I picked up those three pocketbook reprints a while back, but I don't think I've ever read the stories in this format. They're sitting on a shelf within easy reach, so I should probably make a mental note to read these versions the next time I feel like revisiting the stories.  I've flipped through them before and looked at the covers of course, but I didn't notice the redrawn face.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Looks like they changed the webbing pattern on the costume too.  The black background is a good choice!

Oh, and the original sound-effect "Whop!" has been changed to the obviously more exciting "Whok!"
(as tarkintino would note in his update, at the exact moment I was typing this)

I'm sure I've read it both ways too, and probably have some other collected version where they put it after 16. Wonder why the recent collections put it after 15 then if there's actual trusted sources that say otherwise? If Marvel Tales had placed it either after 15 or 16, I would have stuck to their reading order, but putting it before Mysterio and Kraven's introduction was a real weird decision. 

Once my inevitable review for 16 is up, feel free to read these two reviews in whichever order you prefer

I actually did mention that he can control them telepathically now that they've been removed when I talked about how he escaped from prison. 

Though, I did forget to mention the scene at the end when Spidey has to fight the attacking tentacles from one side, while fending off Ock's punches from the other side.  Without the tentacles, Dr. Octopus is just a normal human, with no super strength, so his punches probably weren't all that effective but it's always fun to watch Spidey fending off attacks from multiple sources, especially the way Ditko draws them.  

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 is my favorite comic ever. I first read it in the over-sized Marvel Special Edition #1 in the mid-1970s. I own a very beat-up copy that I bought in about 2000 for $15. I also have Marvel Tales #150, which I bought when it first came out.

Nowadays, I usually read it in the Marvel Masterworks version.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 16 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 154)




“Duel with Daredevil”

Credits (as they appear in the comic):

Written by Stan Lee. Master of the Spoken Word
Illustrated by Steve Ditko, Dean of Dramatic Drawings
Lettered by S. Rosen, Sultan of Sparkling Spelling
Colored by B. Sharen, Caliph of Captivating Color


Plot Synopsis:

It’s a Marvelous team-up between Spidey and Daredevil against the Ringmaster & the Circus of Crime!




Comments:

This is the first time Spidey meets Daredevil and it’s pretty early in DD’s career as you can tell. The yellow costume would actually go through some other minor adjustments in its brief history, going from a single “D” on the chest to the more familiar double-D logo “DD” in Daredevil issue 5, (and even having a weird pouch for his civilian clothes for a brief moment). Daredevil would eventually change to his more iconic red suit in his 7th issue,


The story could very well be an issue of Daredevil if someone felt like slapping a different logo on it. The entire supporting cast is here, Daredevil/Matt Murdock, along with Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. This is actually the first time a guest-star is featured so prominently on the cover. We’ve already had a few Fantastic Four appearances, (even more with just the Human Torch on his own), and an appearance from the Hulk, not to mention cameos in the Annual (depending on whether or not you read the Annual before issue 16 ) but this issue seems really like it was intended to introduce DD to the Spidey readers and maybe get them to also check out Marvel's new book on the block.




The Ringmaster is also someone Marvel readers may have already been familiar with as he and the Circus of Crime first appeared in the Incredible Hulk’s 3rd issue. In his first appearance the Ringmaster dresses in red, but here he changes to a green and purple colour scheme which will remain his standard look going forward. The individual members of the Circus of Crime will become more fleshed out in their next appearance, but aside from a few members who may be recognizable here and there, their first ASM and earlier Hulk appearance will keep the actual roster vague.

The subplots with the usual supporting cast are minimal in this issue, though we do get to learn a bit more about the girl Aunt May is trying to set Peter up with. We learn her name is Mary Jane Watson, of course, but that’s about it! Flash and Liz are noticeably absent, but I guess with all the extra characters on loan from Daredevil's series, something had to go. Obviously they'll be back soon enough! Somehow, even without Liz on the scene, Betty manages to get jealous when she thinks Peter is going off to the circus without her. She barely glimpses the ticket and can tell right away that it's for the circus, though she doesn't seem to notice, or question, that Peter only has admission for one. I wonder why he'd go to the bother of buying a ticket at all, since he should have no trouble sneaking in as Spider-man, especially since the circus is expecting Spidey to show up. Ah, but then we wouldn't have the usual Peter Parker drama, would we?






The plot for this story plays out the same as nearly all the Circus of Crime's appearances. If you're a character in the Marvel Universe and you see there's a circus in town, chances are you're going to get hypnotized by the Ringmaster's special hat and robbed of your belongings. Sometimes though, you might get lucky and get to see a giant robot clown which is as big and as strong as the Hulk!


The fight scenes between Spider-man and Daredevil, as well as with the various members of the Circus of Crime, are all well drawn and give Ditko the chance to show off his usual skills. To help readers keep track of the action, one panel even shows you where to start and tells you the order you're supposed to follow Spidey's acrobatic stunts. I'm sure that even if these pictures weren't numbered, it would look just as good with Spidey moving in the opposite direction.




Of course, since this is Spider-man's series, and not a Daredevil comic in disguise, DD sits-out at the end of the final battle to let Spidey finish things off on his own. What a polite guest-star. You wouldn't catch a showoff like the Human Torch doing something like that!


Notable differences in the reprint:

Other than the addition of the Marvel Mails letters page, there aren't a lot of major changes here. Tom DeFalco, editor. Eliot Brown, Assistant Editor.

The re-colouring on the cover gives the background a little more depth, but that’s about it. No significant flipping, shifting or other alterations here.

The splash page has some minor shifting for the credits, and some words get removed. Anyone who has been reading these stories already knows to expect "Action", "Thrills" and "Suspense" on the inside. If not, they'd find out soon enough!




Bob Sharen does the colours this issue. It seems that anytime anyone other than Andy Yanchus re-colours these stories Peter gets a new coloured suit!

A footnote which tells you where the Ringmaster first appeared is removed from the Marvel Tales reprint. It's not too important to the plot anyway.




Personal anecdotes:

This is an issue I saw on the newsstand multiple times in 1983, but for some reason I never got it. Not sure why, since it was from a time when I was always excited to read a new Marvel Tales issue. I assume, those trips to the store were for something other than comics, cause if my parents let me pick put something, I certainly would have got this one. I already had the next issue, so this one must’ve been sitting on the stands from a previous month. I definitely stared at the cover enough times in the store and even noticed the similarity to the way the Ringmaster was posed, to Kraven’s stance on the previous issue's cover. I wouldn’t actually get to read this for another 10 years or so when it was reprinted in Spider-man Megazine issue 1.

A friend of mine was really in to Daredevil when this Marvel Tales was new. He called him "The Man WITH Fear", but we were seven so probably didn't care much when we got things really wrong. My friend had some sort of trading card with a picture of DD’s first issue and a description on the back with his origin. He also had a pocketbook which he loaned to me (soon after I would get my own copy of this too, which is still right there on the shelf next to all my other pocketbooks that I never read because I've got the same stories in other formats). The pocketbook reprinted two Wally Wood Daredevil stories, one yellow suit, one red suit (even though it was in b/w I could still tell which one was which). The DD stories it reprinted were really similar to the stories I was reading in Marvel Tales, so I really enjoyed those. I probably knew Daredevil was supposed to be red, but didn’t really have a problem adjusting to the idea that he used to have a different outfit. I’d seen old Superman cartoons from Fleischer where he looked different than what I was used to from more recent comics, or the movies and I knew Batman didn’t always have the yellow oval, so superheroes with costumes that were different from what I was familiar with wasn’t such a big deal, even at such a young age.