Where Demons Feat To Dwell!

Another disappointing Dazzler issue. This one consisted almost entirely of a fight between about a million heroes and a bunch of demons called forth by the Enchantress. It was really boring and, even though the winning blow went to the Dazzler, it again seemed like a way to distract the readers from the title character.

Rating:

So Bright This Star

Well, my enchantment with the Dazzler is over. This issue was pretty terrible. I hate when debuts (or any issue really) is just filled to the brim with lame guest cameos, as a thinly-veiled attempt to draw in new readers. I guess it works — Spider-Man’s appearance is, afterall, why I’m reading this trash — but that doesn’t excuse it.

The issue fails on so many levels. First, Dazzler’s power seems to have gotten lamer since her appearance in Amazing Spider-Man. Instead of creating some kind of powerful light beams, she now creates silly light patterns in the air that simply befuddle her opponents. She also doesn’t seem to use her magic disco ball anymore, which is a total shame.

The structure of the issue is also a complete mess. The issue hops around from Dazzler to Spidey to the X-Men to a lame origin flashback to Asgard to the Avengers and back. It’s all a bunch of roundabout nonsense that leaves the reader as disoriented as the Dazzler’s victims.

Finally, the character herself is just completely uninteresting and unsympathetic. It’s fairly clear DeFalco doesn’t have any idea what to do with her, and it’s pretty telling that she only appears on of 15 out of 23 pages in her own debut title. The issue should be jam-packed full of Dazzler awesomeness, giving us an exiting taste of the character and the direction of the book. Instead we get weak filler.

(Also: Spider-Man makes a comment about getting photos for the Bugle. Potential problem in placement?)

Rating:

Homecoming!

This story sucked kinda. It was about one of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Vance Astro, trying to convince his younger self to not take the same path he did. While I generally like time-travel stuff, this was just boring. The Thing’s part was useless, too, which is kind of annoying since this is his book. Also, Spidey just showed up in one panel, saving a construction worker.

This guy looks like Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen:

Rating:

By The Dawn’s Early Light!

Dragon Man!
Writer: Roger Stern
Co-plotters: Roger Stern, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Josef Rubinstein
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Originally published: August 1980

Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
Co-plotters: Roger Stern, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Josef Rubinstein
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: B. Sharen
Originally published: September 1980

The Terror of the Taskmaster
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Jack Abel
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Originally published: June 1980

Cap For President!
Story: Roger Stern
Photography: John Byrne, Josef Rubinstein
Typography: James Novak
Color: George Roussos
Originally published: October 1980

CA 247-249 tell the tale of Machinesmith, a robot master. They’re good, but Spidey never appears. There is a Spidey robot, and an off-hand mention of the real Spider-Man, but that’s it. I just read them for fun basically, but technically they shouldn’t really be in the project. Also, CA 247 and 248 should have come before M/TU 95.

Avengers 196 features a one-panel flashback of Spidey swinging on a pole — completely inconsequential. Its story about the Taskmaster was pretty good as well.

CA 250 features Spidey in one panel, considering the possibility of Captain America as president.

Rating:

Suddenly…The Shroud!

Goodness gracious, praise the Lord. Jerry Hunt and Magnus depart in this issue. Between this and #12, Gruenwald has eliminated Jessica Drew’s entire supporting cast. They were terrible and I wont miss them. The issue does cut back to Jerry’s new assignment, but I’m hoping it gives up on him pretty quickly.

This issue was much, much better than most previous Spider-Woman outings. It was still fairly boring and uninteresting by any normal standards, but at least it didn’t make me want to vomit with rage.

Also, although he wasn’t necessarily very good here, the Shroud seems to have the potential to be interesting.

Rating:

The story of Hank McCoy in high school, right before being approached by Professor X. Kinda lame. Spidey appears in a flashback, fighting the Sandman.

Rating:

Cat’s-Paw!

This was a mostly uninteresting magic story that was mostly about Agatha Harkness and Franklin Richards. Agatha’s evil monster son tries to take over the world, and Franklin somehow stops him.

Peter Parker appears in one panel, getting shoved aside by some force waves, along with the rest of humanity.

Rating:

Writers: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning
Artist: Igor Kordey
Letters: Richard Starkings
Design: Cindy Emmert
Originally published: September 1995

Oh my God, this was like, uh, so, uh, deep? Because it was about, uh, normal people? And, uh, the way they, uh, talked, was uh, so real.

