue devoted to him and his cowardly, opportunistic scheming as he seeks to trick Spider-Man into fighting on his behalf and then, when the fighting's over, take all the credit for the villain's capture but you can't get away from the fact that it's another disappointing outing, with none of the Scorpion's original menace even being hinted at here. It's back to the increasingly used idea of Spider-Man being a fun romp rather than a life or death battle.

Meanwhile, on domestic matters, Ned Leeds is back and spending far too much time with Betty Brant for Peter Parker's liking and, ooh dear, Aunt May's back to having her turns again.

Amazing Spider-Man #28. The Molten Man

(Cover from September 1965.)

"The Molten Man!"

Scripted by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

Schooldays may or may not be the happiest days of our life but one thing's for certain, they have to end at some point. And this is the tale where Peter Parker's do just that as he graduates from high school. I once read an interview where Steve Ditko said he thought Peter Parker should always have been in high school and should never have gone to university. He's wrong, of course, the strip hit its peak when Peter Parker was at university and I doubt that's coincidence.

I wish I could say our hero leaves school with a tale that fully explores and exploits the inherent metaphors but the simple truth is it doesn't. The B plot, Spider-Man's latest adventure, is simply pants. Whatever Mark Raxton's later revival as a man driven mad by the pain of burning-up beneath his inferno-like skin, here the Molten Man's a damp squib. Leaving aside the fact he's not actually molten - he doesn't seem to be giving off any heat at all - his fight with Spider-Man's like a walking definition of the word pedestrian. Basically they throw punches at each other in his house for page after page until Spider-Man ties him up with his webbing, the fight seemingly ending when Steve Ditko gets bored with it.

And I think that's the major problem with the strip at this point in its history; snowed under with work, Stan Lee was now giving Ditko total freedom to plot the comics. The problem is Ditko's an artist not a writer and, just as the Fantastic Four suffered with the more freedom Lee gave to Jack Kirby, so this tale desperately needs a writer to inject a few twists, turns and a dose of ingenuity into proceedings. A story that's just two people throwing punches at each other until the artist runs out of pages is never going to grab anyone.

But that's enough of the fighting. Given its importance in Spider-history, we have to view Peter Parker's graduation as the A plot. In fact we don't hear too much about it until the last few pages, so it can hardly be said to dominate proceedings. What does stand out is the odd behaviour of Liz Allen who writes herself out of the strip for no noticeable reason. It's an odd development, not properly explained, and you wonder if there ever was any plan to explain it or if it'd just been decided to dispense with her and this was the quickest way to do it.

Of course, what could've been behind Liz Allen's departure could be an identity crisis. At one point in the story, Peter Parker calls her Liz Hilton. In an earlier tale, she suddenly became Liz Brant and, of course, there's the endless confusion as to whether she's Liz Allen or Liz Allan. With an identity crisis like that, no wonder she wanted to run away and hide.

Amazing Spider-Man #27. The Green Goblin and the Crime-Master

(Cover from August 1965.)

"Bring Back My Goblin To Me!"

Scripted by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Artie Simek.

And the prize for the worst story title of all time goes to...

Meanwhile, it's another issue gone, the Green Goblin's still being a bit of a no-mark and the Crime-Master's still just a man in a hat.

You can't get away from the fact the strip's repeating itself here, with the Goblin's attempt to take over the city's mobs having been done before, the Crime-Master being a slightly more interesting rehash of the Big Man, and Spider-Man's battle with just about every gangster in town being a rerun of Amazing Spider-Man #10. Oh well, at least the Enforcers didn't show up. They finally (I hope) seem to have been consigned to the dustbin of history.

In fact, the main point of interest in this tale, and its one new development, is the revelation that the Daily Bugle's only known reporter Fred Foswell - who we've all been suspecting of being the Crime-Master and then the Goblin - is in fact Patch the stool pigeon. I never really understood the Patch character, as it seemed like everyone in New York knew he was a stool pigeon, making you wonder why anyone ever told him anything.

I can't think of anything much more to say about this issue, other than that it's nicely drawn but what I've been reading lately isn't really doing anything to dissuade me from the notion that the second half of Ditko's run on the strip wasn't as good as the first and that the title didn't regain its momentum until early in John Romita's run.

Amazing Spider-Man #26. The Green Goblin and the Crime-Master

(Cover from July 1965.)

"The Man In The Crime-Master's Mask!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Plotted, drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

Not that the Green Goblins's stupid but, for some reason known only to himself, he's revealed his secret identity to the Crime-Master, reasoning that if they know each other's identities they'll have to work together to take over the city's gangs.

