I’m not sure Iceman counts as a pro, especially in 1970. Sorry, Bobby. Picking up the second last issue left off, Spidey decides he has to do something drastic to protect his secret identity, so he… pretends to kidnap Gwen. Woof. “Hey, my girlfriend hates my secret identity for killing her dad, what could I do to fix that? Or, you know, make it way, way worse?”
Guys, I think Sam Bullit might be a bad person. People on the street see Spider-Man kidnapping a girl, and unfortunately for him, one of those people is Bobby Drake, aka Iceman. He’s on a date with a never-named girl, who he puts in a taxi immediately so he can rush off to ice up. He’s about as good at this double identity stuff as Spider-Man. Anyway, soon Iceman is rushing to stop the evil Spider-Man’s nefarious scheme…
Iceman catches Spidey off guard and puts him in this ludicrous position…
What a crazy spot for Gwen to be in. Her dad just died, now she’s stuck on a roof with 2 superguys fighting over her. Bullit gets a bunch of cops on the street below, reveling in his crusader bit, and Spidey has no choice but to flee. Iceman slides Gwen down to the cops below, and Bullit is not happy, afraid it will distract from his own crusade against Spider-Man. He decides to act like Iceman was working for him, and a confused Bobby doesn’t exactly deny it. Bullit demands Iceman keep after him, and that seems to work in his favor.
Bullit’s efforts to work people into an anti-Spider-Man frenzy are proving pretty effective. He says he’s got the election sewed up. And then he gets a surprising phone call…
The key to J. Jonah Jameson is he’s a blustering, self-absorbed maniac cheapskate, but when the chips are down, he does the right thing. His insane ego often warps his idea of what the right thing is, but aside from his Spider-Man-shaped blindspot, he’s usually on the side of truth. Sadly, not every writer after Stan has understood this.
I mean, right? He can’t be like this too often for the book’s dynamic, but it’s nice to occasionally remind people that he’s more than just the dude who hates Spider-Man. If for no other reason than to explain why a good man like Joe Robertson would keep working for him. Bullit storms out of JJJ’s office with a full-on racial slur thrown at Robbie on the way, and then Peter Parker shows up just in time to see Bullit’s goons escorting Robbie into an elevator! He runs up to the roof to change clothes, but once again, his timing is terrible.
Iceman chases him around for awhile, Spider-Man smashing or evading his attempts at traps, and then Spidey realizes he’s been playing around too long and Robbie isn’t safe.
Spidey smashes Iceman’s ice bridge out from under him, taking him down long enough to escape and catch up with the car. The goons takes Robbie to an abandoned warehouse with Bullit waiting in it, and tie him to a chair. Bullit makes it clear Robbie’s not leaving here alive just in time for Iceman to arrive and hear the whole thing through an open skylight, Spider-Man having already snuck in. Everyone on the correct sides now, it’s fightin’ time.
Iceman frees Joe, and then Spidey and Iceman take turns corralling the remaining goons, then Spidey webs them up in a big sack and hauls them off. Thusly, we find Bullit at a fundraiser, doing his thing, when he’s interrupted…
Yeah, man. That’s a feel-good kinda story. Sadly, its themes remaining far too familiar even now. This feels like pretty radical stuff for its era. Really tackling the issues in an exciting way. But Stan’s just warming up on that front…