I’m pretty certain I read these in the wrong spot, since Julia Carpenter (another Spider-Woman) appears, and she doesn’t really exist yet for the books I’m currently reading.

Rating:

From the Ashes…

Finally done with stupid ass Spider-Woman comics for a bit.

Peter Parker only appeared in this for one panel, photographing Cap at a new conference. Despite being basically Spidey-less, this was an awesome issue. It was an incredibly dark story that involved Sharon Carter dying, Cap retiring, and a disturbingly gruesome look at World War II. It was extremely well done.

Rating:

The Power of Electro!

Cool art in this one. It seemed really short for some reason, but maybe it just had a quick pace. It was a decent story about some kid with the Plague. Electro apparently dies, which is good — I like when characters die, if only because I like seeing how they’ll get revived later.

Rating:

…Like a Diamond in the Sky!

This issue had Thor and Iron Man fighting a giant orbiting evil computer. It was really bad. Spidey appeared in one of those “what’s happening with the rest of the world” panels.

Rating:

Deathgarden

I read this issue last night before bed and today I had absolutely no recollection of the plot. Even after looking at the cover, I was pretty confused. My main, overall impression was that it was weird. I remember thinking that it read like one of the Hostess ads; I kept expecting to throw Twinkies at the villain.

Eventually the story came back to me a bit — Captain America has been poisoned and the Falcon is trying to get an antidote for him. Spidey’s role is very much a supporting one.

This was really bad, but for some reason it had a surreal quality that I really enjoyed.

BWT, who the heck are Bill Kunkel and Dave Wenzel? Where did they come from? I wonder if they’ll be on this book for awhile, or if this is just a blip. ALSO, who the hell is this Plantman guy? Why do he and Spider-Man seem to have a relationship or at least prior acquaintance?

Rating:

First Blood

Hmm…again, I jumped into the middle (or beginning?) and really had no idea what was happening here. It seemed mildly interesting, but without more info it’s really hard to tell.

Pete and MJ are seen when some shit goes down in Forest Hills.

Rating:

Death Watch!

Wow, I really thought this was going to suck for some reason, but it was awesome! Jim Starlin is the man!

Rating:

Escape into Oblivion!

There are a lot of characters in this, most of whom I didn’t recognize and I assume don’t appear in other issues that I care about. Spidey shows up in a few panels of a flashback to Marvel Team-Up 13.

I don’t really know what’s going on in Thor at this period, but this was a fairly self-contained story of alien slave revolt, and I kinda dug it.

Rating:

‘Tis the Season

My Treasury Edition 13 showed up! I’m finally back on track with my reading order.

It’s Christmas time, and the Marvel superheroes are playing in the snow! This is kind of a wrapper story around some reprints of past issues. Nothing much happens, but it’s nice and cute, and fun to see everyone relaxing and having a good time.

Rating:

Spider-Man and Captain America Ricochet to Freedom!

January 1977:
Champions #10, Amazing Spider-Man #164…

February 1977:
Ka-Zar #20, Champions #11, Uncanny X-Men #103…

Hostess ad that appeared in January and February 1977, in the titles above and most likely others. Based on publication date, I read this in the wrong order. Also, the President notes that “It will be a bicentennial smash”, indicating that maybe this takes place in the summer of 1976.

In order to save the country (world?) from an alien web, the President summons Captain America and Spider-Man to take part in Project Ricochet. This involves shooting vehicles containing the heroes out of giant guns. The vehicles smash through the web, saving the day.

This makes absolutely no sense, and pales in comparison to even the lousiest Hostess ads. I bet the toy was pretty sweet, though.

Rating:

Excerpted material originally appeared in: Fantastic Four 44-47; Fantastic Four Annual 3; Strange Tales 161
Excerpted material by: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Vince Colletta, Joe Sinnott, Frank Giacoia

This issue is about Reed and Sue’s wedding and the Fantastic Four’s first meeting with the Inhumans. Spider-Man appears in one panel that I believe is new, during the big wedding fight. This was read out of order.

There are two characters that I didn’t recognize and couldn’t tag.

I like this Marvel Saga stuff, it’s really making me understand stuff more.

Rating:

Along Came a Spider!

