Not to derail the Spider-Man conversation, but this isn't really true.

Punk, in its first, late '70s explosion captured a lot of headlines and caused a lot of consternation among older folks, but outside of a relatively small group of teens on the cutting edges of the scene (usually located in big metropolitan centres like New York, London or Manchester), it's impact was actually fairly limited -- especially in terms of mainstream musical tastes. Hell, the seminal punk album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, which was released in 1977, didn't get certified Gold until 1986! The big, multi-platinum selling records of 1977-79 were things like Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, the Eagles' Hotel California, and a whole slew of Disco records.

Plus, mohawks weren't really a fashion trend associated with the first explosion of punk in the late '70s; they came later. I can well remember seeing punk and goth guys wearing mohawks in the early '80s in and around London (and even at my secondary school as late as 1987!), but you'll be hard pressed to find a photo of a punk sporting one in the late '70s. Punk had definitely stopped grabbing the headlines by the early '80s, but there was still a thriving punk and goth sub-culture running right through the '80s, even if it was never as mainstream as the New Romantic or yuppie/Miami Vice look, or the hip-hop look, for that matter.

So, while its true that not very many people wore mohawks in the early-to-mid '80s, there were more of them about than there were in the late '70s. So, I guess Marvel were fairly spot-on with what was happening in the punk sub-culture in the early '80s, but honestly, this is much more likely just artistic shorthand for making characters look edgy.


EDIT: Incidentally, I just thought of a lyric from the 1981 song "Mohawk" by Adam & the Ants: "Here we are, in the '80s/Mohicans proud and fare/Goes to show that a fashion can survive/So beware!"

Yeah, you may well be right that that's why Marvel went for mohawks. And I agree that Mohicans suggested punk and thus a degree of edginess. But my point was that they were not an anochronistic hairstyle for Marvel to depict in the early-to-mid '80s, even if they were rare.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 23 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 161)





“The Goblin and the Gangsters”

Credits (as they appear in the comic):

Written in the spell-binding style of Stan Lee
Illustrated in the magnificent manner of Steve Ditko
Lettered in the fantastic fashion of Artie Simek
Colored in the weird way of Andy Yanchus



Plot Synopsis:

Someone’s trying to take over New York’s criminal gangs! Guess who?





Comments:

The Green Goblin made reference to his plan to organize a world-wide criminal syndicate all the way back in his first appearance, but this is the first time we actually see him put that plan into action.

Gobby’s plan involves him seemly helping the police stop crime boss Lucky Lobo and the city’s other gangs. So once again, the Goblin manages to avoid doing anything overtly illegal. Not that taking control of New York’s criminal underworld is that big a deal in the Marvel Universe. Frederick Foswell tried it a few months earlier but he’s already out of prison in this issue, working once more as a reporter for the Daily Bugle.

There are a couple panels showing Jameson at the exclusive club he belongs to with a background character who we will eventually be introduced to, more formally, as Norman Osborn in later issues.




It must be annoying for Spider-man to have to constantly deal with a villain like the Green Goblin, who so far has only shown no clear motivation beyond causing trouble for our hero! One of my favorite scenes occurs on page 13. Spider-man already knows that the Green Goblin is bad news from their earlier encounters but this is the first time he learns anything about the Goblin’s true ultimate goal!




The Midtown High cast isn't around in this issue, but I guess they're allowed to take a month off from time to time, especially since there's a lot going on here. In addition to Frederick Foswell rejoining the Daily Bugle, there's the usual problems between Peter and Betty. Even when Ned Leeds isn't around, he still somehow manages to cause problems for Peter and Betty's relationship when Pete stumbles onto an unopened letter to Betty. The contents of the letter aren't really important, but the fact that Betty is corresponding with Ned at all gives Peter a good indication of where their relationship is headed.

Once again, Peter has to deal with the types of problems that no other super-hero seems to have to worry about. First he has to deal with the hassle of cleaning his costume and waiting for it to dry (presumably he does this on a regular basis, but we usually don't get to see it). Then later on in the story, we get a follow-up to last issue’s ending where Peter was caught coming home late without a convincing explanation. The scene with Spider-man taking time out from fighting gangsters to make a phone call to Aunt May is yet another example of the unique problems this hero has to face on a regular basis. Of course, this issue still does have a lot of good action, whether it's between Spider-man and Lucky Lobo's goons, or the later altercation with the Green Goblin.

 




                                                                              


The Green Goblin's identity is still a mystery, but we do get to see a little bit of his hideout, which looks like any normal apartment. Unfortunately the Goblin's plan to take out his underworld competition works a little too well, when the police actually manage to round-up all of Lucky Lobo's gang, leaving our green mystery villain with nothing left to take over. Hopefully his next attempt to rule the underworld will turn out a little better. We'll just have to wait and see.




