Not all of them though, the deceased Mrs. Jameson was introduced as a Spider Slayer builder. Also, Smythe's son would eventually take on the mantle.

And yet, the spider sense doesn't tingle, quite some reliable power you got working there, Petey. I was totally oblivious to these early cameos, they look more like an inside joke than anything else.

Of the mistakes you mention, the first one really irritated me.

My only real beef with this issue is the ending. That bit were Peter, is able to trick his audience, into thinking they were actually seeing Spider-Man wrestle the robot, when it was just him playing puppet master, is less credible than his wall crawling. 

The Amazing Spider-Man #26 (July 1965)



"The Man In The Crime-Master's Mask!"
Script: Stan Lee
Plot: Steve Ditko
Art: Steve Ditko
Letters: Sam Rosen
Cover: Steve Ditko

Summary: After hours in the Parker house, Peter snoops through every trash can and cupboard in the house but has no luck finding his costume. The only place it could be is in Aunt May's room but he can't get in there until morning. He wonders what Jameson did with his other costume and falls asleep.

On a pier the Green Goblin is meeting with a masked man calling himself the Crime-Master. They had made a deal to work together to take over the city's underworld but the Crime-Master is backing out, even though they'd shown each other their identities. Gobby declares war on him. The Crime-Master throws a message in the window of a mob hideout, a warning to relinquish their rackets to the Crime Master. Elsewhere, a gangster is woken up in bed with a phone call. The Crime-Master tells him to look out his window, where is car explodes. The Crime-Master tells the stunned gangster that he's taking over. Word of the Crime-Master quickly spreads around the city's underworld.

As dawn breaks Foswell changes out of his "working clothes," which he stashed in a secret compartment in his closet, and gets ready for work. Elsewhere, Peter tries to find out from Aunt May where his costume is being kept but she doesn't even want to discuss it. At the Bugle Betty is still mad at him for turning on Spider-Man and they have a very loud argument about Spider-Man, Ned Leeds, Liz Allan and Mary Jane. Jonah busts out and tells Peter to scram. He tells Foswell that he wants him to do a feature story on the Goblin and the Crime-Master, since he's been building the file on the pair. Peter slips a tracer into Foswell's hat to keep an eye on him.

At school Flash makes fun of Peter's cowardice from last issue and Peter, already pushed to his limit, tackles him. He fights Flash's entire gang until Liz manages to pull them apart. She tells them she's through with both of them and leaves. To make matters worse, Principal Davis saw Peter attack Flash out his window and wants to see him in his office. Flash's friends excitedly wonder if Peter will get expelled and Flash tells them he's going to try and make things right with Liz. In reality he's gone to meet with Principal Davis and tell him what really happened.

The Crime-Master busts in on a mob hideout. He shoots their boss and beats up the rest to make an example of them, as they had defied his warnings. Across town, one of Jameson's buddies asks how he can afford to take time away from his paper when the Crime-Master story is still developing. Jameson says he relies on his staff and his inside information. His horribly-haired buddy asks him if he's wise to trust Foswell, a notorious criminal. Jameson says that he's all heart and besides, Foswell works like a dog.

With no other options, Peter has been forced to buy a one-size-fits-all Spidey costume from a costume shop. It doesn't fit particularly well and needs to be webbed together. As he approaches Foswell's apartment the Goblin flies past, neither party noticing the other. Spidey sneaks in through the window and finds Foswell's clothes and hat but no Foswell. Outside, the Crime-Master has come to the apartment and sees the light in the window. Someone is inside! Deciding he will always be a threat, he fires his gun into the window. Spider sense saves our hero and he leaps out after his attacker. He is able to dodge all six shots but the Crime-Master hits him with gas. The gas numbs Spidey and the Crime-Master punches him off the building. The Crime-Master turns away triumphant while Spidey pulls off his mask to get some air. He throws out a webline and saves himself then heads up to the roof again but the Crime-Master is gone.

Spidey heads over to the Bugle to see if Foswell is in but he only finds Betty reading another letter from Ned. He takes the opportunity to search Jameson's office for his costume but no luck. When Jameson finds him he asks for it and Jameson tells him that Smythe took it. Spidey knows where Smythe lives and makes a mental note to find him. He heads back to Foswell's apartment for another look around. He notices that his calendar features a waterfront scene and has a specific location marked. He decides to investigate.

