It seems like Kingpin’s floating head somehow knows he’s in that smoke. “THE ____ AND THE ____!” is one of the many Stan Lee-isms that got driven right into the ground in the 70s. What sense does this one even make? This issue is basically filler. Yeah, my last ASM from the 70s is totally unnecessary. Which… feels appropriate, really. Not the best decade for Spider-Man. We have here what’s most likely an inventory story, naturally by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Mike Esposito and Glynis Oliver, retelling not just Spidey’s origin, but basically trying to tell you his entire published history in one issue. Now, that’s not entirely without merit for the period. It’s not like back issues or trades or, you know, wikipedia were easily accessible in 1978. But for someone who knows it all, not the most exciting reading. A framing device is really the most interesting bit for our purposes…
I believe this is the beginning of the tradition of Peter visiting Ben’s grave every year, which would have surprising legs. And, it must be said, kind of dangerous ones, given the sliding time scale. “Peter marks the night Ben was shot like 14 times a year, actually.” The present is that microscope from AF 15, of course, as a truncated but largely faithful retelling of the origin proceeds. Though it must be said, all the liberties taken with the dialogue are downgrades.
“Or my fists!” doesn’t exactly enhance the proceedings. I like how they’re like “Oh, yeah, this takes place like months ago.” The perils of the inventory story. On a single page, we see how Spidey couldn’t get work in TV anymore and failed to join the FF. Then there’s a rundown of all the times JJJ tried to have Spider-Man taken out, whether by Spider-Slayer, Scorpion, hiring Luke Cage or creating The Fly. Stuff like this…
…the deaths of The Stacys, primers on villains like The Lizard, Morbius, Man-Wolf and The Enforcers. It’s weird how much panel real estate The Enforcers and Man-Wolf got when you see who all got crammed on this page:
Quick mention of how Spider-Man is friends with the FF, Daredevil, Prowler and Punisher (???), and a one-panel intro for MJ before we wrap it up…
Weird ending! Kind of cute, I guess. But due to the out-of-order nature of this blog, we’ve seen how that microscope Peter just gave away forever plays a prrrretty big role in ASM 290, where this clearly never happened. I read 290 as a very young kid, but only read this issue after The Great eBay Hysteria of 2018, so imagine my shock getting to the end of it. Not exactly a crucial continuity error, but a pretty glaring one, once you know about it. And that’s it for ASM in the 70s. But we’ve still got a few more issues in this block.