Notable differences in the reprint:

The original cover includes a promotional ad for Marvel's fan club "The Merry Marvel Marching Society" with a small picture of the Thing proclaiming "The MMMS wants You!". This club wasn't around anymore by the time this issue was reprinted in Marvel Tales, which might be the reason it was removed, not that it adds anything relevant to the cover anyway.




The original credits indicate "lettered in the Frenzied Fashion of Artie Simek", but now "Frenzied" has been changed to "Fantastic". So much for the commitment they made last issue about not making anymore changes like this. Did "frenzy" carry some sort of negative connotations back in the 1980s?




Marvel Mails is two pages, with a good portion dedicated to Post Office of the Past reprinting letters which comment on the story we’ve just read. Danny Fingeroth, Editor. Bob DeNatale, Assistant Editor.

A pin-up of Spider-man and his foes from the original ASM 23 is reprinted here, with colours updated as usual, mainly to correct a few mis-coloured characters



Personal anecdotes:

Once again, I was lucky enough to get this Marvel Tales issue new off the stands when it came out. Other than missing the first Green Goblin issue I was pretty fortunate with these later stories. The on-going mystery of the Goblin’s identity has remained one of my favourite plotlines from this run.

I still find it interesting that in these early stories we never got any real insight as to why the Green Goblin specifically targeted Spider-man back in his first appearance.  Even when his origin was revealed, the reason was pretty much, "I'm a super-villain now, so I guess I need to fight a super-hero!  Might as well start with Spider-man!".  I still like the way it works, and just adds another layer to the mystery. 

Of course, as you said things get personal in 1966 when the dynamic of their relationship changes, and this carries through to the Spider-man, Goblin stories that followed

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 24 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 162)




“Spider-man Goes Mad!”

Credits (as they appear in the comic):

Mighty Script by Stan Lee
Powerful Art by Steve Ditko
Magestic Letters by S.Rosen
Various Colors by A. Yanchus


Plot Synopsis:

What’s going on? Is Spider-man really going crazy? Only the mysterious Dr. Ludwig Rinehart knows for sure!





Comments:

This story doesn't really involve any physical threat for Spidey to deal with, other than some regular crooks, but there's a whole lot of other stuff going on. Even when he doesn't have actual super-villains to worry about, there's still the usual money problems for Peter to deal with, not to mention his troubled relationship with Betty Brant. Even though Peter earns money by taking pictures of himself as Spider-man, he's always been inconsistent when it comes to remembering to set up his automatic camera. In this issue he actually does remember to set it up to take pictures, but finds he can't use them when Bugle reporter Foswell shows up on the scene and would no doubt question how Peter could have got these shots when he was nowhere to be seen. That's the old Parker luck for you!




The real threat this issue comes from Peter's own insecurities. Even Aunt May notices something is wrong, and can't help but show her usual concern. This isn’t the first time Spider-man has doubted his sanity and sought psychiatric help. It’s been less than a year since Amazing Spider-man 13 came out, when Spidey thought he was committing crimes in his sleep, only to learn that it was a trick by Mysterio. In this issue Spidey is seeing ghostly images of his old foes, but once again, who is really behind it? Yup! It’s Mysterio, this time posing as a psychiatrist named Dr. Ludwig Rinehart. Mysterio isn’t shown in his usual costume at all this issue, but Ditko draws his unmasked face so distinctively, who else could it be? As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mysterio’s real name won’t be revealed for quite a while. Even though we know what he looks like, he’s still just called Mysterio. For all we know his name was actually supposed to be Ludwig Rinehart!




           




This issue makes good use of all the supporting cast, but most of all Flash Thompson. Up until now we haven't really learned much about Flash, but in this issue we find out he was once a Daily Bugle delivery boy. Also, he may or may not have a dog which he walks without holding the leash, and then forgets about. It could be someone else's dog, but this plot point has never been followed-up on, so we'll never know. Of course, Flash does his usual stuff like harassing Peter, or making sure everyone knows how great Spider-man is, but we also get to see him finally play an instrumental role in helping his hero when he tackles Jameson. I'm sure Spidey would have been okay even without Flash's help, since it was actually Jameson who burst in first and exposed Rinehart as a fraud, but it's nice to see Flash get in on the action for once, without needing to be rescued. The epic first confrontation between Peter Parker and Spider-man's respective arch-antagonists Flash and Jameson makes this issue a true milestone, among milestones.






Similar to the first Mysterio story, this one has an elaborate explanation of how he pulled off all the tricks and illusions that he used to drive Spider-man crazy. The hologram projecting bat and cat are really conspicuous, when they show up in the earlier panels, but that’s all part of the fun. If the cat has a name, I’d say it’s Maguire (or at least it might be if that’s the same cat that pops-up in some other Mysterio-related stories some 30 years later).