The underworld leaders agree that one of them should meet the Crime-Master and here is proposition. At that meeting the Crime-Master tells the crook that he'll hold a meeting at the spot marked on Foswell's calendar. Later, a stool pigeon named Patch tells the police about the meeting. The police chief tells his men to watch the situation and gather evidence, as none of the bosses have officially committed a crime.

At the waterfront Spidey watches the mob bosses file into the warehouse, not realizing that on a nearby rooftop the Goblin is confronting the Crime-Master. He's pissed that the Crime-Master has cut him out of his own scheme and while he can't kill him (as the Crime-Master has the Goblin's identity stashed in a secret deposit box that will be discovered if he dies) he does have other options. The Goblin spots Spider-Man lurking amongst the rooftops and quickly slams his glider straight down on him to stun him before knocking him unconscious with a pumpkin bomb. He tries to unmask Spidey but he can't, as Spidey has webbed his mask to his shirt (because it kept slipping).

The Crime-Master arrives at the warehouse and starts his meeting but the Goblin shows up with his ace in the hole: Spider-Man.

Observations: As good as the last two issues were, they have nothing on this. The Green Goblin continues to try and take over the crime rackets. While last time he relied on the police for assistance, here he gets in bed with the mysterious Crime-Master to try and take over together (with eventually betrayal obviously being his goal). The Goblin proves to be less effective as he was last time, as he is quickly betrayed and made a bit of a chump initially. That changes at the end where he finally defeats Spider-Man and quickly moves up near the top of the heap in terms of villainy goes. By this point he still hasn't really committed any crime. Yes he's conspired to take over the rackets and yes he's tried to take on Spider-Man but so far he hasn't killed anyone, robbed a bank, taken over a nuclear facility, etc. He's stuck to the background, playing his cards carefully which makes him a more lethal and calculating villain. His secret identity actually factors into the plot (with his alter ego making another appearance) and by this point the mystery angle is really played up. Who is the Goblin? Who is the Crime-Master? Is Foswell one of them? Foswell has a pretty major secret in this issue and it's a really exciting mystery.

Peter continues to prove to be an unconventional hero, having lost both of his costumes and being forced to buy a costume-shop duplicate! The costume fitting poorly was a nice touch and also gave an explanation for Spidey being captured without being unmasked (nice to Ditko to actually take that into consideration). The spider tracer receiver continues to show up when Peter uses it but now it's revealed to be kept on his belt under his costume rather than hung around his neck, which justifies its absence from the artwork.

Peter's turbulent relationship with Betty Brant hits a new low as they publicly argue about everything that has been bothering them: Peter seeing Liz Allan and Mary Jane behind her back, Betty showing more concern for Ned Leeds and Spider-Man than she does Peter. It's ugly and long overdue. The couple haven't had a real argument before and it could either save them or ruin them.

Overall this issue is a classic. It has a moody, almost noir-ish vibe, a great mystery and a killer cliffhanger ending. 5/5

Other notes:
- The Green Goblin makes his fourth, the first villain to make do so (unless you count cameos and Mysterio's holograms).
- This issue appears to take place almost immediately after the last, as it's unlikely that Peter would only begin searching for his costume a month after it was confiscated. With the next issue obviously following up on this one immediately that means we have four months worth of stories covering only a few days. This is important, as it means Ned Leeds is only four months into his six month trip despite having been gone for six months in real time.
- In today's age of zero tolerance it's likely both Flash and Peter would have been expelled for their fight. Peter being excused from attacking Flash just because he was being teased is unheard of.
- Third appearance of Norman Osborn with his first line of dialog. He specifically asks about Foswell which is pretty interesting. Foswell is currently the lead suspect in the Crime-Master mystery and to modern eyes it looks as if the Goblin is asking about the rival. Of course, in 1965 nobody suspected this guy of being the Green Goblin so that connection wasn't made but Norman's interest in Foswell is interesting anyway, as the Goblin previously provided information to Foswell.
- The costume Peter buys is made of one of those "new stretch fabrics." He is probably referring to spandex, which first appeared on the market in 1962.
- This is the first cliffhanger ending of the entire series.

The whole "we'd see it under his costume" also applies to his belt, camera, signal and webshooters.

Heres that panel scanned from the 2013 edition of the omnibus:



Excuse the low quality, it was a pain holding the book on my flatbed.

The camera, as seen now, is still a fairly large square. Ditko's art shows no indication of the camera under his costume. Same goes for the webshooters. There would be some bulging at the wrists. So for now I'm willing to buy that the receiver clips onto the belt somewhere.

As for Osborn, my scan doesn't show it but he has the exact same hair. It's drawn with the weird center-parted cornrows (clearly visible in the enlarged art featured in the digitally printed omnibus) and is the same color (which is completely accurate to the original colors used in the issues, as is the case in all Cory Sedlmeier-edited books). Facial likeness is also similar with squinty eyes and a squared chin. It's clearly the same guy, with the same hair and the same association with Jameson, from issue to issue and when Osborn is eventually introduced he has the same hair, the same face and is immediately established as being a friend of Jameson's from their executives club. So what makes more sense, that Ditko had previously featured a man with red cornrows at Jameson's club and later introduced another member of Jameson's club with the same haircut but who wasn't the guy seen earlier or that Ditko was thinking ahead and put Osborn in these club scenes. The latter is the only option that makes sense and if Ditko's own word isn't good enough then I don't know what is.

The Amazing Spider-Man #28 (September 1965)



"The Menace Of The Molten Man!"
Script: Stan Lee
Editor: Stan Lee
Plot: Steve Ditko
Art: Steve Ditko
Letters: Sam Rosen
Borders: Sam Rosen
Cover: Steve Ditko

Summary: At the beginning of his last day at Midtown High Peter is hailed by Principal Davis. He tells Peter that Flash told him everything about their fight the other day. Peter is appreciative of Davis telling him and Flash being so noble. He spots Liz and tries to say hi but she tells Peter (not "Petey") that she's busy. He bumps into Flash and thanks him for talking with the Principal but Flash blows it off. After school Pete sees Liz shun Flash as well and is happy she's not just bad at him, although he's worried that something is wrong with her.

But he has more pressing business. He brings a couple of parcels to Spencer Smythe's house. Smythe remembers him from the Bugle and welcomes him in. The robot immediately attacks Peter and Smythe actually asks if he's Spider-Man but Peter thought ahead: One of his parcels is a jar of spiders for his research. Smythe deactivates the machine and the doorbell rings. Peter takes the opportunity to switch his phony costume, stashed in the other parcel, with the real one. Smythe comes back in the lab with a man named Raxton. Raxton takes a jar of yellow liquid, an alloy the two created, and plans to sell it to the highest bidder. The two struggle and Smythe activates the robot while Raxton breaks the jar. Peter is trapped and can only watch as the alloy spills on Raxton and turns him gold. He leaves to see a doctor while Peter using his web to deactivate the robot. Smythe is unconscious and doesn't notice anything.

Out on the street Raxton gets in a bit of a traffic incident and smashes a car with his bare hands. The cops are alerted and Raxton runs back to his apartment. He plans to cash in on his new powers with big crimes and doesn't want to blow it. But Spider-Man (back in his original duds) shows up and wants him to turn himself in before he gets in real trouble. The two fight and Raxton (calling himself a Molten Man) turns out to be one of the toughest foes Spidey has faced yet. Impossibly strong and durable and with skin so slick webbing slides off it, he tackles Spidey through a door and down a flight of stairs. Spidey is cornered in the basement but he knocks out the lights, leaving Raxton swinging blind in the dark. Spidey works up some extra thick web ropes and uses the know-how of any Boy Scout worth his salt to tie up Raxton at his wrists and ankles. Leaving him for the cops Spidey swings off to his graduation.

