The Graduation of Peter Parker

This story is supposedly about Peter’s graduation, but once he gets there he discovers — shock of all shocks — he is not graduating. At least not yet. It seems he forgot to take a gym class, and now he’ll have to make it up in the summer and graduate in September.

This was just filler and a tease. Why take away Pete’s graduation from him? From my point of view, it would have been nice to actually see him get through graduation successfully.

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Spider, Spider, Burning Bright!

Spidey saves himself from that last predicament by covering himself in flame-retardant webbing and leaping free. Eventually he beats the White Dragon in a fairly boring showdown.

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White Dragon! Red Death!

Holy calamity, everything’s going down the shitter — Betty Brant left Ned! And now, she’s after dear ol’ recently-dumped Petey.

In other news, apparently John Jameson is ill and in cryogenic stasis. That’s weird.

The issue ends with Spider-Man boiling to death in a vat of burning oil. Good stuff!

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…And Where the Big Wheel Stops, Nobody Knows!

Spider-Man scares Aunt May into having a seizure / heart attack, and MJ rejects Pete’s proposal and dumps him. Harsh! If only the actual action and Spidey stuff in this issue had been interesting, it would have been a real winner. Sigh.

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The Rocket Racer’s Back in Town!

Finally we see MJ again, who apparently just lives in the hospital with Aunt May. We also learn that Spider-Man’s webbing has been getting weaker, which is interesting. Generally speaking, this issue was fairly boring.

EXCEPT THAT PETER PROPOSES TO MJ OMGZOZR!!11!

If not for that, this issue would get a 2. However, a proposal is a big deal, so it gets bumped up a whole 1.5 stars/spiders.

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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 Battle of the Century!

Here’s why I am considering this story canon:

1. Wikipedia says the whole Marvel/DC thing with the brothers starts because they become aware of each other due to previous crossovers. This is a previous crossover, meaning it has some bearing on that event and can be considered to have happened in some form.
2. Uatu makes reference to this crossover in What If? v1 #1, saying “and, doubts exist as to whether Spider-Man’s spectacular bout with a certain colorfully-clad alien took place in this time continuum or another”, which I think allows lots of wiggle room.
3. Access (Axel Asher) can solve any results from this because he can time travel and he loves fixing universes. Just because we haven’t seen the merged universes get repaired, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

Is my placement right? I think it could be. We’re at a fairly large break in terms of the story in Amazing, and this book is explicitly set in the winter. I think it all works. Betty Brant and Ned Leeds are at the World News Conference, but this may be a small business trip away from Paris, or it could be a result of the crazy world-merging. I think I’m good for placement.

The story is split into three prologues (one for Superman, one for Spider-Man, and one for Luthor and Doc Ock), then four chapters of main story, and an epilogue.

This issue is f-ing badass. The art is fantastic! Doc Ock has a really sweet “flying octopus” ship, MJ & Lois go to outer space, Superman uses a sonic wave to counteract a tsunami. Ugh, this thing just rocks the whole way through.

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Madness is all in the Mind!

Faustus makes Spidey go nuts.

In a far more interesting development, somebody rents the Parker house, believing it holds an important secret! Oh my!

This was a pretty boring issue, overall. Not really bad or anything, it just didn’t have much going for 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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Pull of the Prodigy

This is “a special Planet Parenthood issue of the Amazing Spider-Man”, released by Marvel and Planned Parenthood. I think I read it in the wrong spot, based on when it was published.

Spidey stumbles on a plan to “recruit and robotize” teenagers from around the country. The big boss of this operation is an alien known as the Prodigy, from the planet Intellectia in the Andromeda galaxy. His voice has the power to brainwash, thanks to exposure to radiation and heat in Earth’s ionosphere.

So, with all this power and a plan to brainwash youth, what does the Prodigy do? Read on…

I think this comic really has to speak for itself, so here is some more awesomeness… including a Twinkie reference!

Overall this was pretty weak. Other than the fact that it’s kinda weird and interesting to see Spidey and others talk about sex and teen pregnancy, this book doesn’t have much to offer (as a comic – the lessons are, of course, top notch).

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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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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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