The sequence with Dr. Rinehart's upside down office was really well done, and an explanation of how he pulled it off was already provided during the chase sequence, but it's cool that Ditko took the time to provide an actual diagram here as well.




I have to point out that, whether by coincidence, or design, the villains Spidey sees are some of Mysterio’s former partners from the Sinister Six, Doc Ock, Sandman and Vulture. The missing members, Electro and Kraven, were the first of the Sinister Six that Spider-man fought in that story, so they were probably too busy at the time to spare a few moments to film scenes for Mysterio’s home movies. 





There was one thing I noticed when re-reading this story, that I don't think I ever picked up on before (but I'm sure others probably did). There's a scene in this story with Peter using his Spider-beam to distract Flash who is following him when he thinks Pete is going to meet Liz. After Peter manages to lose Flash, the art shows the signal device still sitting on a rooftop, but a thought balloon a few panels later indicates Spidey went back to retrieve it. This of course conflicts with next issue which starts off with a whole scene devoted to Peter going back to get it. I guess this is one of those things that happens when the creators aren't talking to each other.





Notable differences in the reprint:

One of the captions on the cover is removed to make way for the UPC box. The MMMS ad is gone too.




In the credits "A Lotta Lettering" becomes "Magestic Letters". I thought the spelling looked wrong, but just in case, I double checked if "Majestic" should have a "j", and it seems that is indeed the way it should be, but it's commonly misspelled with a "g". If they're going to change things for no reason, they could at least get the spelling right!




There’s a Marvel Mails letters page, with new letters commenting on previous issues, and Post Office of the Past with old letters about this story. Danny Fingeroth, Editor. Bob DeNatale, Assistant Editor.




Personal anecdotes:

This is one issue I didn’t get when it was first released. I never even saw it on the stands or knew what the cover looked-like. I had the previous issue, but somehow I blinked and there we were on issue 163. I’d eventually get to read it when I picked up this back issue some time around 1988 or 89. I picked up Amazing Spider-man 200 around this time too, which referenced Mysterio's Ludwig Rinehart alias, but think I already knew about ASM 24's surprise reveal from later Marvel Tales letter pages.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 25 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 163)





“Captured by J. Jonah Jameson!”


Credits (as they appear in the comic):


Swingin’ Script by Stan Lee
Dazzlin’ Drawings by Steve Ditko
Loquacios Lettering by Sam Rosen
Kaleidoscopic Colors by Andy Yanchus

*A caption on the splash page indicates Sturdy Steve Ditko “dreamed up the plot of this tantalizing tale”, which, of course, will eventually become common knowledge that this was the way it worked for most of these stories. I don’t usually go in to who really did what, but thought I’d point it out since they went out of their way to mention it. Ditko’s plotting contribution will become more formal and continue as part of the credits as of next issue.




Plot Synopsis:

The confrontation you’ve been waiting for! Spider-man versus J. Jonah Jameson!







Comments:

This was the 25th issue of Amazing Spider-man. Not sure if that was a big deal back then, but this one certainly packs a lot of important stuff into just 20 pages. That could just be a coincidence, since a lot of issues from this era could have also served as a suitable 25th issue, but I’d like to think it was intentional. J. Jonah Jameson has been Spider-man’s most persistent antagonist since the very first issue, so this is a great way to commemorate an important milestone.


The full cast of characters is put to good use here, making it a memorable anniversary issue (whether they even considered it an anniversary issue at all).

In addition to the usual characters, this issue also includes yet another appearance by the still unnamed character who we will eventually call Norman Osborn. This is his first time appearing in a scene with Peter, but the two don’t actually meet and Pete doesn’t recognize him as anyone he knows.




The means by which Jameson fights Spider-man is a robot invented by Smythe. Similar robots invented by Smythe and others will turn up time and again, usually referred to by their more threatening title Spider-Slayers. A version of this issue’s story will be adapted into a segment of the 1960s Spider-man cartoon. Smythe and his creations will go on to become even more important for Spidey's 1990s Animated series (and its accompanying toyline)




Peter's maturity, or lack of, is on full display in these early scenes when he actually goads Jameson into taking Smythe up on his offer to use the robot to capture Spider-man. Peter hopes that it will give him the opportunity to snap some exclusive photos and humiliate Jameson at the same time. This doesn't do much to help Peter's already strained relationship with Betty. Her concern for Spider-man is matched with her annoyance over Peter's behaviour. Of course it all comes back to bite Peter when the simple demonstration of the robot's capabilities in Jonah's office proves that it is as formidable as Smythe claims. Peter already received a hint of how dangerous the robot was, so he knows he's in for one heck of a fight before it even begins, and it shows through his anxiety as he tries to make it to the end of the school day.






