The Lords of Light and Darkness
Plot: Bill Mantlo, Chris Claremont, Bonnie Wilford

Well, I was really digging this book for almost the whole thing. The idea of scientists becoming Hindu gods was fairly original and cool. Unfortunately the end was crazy lame. Everybody links powers (and hands!) to come up with some crazy ass mutant Rube Goldberg device to send the gods up to heaven. Barf town. If it hadn’t been for that, I probably would have given this a 4. As it stands, it gets a 3.

One cool fact is that all the X-Men now seem to know Spidey’s secret identity.

Rating:

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.

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:

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).

Rating:

Spider-Man! in The Spider-Man and the Fly!

November 1976:
Ringo Kid #30, Defenders #41, Avengers #153, Eternals #5, Tomb of Dracula #50…

December 1976:
Conan the Barbarian #69, Defenders #42, Ka-Zar #19…

Hostess ad that appeared in November and December 1976, in the titles above and most likely others. Based on publication date, I read this in the wrong order.

I think the villain in this is the same as the Human Fly, who we’ve seen before, and who later shortens his name to simply “The Fly”. The costume is fairly similar, so I’m going to go with it.

Spidey awakens as a prisoner of the Fly, apparently after being thrown from the top of the Empire State Building. Spidey breaks free of his bonds, and distracts the Fly with some delicious Hostess Twinkies.

It was good to see a real super-villain, but like the last outing, this comic didn’t make a lot of sense and had really weak dialogue.

Rating:

Spider-Man and the “Twinkie Takers”

May 1976:
Conan the Barbarian #62, Howard the Duck #3, Master of Kung-Fu #40, Marvel Two-in-One #15, Marvel Triple Action #29…

June 1976:
Champions #6…

Hostess ad that appeared in May and June 1976, in the titles above and most likely others. Based on publication date, I read this in the wrong order.

Awesome things about this comic:

1. The supermarket that the “Twinkie Takers” are robbing has a “Twinkies Only” check-out aisle.
2. Peter Parker knows all about how Twinkies aren’t stored, but are always fresh — but the Twinkie Takers don’t!

Unfortunately, despite these strong points, this was a rather weak effort. The whole thing wasn’t nearly as believable as past efforts (sad but true!), and the dialogue was far too ham-fisted. We’re also back to nameless crooks, after that one appearance by Man-Mountain Marko.

Rating:

Spider-Man and the Cupcake Caper

March 1976:
Champions #4, Howard the Duck #2, Defenders #33, Conan the Barbarian #60, Master of Kung-Fu #38, My Love #39, Marvel Triple Action #28, Amazing Spider-Man #154…

April 1976:
Master of Kung Fu #39, Conan the Barbarian #61, Defenders #34, Power Man and Iron Fist #30, Black Goliath #2, Ka-Zar #15, Amazing Spider-Man #155…

Hostess ad that appeared in March and April 1976, in the titles above and most likely others. Based on publication date, I read this in the wrong order.

Pete spots his old foe, Man Mountain Marko, outside MJ’s apartment. Explaining that he needs to get milk for their Hostess Cup Cakes, Pete takes off to defeat MMM. When he gets back, MJ greets him with a little jab about how the cupcakes are better than him.

This was a great ad. I love that they brought back Man Mountain Marko for it, and that they captured the rockiness of MJ and Pete’s relationship and her frustration with his constant disappearances. Good stuff.

Rating:

Spider-Man and the Kidnap Caper

January 1976:
Defenders #31, Master of Kung-Fu #36, Marvel’s Greatest Comics #61, Champions #2, Amazing Spider-Man #152…

February 1976:
Black Goliath #1, Power Man and Iron Fist #29, Master of Kung-Fu #37, Weird Wonder Tales #14, Son of Satan #2, Conan the Barbarian #59, Super Villain Team-Up #4, Champions #3, Amazing Spider-Man #153…

Hostess ad that appeared in January and February 1976, in the titles above and most likely others. Based on publication date, I read this in the wrong order.

In this installment, Aunt May is missing. When Peter gets home, he finds out she’s been kidnapped by some nameless crooks and is being ransomed for $50k. As Spidey, he goes to do the exchange but, instead of bringing the money Spidey brings along a suitcase full of Twinkies.

There are some interesting things about this ad. First, Pete is shown to be living in his current (according to the publication date) apartment, the one with the skylight. That is a nice attention to detail. Second, Spidey slips up and calls May “Aunt May” in front of the crooks, thereby possibly giving away his secret identity. Finally, Aunt May, after being rescued by Spider-Man, doesn’t seem to hate Spidey as much as she has in the past (and possibly future?).

