Amazing Spider-Man #51. The Kingpin

(The Kingpin gets his first cover. From August 1967.)

"In The Clutches Of The Kingpin!"

Written by Stan Lee

Drawn by John Romita

Inked by Mickey Demeo

Lettered by Sam Rosen

The Kingpin's in a good mood, though you'd never know it to look at him. The scowl simply never leaves his face. Unlike most of Spider-Man's foes, there really is something genuinely sinister about him. Whether it's the scowl or the bald head, the bulk or the big, fat, black eyebrows, or the combination of all those things, you really do see him as someone who could kill.

After smashing a scale model of Manhattan (does he have scale models of Manhattan built specifically so he can smash them?), the Kingpin declares that, with Spider-Man out of the way, he can at last fulfill his ambition to rule the underworld. His first task is to get his new lackeys to rob a service station. Needless to say, they fail miserably, as Spider-Man appears and gives them the battering they're asking for. In the melee, two crooks known as Big Turk and Shorty escape and the police show up just as Spidey's about to extract info on the Kingpin from one of the defeated hoods.

Meanwhile, the Kingpin's decided that Foswell might be of use to him after all.

One man who won't be of use to him is Big Turk. He and Shorty barge into the Kingpin's office. The Kingpin lied to them. Spider-Man's not out of the way. That does it. Big Turk doesn't work for anyone who lies to him and he's going to finish off the Kingpin. No he's not because the Kingpin flings off his jacket, gives Big Turk a good finger crushing, flings him across the room and the humbled crook's back in line. The Kingpin sends him away, telling him to await his next orders. Foswell's impressed. For a man who seems totally irrelevant to this story, Foswell seems to be getting an awful lot of panel time.

If the Kingpin's happy, J Jonah Jameson's not. Back at The Bugle, he wants news, news about the crime wave, news about Foswell.

In what's presumably meant to be the Silver Spoon (although that doesn't seem to be what it says on the sign), Pete's gang see him zoom past on his motor-bike and Mary Jane's noticed that Gwen fancies our hero, even if Pete and Harry haven't. Who says Mary Jane has a head full of candy floss? Then again, who says she's got a head full of anything? Certainly not Stan Lee. Nine issues since her intro and she still hasn't had a single thought bubble yet. This might not sound significant but it increasingly becomes so.

Peter's got thought bubbles though. He's up to his armpits in them because, with the sort of luck only he seems to have, he's come across a group of suspicious looking characters entering a swanky private club, and his spider-sense is going ten to the dozen. A quick peek in through the window tells him what he suspected. Those men are crooks and they're threatening the manager. Crash, Spidey smashes in through the window and proceeds to bash the crooks around.

But they're nothing if not prepared and one throws a stun grenade at him. The crooks flee before Spidey can fully recover - but not before he can throw a spider tracer at one of them. The grenade, however, has damaged the structure of the building - that's one fragile building - and he saves the club from collapse just long enough for its occupants to escape. And now he's on the trail of the Kingpin.

At The Bugle, Jameson's confronted by armed hoods who take him, blindfolded, to meet their boss who orders him to stop printing his stories about the crime-wave. This is one of those moments where Jameson shows his more admirable side - yes, he does have one - and he refuses to back down. Nobody tells J Jonah Jameson what to publish. This has always been one of the plusses to the strip, that it would've been easy to portray Jameson as a two-dimensional fool, just there for laughs and aggravation but, every so often, we're given a glimpse of something nobler in his character. His willingness to give Foswell a job after his release from jail having been one of those moments.

Spider-Man's outside. A quick look through a window tells him all he needs to know. The Kingpin's got Jameson - and Foswell's back in the land of crime. Spidey lures the bad guys out onto the patio, with his spider signal and quickly disposes of the lesser crooks.

Now for the Kingpin.

But the Kingpin's a tougher foe than expected. He's got bulk and strength all right but, somehow, he's also got speed. Still, Spidey's got the upper hand and he prepares to wrap up the fight.

That's when the Kingpin shows that crooks can't be trusted because he shoots gas from his tie-pin, gas that floors our hero. Foswell's amazed. Jameson's in despair. It's what he always wanted, Spider-Man defeated - but not when he was about to rescue Jameson. Is it the end for Spider-Man? Who can know but it doesn't look good.

The tagline reads, "Next: to die a hero!"

And Spider-Man's the only hero in sight.

Gulp.

Amazing Spider-Man #50. Spidey quits

(Bright red for a hero feeling blue. From July 1967.)

"Spider-Man No More!"

Written by Stan Lee

Drawn by John Romita

Inked by Mickey Dimeo

Lettered by Sam Rosen

One of the all-time classic tales starts out like it's going to be just another one off the production line, as Spider-Man foils the attempted robbery of an office. Wasting no time at all, he quickly disposes of a group of minor criminals.