Why the Goblin wants to work with the Crime-Master - who we've never seen or heard of before and is basically just a man with a gun, and a hat that never falls off - is anyone's guess but the story still suffers from the depiction of the Goblin as a character motivated purely by a desire to take over New York's gangland. This, plus his stupidity and whingeing in his dealings with the Crime-Master, is actually quite irritating here. He comes across more like a whining child than classic villain. The Goblin of the Romita or Kane era would never have tried to work with the Crime-Master, would never have revealed his true identity to him and would have simply let him have it had he tried to get cheeky with him.

Cutting a more impressive figure is Flash Thompson because Peter Parker's feud with Spider-Man's biggest fan finally boils over into violence as, fed up of his taunting, Peter launches an attack on Flash and his gang. Unfortunately for him, the principal sees the incident and calls Peter to the office, at which point, feeling guilty, Flash goes to see the principal to tell him whose fault the fight really was. Showing the normally loud-mouthed Flash has having a moral compass and a code of ethics is a nice twist and this sort of depth of characterisation is one of the reasons the strip stands out from the vast majority of what had gone before in the history of comic books.

Amazing Spider-Man #25. The Spider-Slayer makes its debut

(Cover from June 1965.)

"Captured by J Jonah Jameson!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

Amazing Spider-Man #25; it's a landmark issue in a whole bunch of ways, featuring the debuts of two characters and a robot we'd get to see a zillion times again.

But I don't care about that.

All I care about is the middle panel of page three.

Why?

Because it backs up the theory I outlined reviewing Amazing Spider-Man #23.

What was it I said?

I said Norman Osborn seemed to be making a cameo appearance months before he's supposed to have even made his debut in the Amazing Spider-Man. And blow me down with a feather if he doesn't do it again.

I don't care what anyone says, it's definitely Norman Osborn, being spoken to by Daily Bugle publisher J Jonah Jameson about placing an ad in his paper and meeting him later at the club. Bearing in mind the Steve Ditko quote I posted then, about him having planted a character in the strip who'd later be revealed to be the Green Goblin, and him being associated with Jameson, and I'm now convinced Steve Ditko really did intend Norman Osborn to be the Goblin all along.

I don't like to boast but I feel like I've suddenly reinvented comic book history. For my next trick I'll no doubt be proving it was Martin Goodman who actually created all of Marvel's Silver Age heroes while Stan Lee and Jack Kirby simply watched in awe. Well, when you're on a roll...

As for the main story, it's no secret I'm not a fan of the Spider-Slayer - mostly because I keep telling everyone I'm not. Mainly it's because it kept coming back, for no noticeable reason and to no good effect, but, on its first appearance, it really is a bizarre contraption, with its legs that seem able to extend forever and its metal tentacles. So, just for its oddness, right now I can forgive it its future sins against entertainment. It's also interesting to see Professor Smythe being portrayed in a totally different way to his future appearances, with his virtual indifference to the failure of his machine. Compare that to his later maniacal quest to gain vengeance on Spider-Man for nothing much in particular and it's an entirely more refreshing portrayal.

Meanwhile, it's good to see Spider-Man getting hoist by his own petard. Thinking himself incapable of losing to such a silly-looking robot, Peter Parker goads J Jonah Jameson into setting the Spider-Slayer on Spider-Man, only to find that, when it happens, he can't figure out a way to either defeat or escape it.

Clearly Steve Ditko was in a generous mood this issue because, apart from Norman Osborn, we get another cameo, as Mary Jane Watson at last appears in the strip.

Admittedly, thanks to a strategically placed flower, we don't get to see her face, and Ditko's depiction of what we can see looks like something from a whole different era compared to the swinging groover Jazzy John Romita introduces later on but it means there are now three hot chicks in Peter Parker's life to compete for his affections - and we haven't even met Gwen Stacy yet.

I don't know, whatever happened to that kid who couldn't get the girls?

Amazing Spider-Man #24. Mysterio the psychiatrist

(Cover from May 1965.)

"Spider-Man Goes Mad!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Sam Rosen.

Madness. It can befall the best of us. For a start, here I am trying to review the whole of the first fourteen years of Spider-Man's existence.

But there are those whose grasp on sanity is even more tenuous than that, and there are those who'll tell you that all super-heroes are, at heart, madmen. Batman certainly is. I mean, what kind of billionaire decides the best way to fight crime in your city is to dress up as a bat?

Happily, a case can be made for Spider-Man being more rational than the caped crusader. After all, he has the powers of a spider and therefore good reason to adopt an arachnid identity, Plus, whatever his neuroses, he doesn't literally dress up as a spider.

