THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 31-33 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 170-172)
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part 1- “If this be My Destiny…!”
Credits (as they appear in the comic):
Masterful Script by Stan Lee
Magnificent Artwork by Steve Ditko*
Mellifluous Lettering by Sam Rosen
Monotonous Coloring by Andy Yanchus
*I assume Ditko plotted as usual, but it’s absent from the credits part 2- “Man on a Rampage!”
Credits (as they appear in the comic):
Script & Editing by Stan Lee
Plot & Illustration by Steve Ditko
Lettering & Bordering by Artie Simek
Coloring & Kibitzing by Andy Yanchus
part 3- “The Final Chapter!”
Credits (as they appear in the comic):
Script and Editing Stan Lee
Plot and Illustration Steve Ditko
Bordering and Lettering Artie Simek
Reading and Enjoying that Ol’Web-Spinner… YOU!
This is one of the most important Spider-man story lines ever, so of course it deserves one extra-large review to cover all 3 issues at once! Plot Synopsis:
The Master Planner Saga!
Comments:
This is one of the biggest and most important stories from this era!
A new status quo is established here with Empire State University (ESU) taking the place of Peter’s old school Midtown High. Flash Thompson is still around, as obnoxious as he was on the first page of that first story from Amazing Fantasy 15. In addition a couple of new characters are introduced to our cast.
While University should be a turning point in Peter's life, and a chance for a fresh start towards a brighter future, these first few days seem a lot like high school all over again. Flash has already found new friends who seem like they're ready to join him in this next phase of Parker-bashing, with one of them even pulling an embarrassing prank on Peter in lab class. Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy are important characters in the Spider-man mythos. The way they are portrayed in these initial stories is a little different from how they will eventually be depicted, but this is where it starts. Things will change even more in a few months, but we’re not there yet.
On top of what he's going through at school, Peter has a whole set of other problems to worry about. Betty Brant still finds herself conflicted in regards to her feelings about Peter, as she tries to make the decision whether or not to accept Ned Leeds' proposal. Even when Peter tries to do the right thing by trying to steer her to make a clean break with him, things just turn out worse.
As usual, when things aren't going right for Peter, his masked alter-ego has his own set of problems. The Master Planner's gang was first mentioned a couple issues ago, and Spider-man had a brief run-in with some of them last ish. Most of the action in this story line involves Spider-man trying to stop these guys as they commit one elaborate crime after another. Who knows what their actual goal is? I guess it's all part of the Master Planner's master plan! Despite not remembering to take any pictures the first few times he tackles these guys, Spider-man at least comes prepared with a special gas filter to wear under his mask after falling victim to their gas guns in an earlier encounter. Our hero can be quite clever when he remembers to be!
Aunt May has had health problems before, but here the stakes seem higher. Once again, same as with the death of his Uncle Ben, Peter feels responsible when it’s discovered that Aunt May’s latest illness is the result of a radioactive particle in her body from the time she received a transfusion of her nephew’s irradiated spider-blood. The usual financial problems arise, as Peter finds himself unable to produce any newsworthy photos for Jameson, and even has to pawn his science equipment to pay for Aunt May's medical expenses.
Incidentally, Aunt May makes a comment about Peter's father. I think this is the first time we've ever heard anything about Peter's actual parents!
Dr. Connors makes a reappearance here. Not as his villainous alter-ego the Lizard, but just as a friend Spidey can call upon for help with Aunt May’s situation. He pops up quite a bit over the years, but this is only his second appearance in the comic after two years.
Another former foe, Frederick Foswell lends some support to Spider-man as well, both in his regular role as a reporter for the Daily Bugle and in his secret identity as the stool-pigeon named Patch.
The Master Planner’s identity is presented as a big mystery for the whole first issue, but once we get to part 2, there he is right on the second page! It’s still a little bit before Spider-man learns that the Master Planner is really his old enemy Dr. Octopus, but the creators know better than to keep us lucky readers in suspense when there’s so much other stuff going on. When Spider-man learns that the one hope he has of saving Aunt May is in the hands of the Master Planner, he really is a "man on a rampage" as the cover proclaims. Not just tearing through the city's criminals for information, but also bursting into the Daily Bugle and scaring the living daylights out of Betty Brant, and then swooping down to pluck Frederick Foswell off the street. Even before all that, Peter's frustration has him smashing furniture in his own home!
Eventually Spider-man finds his way to the Master Planner's secret underwater base where his old foe is waiting. Spider-man may be Amazing, but Dr. Octopus' power is Superior! That's what Ock says when he makes his grand entrance
(and he's still saying that to this very day). Spidey’s big battle with Doc Ock over the ISO-36 compound which can save Aunt May’s life is actually only a few pages, but the extra large panels make it seem as exciting as any of their previous encounters.
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Spider-man's biggest challenge of course is seen on the opening pages of the final chapter. Unlike previous stories, Amazing Spider-man 33 doesn't even open with a big splash page, but rather builds towards it in one of the most famous sequences ever. Dr. Octopus doesn’t even appear in this issue at all, but somehow Spider-man’s ordeal with that big piece of heavy equipment in the under water lab is as epic as any battle he’s ever fought. This scene has been homaged many times throughout the years, and adapted fairly faithfully in the Spectacular Spider-man cartoon series some years back.
This all happens in the first five pages, and from there it's one agonizing obstacle after another, as Spider-man struggles to get the special serum to Aunt May in time. He still has to escape from Dr. Octopus's underwater lab before it floods completely, then fight his way past what remains of the Master Planner gang. In the end, it's Spider-man's brilliant scientific mind that helps Dr. Connors in preparing and testing the special serum that will save Aunt May!
