So, I’m at that fateful 2018 Heroes Con where I learned to my shock that I could find affordable Silver Age comics. I’ve been in every “Silver Age ½ Price” bin on the showroom floor, and I have Captain America 101, ASM 30, 54, 56, 93, and 112 to show for it, all for between $3 and $15 each, and I can’t believe it. I walk by a booth with this issue and it’s only $7. Everyone knows this cover (Well, ok, probably not everyone), it’s a classic, and at the time, I’m just thinking of these things as artifacts. It hasn’t occurred to me to, like, collect old comics. Anyway, I only have $5 left, and I ask if that’ll do it, and the guy says yes. So, here we are. Somehow, through my confusing post scheduling, my last prize from that show is also the last one to be posted on the blog. That’s kinda fun. Romita is credited as “Innovator!” while Mooney is credited as “Illustrator!” this month. Innovator is an odd choice, but I guess Stan liked the alliteration. Kingpin is in a holding cell and flipping out about a news report of Spidey making off with his tablet, even tho… that was kind of his plan? As he berates some of his goons who were also captured, he begins trying to use his prodigious strength to loosen the bars of his cell, hoping to look like he’s just ”gripping them in a frustrated rage.” Meanwhile, Spider-Man prowls the night recapping last issue and reaffirming his decision to stop being a hero. I was trying to figure out why he consistently has these 3 dots on his chest when I finally remembered his shirt got shot up last issue. Great continuity, team! That’s not even something you could necessarily count on today. Our man is trying to decide what to do with his tablet.
Spider-Man ffffffinally realizes he can just hide the tablet in his closet at home, since no one would ever think Peter Parker has it. That took 4 pages! Harry’s out with MJ, so he just drops it off in his closet and goes to sleep, grumbling about how crappy his life is. But he can’t sleep, going over all his troubles in his head, so when he arrives at school the next day, he’s looking pretty rough. Gwen catches up to him and is not in a good mood.
“We are constantly being harassed and nearly killed by supervillains, which CANNOT be good for the mental health of young people, and you, my ordinary boyfriend, refuse to fight ANY of them!” Weird argument. Meanwhile, we love to see Robbie stopping JJJ in his tracks.
And so we wind around the inevitable cop out. This is the Stan Lee method. We see it again in the prison reform story in ASM 99, and later protests in ASM 106, he’ll dig into an issue, write material on the side for change, and then show the person they were protesting actually wanted what they want the whole time, whoops, authority figures are ok! It’s quite a tightrope act. But, anyway, tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak, as Kingpin wrenches the bars of his cell loose and takes off. Meanwhile, Spidey has decided to try to get an expert on hieroglyphics to help him decipher the tablet, but the cops are waiting for him, putting him in a spotlight like on the cover and everything, demanding to know where Kingpin is. As he flees, he decides the only thing to do is catch Kingpin himself, and the only way to do that is to harass hoods on the street with the tablet strapped to his back, to make Kingpin come for him. Finally, he attempts to stop some dudes stealing a freight truck, but they’re not really…
It’s… it’s “The Daily Bugle Radio Patrol Car.” The what now? JJJ and Ned are inside, JJJ bellowing at Ned to radio the police. What in the world? Meanwhile, a 2nd car pulls up, and its shadowed driver tells Kingpin to get inside. They flee the scene, and JJJ & Ned actually block Spider-Man from catching them, so sure is JJJ that they’re working together. JJJ has pushed Spidey too far.
Uh-oh. Spidey’s really messed up this time.