The robot is kind of corny looking, even by silver-age standards, but I like it, and the unbreakable, restraining coils are an interesting gimmick which allow for some cool action scenes. The added feature of J. Jonah Jameson’s face on the robot comes across just as creepy as intended! I like the whole chase scene where Peter is trying to get away from Flash and the gang, and evade Jonah’s robot all at the same time. Spider-man knows this is a battle he can't win with strength and webbing, and you can really feel the desperation as he does the only thing he can think of, run away and hope for the best. Betty Brant tries to help out Spidey, but doesn't succeed much on that front.






Despite the seemingly hopeless odds though, Spidey manages to overcome this latest threat using his brains, but since this isn't your regular super-hero comic, that doesn't mean that everything is going to get wrapped-up nicely by the last page.



The most important thing in this issue, though, is the (almost) first appearance of Mary Jane Watson. Her face is never seen by the readers, but from what we can see of her shapely figure, not to mention Betty's, Liz's and even Flash's reactions, this little teaser is enough ... for now!






Earlier in the issue we saw Peter working on his Spider-man costume. We had seen him washing it a couple issues back, and there have been times he’s had to sew it up when it got damaged, but now we see him finishing up a new spare costume. Presumably he’s done this several times, since the costume has changed in subtle ways over the past couple years, but this is just the first time any real attention is given to it. Unfortunately by the end of the issue he’s got no costumes at all. Aunt May stumbles on his spare, and even though Peter gives her a plausible excuse, he doesn’t get it back. His other costume gets left behind when he decides to play a practical joke on Smythe and Jameson after escaping the robot’s clutches. In retrospect that was probably a stupid thing to do.




Of course Spider-man’s crime-fighting career does go on, but we’ll just have to wait until next issue to see how.




Notable differences in the reprint:

The cover is flipped, but the colour choices are close enough. I do prefer the way the robot's face is coloured on the original, giving it a sort of reflective glare on the screen.





Marvel Mails is two pages, with Post Office of the Past taking up more space. Danny Fingeroth, Editor. Bob DeNatale, Assistant Editor.


There’s a pin-up of Mysterio that was originally one of the backups from the first Annual. Last issue would have been a more appropriate place to include it. Upcoming issues will include more of these villain pin-ups ,when they’ve got the space, some times co-ordinating it with a character in the story, but not always


Oh, yeah. Norman Osborn’s hair is mis-coloured black in the reprint, but it’s the usual brown-red colour in the original. Wonder what happened here?





Personal anecdotes:

After missing the previous issue, I got this one off the rack. It’s one of my favorite stories. I say that a lot, but that’s because there are so many from this run that are so great that I want to call all of them my favourites. I remember getting a lot of these issues off the racks between 1983 and 1984, missing a few here and there, mostly when I was in the second grade. I haven’t bothered to check the actual release dates but I guess the school year was 10 months after all, so even with a couple misses, that’s a whole lot of great issues to keep me occupied every day in class, waiting for Summer vacation to arrive!

Except we know that Ditko absolutely did intend for the Green Goblin to be someone in Jonah's circle of friends. In 2009, Ditko said...

"I knew from Day One, from the first GG story, who the GG would be. I absolutely knew because I planted him in J. Jonah Jameson’s businessmans club, it was where JJJ and the GG could be seen together. I planted them together in other stories where the GG would not appear in costume, action. I wanted JJJ’s and the GG’s lives to mix for later story drama involving more than just the two characters. I planted the GG’s son (same distinctive hair style) in the college issues for more dramatic involvement and storyline consequences."

I have to say, I believe Ditko on this. I don't see why he would lie or what would be gained from lying about that. But in addition to Ditko's comments, John Romita Sr. confirmed that this was indeed the case in a contemporary fanzine interview from 1966. There's no reason for Romita to not tell the truth regarding Ditko's intention to have always had the Green Goblin be Norman Osborn, and his intentionally planting him in Jonah's club and Harry Osborn into Peter Parker's college. Romita's memory would certainly have still been fresh then.

I know that Stan Lee reckoned that Ditko wanted the Green Goblin to be someone readers didn't know, while he wanted him to be one of the supporting cast members, but as others in this thread have said, that is likely a case of Lee getting confused or his memory letting him down (maybe Stan was thinking of the CrimeMaster, who did turn out to be an unknown). It's clear, right from his first appearance in ASM #14 that Lee and Ditko are deliberately hiding the Goblin's identity, undoubtedly for a big reveal later down the line. Why do that if he wasn't going to be someone that the readers knew?