Dr. Octopus has been exposed as the Master Planner, but he's nowhere to be found after the destruction of his base. Nevertheless, Spider-man has succeeded in winning a major victory, stopping the bad guys and saving his Aunt. Peter's relationship with Betty Brant is probably over for good, but it had really been going downhill for quite awhile ever since Ned Leeds entered the picture.
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Maybe not as impressive as lifting a big piece of machinery, but Peter did manage to get exclusive photos of the gang's capture and, for once, actually holds out until Jameson pays him for their true value!
The last part of this story was called "The Final Chapter", but that doesn't mean Spider-man's story is over. The last panel teases the next issue’s villain. We’ve seen sneak peaks like this from time to time before, but it becomes a regular thing for the next few issues.
Notable differences in the reprint:
Marvel Tales 170
The usual 2 pages of Marvel Mails and Post Office of the Past. Danny Fingeroth, Editor. Bob DeNatale, Assistant Editor
A pin-up of Kraven the Hunter reprinted from Amazing Spider-man Annual 1
Marvel Tales 171
The credits on the splash page for Artie Simek replace "Kibitzing" with "Bordering". In 1984 it was Andy Yanchus who'd do the kibitzing.
This was the first story where Dr. Octopus was shown wearing any sort of costume, instead of regular looking clothing. Originally this outfit was coloured green, but here it’s changed to look like the familiar green and yellowish/orange costume he’s more commonly depicted with throughout many later stories.
Marvel Mails and Post Office of the Past are here, but no pin-up this issue. Danny Fingeroth, Editor. Bob DeNatale, Assistant Editor
Marvel Tales 172
Beginning with this issue, and continuing for the remaining reprints in this stretch, there is a new cover format. Each cover is framed by a coloured border with “Collector’s Item Classic” at the top. The corner box image has been changed, now using a picture of Spider-man swinging. This was the same corner box image which was used for Amazing Spider-man issues starting with issue 200 in 1980.
It also seems like there’s an effort to match the colour of the letters on the Marvel Tales logo to the original Amazing Spider-man colours for pretty much most issues up til the end of this run. Prior to this it wasn’t really a priority and I guess they just coloured them however they felt like, for whatever reason.
The original cover for Amazing Spider-man 33 has a darker look to it which seems appropriate given the predicament but I don't like how the water which is supposed to be falling from the ceiling seems to be cut off in the middle. Marvel Tales corrects this part anyway, by having the falling water coloured all the way from the top of the image.
There’s no colourist credit, but from a quick comparison with the original pages it has definitely been re-coloured.
The letters page is only 1 page now. It still says Marvel Mails at the top, but only features old Post Office of the Past letters. Danny Fingeroth, Editor. Bob DeNatale, Assistant Editor
Personal anecdotes:
Marvel Tales 170
I’m ashamed to admit it but this is where my interest (or at least that of my 1984 counterpart) seemed to die down. MT 170 would be my last issue for a couple months. I’d get 173 but wouldn’t come back until Romita’s first issues starting at 178. I didn’t actually realize that Romita had replaced Ditko so that wasn’t a factor, but more likely the subject of his first couple issues was enough to entice me back into the book, at least for a few months. I got 178, 179 and 180. I saw 181 in the store, but didn’t get it, (though a schoolmate did let me look over his shoulder for a quick moment when he flipped through it).
Not sure why I dropped off, and I'm sure it wasn't really a problem with the stories themselves. More likely it was just me getting distracted by other things as a kid. I still got as many comics as I usually did. Transformers was the hot new comic title I’d be more interested through these next couple years, but I only had the 2nd issue at this time, and didn’t get too much into it until maybe the 4th or 5th issue months later. Those issues probably coincided with the cartoon’s release, but I should have still had some interest in Spider-man, especially with the Master Planner’s identity a complete mystery to me. I’m sure I got other Spidey issues in the interim, but some how Marvel Tales 171 and 172 didn’t catch my attention. I’m sure I saw them on the racks though
Marvel Tales 171
I finally got around to part 2 of the Master Planner storyline in the summer of 1986. That was when I was getting the earlier Marvel Tales reprints with the earlier Lee/Ditko stuff I missed, but some how, every time I went to the store, I was always focused on just the reprints from the first year of stories
At some point that summer, while re-reading the issues I owned, I broke down and decided I just had to know who the Master Planner was. I actually begged my Dad to go out of his way one day after work or on his lunch-break and pick-up this specific issue from a near-by (but probably not that near) comic store. This was something I didn’t usually do. Sure, my Dad would buy me comics all the time, but I’d rarely flat out ask him to get me something. I hoped I thanked him well enough because he actually did go to the trouble of tracking down the issue I needed so I finally had the answer. I didn’t even realize it was part of a trilogy but issue 170 did promise the identity of the Master Planner next issue, so MT 171 was all I needed. I’m not sure I could have persuaded my Dad to go out for another comic the next day, or even ask for two of them the first time round.
After seeing the last panels of this issue when I first read it, my memory of the next issue’s cover, from when it was new on the stands, came flooding back, but it would still be at least a decade before I’d get to actually read it!
Marvel Tales 172
When I said it would be a decade before I got to read it, I meant it. I would read this story for the first time in black-and-white in the second volume of the Essential Spider-man, whenever it came out in the late 90s. I’ve read this story multiple times in various formats since then, but this is possibly the first time ever that I’m reading this issue of Marvel Tales. I eventually filled-up all the holes in my Marvel Tales collection a while ago, and replaced some issues which I hadn’t really taken great care of the first time around, but otherwise some of these issues have been sitting there among the other books in my collection, unread for who knows how long!