The Amazing Spider-Man #107

Cover date: April 1972

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: John Romita

Inker: Frank Giacoia

After capturing Spidey last ish, the diabolical (and I mean that!) Professor Smyth returns to his hide-out to put his insidious plan in motion. With Spidey out of action, and Smyth’s spy scanners positioned throughout the city, the local mobs can rob banks of millions, and be one step ahead of the cops. There is just one slight flaw in his genius plan; he keeps Spider-Man alive. Duh!

As you can guess, Spidey escapes Smyth’s Spider Slayer and puts a stop to his shenanigans.

Meanwhile, Flash Thompson catches up with Gwen and reveals to her his dark secret. That will have to wait until next ish, however, as Flash is taken away by some men in uniform and the next issue blurb promises a startling Spidey special...

Quite frankly, that will be a relief after the last three boring issues of Spider-Man’s rematch with Professor Smyth and his Spider Slayer; Stan Lee appears to be just going through the motions where Spider-Man himself is concerned, only showing some interest when writing the occasional snippet of soap opera involving Spidey’s supporting cast.

Is it just a coincidence that the two titles Stan Lee is currently writing, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, are both in the doldrums? Could both comics use a fresher voice?

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Thirty-nine years ago this weekend, a comic fan was born!

On the 30^th September 1972, the last Saturday of the month, the first issue of The Mighty World of Marvel was released upon an unsuspecting public. It was a momentous occasion, birthing a generation of Marvel readers and making at least one comic fan for life.

My original copy of this life-changing comic was lost many moons ago, but fortune smiled upon me when I won a reasonably priced copy on eBay earlier this month. I’d been tempted a number of times, but it was the realisation that the date of original publication meant that I would be able to perform some kind of voodoo magic by reading this particular comic exactly 39 years since I first held it my eager hands, and in my childhood home too, that I placed a decisive bid. Perhaps a rift in the space/time continuum would open up and transport me back to 1972 to meet my seven year old self.

So yesterday, on the hottest day on record for October, I settled down with Mighty World of Marvel no. 1 and a Fab lolly.........

.........and though no rift in the space/time continuum opened up, it was a rewarding experience.

I have likely read the three stories featuring The Hulk, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man many times since in other formats, but nothing compares to the experience of where and how I first encountered these iconic characters. On pulpy newsprint paper in black & white (and green!), at a larger size than the original printed pages, the crude - but exciting - storytelling of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko is completely enthralling. There is a primacy to these initial appearances - designed to capture the imagination of children - that reinforced why I still read comics despite the accumulation of years of cynical exploitation. Yes, the plot holes are apparent to my 46 year old self, but they would not have mattered to me at 7. That kid in 1972 just wanted more.

For the princely sum of 5p, I got the first 10 pages of The Hulk #1, a Fantastic Four pin-up, the first 13 pages of Fantastic Four #1, a Special Message from Stan Lee and the chance to win a mystery free gift, and the whole of Spider-Man’s origin from Amazing Fantasy #15.

I would also have got a free iron-on Hulk T-shirt transfer, but I sadly no longer recall what I did with that. I imagine it was dutifully ironed on and subsequently washed off by mum.

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Marvel Team-Up #1

Cover date: March 1972

Writer: Roy Thomas

Artist: Ross Andru

Inker: Mike Esposito

It’s Christmas Eve, and Peter Parker is on an assignment for The Daily Bugle. J Jonah Jameson has requested pictures of some hardy winter swimmers at the beach, so Peter is on hand when Sandman makes an unscheduled appearance. After the obligatory tussle, Sandman makes his escape when Spider-Man mentions what day of the year it is.

Reasoning that Sandman isn’t his problem, as he only fought him once a long time ago and he’s got a date with Gwen that night (whither great power comes great responsibility, Spidey?), Spider-Man heads for the Baxter Building.

