Someone has stamped “NOV 25” on Spidey’s eye. Looks like a library stamp. But why? No further stamps seem to appear on the issue anywhere. I enjoy the mystery of old used comics, even though there’s no answers to be had. Same personnel as last issue, same credits as last issue, even. Spidey is on the hunt for Kingpin and recapping last issue as Kingy reaches his home with his prized tablet, saying whoever deciphers it will “learn the greatest secrets of all time!” Seems unlikely, but what do I know?
Now there’s a bit of early characterization the makers of the Daredevil show really took to heart. Kingpin (Who still doesn’t have a real name) tells his main lackey, who is named Wilson (Kinda confusing, in the end) to stop worrying about Spider-Man as he goes to safely store his prize. Meanwhile, the cops are booking Randy and his friends, and JJJ & Robbie are there. Robbie’s trying to counsel Randy to be cool, while JJJ is in George Stacy’s face, demanding to know when “those young anarchists will be punished,” saying they were working with Kingpin and he knows it. Oh, JJJ. Also, why is a retired police captain always in the middle of police matters in this book?
It’s kind of remarkable to think this stuff was being made by middle aged white guys in 1968.
A lot to process there. Gwen being against the protest is kinda lame. That cop immediately dropping any trouble for her when he sees who she is is pretty sobering. And her turmoil over whether Peter is a coward. Is he? Well, right now, he’s breaking into Kingpin’s lair. But he’s also beginning to realize this was all too easy, that Kingpin made himself so easy to follow, that this has to be a trap. So…
This web dummy bit is a lot more common than I ever would’ve guessed.
The artist in me always wonders if something like this was done to make the work easier. A shirtless Spidey requires a lot less detail, after all. I know what it’s like to be up against a deadline and looking for outs. Anyway, Spider-Man lunges at Kingpin, btu grabs him by the wrists and throws him into his dummy, trapping him in his own web. Rookie mistake, Spidey. Kingpin charge in to finish him, but our guy can still manage to dodge even webbed up. When he comes at him again, Kingpin gets a kick in the face and some jokes about needing a new mouthwash for his troubles. They keep at it for awhile, in an unusually brutal fight for the period, and Kingpin gets Spidey by the wrist and starts to crush it. Spider-Man writhes in pain and collapses, but it was all an act to get his foe’s guard down, and then they’re trading blows again.
As Spidey follows the goon toward the tablet, the cops show up. And rather than resist them, Kingpin allows them to capture him, so he can say his web-swinging ally has already fled with the tablet, and will soon free him from captivity. That can’t be good. Meanwhile, Spidey’s chased the goon to Kingpin’s giant vault, and after webbing him up, pries the vault open.
Aw, Spidey, no. Will he truly turn to crime? I mean, probably not. The answer is behind another of Romita’s most iconic covers next post. This month, future comics artist (And Spider-Man artist in particular) Kerry Gammill writes in very concerned that various characters’ hair has been colored wrong recently. As we’ve seen, he brought that attention to detail to a career in comics, and there’s a few more issues by him left to post.