Yes. The cover alone tells you this is going to be the worst issue of ASM of the 1980s. I guess that might sound extreme or hyperbolic, but… I mean, look at it. You think anyone noticed the background is a heart shape? Love is in the air between Frog and Toad. Never gone for long, Sal Buscema guests on pencils this month, as The Toad, minor X-Men villain, is standing on a ledge about to commit suicide. Cheery! Spider-Man happens by.
Just in case you hadn’t gotten enough of the dysfunctional Spidey/Black Cat relationship when it was happening. We jump ahead several weeks to the present, as some dudes are robbing a magazine store. And also, there’s such a thing as a magazine store. Some cops bumble in, and then slowly back out. As they call for backup outside, Peter Parker bumbles in, too, wanting to buy a TV Guide (So 80s!). The goons take hostages, but soon Spider-Man is on the scene. He webs their guns and easily dispatches one of them. The other thinks he’s got the drop on our hero, but also…
Just… ugh. Spidey tries to let Toad down easy, but it’s not working. He says they should give this “a 24-hour cooling off period” and reassess, which seems a bit odd.
Yes, we will, random figure in random window! So Toad goes to Josie’s Bar, the famous hangout for lowlifes from Daredevil comics, and lets the whole place know where Spider-Man will be at 7am tomorrow. 47 dudes decide to be there to take him out. This is all a ploy to prove himself useful to Spider-Man in the brawl, but Eugene, the Frog-Kid, doesn’t know that, and he’s been following Toad. So now he thinks Spidey is about to be fully betrayed, when he’s only going to be sort of betrayed, and so Frog-Man will get involved. Also a dog poops on his shoe, because this comic is just ridiculous. Later, Peter Parker is developing photos, but can’t get his mind off this whole Toad thing, so he goes up on the roof to find Bambi there, unusually not with Candi and Randi. So he can talk to her about times she’s had to let someone down easy, and she suggests setting that person up with someone else. Peter likes her answer, and then Spider-Man heads out to meet The Toad. But as he nears the spot, his Spider Sense goes off.
So, the 2 frog weirdos fight and insult each other while Spider-Man takes out the drunks. If you think it can’t get sillier, well, you’re wrong.
Yes, the one-two punch of an actual frog helping out followed by the arrival of…
Naturally it was Ollie in that window. This comic is so stupid. So the 3 idiots decide to form a superteam together and bounce away. The call themselves The Misfits. I’m prrrrretty sure they never actually appear again as a team. I sure hope so.
It has been noted several times that Bambi, Candi & Randi are much younger than Peter, and yet, it never stops them from being flirty and such. It was the 80s, everything was gross. I’m glad that’s over with. Blarg. Next ASM is another quirky one, but in a better way.