This is one of many stretches where I’ve read the ASMs, but not the other 2 titles. It’s interesting to see what else our man was getting up to. Debuts for Humbug and Solo! Humbug is a character young me assumed had been around longer than this, and I thought ASM 324 must be Solo’s first appearance based on how 90s he looked and how he was introduced. Shows what I knew! Rather looks like Solo hadn’t been designed yet when this cover was due, doesn’t it? This month, Marc Silvestri is inked by Bob McLeod. He’s gotten kind of a whirlwind of very different inkers in a very short time, let’s see how that goes. Nel Yomtov is also on color duty. We pick up with a very freaked out Spider-Man swinging around after the shocking last page of last issue.
This finally looks like a Marc Silvestri comic. I should’ve known McLeod would hew closest to Marc’s work. Class act, he is. Silvestri’s open, loose-but-not-sloppy look that would define his X-Men (Until he became one of the first Jim Lee clones) seems on full display here with McLeod’s help. Spidey easily busts up the robbers, and Humbug decides to just go home rather than wade into any of this. Spidey tries his Spider Sense one last time, letting one would-be thief try to shoot him, and is finally satisfied it’s working as he flips to safety. But that doesn’t make him feel any better about it not working last issue. Then it’s time to introduce Solo:
Suitably mysterious. Now let’s see Silvestri’s actual take on some of the cast.
The idea that Web would be Peter’s globe trotting adventures certainly does give it its own vibe, but it sure doesn’t fit in too well. Joy asks a guy to get her info on Roxxon’s business in Britain, telling Peter she’s really after them now. He tells her she may be digging her own grave messing with them, but can’t talk her out of it. They get their expense money, and Peter thinks he knows what to do with it. We quickly cut away to learn Humbug’s name is Buck Mitty, and he’s a senior entomology professor, and he’s decided to become a crook who uses amplified bug noises as a weapon to steal money to continue his research. He’s like if Lightmaster was Bugmaster, then, got it.
What on Earth happened with that last word balloon? May and Nathan still on the outs. That’s a bummer. Peter heads back downtown fo the passport office, but finds himself in a comically long line. Meanwhile, Humbug is ready to pull his 2nd attempt at a first heist. First, he uses his bug noise to pop a tire on the secure van…
As comedy villains go, he’s kind of fun, I must admit. I have already completely forgotten how his ASM issue went. Again.
Cops have arrived, and Humbug decides to just hop in the van and take off, but has forgotten he popped the tire. And then Spider-Man shows up. Humby blasts out the front windshield to try to zap him, but you know…
Spidey leaves Humbug for the cops, telling him to stop giving bug-themed characters a bad name, and goes to get back in that endless passport line. Then he’s back to The Bugle, where Joy gives him his plane ticket for tomorrow morning.
Next issue, Spidey heads back to London. Wait, Solo never came back! We didn’t even get a look at him! This was a weird, weird comic.