This was a nice little backup story featuring the first meeting between Captain America and Spider-Man. Cap takes the time to give Spidey some friendly advice and some much-needed moral support. Both characters come across as very human. Definitely a great read.

This should have gone fairly early in Spidey’s career, but I’m not super certain where. I would guess just before Avengers 11, but I haven’t checked closely to see if that makes sense.

Rating:

KISS / Precisely as Hot as Hell! / The Andromedia Hustle! / See Latveria and Die!

“Forty pages of full-color comics. Plus never-before-published photos and features. Printed in real KISS blood.“

Everything about this is badass!

Platform shoes? Check.
Blind old man in a fur loincloth? Check.
Gene Simmons breathing fire? Check.
Teleportation? Check.
Moon-shaped spaceship? Check.
Sexy robot ladies with machine guns and robot monks with laser eyes? Check.
Outerspace alien disco? Check.

This is literally the best comic I’ve ever read.

Here are some amazing panels and things. Check out the fucking awesome fake ad for Air Latveria!

Rating:

Deadline!

The Kingpin drains Spidey’s lifeforce to revive his son! This was a great conclusion to the lackluster story started last issue.

Rating:

At Last: The Decision!

A new set of Avengers is chosen. It very much resembles the existing lineup. There are lot of flashbacks, including one with Spidey. This was kind of like a crappy clips episode of a sitcom.

Why is Ben Grimm human, but wearing a Thing costume? I’ve clearly missed something there.

I probably shouldn’t have this smack dab in the middle of a cliffhanger.

Rating:

Twice Stings the Tarantula!

Danger: Demon on a Rampage!
Guest writer: Gerry Conway
Artists: Sal Buscema, Mike Esposito
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Don Warfield
Originally published: December 1976

All the Kingpin’s Men!
Writer: Len Wein
Illustrator: Ross Andru
Embellisher: Mike Esposito
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Originally published: December 1976

man, it’s been ages since I read amazing spider-man! and, we have the start of a brand new spidey series!

alright, so spectacular 1 has a reference to amazing 163, and amazing 163 has a reference to spectacular 1. i guess they intersect, with everything up to and including the surprise party in amazing 163 comes first, then all of spectacular 1, then all of marvel team-up 52, then the rest of amazing?

in asm 163 pete thinks MJ is mad at him, and she is kinda chummy with flash. later, in spectacular, pete says that mj has been dating flash. however, pete and mj were just hanging out together in marvel treasury edition 12, and mj expressed jealousy about pete recognizing bev switzer. hmm… maybe that’s what pete was apologizing for.

• spidey runs into the kingpin’s goons
• peter’s apartment gets furnished in a surprise “please-provide-for-peter-parker’s-pad” party
• harry and liz are makin’ time
• spidey fights the tarantula, who escapes and kidnaps some guy named lansky
• pete and mj have an off-panel talk
• tarantula, under somebody’s orders (i suspect the guy that originally got “kidnapped”) tries to fake-kidnap-but-really-kill the mayor, but spider-man stops him
• tarantula gets away
• spidey’s swinging home and a interdimensional portal opens, spitting out a monster, the falcon, a cowboy, some crazies, and captain america
• the monster runs afoul of batroc the leaper, who enlists him to rob a shield hovercar
• cap and spidey stop them and capture batroc, but the monster gets away
• spider-man acknowledges that the monster is lost, confused and trying to get home, but kills him anyway. nice.
• pete and mj pick up aunt may from the hospital
• spidey tracks down kingpin’s men, but really it’s a trap and he has to face the kingpin himself
• they fight like mad, and spidey gets captured, gassed, strapped into some kinda contraption

overall, these issues were all kind of boring. not a great return to amazing, and not a great debut for spectacular. i give these three one big “meh”.

Rating:

Saturday Night Furor!

This is a Tarantula issue, not a Spidey issue. He’s Spidery enough for me, though!

Captain America is found floating in a river, with a face that’s not his own, and a bitchin case of amnesia. As he reconstructs the events of the last few days, he’s lead to an operation by the Tarantula. It’s a sweet story, I just wish there was more of Tarantula.

Rating:

Claws!

Um this was a really insane action-packed issue. The Avengers are always good for excitement, that’s for sure. As usual when I read some random book like this, I had not idea what was going on really. This time, though, I didn’t especially care. It was a pretty enjoyable book, considering.

Spidey appears in a flashback with the Cat, one of my favourite characters.

Rating: