Here's the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #10 for comparison…







I haven't re-read this issue yet, so I'm sort of relying on memory here. But I will say that this was never one of my favourite Spidey comics. The Big Man isn't especially memorable as a villain and, while the three Enforcers are colourful characters, they seem decidedly C-list after the likes of Dr. Octopus, the Vulture, the Lizard, and Electro. Still, the combination of their collective strength, agility, and roping prowess gives Spidey a run for his money.





Of course, this event will come back to bite Peter in the ass, when May is hospitalised again around issue #31 or #32; turns out the radioactive material in her blood, which she received from Peter during the blood transfusion in this issue, is killing her. This is during the Master Planner storyline.





I just checked this part out in my Taschen book: it's not Anna Watson that May goes to Florida with, but the Abbots. The Abbots live next door, apparently. I guess they are May's neighbours on the other side?

Of course, the character of Anna Watson hadn't been created yet, so I'm nitpicking really, but you know…I'm just trying to make it all fit with continuity.





I only have vague memories of this, without re-reading the issue again. But yeah, those of us who are fans of the Lee/Ditko run know exactly where this is all leading.





And doesn't Flash visit Aunt May with Liz, as well? There's a definite humanising of Flash's character that starts here, and which hints at hidden depths in the young man. Those depths will become evident as the '60s roll on.





Foswell is an interesting character. I'm not sure I like him terribly, but he is interesting – especially when he comes back a bit later on and assumes another secret identity.





This is the scene where Jameson admits to himself that he's jealous of Spider-Man, right? Jealous of how he's a superhero do-gooder, who helps people for no reward, whereas Jameson is a millionaire publisher whose only concern is money. I feel like having Jameson admit this was a pretty bold move on Stan and Steve's part, insofar as having the bad guy bear his soul like that must've been quite unusual for comics of the era. From today's perspective it's perhaps a little simplistic, but I reckon it's still as good a motivation as any. Spidey essentially makes Jameson feel bad about himself.





That is a much better cover, I agree.

I wasn't aware of Stan's comments on this (in issue #12 or wherever it was), but the in-story evidence doesn't support that at all.

As I noted in my comments on issue #9, New York had compulsory education laws that required people to stay in school until they were at least 16 in the 1960s. That was the earliest you could legally leave back then. So, given that Betty says she left high school last year, she must be 17 or maybe even 18. We know that Peter is 15-years-old at this point (that was established as canon at some point in the '80s and reiterated in Civil War in the 2000s), so there is definitely a 2 or 3 year age gap between them. Even if we disregard later writers, there's no way Peter is being written as 17 or 18 at this point in the comics: he's still at high school, for one thing, and if he was Betty's age, he'd have been at university (and that doesn't happen until ASM #31).

I still remember the first Spider-man comic I ever read too (or at least I've convinced myself that it was the first). It's from a bit later than issue 8, but still within the scope of this review thread, and I'll get to it eventually .  Somehow I have a better memory for things I read when I was a kid, than stuff I just read for the first time a week ago.  It's been fun recalling some of the details I remember about the first time I read these issues.  These are things that were probably always in the back of my mind, but it's the first time writing them down

I think Civil War really reinforced the idea that Peter had been Spider-man since he was 15 years old, but I definitely remember it being mentioned earlier.  I think ASM Annual 23 was the first place I read it, IIRC.  Depending what month his birthday was, he could have actually been 15 and a half, or even close to 16.  All we know is he was 15 when he became Spider-man, but could have turned 16 at any point during or after he first put on the costume in Amazing Fantasy 15.  I'm sure that's what any writer or reader who prefers a 16 year old Spidey to a 15 year old would come up with if they wanted to rationalize things to fit their personal preference.

What would the legal driving age be around the time these stories came out?  I know Peter doesn't drive at all in any issues while he's in high school, but I don't even think we've seen Flash driving a car yet (unless I blinked and missed it) 

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 11 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 148 )




“Turning Point” featuring “The Return of Dr. Octopus!”

Credits (as they appear in the comic):

“None but Stan Lee could have written this epic tale”
“None but Steve Ditko could have drawn such gripping scenes”
Lettered by S. Rosen
Colored by A. Yanchus


Plot Synopsis:

Dr. Octopus is back! Just as Peter Parker is ready to reveal his greatest secret to the woman he loves, Spider-man's deadliest enemy returns and threatens it all!




Comments:

After the events of last issue, Betty is still missing. Peter is concerned about her, but obviously Dr. Octopus and the threat he poses is the bigger priority here. Fortunately, as so often happens in these kinds of stories, the two seemingly unrelated plots converge. We learn that Betty Brant borrowed money to help settle her brother’s Bennett's gambling debts which is why she’s helping Dr. Octopus and gangster Blackie Gaxton.


Although this is the second time Spidey fights a returning villain, it is the first time one actually gets released from prison after serving his sentence. The Vulture could have probably just waited another week instead of going to such elaborate lengths to escape a few issues back. Spider-man does try to warn the prison Warden that this is a bad idea, but the opinion of a spider-powered crime-fighter isn't as credible as you'd think. Even though the Warden had high hopes for Otto's rehabilitation, Ock's thoughts reveal that he had no interest in ever going back to a mundane normal life now that he's had a taste of super-villainy! I don't think there are any other instances of Doc Ock being released from prison like this anywhere else in his long history, so hopefully the Warden learned his lesson. That doesn't explain all the other baddies who will be released from prison for reasons like this over the years though. I should also point out that Doc Ock is a super-villain who tried to take over a Nuclear Plant and threatened the city, but gets out of jail after a few months. Not sure what big time gangster Blackie Gaxton was actually convicted for, but he has to resort to getting out of prison the old fashioned way and arranges for a super villain to break him out






This is the first appearance of Betty’s brother Bennett and he’s killed the same issue. He does get referenced from time to time though. There’s also some more about him in more modern comics, but I won’t go into that here.  There actually hasn't been a whole lot of death so far in these early Spider-man issues.  Only three dead characters so far, by my count! 


Another major trademark gimmick gets introduced here. Spidey develops his spider-tracers and tracking device which he’ll use to keep tabs on Ock and other baddies in many future adventures. For such an iconic part of Spidey’s arsenal, the spider-tracers were surprisingly not used at all in the first 5 Spider-man movies, and when they finally appeared in the more recent ones they were drastically different than how they usually worked in the comics. Many of the cartoon versions featured these devices more accurately, and so did the live-action 1970s show.





The majority of the action for this issue takes place in Philadelphia where Spider-man is able to track Betty and Doc Ock. Spidey is famous for being a New York based hero, but in these early issues he’s made a few trips outside his usual locales. This issue only has one fight between Spider-man and Doctor Octopus, but it's a good one! Ock’s tentacles were damaged during his last battle with Spidey, but he’s managed to repair them since then. They’re still attached to his body though. He actually makes a point to mention that he has been practicing, so as dangerous as he was before, now he's even worse. The big fight scene at the end is set on a old steamer ship which Ock and Gaxton's crew are using to make their getaway. Spidey injures his ankle and doesn't even manage an actual victory over his enemy as Dr. Octopus escapes, to menace him again next issue.

. 
   


This won’t be the last time a story is referred to as a turning point, but it’s certainly appropriate for this one. There’s a lot going on, and there are a lot of real stakes. Peter is really serious about Betty and it’s the first time he really considers sharing his secret, but ultimately things don’t work out. We’ll see similar types of stories over the years with other love interests. Later writers will try to downplay Peter’s relationship with Betty, trying to play it as a simple schoolboy crush, but stories like this one are as serious as it gets!










Notable differences in the reprint:

There's some big changes right there on the cover! The cover is completely flipped so that Doc Ock is on the left and Spidey is on the right. There’ll be a few other instances of this in upcoming issues. I assume this has to do with the placement of the corner/UPC box which wouldn’t have been a factor at the time of the original publication. A cover caption which boasts "Another Spectacular Smash-hit from the House of Ideas!" is unfortunately gone completely.

There are also some colouring changes on the cover to Ock’s outfit to match the colour scheme of his later, more familiar costumes. The lenses in his glasses are whited out too and it seems like there's some changes to his facial features. I've always liked Dr. Octopus' green and yellow/orange outfit, so I can appreciate the reasoning for these changes, but there's something off about the alterations to the face, and I think it looked good enough the way it was. Still it is a great cover with good full body shots of the two main characters, regardless of which way they're facing!

A Marvel Mails letters page also appears at the end. Tom DeFalco, Editor. Linda Grant, Assistant Editor







Personal anecdotes:

Yet, another one I didn’t get to read until Spider-man Classics 12, though I had seen some of the scenes used for an old What If? issue, where some events played out differently

Even though I didn’t have this particular issue, or read the story until my late teens, I was aware that the Marvel Tales covers were being flipped. My comic shop had several Amazing Spider-man issues on the wall including some later issues which I had read in Marvel Tales, so this difference was something I noticed way back in 1984 or 85. I’m not sure if I thought too much about why they were doing this, and I had initially just assumed it was being done for every issue.  I actually used to hold up every new comic I got in front of a mirror just to see what it would look like backwards

I remember seeing this comic included in a bag of 5 or 6 random comics at a Wal-mart in the late 90s. For anyone who has ever bought these types of comic-bags, I'm sure many of you would just do what I did and select a pack based on what comic you could see on top, since that would guarantee at least one good choice. I don't think I bought that pack though, but I did have my eye on it. Maybe because I already had the story in Spider-man Classics it wasn't a priority at the time. I do remember at least two other packs I picked up at that time and which of the included comics caught my attention. If I didn't get this issue of Marvel Tales then, I probably picked it up as a back issue a few years later, same as a lot of the others I've been reviewing. Pretty sure this was my first time reading this version though!

Frankly, that is one the worst TASM covers of the 1960s; of all characters. Spider-Man is supposed to be the embodiment of the hyper-acrobatic, dynamic superhero, and those traits were never to be found in a Kirby version of Spider-Man. He--like a surprisingly large number of Marvel artists of the Silver & Bronze Age--could not illustrate a great Spider-Man if their lives depended on it, and their way off interpretations always served as a distraction.




Yes, during the Vietnam era, and the PTSD he would suffer from in the early 70s.





I've always found this as an odd motivation on Jameson's part, sincehe did not rail against all of the other superheroes running around doing the same thing at the time. From the layman's perspective, there's no difference between Iron Man and Spider-Man (other than the government of the time wanting Iron Man's technological secrets), yet Jameson obsessed on Spider-Man, which, as this issue reveals, was not due to Jameson thinking Spider-Man was a real criminal (that would not be a bigger thing until a bit later in the run).

That's where I always assumed Jameson's hatred of Spidey stemmed from.  It's pretty much all right there in ASM 1.