Aunt May is extremely proud of him and knows Uncle Ben would have been proud as well, as Peter is graduating with honors. Absent from the ceremony is Betty Brant, who is still angry with Peter. Principal Davis announces the two scholarships to Empire State University: Flash Thompson for athletics and Peter Parker for science (a reward for having scored the highest scholastic average in the school's history). Even though he has to go with Flash Pete is thrilled that he is able to go to college for free. The scholarship announcements are followed by a droning speech from J Jonah Jameson that puts everybody to sleep.

After the ceremony Jameson schmoozes up to Peter and Aunt May (wishing to keep Peter as his photographer). Disgusted by his attempts at kindness Peter leaves to have a heart-to-heart with Liz. Now that they won't be seeing each other anymore, Liz spills it: She had a full blown crush on him but he always preferred Betty Brant and Mary Jane. She assumes he never really liked her because he thought of her as a ditzy blonde, but now that she's graduating she wants to leave that part of her life behind as well. Her parents call for her and she wishes Petey good luck for a final time.

Jameson finally stops badgering Aunt May and reminds Peter that he still pays top rates for photos. May, Mrs. Watson and Peter take one last look at the school and leave. The narration promises that this isn't an ending as much as it is a new beginning.

Observations: Talk about a milestone! While it took Robin the Boy Wonder 29 years to graduate from high school it only took Peter Parker three. Looking back it's astonishing how brief it really was. We're only thirty issues in (including AF #15 and the Annual) and we're done with high school. Considering how much media tends to linger on these early years it's a shock to see it go by so quickly. The soap opera emphasis of Marvel can't be mistaken. Peter's parting with Liz Allan is surprisingly emotional. She started out as a typical upper-class twit with a dumb jock boyfriend and over the last 28 issues has developed a surprising amount of self-awareness. She realizes that she has been an upper-class twit (and actually started feeling bad for Peter a couple of years ago) and knows now that if she had carried the qualities she admires Peter for he might have liked her in return. She takes Peter's rejection of her as a reason to change and become a person who Peter might have liked. Her goodbye is bittersweet and you get the feeling Peter wishes he'd been able to get to know Liz a little bit more during the last few years. Personally I think Liz was a much better fit for Peter than Betty ever was. Betty, it turns out, is still cranky and doesn't even show up at Peter's graduation.

If I have any misgivings about the high school era it's that the supporting cast was quite small. Going into college we're keeping Flash and losing Liz. I think the transition would feel a little more significant if we were losing more than one character but that would mean having to develop more than two classmates. Still, it works and college is enough of a revelation as it is.

Amidst all of this it's easy to forget about the Molten Man. He's probably the biggest villain to come out of this portion of the Ditko run and it isn't saying much. Here he has no characterization other than "jerk" and while he makes for a cool visual he's completely unspectacular otherwise. I have to admit I have a bit of a soft spot because the first Spider-Man comic I ever read (and one of two comics I was able to read as a child) was Web of Spider-Man #62, which featured the Molten Man. It was cool in that issue to see him lock Spidey in a fridge and drop him down an elevator shaft but here there just isn't much. The way Spidey defeats him is pretty neat though. It's more interesting than simply outpunching him as he did with Scorpion.

In the end this issue is a mixed bag. After the glory days of the last few issues it's a let down on the Spidey front but the finale to the high school era more than makes up for the lackluster Molten Man plot. The jawdropping cover earns it an extra point. 4/5

Other notes:
- Stan's wacky credits now credit Sam Rosen as having "bordered" the issue. This refer to the letterer's practice of inking all of the panel borders. It's very strange that this job of all things would get a credit but Stan still seems to have difficulty with Ditko being credited more than everyone else.
- Weirdly, the series has stopped progressing in real time. The last five issues have spanned less than two weeks, maybe even less than a week. The stories are also much more interconnected than they had been previously.

I also wonder what that was about. Maybe he was bluffing? He knew they were in a stalemate, but following that course of action, with a safe deposit box, was a sound plan. Maybe he just thought about it at that moment, in the heath of the discussion, but didn't finally got to implementing it. I know, it's weak. I'm just trying to defend, what's probably the best plot of the Lee-Ditko era.

Curiously enough, he was reintroduced as a supporting character for ASM, in Fantastic Four #207.

No argument this time, even in Marvel Tales #165, you can clearly see it's him.