I liked all those details above, so this gets a good rating!

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:

Five Villains in Search of a Plot / The Duck and the Defenders

Pete and MJ give Howard the Duck and Beverly Switzler directions. Waaaugh.

(Why is Tillie the Hun a Nazi? That’s really weird.)

Rating:

The Trial of the Wraith!

Finally the conclusion of the Wraith storyline, after that truly bizarre and misplaced Spider-Woman break. It feels good to be back to Spider-Man stuff.

Courtroom drama unfolds at the trial of Brian and Phillip DeWolf. Despite a lot of action, the issue was fairly boring. Kind of a letdown after a fairly interesting start to the arc.

This issue had an extremely weird ending, where it was revealed that the judges trying the case had telepathic and telekinetic powers, and then cut to a random scene of the Hulk bounding around the New Mexico desert.

Rating:

The Mystery of the Wraith!

This issue was a fairly good almost-conclusion to the whole Wraith storyline, but there was far too much exposition for me. Still satisfying, but not the home run I was hoping for.

Rating:

Madness is All in the Mind!

Man, the Wraith is a really awesome bad guy. He’s got crazy sweet powers. And, we learn this issue, that he might be the ghost of Jean DeWolff’s brother! :O

Great issue, I’m loving this Bill Mantlo stretch on Team-Up.

Rating:

A Fine Night for Dying!

Great issue that kept up the mystery the whole way through. Bill Mantlo has a great sense of pacing. I also really loved Capt. DeWolff’s character, she was great (and so was her car).

This would have received a 4.5, except that there were a couple panels that irked me. A no-prize to anyone who can guess why.

Rating:

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.
Rating:

A Past Gone Mad!

Death in the Year Before Yesterday!
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Illustrators: Sal Buscema, Mike Esposito
Letters: K. Mantlo
Colors: J. Cohen
Originally published: April 1976

Future-Shock!
Story: Bill Mantlo
Art: Sal Buscema, Mike Esposito
Letters: Jean Izzo
Colors: George Roussos
Originally published: May 1976

…Am I Now or Have I Ever Been?
Story: Bill Mantlo
Art: Sal Buscema, Mike Esposito
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: P. Goldberg
Originally published: June 1976

After a brief interlude with that Family issue, we’re back to more time travelin! Woo!

Team-Up #43 – big, long, giant fight where Spidey, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Doom all get their asses kicked.

Team-Up #44 – Moondragon shows up, and together everyone is able to beat the Dark Rider. The “witches” of Salem, though, still hang.

Team-Up #45 – Total War of the Worlds story as Spidey is flung into the future to fight invading Martians with Killraven. It’s 2019, “just eighteen years since the second Martian invasion of Earth!” Oh snap!

Team-Up #46 – Still in the future, though now in the year 1990 (!!!), Spidey meets up with Deathlok and fights radioactive zombie kids and the government!

I did not like that the Scarlet Witch killed a cat in #43, but I guess I can live with it, since Spidey was in mortal peril. :(

These aren’t the most amazing stories ever, but shit, they’re a lot of fun. TIME TRAVEL!

Rating:

Visions of Hate!

No real explanation for how Vision arrived in the past, but I guess I’ll just assume he showed up at Doom’s castle and also used the time machine.

There’s crazy freaking action in this. The Scarlet Witch gets shot in the head! Great twist ending with Dr. Doom showing up too! Man, I love time travel stories.

Rating:

A Witch in Time!

• Evil, insane priest that shoots fire from a cross
• Possessed super-heroes
• Time travel to 1691
• Good times

Seriously, this is awesome. It’s kind of like 1602, which I loved (review probably coming eventually, BTW). I’m really looking forward to the next issues where this story continues.

Rating:

Through the Rat Hole– Into the Cat’s Lair!

I didn’t know what was going on, and I didn’t like it. It was super weird. It’s entirely possible I’d like it more if I had been reading it regularly.

Pete appears at the Bugle during one scene.

Rating:

Omega the Unknown

James-Michael Starling

el gato

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.

Rating:

…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.

Rating:

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.

Rating:

Earthshock! / Happy Landings, Power Man

This has a flashback to the time Spidey and the Punisher went to South America. I’m not a huge Luke Cage fan, and that’s not really enough Spider-Man material to keep me entertained. This was also looooong.

(…this is apparently June, so this is in the wrong spot I guess.)

Rating:

“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.

Rating: