Buckingham’s back on duty this month. Is Spider-Man underwater here? I don’t… think so… I think he’s just cold. The color choice really messed this one up. Dare I hope an actual supervillain and/or member of the supporting cast appears in this comic? Well, at any rate, it’s a very snowy day in Manhattan, and Spider-Man is out in it.
Well, at least Aunt May’s in it. Some 2 months after the end of ASM 35, but apparently not yet caught up to it. A lot more of the classic Buckingham Recycling this issue than in the last couple. Spider-Man swings off on his way, and in a sequence that I really don’t understand, I think it’s so cold his web unsticks to a flagpole? Causing him to plummet to the earth. He says “Black ice!” but that doesn’t make any sense. Meanwhile, hey, meanwhile, some cops are having a bad time with an as yet unseen Vulture! I’ll take it!
Spidey bookin’ it out of there is legit funny.
Ladies & Gentlemen, the Vulture is no longer wearing a tux & tails! Bucky seems to have made a small concession and kept the sleeves vaguely like the Byrne suit, but otherwise, he’s back to normal. Nature is healing. This accidental encounter sends Spider-Man and his winged foe both plunging to earth, Spidey’s 2nd fall in a few pages, and Vulture is, as usual, not happy, so it’s fightin’ time.
Some solid visual comedy in and amongst all the recycling this month. Also like the Kelvin thing. After another page of fightin’, Spidey just webs open Vulture’s comically large sack of gems, infuriating him to the point that he issues a bizarre ultimatum: Spider-Man is to meet him at the sight of their first battle in 30 minutes to settle this one and for all. That catches us up, and our shiverin’ superhero thinks it’s been 45 minutes and he’s starting to feel like a chump. Then Vulture appears and says their first battle was at the Chrysler Building, and that’s pretty great.
I mean, not the first time Vulture has been totin’ uzis. They were much more comically large in Spider-Man #23.
Vulture slowly spins toward the ground, cursing them and such, as they banter a little. Spidey says, “So, Torch, let me ask you a question: When do you think he saw Austin Powers?” which, again, is great.
I like that ending! This was a fun one in general. Nice to see a classic villain, any classic villain, at this point. Well, at any rate, I guess it’s time to go see why ASM 36 is not the continuation of ASM 35…