But then his real problems start because one of the office workers he's just saved clearly sees him as being as big a danger as the crooks he's just swatted and, when he gets home, Peter discovers his Aunt May's had another of her turns and has had to take to her sick bed. Because of his heroic derring-doings, he wasn't there at the time.

Feeling guilty, our hero goes back home. He's got an exam tomorrow but can't concentrate on revision because of what's happened with his aunt. The next day, Professor Warren gets his first scene of note as Peter miserably fails his exam, prompting the prof to take him aside and remind him he can't let his grades keep sliding forever. Next, Gwen invites him to a party she's throwing. He'd love to go but, with the need to revise and his concern over his aunt, he can't make it. Back home, he switches the TV on, to try and take his mind off his woes. But his woes just leap out of the TV at him, as J Jonah Jameson's indulging in another of his rants about what a menace Spidey is.

So far so normal.

But this is when things suddenly change, because this is where Peter decides that JJ might be right. Maybe he is nuts. Maybe he is a menace to society. Maybe his presence does nothing but make the lives of those around him worse. Walking alone in the rain, trying to gather his thoughts, Peter comes to only one conclusion.

Spider-Man must die.

In a magnificent full-page panel, Peter walks away from a dustbin, his costume hanging discarded from it. The world will never again hear from Spider-Man.

It'll hear from his costume though because, the next morning, a child rushes into The Daily Bugle offices. He's found something. It's Spider-Man's costume. J Jonah Jameson's delighted. It can only mean one thing - the end of Spider-Man.

The news soon gets out - mostly because Jameson makes sure it gets out, plastering it all over his newspaper and plugging his scoop all over the networks. And he's not the only one delighted because the criminal underclasses are too - none more so than a mysterious figure stood with his back to us, at a window. Who is he? We don't know but he says his name's the Kingpin and, when it comes to crime, he's ready to take over.

Patch, the informer, is interested. A whole bunch of underworld types are headed for a meeting. He wants in. They want him out and make sure he stays that way. At their meeting, the underworld types discuss whether they should let the Kingpin take over. Elsewhere, the thwarted Patch resumes his true identity of Bugle newshound Fred Foswell and discusses with himself whether he should be the one to take over.

While Foswell thinks, the Kingpin acts. All over town, he's staging a string of robberies to see if Spider-Man deals with them. He doesn't. Now the Kingpin's certain he can take over.

And what of our story's central character? In his own way, he's as delighted as the Kingpin. Freed of his responsibility to save the city from every crook who so much as spits on the pavement, he can concentrate on his studies, he can visit his Aunt May, he can be with his friends. As it happens, Aunt May and his friends don't actually need him but what does he care?

Well, this makes him care. This is when the fickle finger of fate, or rather the fickle finger of Stan Lee, steps in. On his way back to his pad, he spots a security guard being attacked. Given no choice, he discards his shoes, clambers up onto the roof and rescues him, departing before the guard can properly see his face.

But there's something about that guard that's rung a bell.

It takes him some time but at last Peter realises what it was. The guard reminded him of his Uncle Ben, which now brings flashbacks to the string of events that led him to become a battler with evil and it makes him realise that, in the end, he can't dodge his responsibilities. He was given his powers for a reason and that reason was to protect those who can't protect themselves.

Fred Foswell's one of those who can't protect himself. The former criminal's decided that, if anyone's going to be in charge of organised crime in this city, it should be him. Showing the self preservation instinct of a lemming, he goes to the Kingpin's office and tells him he's going to be running things from now on but he's a generous man and would be willing to let the Kingpin be one of his lieutenants.

The Kingpin, about as impressed by this ludicrous offer as anyone would be, fires his cane to disintegrate Foswell's concealed gun and has one of his goons grab the would-be Napoleon of crime. Exactly why Foswell thought he could take over organised crime in the city just by saying he was is anybody's guess but it's easy to see why his previous attempt to do so, back when he was The Big Man, failed so miserably. Frankly, on the strength of this, he hasn't got two brain cells to rub together.

Across town, Peter Parker scales a wall. It's a wall of The Daily Bugle's offices. He enters the window and retrieves his costume from the glass case JJ's put it in then waits for everybody's favourite publisher to return. When he does, Spider-Man gives him a good taunting, leaps out the window and delares Spidey to be back in action. This really is one of the classic yarns of the era - classic enough to inspire a movie - blessed with a striking cover that demands you buy it, full of memorable imagery and - with Spider-Man only appearing at the very beginning and end of the tale - proof that a super-hero comic doesn't have to just be men with muscles hitting each other, that internal conflict and character can drive such a story as compellingly as a big punch-up. It's a shame more comic book writers didn't learn that lesson.

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.