supercat Slam_Bradley That makes three of us who got introduced to the legend of Robert Johnson by the movie Crossroads then.

Yes, I did know that.

However, what I have discovered today is what a "Rocket 88" looks like. As you will doubtless already know, it was an Oldsmobile 88, which had a Rocket V8 engine. Obviously, I realised that it was a car of somesort, but had no idea what it looked like or who manufactured it. So yeah...beautiful looking old thing.

Here's an Oldsmobile 88 from 1950, which must be close to what Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner had in mind when they wrote the song...

Here's the cover of ASM #14…







I know all about the later controversy about Steve Ditko allegedly wanting the Green Goblin to be someone readers didn't know, while Stan Lee wanted him to be one of the supporting cast members, but I'm not sure a really buy that. In this first appearance, the intention is clearly to hide the Goblin's identity from the readers, undoubtedly for a big reveal later down the line. Ditko's artwork very deliberately obscures the Goblin's face whenever he's got his mask off, especially in that panel where he's changing back into his civilian identity and the locker door is covering his face – that's just blatant…




To me it's plain that Lee and Ditko always intended to tease the readers with the mystery of the Goblin's identity. Why else would they set up that guessing game, if it's not ultimately going to be someone who the reader's already know?

Also, Stan's blurb on the cover and even in the way in which the story immediately focuses on the Goblin from the very first panel says to me that Lee absolutely knew that this was going to be an important villain. He's signalling to the readership that here is a bad guy who is out of the ordinary! For me, that just lends further weight to the suggestion that both the creators knew this was a villain whose secret identity was going to become a big feature of the comic.


On a related subject, if we assume that Lee and Ditko did always intended the Goblin to be one of the supporting cast members, does anyone have any wild theories about who it was intended to be at this early stage?

Obviously, Norman Osborn hasn't been introduced yet – and won't be for another two years (in ASM #37). So, I have a hard time believing that it was always going to be him. I think it's much more likely that Stan and Steve were intending the Goblin to be somebody who had already been introduced in the first fifteen Spider-Man comics (including AF #15).

It's clearly a male. It's also clearly someone with enough money for a secret basement laboratory. And its somebody with the technical smarts to create a flying electric broomstick and stun-grenades.

Thoughts?





The electric broomstick sucks ass! I've always disliked it and I have a real problem with the fact that it looks impossible to ride: how does the Goblin stay on that thing?! The later bat-glider is a much better idea and looks way cooler.

I don't think the Goblin is hurling pumpkin bombs yet; these are just stun-grenades.





I agree. This sequence is really well drawn by Ditko.





I'm not a big Hulk fan, generally, but he's OK. However, he just feels unnecessarily shoehorned into this issue. There's no reason at all why you need to have him appear other than to attract fans of the character to the Spider-Man comic. Still, his interactions with Spidey are pretty entertaining.



Overall, I really like this issue. It's a bit silly, yes, but its also a lot of fun and historically important for introducing a villain who will soon become Spider-Man's arch-enemy. I really like the Green Goblin and, while this isn't anywhere near his best appearance, it's still a good enough debut. The movie producer B.J. Cosmos is a suitably over-the-top satire of Hollywood (I bet this is Ditko's doing!), while the Enforcers are much more entertaining than they were in their first appearance in ASM #10. All in all, this is one of my favourite issues of the Lee/Ditko run. Good stuff.

OK, finishing up my Top 10 favourite box sets. It's been great fun doing this, guys...



#1 - The Sun Records Collection by Various Artists (1994)




This is actually one of two 3 CD box sets of Sun Records recordings that I own. Surprisingly, there is very little crossover in the song selection between the two sets – which only goes to show how many quality recordings Sam Philips' label put out in the '50s and early '60s. Of the two sets, Rhino's The Sun Records Collection is by far the best, especially if you are only in the market for one Sun box set.

