…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.

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Who Was That Goblin I Saw You With?

Wow, Harry suits up as the Green Goblin again, to take out the new Goblin — his psychiatrist, Dr. Barton Hamilton! Barton ends up blowing himself up, and Harry (of course) ends up with some kind of limited amnesia. Liz Allen’s return completes the happy ending.

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The Goblin’s Always Greener…!

Well, as I suspected, Harry Osborn was not the new Green Goblin! Yet another cliffhanger here, as Spidey, the Goblin, and Silvermane seem to be plummeting to their deaths.

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Green Grows the Goblin!

Spidey continues to tangle with the Goblin while his Aunt May needs him in the hospital! Oh, the drama!

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Goblin in the Middle

There’s a bit character in here named Murray Futterman. This also ended up being the name of a dude in Gremlins, six years later.

While Pete is off looking for the Goblin, Aunt May suffers another heart attack!

I was surprised to see Silvermane’s return — I was pretty sure he was dead. I guess it didn’t stick.

Another cliffhanger ending, with the Goblin about to reveal Spidey’s secret identity to all of New York’s underworld.

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He Who Laughs Last…!

This issue picks up right after the end of the last, with Spidey bringing JJJ back to safety. The next morning, Aunt May has a heart attack while fighting a cop.

Later, the Green Goblin finally makes his appearance, and the issue ends with him tossing Flash Thompson out of a window. Len Wein wants me to think the Goblin is Harry Osborn, but I suspect otherwise…

This issue was really good, and got back to a lot of the personal lives of the characters, and more interesting back-story stuff.

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Big Apple Battleground!

I have a problem with the Punisher appearing in Spidey comics. The Punisher is all about killing bad guys. That’s his schtick. But, when he teams up with Spider-Man, we’re always supposed to believe that Spider-Man is able to stop him from killing for this one mission. It makes no sense at all, and it’s a cheapening of the Punisher’s character.

Looks like the Green Goblin is back — but who is behind the mask?!?!

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The Hitman’s Back in Town!

I read this a couple weeks ago and am only now getting around to reviewing it. I can’t really remember it too well, but after quickly reskimming it, here are my thoughts:

• Those Hostess things can’t go where I read them — this issue starts with Peter coming home immediately after his battle with Molten Man.
• I’m excited about what’s going on with Harry and his shrink.
• I don’t really dig stupid Marla Madison, she’s all kinds of boring. They really need to give her some sort of personality.

The issue ends with JJJ having been kidnapped by the Hitman, flying away from Spidey and the Punisher.

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The Fiend from the Fire!

If You Can’t Stand the Heat…!
Writer: Len Wein
Illustrator: Ross Andru
Embellisher: Jim Mooney
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: John Costanza
Originally published: October 1977

Rocket Racer was incredibly lame, but after his extremely brief appearance, the books got into a solid Molten Man story. I totally enjoyed these, mostly because we’re finally seeing some character development and villains that actually interact and impact the lives of Peter and his friends.

Spidey gets shot at the beginning of the #173, which is pretty cool.

Andru’s Molten Man art is really awesome, especially this panel:

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Photon is Another Name for…?

Man, this was kind of a disappointing conclusion. It really doesn’t feel like Len Wein has a handle on the whole whodunnit thing as well as Marv Wolfman did. Wein’s contribution had way too much fighting and jetting around, and not anywhere near enough suspense or intrigue.

This is the last Amazing for awhile…looks like I have a ton of Marvel Team-Up to put up with.

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The Absorbing Man is Out for Blood!!

The Hulk battles the Absorbing Man, who has been hired by some weirdos. These same weirdos were also responsible for the Orb (who fought Spidey and Ghost Rider in Marvel Team-Up 15), and Stegron’s ark (in Marvel Team-Up 19 and 20). In this issue, Spidey appears in flashbacks to those stories.

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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.

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Confrontation

It’s a new night, which means I could have presumably shoved those two issues I moved into here. Oh well.