However, try telling that to the man himself. One interview in the Daily Bugle, from someone claiming to be a renowned psychiatrist, and Peter Parker becomes convinced the psychiatrist (Dr Rinehart) is indeed right about his lack of marbles. Even before he starts to see things, our hero becomes convinced he must be cracking up.

It's a great idea of course, which must be why Gerry Conway recycled it lock, stock and both barrels in issues #141 and 142 of the Amazing Spider-Man. As with that story, it all turns out to be Mysterio's doing. As for his methods of doing so, it's pretty obvious how the projectors hidden inside mechanical animals are meant to work but I'm still not sure exactly how the rooms in Dr Rinehart's house are rotated to stand on their heads without Spider-Man noticing. I suppose he really must have been feeling messed up not to notice that.

I've been vaguely critical of Ditko's artwork post the Scorpion's debut tale, feeling that it seems to have become simpler, flatter and less stylish but I love his artwork here. It seems to have regained all its previous style and elegance. It's good to see Ditko could still turn it on when he was up for it. After two years on the strip, maybe the unconventionality of the tale got the naturally offbeat Ditko's juices flowing in a way that straightforward super-heroics no longer did.

Amazing Spider-Man #23. More from the Green Goblin

(Cover from April 1965.)

"The Goblin And The Gangsters"

Written Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Artie Simek.

Lucky Lobo has to be the worst-named villain ever. If he's lucky I'd hate to see a villain who isn't. From the moment we see him, everything goes wrong for him, as the Goblin declares he's going to take over his gang, the police mark his cards and then one of his men hands "Lucky's" financial records over to the Goblin. That's not to mention Spider-Man turning up and sorting out his entire gang.

Meanwhile it pains me to say it but, on his third appearance, the Goblin's still an oddly dull villain. We tend to think of him as one of the great Spider-Man villains - possibly the great Spider-Man villain - but how much of that's really down to the Steve Ditko era and how much to the John Romita era and beyond?

I mean, in this tale, he looks good but, in all honesty, as with his previous two appearances, he's more an annoyance to Spidey than a genuine threat. Here, he's just a bizarrely dressed character trying, and failing, to take over a criminal gang, presumably so he can commit some run-of-the mill crimes. There's none of the madness or menace the Goblin would later come to possess.

There's a strong hint being dropped in this tale that the newly returned Fred Fosswell's the Green Goblin, although his recent time in jail would seem to preclude that.

Meanwhile, is that Norman Osborn in the last panel of page 6? It doesn't look entirely like him but that hairstyle looks familiar and he's hanging out in the same executives' club as J Jonah Jameson - as Norman Osborn would do in later issues. Could Ditko have snuck the character in on the sly long before anyone thought he did? And, if so, does that hole the theory that Ditko quite the strip in protest at Stan Lee's supposed plans to have Norman Osborn be revealed as the Goblin?

Officially Norman Osborn made his debut in Amazing Spider-Man #37 but, if Ditko introduced Osborn on the quiet in a story featuring speculation about the true identity of the Goblin, then maybe, despite the rumours, Ditko intended Osborn to be the Goblin all along.

According to Wikipedia, this is what Steve Ditko had to say on the Green Goblin's true identity:

So I had to have some definite ideas: who he was, his profession and how he fit into the Spider-Man story world. I was even going to use an earlier, planted character associated with J. Jonah Jameson: he [was to] be [revealed as] the Green Goblin. It was like a subplot working its way until it was ready to play an active role.

Well, this issue, the character who looks like Norman Osborn is stood there right next to J Jonah Jameson. Could it be....?

Amazing Spider-Man #22. The Circus of Crime are back

(Cover from March 1965.)

"Preeeeeesenting...
The Clown, And His Masters Of Menace!"

Written by Stan Lee.

Drawn by Steve Ditko.

Inked by Steve Ditko.

Lettered by Artie Simek.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.

He's not alone. After being sacked by the Circus of Crime, the Ring-Master knows too. Some people have no gratitude.

Having got rid of their creator, the Circus remodel themselves as the Masters of Menace and decide to rob an art exhibition sponsored by Daily Bugle publisher J Jonah Jameson. But this issue has to be a first. It has to be the first time The Amazing Spider-Man has made us worry about J Jonah Jameson's welfare, as he's rushed to hospital after being headbutted by Cannon-Ball. As such I suppose it's a vital step in humanising our favourite irritant. Needless to say, when he comes out of his coma, he's as cantankerous and self-serving as ever.