As Spidey attempts to enter the building, he narrowly misses some fire-rings that Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) is idly shooting out of the window. Johnny is alone (the other members of the Fantastic Four are at Whisper Hill for Christmas), and in a mope about girl-problems. Spider-Man mentions that he fought Sandman in New Jersey, and Johnny remembers that he first encountered Sandman on George Washington Bridge (in Strange Tales #115). Putting two and two together, and perhaps coming up with four, Spidey agrees to accompany Johnny in the Fantasti-Car to George Washington Bridge, and then over to the Jersey side. While on the look-out for Sandman, Spidey spies a mugging in progress and goes to the victim’s aid. In the spirit of Christmas, the woman* involved decides to let the thwarted muggers go - after Spidey has detained them with webbing for a bit.

Continuing on, The Human Torch gets to show his stuff by stopping an out of control truck, before they spot Sandman. Challenging him, both are out-witted (it ain’t hard), and Sandman dumps them, tied up together, into a water tower. Knowing these two will need all the help they can get, Sandman drops Spidey a handy hint as to how they can escape.

After escaping the death-trap, the two spot Sandman climbing through a window. Following him into the house, they’re met by Sandman in civvies (he’s called William Baker here; isn’t his civilian name Flint Marko?) He tells them to keep it down as he is there to see his old sickly mum, and agrees to give himself up if they give him a few minutes with her. This gives the two an excuse to remember their nearest and dearest; so Peter thinks about Aunt May for a bit, and Johnny mopes some more about Crystal.

As you might guess, after his five minutes are up he escapes down the plug-hole leaving just a few grains of sand behind.

Roy Thomas pulls out all the stops to give us a warm Christmas glow, yet it all seems a tad perfunctory with some lapses in logic. Would a villain on the FBI’s Most Wanted list really tell Spider-Man how to escape a death-trap?

The two co-stars work well together, trading quips back and forth, but both appear a bit callow and I generally like my heroes a little less self-absorbed. All in all, not a great example of a grand tradition - the comic book Christmas tale.

*The unnamed woman is later ret-conned into being Misty Knight’s first appearance by Chris Claremont; presumably because she’s black and has an afro.

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The Amazing Spider-Man #106

Cover date: March 1972

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: John Romita

Inker: Frank Giacoia

So, Spidey has been unmasked by Professor Smyth, or rather he’s seen Spidey without his mask on via one of the many spy-lens devices Smyth controls around New York. Spidey swings off to Doc Conner’s to borrow his lab, and whips up a ‘life-like’ Peter Parker mask to fool Smyth into believing Spider-Man was aware of the spy-lens, and was wearing a Peter Parker (or some nobody, as the gathering of top New York gang leaders rightly puts it) mask to confuse Smyth.....got all that?

Peter then goes on a date with Gwen; they visit Flash (who seems out of sorts), and then go on to the flicks and a bite to eat.
After the date, Peter changes back into Spider-Man to make his way back to Flash’s pad, thinking that Flash may open up to him without Gwen around. Cue Smyth and his Spider Slayer.....

The super-heroics are decidedly ho-hum, but Stan seems much more involved when scripting Peter Parker’s personal life. Luckily, John Romita is perfectly suited to soap-opera, enough to sufficiently pique my interest in Harry’s unrequited love for Mary Jane and Flash’s problems....more so than Smyth and his bloody Spider Slayer.

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The Amazing Spider-Man #105

Cover date: February 1972

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Gil Kane

Inker: Frank Giacoia

Spider-Man encounters a protest group outside the Daily Bugle, and one of the protestors is Randy, Joe Robertson’s son. The protest goes almost without a hitch until J.J. Jameson turns up causing an altercation with Randy. Spider-Man webs up Jonah and makes a fool of him before heading of to a party to welcome back Flash (from Vietnam) and Harry Osborne (?), and Mary Jane makes a play for Peter (Parker).

Meanwhile, J.J Jameson goes off to meet with Professor Smyth to bankroll another Spider Slayer – long story short, Spider-Man is attacked by the Slayer, Jameson can’t control it, and it turns out that Smyth has an ulterior motive for giving the Slayer to Jameson. Peter Parker is unmasked as Spider-Man!

This was a curious melange of a comic – Stan Lee doesn’t seem to know whether he wants to write soap-opera, relevant comics (!), or super-heroics. It’s a pleasant, though uneven, ride, greatly improved by Gil Kane’s easy story-telling, and wonder-fully embellished by Frank Giacoia (though there is a dissenter of Giacoia’s inks in the letter pages).

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