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Post by Confessor on Aug 19, 2024 9:43:09 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 17 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 155)  Some creative editing shifts a few of the background characters around on the cover to make room for the UPC box. Here's the original cover for Amazing Spider-Man #17 for comparison…  By now everyone knows Flash Thompson is Spider-man's number one fan, so it's no surprise that he should be the one to start the official Spider-man Fan Club. At least the Forest Hills Chapter that is. It's both really cool and slightly unusual that most of the action in this issue occurs in one room at Mr. Allan's club, and that almost the entire supporting cast is there too. The Green Goblin isn't really a fan, but he does have an unexplained obsession with Flash's favourite superhero. The Goblin is ready to strike again, with a new Bat Glider to replace his old Flying Broomstick. He’s also got a few new toys to test out against Spider-man at the earliest opportunity. With the presence of his bat-glider, pumpkin bombs and his other Halloween-themed weapons, this really feels like the proper Green Goblin now. Thank God that awful looking electric broomstick has gone! The Green Goblin’s identity is still a secret, but there are a few scenes with him in civilian clothes. His clothing doesn’t tell you much, since he dresses the same as pretty much any other character we might see on the street. A caption does inform the reader that Peter has never seen this man before without his Green Goblin mask, and Peter himself says he doesn't recognize anyone in the crowd, so that rules out anybody he might have interacted with up until this point. Yeah, I caught that too. Love how Stan Lee and Steve Ditko are teasing out little clues for the readership like this. It also totally rules out my earlier theory that, at this early stage, they were planning to reveal the Goblin as one of Spidey's existing supporting cast members. It also rules out J. Jonah Jameson and Frederick Foswell as suspects, which I believe Peter wonders about later on in the run. There’s some more fun interaction between Betty and Liz early on in the issue. Betty's jealousy is getting worse. I guess it doesn't help that Peter has a secret that he can't share with anyone, and is always coming up with excuses which could easily be misinterpreted. Women pick-up on things like that! Plus, this is the second issue in a row where Betty thinks Peter has ditched her. I love all the teenage angst in this issue! The rivalry between Liz and Betty, with Peter caught in the middle, is so much fun to read. Also, you really feel Betty's torment when she sees Liz making a play for Pete while she's stood right there and then again later, when Betty sees Liz ruffling her hands through Peter's hair. Also, note that Betty says she feels "a hundred years old" when Liz refers to her at "Miss Brant". I think that is further proof – as if any were needed at this point – of the age gap between Peter and Betty. The fact that Betty is a few years older than him is obviously playing on her mind, to the point where Liz's comment makes her especially conscious of the fact. According to Mrs. Watson, Mary Jane just LOVES Spider-man. Mary Jane sounds like the perfect girl for Pete! Of course, it was later retconned – in the 1989 graphic novel Spider-Man: Parallel Lives – that Mary Jane had actually been staying with her Aunt Anna the night that Uncle Ben was murdered, and she saw Spider-Man swinging away from the upstairs window of Aunt May's house. She quickly put two-and-two together and deduced that Peter Parker must be Spider-Man, but kept the secret to herself, of course. So, nowadays it's canon that, at this point in the story, Mary Jane already knows that Peter is Spider-Man, which makes May's comments about how much this Watson girl loves Spider-Man much more interesting. Personally, although I'm not usually a fan of retcons, I must admit that one made a whole lot of sense to me and went a long way towards explaining why a stunningly beautiful girl like MJ would be so keen to hang out with dorky, bookish Peter right from their first meeting. During the big fight scene, Liz briefly wonders why Peter is never around at the same time as Spidey. She’s seen Spidey in action a few times, going all the way back to ASM 1 when she went to see him perform and again in issue 4, 6 and 8. Of course Peter was out of sight when Spidey appeared these last few times, even though Liz knew Pete should be around, so it’s a valid suspicion. It's fun to see Spider-man go to such extreme lengths to hide his secret identity when he actually manages to duck out in the middle of the fight with the Green Goblin long enough to put in an appearance as Peter Parker. I love all the shenanigans with Spider-Man having to momentarily duck out of the fight with the Green Goblin to make an appearance is regular old Peter Parker in front of his friends, to avoid raising suspicion about his dual identity. Such fun to read! The Human Torch plays a significant part in this issue, and he’ll be around for the next two as well. It's fascinating that this is really the first time you see the Human Torch's true feelings about Spider-Man coming out, when he admits to his girlfriend Dorrie Evans that he secretly actually rather likes and respects Spider-Man. That adds a whole extra layer of interest to their teen rivalry for us readers. Once again, the Goblin isn’t really doing anything illegal. Crashing a Spider-man performance and trying to kill him, maybe, but that’s about it. The audience at first assumes this is all part of the act and even though it’s mentioned that some of the crowd begin to eventually realize this might be for real, the general public doesn’t have any reason to suspect he’s a villain. There's some especially great Ditko art in the later part of this issue – not just in the fight sequences, mind you, but also in the character moments among the supporting cast at Mr. Allan's club. The ending of this story has Spidey running out on his fight with the Green Goblin when he conveniently overhears a phone conversation alerting him that Aunt May has suffered another heart attack. This development spills over into next issue, and a bit more into the issue after. The fact that Aunt May's condition in this issue is described as "another heart attack" proves that it was indeed a heart attack that she suffered back in issue #9, as I theorised. It was never explicitly stated what was wrong with May back then, but I have always assumed it was a problem with her heart, since that becomes a recurring thing for her. There is something that should be changed but wasn't. In one scene Flash mistakenly refers to Liz’s father as Mr. Brant. Usually Marvel Tales corrects things like this, but sometimes they don't. Good catch! I didn't spot that. Overall, Amazing Spider-Man #17 is a fantastic comic, and is much better and more exciting than the Green Goblin's first appearance in ASM #14. Stan and Steve are firing on all cylinders here and they just seem to be getting better and better. They manage to pack so much action and drama into this one issue. Also, I love how downbeat the ending of this comic is. By the end, Peter is isolated, ostracised, upset, and lonely, as the public turns on him, his beloved Aunt May's life hangs by a thread, and his relationship with Betty is in tatters. The only person who's still in Spidey's corner is Flash Thompson, who is, of course, Peter's school bully. Ooh, the irony! Ooh, the drama! This is exactly how we like our Spider-Man comics, dammit!  |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 18, 2024 17:57:20 GMT -5
I honestly don’t see anything at all odd about Aunt May trying to fix Peter up with Mary Jane. Of course she’d like to see her nephew who she’s raising dating her very good friend’s niece. As to Betty, it’s been a very long time since I’ve read these issues, so I don’t remember if Aunt May knows Peter and Betty are an item. But it’s still not odd for her to prefer him to date her friend's niece over an older working girl. Also, I don’t think there had been any indication that Peter and Betty were supposed to be in an exclusive relationship at a pretty young age for him. Yeah, as jtrw2024 says, Aunt May has met Betty a few times by this point and definitely knows that she is Peter's girlfriend. I admit that you have a point about Betty being an older working girl though; but I guess I just see it as a bit medling on May's part, though clearly she has the best intentions and Pete's best interests at heart. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 18, 2024 13:07:29 GMT -5
I do find it a little weird that Aunt May is so keen for Peter to meet MJ. After all, Peter does already have a girlfriend in Betty Brant and May knows that. The justification of May's friendship with Mrs. Watson is pretty weak as a reason why Peter should meet with Mrs. Watson's niece. But then again, May has seen Mary Jane and obviously knows what a stunning beauty she is (although even us readers have no idea about that at this point), so maybe it's a case of her believing that Peter can do much better than plain old Betty Brant! May trying to introduce Peter to Watson when she knows he's involved with Betty was Lee taking cues from time-worn soap-opera tropes, which used the "threat" of a new romantic interest to either cause drama (e.g., suspicion) within the existing relationship, or plant the seeds for said existing relationship to eventually end. Obviously, Peter's relationship with Betty will end, but Watson--no matter how much she tries--will not be enough to stop or upend Peter falling in love with Gwen, which was Lee not going for the expected, meaning Watson failing to successfully become Peter's next girlfriend. I get that and I'm sure you're right about Stan and Steve's storytelling motivations. But I guess I was just pondering an in-universe rationale for May's behaviour. I think that her knowing how drop-dead gorgeous Mary Jane is and her also wanting the best for Peter is a decent enough reason for her to be pushing for the pair to meet, in spite of Peter's ongoing relationship with Betty. On a slightly related point which you touched upon in your above post, I'm not sure that Mary Jane every really, seriously wanted to be Peter's girlfriend for most of the time that he and Gwen were together. I might be misremembering, but my impression has always been that MJ was just a party girl who really loved to flirt – with Peter, Harry Osborn, Flash Thompson and any other guy who was about! She dated, obviously – and when I say "dated", I mean in the looser, 1950s and '60s meaning of the term – and later was in a relationship with Harry. But I never got the impression that MJ desperately wanted to be Peter's steady girlfriend in the same way that Gwen was. Not until much later anyway. Like I say, maybe I'm misremembering and, as jtrw2024's review thread reaches those issues, I'll change my opinion on that. But that's kind of the recollection I have. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 18, 2024 7:51:03 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 16 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 154)  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. And here's the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #16…  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 For what it's worth, I always rather liked Daredevil's yellow and black costume. I mean, I like the more well-known red costume too, but I thought the original costume was also pretty cool looking. …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. Yeah, I've always felt much the same way about this comic. I guess it kinda makes sense that Stan Lee would want to introduce Daredevil to Spider-Man fans because both heroes are very much street-level crime fighters, so there's a good chance a fan of Spider-Man would also like Daredevil…more so perhaps than a fan of the Fantastic Four, I guess? Plus, as I understand it, sales of Daredevil were not great early on, so it doubly makes sense to cross-promote the comic in what had already become one of Marvel's best-selling mags. 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. I have a major soft spot for the Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime. There's just something wonderfully colourful and memorable about these guys. I'm only familiar with the Circus of Crime's early Silver Age appearances, as seen in the pages of The Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man, and The Avengers, but even over that relatively short period of time the exact membership of the Circus of Crime varied rather a lot, as you mention. Sometimes the Ringmaster wasn't even in the gang, either because he was in jail or because the other members had become dissatisfied with his leadership. In their appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #22 the gang even changed their name to the Masters of Menace. 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! Yep, this is the first mention of Mary Jane Watson by name. I do find it a little weird that Aunt May is so keen for Peter to meet MJ. After all, Peter does already have a girlfriend in Betty Brant and May knows that. The justification of May's friendship with Mrs. Watson is pretty weak as a reason why Peter should meet with Mrs. Watson's niece. But then again, May has seen Mary Jane and obviously knows what a stunning beauty she is (although even us readers have no idea about that at this point), so maybe it's a case of her believing that Peter can do much better than plain old Betty Brant! This is a fun comic, with some great action sequences from Steve Ditko (great opening splash page too). Plus, it's somewhat significant in that it's the first time Spider-Man meets Daredevil, and the first time Spidey goes up against the Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime. But it's nowhere near as good as other recent issues like ASM #14 and #15 or Annual #1. The short appearances of Aunt May and Betty Brant, along with the total absence of Flash Thompson and Liz Allan, in favour of panels dwelling on Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Karen Page, and Foggy Nelson feel like a creative misstep on Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's part. Something else that niggled me is how Stan has to keep explaining how Daredevil is able to avoid things or catch hold of things he can't see. We get it – he has heightened senses and a radar ability; you don't need to keep explaining that every time he performs some feat which should be impossible for a blind man. Overall, it's not a bad issue, by any means, but yeah…it's just not in the same league as other recent Spider-Man comics. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 17, 2024 12:24:13 GMT -5
Oh, by the way, something I think you forgot to note in your review is that this is the first time Doctor Octopus telepathically summons his tentacles. 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. Ah, OK...my mistake. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 17, 2024 11:41:52 GMT -5
Once my inevitable review for 16 is up, feel free to read these two reviews in whichever order you prefer  Oh, I've already read and responded to your review of Annual #1. It was excellent as ever. Edit: your review, I mean, not my reply. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 17, 2024 11:39:45 GMT -5
It’s the 65th anniversary of Kind of Blue, the greatest jazz album of all time. Fixed it for you.  |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 17, 2024 11:30:47 GMT -5
