Someone has clipped my corner box! Hope they had fun with it. This is a weird cover. A lot of empty space, and Green Goblin feels like an afterthought. The Crime-Master. I get him mixed up with The Big Man. Mob boss in a mask & hat. Same gimmick, different masks.
A Beatle without his hair!
Well, now we know why Busiek did that whole unmasking thing in Untold. Might as well since Ditko skipped it.
Is Frederick Foswell The Crime-Master? Kurt Busiek kinda spoiled the swerve on this, but then, he also spoiled Green Goblin several times. Next morning, Peter tries to get Aunt May to tell him where she put his Spider-suit, but she’s not talkin’, so he goes to The Bugle, where Betty Brant is rampaging at him about his goading JJJ last issue and Liz and MJ and so on when JJJ comes out and gets mad about the racket. JJJ kicks him out for being loud, and then tells Foswell to bring his files on Green Goblin and Crime-Master into JJJ’s office. JJJ has somehow intuited they’re working together despite saying they’ve never been tied together. It’s so funny how this book is like “Crime-Master! He’s a thing, everyone knows about him.” That’s one way to introduce a new character. Peter is still suspicious of Foswell, and plants a tracer in his hat in the hopes that he’ll get a Spidey suit again someday and be able to follow him. Then he goes to school, where Flash is giving him guff immediately. And he’s had enough.
Now Norman gets a line, and STILL no name! The age-old myth that Ditko didn’t want Norman to be The Goblin seems more absurd with each passing issue. While JJJ discusses The Green Goblin with The Green Goblin, Peter Parker has an idea: He can buy a Spider-Man costume from a costume shop. He finds one, but the sleeves and legs roll up on him when he moves, so he has to web them down. Not ideal, but he’s back in action. He swings around til he picks up his tracer, and finds Foswell’s apartment empty. But while he’s looking for clues inside, Crime-Master appears on the opposite roof, seemingly intent on assassinating Foswell, and, seeing someone inside his apartment…
And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the introduction of Spider-Man’s greatest foe…
…gas! An important milestone. I’m only half-joking, at this point. C-M moves in to start throwin’ punches at the confused Spider-Man, and while he can’t hurt him really, he is slowly forcing him to the edge of the roof. Spider-Man eventually falls off, but that just lets him rip his mask off so he can breathe properly. C-M, assuming his foe is dead, leaves the scene. But, of course, our man saves himself with his web, and after getting himself steady again, returns to find Crime-Master gone. With little else to do, he heads to The Bugle. He snoops around JJJ’s office for his costume, but then Jameson walks in. They trade some insults, and Spidey finds out Smythe kept the costume.
I believe later comics have revealed who “Patch” really is. Everyone’s converging on the waterfront, but Crime-Master’s not there, because he’s having an argument with The Green Goblin that quickly turns into a shootout.
Quite a cliffhanger! Maybe the worst spot Spider-Man’s been left in yet, I guess. In the letter column, despite Ditko’s plot credit, Stan vaguely makes it sound like they’re still coming up with the stories together. And there’s a letter from young Steve Gerber:
This is such a Steve Gerber suggestion. That’s fun.