Running to 74 tracks, this set collects all the key rockabilly and rock 'n' roll recordings that you'd expect from the likes of Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison etc. But it also focuses on the slightly earlier blues sides that Philips cut with such legends as Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Sleepy John Estes, Rufus Thomas etc. There are also some lesser-known acts here too, and the music from these slightly less well-known musicians is almost always top notch.

There's an earthiness and an honesty to the music that Philips recorded at Sun Studios that I love. The blues recordings here sound as raw and thick as Mississippi mud, while the slightly later rockabilly material has a taught sexuality to it. Overall, this is just a killer box set if you're at all interested in this kind of music. Across its three discs, it provides an excellent overview of a record label that played a pivotal role in the birth of popular music as we know it.


Here's "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston, one of the earliest jump blues records Sam Philips recorded at Sun (though it was issued on Chess)…




And here's Elvis Presley doing "Mystery Train", which is probably my favourite Elvis record…

Here's todays entry in our ongoing run down of Top 10 box sets...



#2 - Singles Collection: The London Years by The Rolling Stones (1989)




This 3-disc box set gathers together the A-sides and B-sides of every 7" single that the Rolling Stones released between 1963 and 1971 – all presented in their proper '60s mono mixes (except for 6 or 7 later tracks, which were issued in stereo). The timeframe covered by this set is when the band were signed to Decca/London Records, hence the collection's subtitle.

By presenting all of the band's singles in chronological order, this set makes for an exhilarating listening experience, as each classic hit and lesser-heard B-side stacks up to illustrate the Stones' relentless evolution from R&B purists, through their experiments with Baroque pop and psychedelia, and finally to the blues and country-tinged rock of the final disc. Personally, I've always felt that the Stones' early albums were a little patchy (certainly up until 1968's Beggar's Banquet), so viewing the band through the prism of their singles is perhaps a better way to appreciate their brilliance. They were, after all, one of the great singles bands, as this set amply demonstrates.

But the thing I really love about this compilation – other than it being chock-full of great music, I mean – is that it carries the spirit of mid-60s Swinging London like nothing else. I've talked earlier in this thread about music that makes you feel nostalgic for a time that you've never known, and this is absolutely one of those collections for me.


Here's the Stones' version of the Lennon/McCartney song "I Wanna Be Your Man", which – even as a massive Beatles fan – I have to admit blows the Beatles' version out of the water…




And here's "Child of the Moon", the B-side of "Jumpin' Jack Flash", in all its drugged-up, late-60s mono glory…

Here's the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #13 for comparison…







That's a great Steve Ditko splash page of "Spidey" running away from the robbery, with a bag full of stolen cash in his hand. It's probably one of Ditko's best of the entire run IMHO.





I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Mysterio. I love his costume (goldfish bowl helmet and all) and consider it to be one of Ditko's best and most memorable designs. Likewise, the idea of a disgruntled and criminally minded special effects expert is a very original idea for a villain. Trouble is, I really have a hard time suspending disbelief enough to accept that Mysterio's "powers" or tricks could work in the way they are shown to on the page. That isn't just something particular to this issue either – I have trouble buying into Mysterio's abilities in all of his appearances!





Heh! Now that I didn't know. Good Spidey-trivia there, jtrw2024.





I think the key difference here is that Mysterio is much more convincing as Spider-Man, just by dint of his being able to scale sheer walls and swing over the rooftops on a web line. The Chameleon just donned the Spider-Man costume and used a web-shooting gun: there were no death-defying acrobatics or feats performed by him.

However, it's interesting that Peter has seemingly forgotten all about the Chameleon having impersonated him in Amazing Spider-Man #1. In this issue he says, "It couldn't have been an imposter! Nobody else can shoot a web as I do – or climb sheer walls". As I say, the sheer wall climbing is way beyond what the Chameleon did, but Peter has forgotten that a previous imposter did shoot webs (albeit from a gun). Clearly the events of ASM #1 had slipped Stan Lee's mind.





You can tell Ditko is having a ball drawing this issue. Mysterio's illusions are right up his alley and, as kirby101 pointed out earlier, the scenes where Spider-Man is fighting Mysterio in the film studio are simply fantastic.