Just a minor nitpick, but doesn't Annual #1 go between ASM #16 and #17, rather than after #15? No that it really matters, but yeah, the pedant in me couldn't let that go. I've seen it placed both ways. I'm not sure what the actual release date would have been, or what the intended order was. Yeah, as Slam_Bradley says, Annual #1 was published between issues #16 and #17. I even checked on Mike's Amazing World of Comics website (which is my usual trusted source on these matters) and sure enough, Annual #1 came out about a week or so after issue #16. Like I say though, it doesn't really matter too much. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 17, 2024 11:27:37 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Annual 1 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 150)  On the cover, a small caption is removed to make way for the UPC box. There's also some changes to the wording on the remaining caption, which I assume is to remove what the editors believed to be outdated slang. "Most Gol-darned Guest-stars" becomes "More Exciting Guest-stars". Here's the original cover of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1…  In case you can’t tell from the cover, the members of the Sinister Six are: -Dr.Octopus, -Mysterio, -Kraven, -Electro, -Vulture -Sandman I think it's interesting that the Green Goblin is missing from the Sinister Six – perhaps speaking to his "2nd-tier bad guy" status at this point? Or maybe, since it's clear that Stan and Steve were planning something special with the Goblin's identity, they judged it better to maintain a bit of mystery and not include him in this annual? Regardless, there's no doubt at all from the contents of this comic that, at this point in Spidey's adventures, Doctor Octopus is his archenemy. Oh, by the way, something I think you forgot to note in your review is that this is the first time Doctor Octopus telepathically summons his tentacles. How great is it that Spider-man has so many interesting villains so early in the title's history, that you can put six of these foes in a group, and still have two or three other ones left over? Absolutely! Stan Lee and Steve Diko have been on fire throughout this run. It's just such a strong first year or so. When you think about it, there were more all-time classic Spider-Man villains introduced in the first twenty or so issues of Amazing Spider-Man than there were in the next hundred! Obviously, that is partly down to Stan, but I think it really speaks to the influence of Steve Ditko on these stories. No one who came after his run on the comic would be able to match his sheer imagination and world building (and I say that as a huge fan of John Romita BTW). When the villains are gathered together, Doc Ock is smoking. Marvel put a ban on smoking in their comics in the early 2000s, so a scene like this probably wouldn’t pass today. Then again Ock is evil, and wouldn’t care about the rules anyway. Also, far more people smoked tobacco in everyday life back in the early '60s than they did in the early 2000s. Mostly because it was obvious to anybody by then that it was extremely harmful to you. Does modern day Marvel have a ban on vaping? Even though Betty keeps telling Aunt May Dr. Octopus is evil, Aunt May is impressed by his good manners. She’ll continue to fall for Otto's charm on several more occasions, in later issues, which we’ll eventually get to. It's very amusing how Aunt May thinks that Doc Ock is the perfect gentleman pretty much right off the bat. Even when Betty Brant tries to tell her that he's a dangerous villain, she just dismisses her and even says she feels sorry for him having a problem with his arms. As I said a couple of pages back to kirby101, the whole Aunt May/Doc Ock relationship or romance is utterly ridiculous – but that doesn't stop me enjoying the hell out of it. Ock’s plan involves the six villains fighting Spidey one at a time, and they draw cards to determine which order they should fight him. Ock’s tentacle is holding the box from which the cards were drawn so it was probably always his plan to fight Spidey last (in a giant fishbowl of course, because that’s how a real octopus would do it). Let's be honest, Doc Ock's plan is ludicrous…from his rational that where one villain failed to destroy Spider-Man, a group of them could easily beat him on upwards. I mean, in that case, why not all just attack Spider-Man at once and overwhelm him? The drawing of cards too is really silly. But of course, at no point has this slightly silly plan of Ock's ever lessened my enjoyment of this comic. This stuff is just par for the course when it comes to Silver Age comics. Each card also provides the respective villain with the location they’re supposed to fight Spidey and it’s perfectly suited for their individual powers. Not sure how that’s supposed to work since the cards were picked at random. There are some questions you're just not supposed to ask when discussing old comics! Obviously it would make more sense to have the whole group attack Spider-man all at once, but then we wouldn't get to see all these cool fight scenes at all these different locations, not to mention those big splash pages! Exaaaactly!! Having the Sinister Six attack Spider-Man individually makes for more drama, more action and