Comics Amazing from Beginning to End

[Traveller]

ASM #8 my favorite issue from the Ditko-era. Funny, personal and Flash got that he deserved at last.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Great thread. The Lee Ditko stories will always be classics. They're simply great stories and enormous fun to read. There is a heartfelt reality and a genuine quality to them that you won't find anywhere else. And they just knocked out classic villain after classic villain-! Vulture, Doc Ock, Sandman, the Lizard....one issue after another. Amazing.

 

[iloveclones]

Okay, I finally got a new laptop, and have all the software on it that I need to continue. So I'll put the next one up today or tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. As penance, I'll throw up a wallpaper that I made while I was playing around with photoshop (I don't do much more than cut/paste/erase, but that's enough for me.) I know it doesn't fit into the theme of these early issues, but I just wanted something that had all these new costumes.....

 

[iloveclones]

Great thread. The Lee Ditko stories will always be classics. They're simply great stories and enormous fun to read. There is a heartfelt reality and a genuine quality to them that you won't find anywhere else. And they just knocked out classic villain after classic villain-! Vulture, Doc Ock, Sandman, the Lizard....one issue after another. Amazing.

It really is unparalleled. Combine that with all the other stuff Lee came up with, with Kirby, et al, and it may be the most productive creative streak ever.

 

[SpideyInATree]

This is a great thread, clones. I will certainly be sticking my head in this thread from time to time.

 

[iloveclones]

Amazing Spider-Man #9 - The Man Called Electro

The story begins with Spidey swinging through the city. It looks like he's about to foil a robbery in progress, but he just swings on by (luckily, the crooks give up on the sight of Spidey swinging by....wusses) Spidey is actually rushing some meds home to sick old Aunt May.

Meanwhile, we're introduced to Electro, a villain with such cool powers that he felt the need to make the dorkiest costume ever. I mean, Hall of Fame dorky. (But, I love it anyway) He charges himself up, and goes out to rob some banks. Pete eventually seeks him out because he needs money for an ambiguous Aunt May Operation that costs exactly 1000 bucks. (Medicaid wasn't enacted for another year....yes, I actually looked that up!)

His first encounter doesn't go all that well, so he decides to fake some pictures to covince JJJ that Spidey is Electro (Journalistic integrity wasn't what it would be 40 years later, when Pete would end up be fired over the same thing....it's a shame they didn't reference this event when that happened.)

Electric Bugaloo (I love this pic)

We then get treated to Electro's origin. Basically, all around self-involved jerk Max Dillon is struck by lightning while working on a utility pole. That's it! Cue Bad Costume....
After riding out Aunt May's operation, Pete uses his knowledge of science to equip himself with what he'll need to defeat Electro...rubber booties. Ball bearings, a bucket of sand, nothing our wallcrawler throws at him seems to defeat this titan......until he runs into a water hose. Which makes me wonder if ol' Max has taken a shower in 40 years.

Electric Bugaloo 2

Are you happy to see me, or is that a fire hose in your pocket.....

Pete avoids being fired by selling his battle Photos to JJJ. JJJ rewards all of us with the creepiest smile ever.

In the end, Aunt May is well, and Pete gets some alone time with Betty, who's really beginning to be a real drama queen, but more on that later....

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Electro has never quite done it for me. I think possibly the costume is a little too silly, a little too on the nose. I like the fact he's a blue collar guy crook rather than a criminal genius, but so is the Sandman, and he has way more character. He's a great visual, he works great in the Sinister Six...

You know what, I'm going to go and read Amazing #9 and see what I think.

 

[iloveclones]

You know what, I'm going to go and read Amazing #9 and see what I think.

Yayyyy!!!! That was the whole point of the thread!

 

[runawayboulder]

I've always rooted for Electro to get elevated more.

Happy to see this thread back up and running!

 

[iloveclones]

Amazing Spider-Man #10 - The Enforcers

I have to admit, I have never been a big fan of the Enforcers. Maybe it's just a let-down after all the cool characters in the previous issues, but a big, dumb strong guy, a dude with a rope, and a pipsqueak that knows how to kick you in the shins doesn't quite do it for me. In addition, the scary mastermind ends up being another pipsqueak with a Napoleon complex.

That must be one tasty apple...

Is it just me, or does this look like (dating myself here) Don Knotts?

That said, even though I find the characters a little wanting, the story is top notch. A crime syndicate led by The Big Man and enforced by his, uh, Enforcers is taking NY by storm with bold and daring heists. Spidey is foiled by them, and in his private life, Aunt May needs a transfusion from him, which will set up one of the greatest issues ever.

This is one of those cool dilemmas that they loved to put poor Pete in...

Where exactly is he getting leftover webbing?

Eventually, Pete lets himself get captured by the Enforcers, and then takes them on as Spidey. He defeats them, but The Big Man escapes, and Spidey is convinced it's JJJ. Close, but no cigar...it's actually Frederick Foswell, in an unmasking that could have been lifted from Scooby Doo


If it wasn't for those darned kids...

Also in this issue, we find out that Betty has some kind of link with organized crime, which also will play out in later issues.....

I really love Ditko's Noir-ish style.....

...but they're not all gems....Spidey looks like he's had too many Krispy Kremes

 

[iloveclones]

Muse for Ditko....you be the judge

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

No, it looks more like a guy who looked directly into the Ark of the Covenant and was in the process of having his face melt off. Like you said yourself, sometimes Ditko was on, but this wasn't one of those times.