Pete’s done something very clever with those photos Jameson had. He recreated them using existing photos of himself and Spidey, so that when Jameson confronted him about it, he could simply prove that they’ve been doctored. Interestingly, one of the shots Pete used is of him and MJ on a beach, which means that the vacation from that last Hostess ad may have happened!

There’s still no explanation for who took and sent the original shots of Spidey and Ben, though.

At the end, Dr. Faustus – who I saw in Captain America 224 with the Tarantula – shows up.

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Murder on the Wind!

Spider-Slayer gets defeated!

Peter gets the pictures, and see that they show him dumping Ben Reilly, and clearly show Ben’s unmasked face. Pete cooks up a plan, though, that cooks Jameson’s goose.

Will-o’-the-Wisp is apparently under the control of one Jonas Harrow, creator of both Hammerhead and the Kangaroo. In the end, Harrow ends up destroying ol’ Will.

Decent issue, not as good as the last.

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…Stalked by the Spider-Slayer!

JJJ, Dr. Marla Madison, and their Spectacular Spider-Slayer are back! We’re also introduced to a new super-powered character, Will-o’-the-Wisp. Is he hero? Villain? He robs 30 Rock, but he’s doing it against his will. Hmm…

We finally see Harry’s psychoanalyst, Dr. Barton Hamilton.

The best part of this issue is that Aunt May has become politically active, and is shown marching and protesting for old people’s rights! As MJ says, “Right on, Aunt May! Sock it to ‘em kid!”. Another awesome moment comes when Spidey oversteps his welcome with Robbie Robertson, and causes the usually calm and collected city editor to snap at him. It was a really interesting moment.

Also, I totally forgot that JJJ had pictures of Spidey dumping Ben Reilly! Shit! Spidey steals them, but they accidentally end up in the hands of Will.

There was a lot that I loved about this issue!

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War of the Reptile-Men!

As I suspected, Jonah’s goings-on with a certain Dr. Marla Madison were for the creation of a new Spider-Slayer robot.

Harry and Liz Allen are engaged!

Stegron did decide to “clothe [his] long-tailed brothersss with flesh once more” and he plans to clone more, so i guess South Pole dinosaurs are not necessary.

Pretty boring issue, unfortunately. I like dinosaurs, but this just didn’t really have any oomph to it. One thing I did quite enjoy was that the Lizard still tried to protect Billy Connors – it was a nice bit of humanity showing through, which I hope gets explored more.

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Stegron Stalks the City

Stegron’s plan is dumb. In a world with real dinosaurs, why is he choosing to reanimate the skeletons of dead ones? I guess it might be a little more convenient than getting them from the south pole again, but it hardly seems as effective. The whole reanimated dinosaur thing is very Night at the Museum-y, BTW:

This issue was mostly a setup for the next, in which we’ll get to see Stegron and the Lizard fight. The behind-the-scenes stuff – MJ and Pete having a heart-to-heart, JJJ cooking up something dastardly, etc. – was all far more interesting than any of the Stegron stuff. Hopefully the big confrontation next issue will be a little bit better.

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Deadline!

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

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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”.

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Day of the Demolisher! / War in Washington! / Battle with the Bionic Berserker!

This City–Afire!
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artists: Sal Buscema, Mike Esposito
Letters: Jean Hipp
Colors: Don Warfield
Originally published: July 1976

I Have to Fight the Basilisk!
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: Ron WIlson
Inker: Dan Adkins
Letters: I. Watanabe
Colors: D. Warfield
Originally published: July 1976

I was skeptical about how Two-in-One 27 comes before 17, but and it turned out it shouldn’t.

(Two-in-One #27 – Wrong order as I suspected. It contains a flashback of Spidey’s re-arrival in the “present”, which is in the right spot I guess, but the main story isn’t.)

Two-in-One #17 – Spidey is back in his own time, FORGETS EVERYTHING and, with the Thing, fights the Basilisk.

MJ is so frazzled she forgets how to speak!