more cool Ditko artwork. By the end of the issue the bad guys are all in jail, together in the same cell... Which always makes me laugh...all six bad guys sitting dejectedly in the same prison cell looking glum. To defeat Electro Spidey wraps a cable around his leg to ground himself. Apparently this isn’t the correct way to fight an electrically powered super-villain without killing yourself, so Marvel Tales makes changes to the text and the art removing the cable and stating that Spidey is not grounded. I nearly electrocute myself every time I try to fix a light switch in my basement, and don't really know enough about electricity to tell you which is the correct method! Would someone care to clarify what is the proper way to handle an electrically powered bad guy, (just in case I ever find myself in a similar situation as Spidey)?  Fascinating. I had no idea about this change. I'm no expert or electrician, but I believe that is correct that Spidey being grounded with an electrical cable wrapped around his leg would kill him. Grounding or earthing is when you stand on the ground or are in direct contact with an item that's grounded to the earth. This is absolutely the worst thing to be if you are being subjected to thousands of volts of electricity because your body is mostly made up of water, and water is a great conductor. So, your body becomes the electricity's easiest path to the ground and the current will flow through you, which will result in serious injury or death. The Sinister Six storyline is a standout adventure from the early years of Spider-Man comics for me. This is partly due to the relentless pace of those repeat "Spidey vs. bad guy" scenarios, partly because it's just very cool to see all those villains banding together, but mostly because Lee and Ditko absolutely bring their A-game to this comic. Ditko's artwork in particular – both in those gorgeous splash pages and in his regular panels – has never looked better IMHO. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 is just a tour de force. We get all of Spidey's biggest, most dangerous foes, guest-stars galore, loads of action, plenty of soap opera drama, a recap of Spidey's origin, Peter momentarily losing his powers, pin-ups, a look at how Stan and Steve create Spider-Man, and – last, but not least – J. Jonah Jameson talking to a spider! This is definitely a Top 5 comic in the Lee/Ditko run for me. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 17, 2024 8:00:39 GMT -5
Just a minor nitpick, but doesn't Annual #1 go between ASM #16 and #17, rather than after #15?
No that it really matters, but yeah, the pedant in me couldn't let that go.
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Post by Confessor on Aug 16, 2024 15:31:21 GMT -5
I'll be around if I'm around, if you know what I mean. I don't have any plans on Sunday, so unless the wife and I pop out for a few beers I should be able to make it.
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Post by Confessor on Aug 16, 2024 6:05:00 GMT -5
Kraven is pretty much the first villain in this run where I feel that he doesn't really fit as a Spidey villain. Incidentally, "Kraven's Last Hunt" was supposed to be a Batman story at some point with Hugo Strange or the Joker. That would have been a better match I think. It's still a great story  I couldn't agree with this less, I'm afraid. But yes, I knew about the Batman origins of "Kraven's Last Hunt". Thank God that didn't happen and we got such a fantastic Spider-Man story instead. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 16, 2024 6:03:45 GMT -5
Well, it has been named as such in listings; but, those are always dependent on the writer or editor. It is included in a LOT of anthologies and read in high school and college literature classes. We read it in my high school, in our text book and it certainly went over better than William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." Yep, I can also attest to the fact that "The Most Dangerous Game" was also assigned reading when I was in high school (early to mid-1980s). And yep, not only was the plot recycled for an episode of Gilligan's Island, but also Fantasy Island. We read both "Most Dangerous Game" and "Gift of the Magi" in 10th grade English (this would've been 1972-73) and, yeah, virtually everyone I know my age did the same. OK...fair enough. I stand corrected. This must be one of those cultural differences on each side of the Atlantic. I suppose that if I'd thought about it, which I haven't prior to this exchange, I would've guessed that either "Rip Van Winkle" or "Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving would be up there as the most famous short-stories in America. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 15, 2024 23:33:16 GMT -5
Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" is actually a short story, published in Collier's magazine, not a novel. It is one of the most popular short stories in the English language; certainly in America.Really?! That sounds like a bold claim to me. I would say it's virtually unknown to the average Joe on the street over here in the UK. I only happen to know of it because it is referenced in Robert Graysmith's book Zodiac about the Zodiac killer who terrorised San Francisco in the late '60s and early '70s (it is also referenced in the 2007 film of the same name). Anyway, thanks for the correction on the story's length. |