J Jonah Jameson's injury aside, it's another of those knockabout tales with Spider-Man yet again up against a set of foes who're blatantly outclassed by him, allowing Steve Ditko to have fun with the action scenes. And, here, the characters of the individual members of the Circus of Evil seem far more individually defined than they've ever been before.

It's definitely a step in the right direction and it's good to see Princess Python get a prominent role, nominating the Clown as new leader of the group, coming up with a new name for them and getting to take Spider-Man on, single-handed, almost managing to unmask him in the process.

Of course, with all this, it's clear the Princess, not the Clown, should be leader of the circus but this was 1965 and maybe the idea of a woman being in charge was too far beyond the pale. I seem to recall a similar situation with the Frightful Four in the Fantastic Four comics where it was obvious Medusa should've been their leader but instead she spent all her time scheming, and manipulating the other members, to get what she wanted. How times have changed.

You have to feel sorry for the Ring-Master. First he gets sacked and then bullied by his colleagues then he gets hypnotised by Spider-Man then he gets arrested for a crime he didn't commit and then he gets re-arrested when he's in the process of handing the stolen paintings in. What else did The Shadow say? Oh yeah; he said that crime doesn't pay. He clearly didn't realise that, in the world of comic books, honesty pays even less.

Amazing Spider-Man #21. The Beetle and the Human Torch

(Cover from February 1965.)

"Where Flies The Beetle...!"

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

Fate? You've not met fate until you've met Peter Parker because the fickle finger of coincidence is never far away from beckoning whenever Aunt May's favourite nephew's around.

Take this month's issue. He's minding his own bees-wax, walking down the street, when he just happens to bump into the Human Torch's girlfriend Dorrie Evans who drops her purse. Picking it up, he takes it round to her house, the Human Torch sees him depart, gets jealous, just happens to blunder into him later and warns him to stay away from his girl. So, in his Spider-Man guise, our hero heads back to her house to try it on with her to make the Torch jealous.

Well, after the coincidence of Peter bumping into the Torch's girlfriend and her dropping her purse and the Torch seeing him leave and the Torch bumping into him later, comes the next coincidence, as the Beetle, out for revenge on the Torch, decides to grab Dorrie just as Spider-man turns up. Cue a punch-up between hero and villain. Cue the Human Torch arriving just after the Beetle's abducted Dorrie. Cue Human Torch punch-up with Spider-Man, who he thinks must have taken her.

At this point, of course, Spider-Man should tell the Torch that he hasn't taken Dorrie and that the Beetle has. But this is Spider-Man, a man who never seems to do the sensible thing no matter how obvious it is; and so, divulging this kernel of information never seems to occur to him at any point.

Instead, he decides to lead the Torch to where the Beetle is, so the fiery one will guess what's happened. Then, at the end of the tale, Spider-Man bemoans the fact that no one trusts him and he's misunderstood. Well, if he refuses to tell people what's going on even when it's vital they know, it's hardly amazing that he's misunderstood. Someone really needs to have a word with that boy about a little thing called communication.

But I really would love to know what the deal was with the Human Torch and his constant appearances in the early days of the Amazing Spider-Man. I think I've always assumed Spider-Man was a smash hit from Day One but these constant guest appearances do make you wonder if it was some sort of attempt to boost sales. If so that'd suggest maybe it didn't sell as well, early doors, as I'd always assumed.

Then again, maybe Steve Ditko just liked drawing the Torch, or Stan Lee thought a rivalry between the two would be fun. Whatever the reason, it was a concept that became somewhat over used and it's reached the point by this issue where your heart sinks to see him on the cover.

As for the main villain of the piece, I must admit the Beetle isn't one of my favourites. I don't know what it is, there's just something irredeemably irritating about him.

But The Amazing Spider-Man really is oddly schizophrenic at this stage in its history. It seems to swing wildly between being serious and being "fun".

We get a great example here where, after last month's straight, serious and highly dramatic Scorpion origin, this time we get a more juvenile tale but one that suddenly, at its end, jarringly goes serious. It's always been my feeling that, after a great first two years, the strip actually went into decline after last month's Scorpion tale and, re-reading this story for the first time in years, I do feel I detect a dropping-off in the standard of artwork from the last issue. Somehow, it seems slightly cruder, more cartoony and less stylish than before. Dare one suggest Ditko's starting to move towards the flatter, more simplistic style he had in his 1970s' Charlton Comic era? I'll have to keep an eye out to see if my impressions are right and if the quality really does decline from this point on or if I've been unfair on Ditko all these years.