See what I did last post? Ho ho. Now here we have an unusual thing, the 100 Page Monster. This was apparently based on something DC did in the 70s that Tom Breevort really liked, wherein they’d take a certain issue of a book, make it longer and only a little more expensive, and add a bunch of reprints in the back. So once he was higher up the food chain at Marvel, he gave it a shot. So this issue has Spider-Slayers in it, and then in the back, a bunch of classic Spider-Slayer stories. It’s an interesting premise, but I think a lot of people complained about random issues of their titles costing more for reprints they didn’t ask for. Not that the cost was that much higher, $2.95 vs. $2.25. But that’s comics fans for ya. I wound up with several 100 Page Monsters, and I always thought it was interesting to see the old stuff, especially in titles I was less familiar with. Even here, this issue includes some material I hadn’t seen yet at the time (Tho of course, it’s all been covered on the blog now). The reprints in the back of this were very likely many readers’ first look at ASM 25, 58 and 192. But we’re here to talk about the main feature. Larsen’s still penciling or maybe doing layouts and John Beatty is still inking or finishing. This issue seems even more cartoony and less Larsen-y than the last. We open on JJJ with the Spider-Man gear all over his desk, being ridiculed by an unseen person for obtaining it in a cowardly way.
The return of Alistair Smythe’s glasses! So that’s why JJJ’s editorial policy just happened to change when Peter needed money. How convenient. Speaking of Peter, he’s more worried about him & Randy not being able to afford the bills in Randy’s apartment than Randy himself (Man that feels ironic after a recent run of Spider-Man, let me tell you) when the doorbell and the phone ring at the same time. The door is Jill, drawn in typical bodacious lady Erik Larsen style and dropping Randy’s jaw, the phone is Glory, saying JJJ wants Peter to come to the Bugle.
Remember how, when Gwen died, MJ was way too aggressive in trying to get into her spot, and Peter kept telling her he needed time alone? Is that ringing any bells? Peter’s even wearing an old Ross Andru-style sweater to mark the occasion! Uuuuugggghhhhhhhhh. He goes to the Bugle, talking to Glory about how Randy’s great but they don’t really know each other and Jill is great, but he’s not sure what she wants from him when JJJ comes and gets him. He says the no-Spider-Man policy is over, and he’s got a special project for Peter.
I actually kinda like this extra cartoony version of Larsen’s style. A lot of personality. Robbie stops by to ask if living with his son has Peter crawling the walls (zing) on his way to chew out JJJ for this Spider-Man gimmick, as Peter worries about JJJ possibly having looked under his mask. Peter asks Glory if she’d be interested in going out with Randy some time, as he promised, and she says sure, but also sort of implies she’d go out with him, also. Yet another Conway-era thing back all of a sudden. Then Glory goes to break up the fight between JJJ & Robbie and Peter gets into his Spidey suit and swings to dinner with Aunt May, worrying that he has to walk into this trap before scientists get ahold of his webshooters, and has to get a lot of photos of himself getting ambushed for the money. At dinner, Peter gets the feeling May isn’t doing too well financially, either (Makes sense! Is she even the owner/primary occupant of her house??), then he goes back to the Bugle for the trap. JJJ explains that Peter should hide somewhere and wait for the undisclosed trap to spring, and then he’ll finally see who’s under that mask. Peter is relieved that JJJ didn’t peak before (JUST LIKE LAST TIME), but still has this whole trap to walk into. Peter’s not sure what to do, and actually does wait for Spider-Man for awhile, even tho he is Spider-Man, which lets him catch a glimpse of some of the little Spider-Slayers everywhere and get a clue. Then he ducks out to change clothes and get this over with. Meanwhile, we cut to Washington, DC, where our old pal Senator Ward, weirdly absent lately after being in every 2nd issue for a year, is shmoozing with Senator Kelly, longtime X-Men foe, and trying to do something dastardly with his weird pink energy powers, but it doesn’t happen. Ok. Back to the A plot.
Eeeeeeevery slayer, you say? Well, let’s see. There’s the one from ASM 25, and the one from 58, and the one from 105. Now that I look it up, I guess the one from 191 was more or less identical to the one from 105. There’s Alistair’s tall boy from ASM 292. One of them could maybe be from Invasion of the Spider-Slayers, ASM 372 perhaps, but no direct matches. Certainly not every slayer from that story. And what about Smythe’s goofy flying machine from ASM Annual 23? Still, pretty comprehensive. Cut to Randy being woken up by both Glory AND Jill at the door, taking him up on the offer to go party he apparently forgot making, Randy delighted, the back to the battle, Spider-Man’s suit already in very Larsen-y tatters as he leaps around and smashes some robots.
Alrighty. In the letters, editorial admits “the Tricorp situation didn’t work out like we anticipated” and that it “didn’t mix with the other things we were doing,” but they might revisit it someday (Spoilers: they will not!). It feels so much like this run has made a drastic and unplanned change of course like 4 times in 20 months. And it’s not over yet!