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Post by Confessor on Aug 15, 2024 5:46:23 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 15 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 153)  The cover is un-flipped, meaning the UPC box covers up Spidey’s leg. A caption box announcing the return of the Chameleon is completely removed. Not sure if they tried flipping the cover to see if it would work any better. Either way you look at it, somebody’s leg is going to get covered up. The removal of the Chameleon picture means Kraven's foot is now visible. Don't know where that came from since it wasn't there before. Comic book readers can be really critical when it comes to drawings where you can't see the feet, so this was probably a good decision. I don't like the colouring on the net, with the empty spaces coloured white. The original did the sensible thing and just has the background colours showing through it. Here's the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #15 for comparison…  I've never felt it was one of Steve Ditko's best covers. There's something about Spider-Man's figure that looks a little off...he's too squat of something. Also, the composition of the cover as a whole just seems a bit boring. This is the first appearance of Kraven the Hunter, and the second appearance of returning villain the Chameleon. Neither of these guys are given real names until decades later, nor is their friendship or connection explained in this issue. All we know is that Kraven is “The most dangerous stalker on Earth!”, gets his super hunting-abilities from a secret jungle potion. Kraven is here to hunt Spider-man, as a favour for his old pal the Chameleon... and of course for the challenge. This the introduction of yet another all-time great Spider-Man villain – Lee and Ditko were absolutely on a roll by this point! Kraven seems like a seriously formidable villain too in this first appearance, especially in the creepy way that he observes Spidey prior to commencing to hunt him. In addition, he has a suitably exotic manner of fighting, what with his nerve punch, the poison which makes Peter's hands shake, the distracting jungle drums, and his chain net. When Kraven announces his intentions, it's interesting that Jameson is the one to announce that there are laws against hunting human beings in America. It's clear that Jameson doesn't have any problem with the choice of prey, but even for a law-abiding citizen, JJ's always had a blindspot when it comes to Spider-man, so I would think he'd be supportive of Kraven right from the start.  Kraven's use of the phrase "the most dangerous game" in the above panel is surely a reference to – or at least inspired by – the book and film of the same name from 1924 and 1932, respectively. The plot of The Most Dangerous Game involves a big game hunter who deliberately maroons a group of luxury yacht passengers on a remote island to hunt them for sport. Peter’s personal life again becomes more complicated when the various cast members interact. This is the first time we see Betty and Liz in the same scene and of course it doesn’t go too well. Betty does a great, hilarious Liz Allan impression, by the way! I think I was getting this issue and the last one mixed up in my comments for last issue; this is the first time that Betty and Liz meet. As I said before though, I love the frosty interactions between Betty and Liz in this issue. Oooh, the teenage drama! Also, I agree that Betty's sarcastic impressions of Liz, and Peter's reaction to them, are very funny. Aunt May has arranged a blind date for Peter with the niece of their neighbor Mrs. Watson. This is the first time their neighbor Mrs. Watson is mentioned. We don’t find out her niece’s name, nor do we get to meet her since she comes down with a headache and has to cancel out on Pete. Yeah, this is the first mention of that "Watson girl". I love the fact that straight away Peter is assuming that she'll be a "refugee from a horror movie". But then again, what self-respecting teenager would ever take their Aunt's word for it that a girl is attractive? This is something I never noticed until I first read the scans of the original stories in my CD/DVD-Rom collection in 2005, but Kraven’s vest and arm-bands were originally coloured green. The Marvel Tales reprints colour these parts brown as this would eventually become their standard colour in later appearances. I have to say, I prefer brown in this case. Not every villain needs green in their outfit! Yeah, I noticed that for the first time recently too, when reading this comic in the over-sized Taschen Amazing Spider-Man book, which reprints the issues with their original colouring. I agree that the green in Kraven's outfit doesn't work. The more usual browns and animal print colouring works a lot better and makes more sense for hunting on the plains of Africa. Overall, this was another cracking issue, with yet another highly memorable villain being introduced. Also, it's cool to see the return of the Chameleon. |
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