Marvel Team-Up #47 – Still fighting the Basilisk. The Basilisk survived his earlier lava bath with protection from the Omega Stone. This issue is pretty much half flashback, it’s lame.

These issues were a bitter disappointment after all the time-traveling fun in the last couple.
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Let the Punisher Fit the Crime!

Not bad issue wrapping up the whole Punisher/Nightcrawler thing. The bad guy turned out to be Jigsaw, whose origin I saw back in Punisher: Year One. Nice to see that story come around finally. This was not really anything special, to be honest, but it certainly wasn’t bad.

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…And the Nightcrawler Came Prowling, Prowling

Holy Hannah! Somebody mailed JJJ photos of Spidey dumping the clone’s body into the incinerator chimney! And they show Ben’s face!

This was a decent issue that introduced a bunch of the new X-Men – it featured Nightcrawler, but we also got appearances by Colossus and Wolverine (yeah!). Also present was the Punisher. It felt more like an issue of Team-Up than Amazing, except that it was pretty good.

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My Killer, The Car!

This is some of the worst art I’ve ever seen from Ross Andru. I know there are/were a lot of Ross-bashers out there, but I’ve never really had a problem with him. This issue, though, he is just the pits.

This issue features my beloved Spider-Mobile turning against Spider-Man. It’s very much like that Futurama episode where Bender becomes a car, only dumber and not funny. It also retcons the Terrible Tinkerer so he isn’t an alien, which makes absolutely no sense when you consider his previous appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #2. Finally, other than a brief and useless visit with Aunt May, this issue doesn’t feature anything from Pete’s personal life.

To borrow some automotive phraseology (in honour of the Spider-Mobile and its ignoble demise), this book was a total lemon.

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“Step Into My Parlor…” / “…Said the Spider to the Fly!”

Well, the newspaper in this issue says February 27 1976, but we’ll just ignore that.

After a big, long Ross Andru stretch, Gill Kane’s art looks positively weird. I must say, I disapprove. Kane’s line work always bothers me, and his JJJ in this issue looks terrible. I do like the character designs for Harlan Stillwell and the Human Fly, though.

I realize this is a king-size annual or whatever, but it’s a bit of overkill to spend two whole pages on Spidey approaching a building a discussing said approach. That just reeked of filler. Once this issue got going it was pretty good, but it leaned too heavily on action and the A-plot, with no real B- or C-plots to be found. It would have been nice to touch on Peter Parker’s personal life bit, or something other than the Human Fly stuff.

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Arm-in-Arm-in-Arm-in-Arm-in-Arm-in-Arm with Doctor Octopus

Well, the explanation for Hammerhead is that the nuclear explosion made him “out of phase”. Fine. That’s terrible, but I guess no more insane than a radioactive spider giving somebody super powers. I just hate when characters come back to life when they really, truly should be dead. It would be more palatable if either Doc Ock or Hammerhead to return, but for both to survive a nuclear explosion — in completely different ways, mind you — is just annoying.

Hammerhead is supposedly killed off again in this issue, but I definitely don’t believe it.

The one kind of cool thing was seeing Spider-Man and Doc Ock team up a little bit to fight Hammerhead and protect Aunt May. Unfortunately, this was stretched to a somewhat incredible point. Doc Ock is Spider-Man’s arch-enemy. He killed Capt. Stacy, he’s kidnapped Aunt May (and in the past, intended to kill her), and he’s fought Spidey a number of times. Having them help each other in a fight is one thing, but having them actually become a team is ridiculous. Especially against a villain like Hammerhead who, despite what Len and others try to tell us, is really not that intimidating. Spidey should easily be able to take him out alone. It just pissed me off.

On the upside – the Kingpin has and is restoring the Spider-Mobile!

I think I’m going to add the first Spidey/Superman crossover story in here, treat it as canon and part of the whole Amalgam thing. It features Doc Ock, and would kinda/sorta give an explanation for why we don’t see Ock for ages after this.

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