 

[iloveclones]

Ditko had a thing for weirded out faces. That was definitely one of the weirder.

On a side note: As I was googling "ROTLA face melt", it produced a pic of what can only be described as Richard Simmons semi-porn...the fitness guru lying nude (shudder) in a bed of flowers....and yes, I did feel as though my face would, and should, start melting off....

 

[Kevin Roegele]

The Enforcrcers are lame, aren't they? They'd work in Dick Tracy, but they don't measure up to the supervillains around them; the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro - then try man with a lasso, big dumb guy, little scrappy guy....doesn't work.

 

[runawayboulder]

On a side note: As I was googling "ROTLA face melt", it produced a pic of what can only be described as Richard Simmons semi-porn...the fitness guru lying nude (shudder) in a bed of flowers....and yes, I did feel as though my face would, and should, start melting off....

Should I even admit that I googled it to see the pic......

 

[iloveclones]

It is one for the ages. I was afraid to look at it for too long (like staring at the sun) that I didn't even see if it was a photoshop artifact or (sadly) the real deal....

 

[iloveclones]

Amazing Spider-Man #11 - Turning Point

This issue features the return of Doc Ock, who is no argument, one of Spidey's greatest adversaries. This issue certainly doesn't convey that. In fact, Doc comes off a little bit as a lackey. The main story here is Betty Brant and her no goodnik brother. Ol Bennett Brant (their parents Bob and Babs must have realllllly liked the letter "B") has gotten himself into trouble with the mob (gambling) and his only way out is by assisting Doc Ock to break Blackie Gaxton( the most famous mobster on the East Coast who I'm relatively sure we never hear of again) out of jail. Spidey follows Betty to Philadelphia where it all goes down, and is even set to tell her about his secret life. Unfortunately, it all goes bad when, in trying to protect Betty, Bennett gets shot and killed. Betty blames Spidey. Doc gets away. And Pete is stuck knowing that he's never gonna get the girl....at least not one who loathes his alter ego. So the Spectre of Spider-Man rears it's ugly head for the first time in Pete's romantic life.


Looks like Spidey doesn't understand the concept of a parole board...

We Spidey geeks love scenes like this....

Okay trivia lovers, mark it down, that is the first official use of a Spider-tracer

Dude, watch the arms, that's my sister...

And that, trivia lovers, marks the first (and hopefully last) time that skeedaddle is used in a SPidey comic...

Turns out wearing a Spider-Man outfit chases away chicks better than being a Trekkie...

 

[iloveclones]

Double Post

 

[Superwoman Prime]

And Pete is stuck knowing that he's never gonna get the girl....at least not one who loathes his alter ego. So the Spectre of Spider-Man rears it's ugly head for the first time in Pete's romantic life.

Betty admitted she was acting unreasonable by the end of the story. And in the next issue, pretty much everything goes back to normal with how she views Spider-Man.

 

[iloveclones]

Keep in mind that my reviews are pretty tongue in cheek. That was a theme that they returned to again and again...that Spidey would always come between him and those he loved. The greatest twist on that ever was when he revealed to the Black Cat and she was horrified.....The Specter of Peter Parker coming between Spidey and....uh....warped superhero groupies!

 

[iloveclones]

Amazing Spider-Man #12 - Unmasked By Dr. Octopus

I think this is the first issue of Spider-Man that I absolutely loved. It had the shock value of seeing Spidey unmasked. It had Spidey being foiled, not by Doc Ock, but by a virus. And it has JJJ being soaked by a destroyed water tower......by accident of course.

Man, unmasked again. I keep this up and they'll start calling me Ultimate Spider-Man...

The story is a continuation of last issue, with Betty back in JJJ's employ, and Doc Ock stewing over not defeating our favorite Wall-Crawler. In order to draw him out, Doc kidnaps Betty, and Spidey obliges, even though all his strength is sapped because of the flu. This leads to an inspired scene: Spidey is unmasked, but he fought so weakly, that no-one believes that he's actually Spider-Man....just a well-meaning stupid kid.

This is one of my favorite Spidey scenes of all time...

Even Pete's dreams nag him...

Ah, inflation. Remember when a zillion bucks was a lot of money?

Now Doc is really pissed, and (in what I think is the most incongruous part of the issue) lets a bunch of animals out of the zoo. (?!?) Spidey helps the police round them up, and goes after Ock. Their battle lands them in a sculptors studio, which catches fire. They both escape, and Doc is taken in by the police, warming himself with the notion that it was the fire that defeated him, not Spidey.

I think it's hilarious that Pete would rather fight Ock than deal with the drama!

Brave cops, but they do know they have guns don't they?

 

[Superwoman Prime]

Betty looks like she's having an orgasm. She must be imagining Spidey spraying her in strangely white 'water'.

 

[iloveclones]

on posting a pic
on the horrible visual that will probably stay with me for the rest of my life

 

[Superwoman Prime]

Glad I could leave an impression. t:

 

[iloveclones]

My mom just bought a Marvel Masterworks for me as a late Christmas present, and I noticed this at the end. The only real difference between the pics is the glasses, but Doc does look creepier without them (and really needs to consider waxing the eyebrows).

The cover of the book is a painted version of this cover, but my copier keeps truncating it. I'll google it and throw that up too.

Here's the original: