AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #16
“Duel with Daredevil”
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
Letters: Sam Rosen
IN A NUTSHELL
The Ringmaster promises Spider-Man will appear at his next circus performance. His real plan is to draw a crowd, which he and his Circus of Crime cronies will rob blind, once he has them hypnotized. But he doesn’t count on the real Spider-Man showing up, or Matt Murdock being in the audience. Since he’s blind, Murdock cannot be hypnotized, and dons his Daredevil duds. At first, he and Spidey fight, but then Daredevil grabs the Ringmaster’s hat, releasing Spider-Man from the spell. They take care of the bad guys, who are carted off to jail.
WHAT’S HOT
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS. In the past, Spider-Man’s had some trouble relating to other superheroes, particularly his high school peer, Johnny Storm. But he and Daredevil hit it off right away, forming a mutual admiration society. It’s good to see that Spider-Man doesn’t always act like a jerk in the presence of other superheroes. Also, this opens the door for more tag-team antics.
NAG, NAG, NAG! Peter complains about Aunt May constantly nagging him to call that nice Mary Jane Watson. It’s a good comedy bit that we keep hearing about Mary Jane, but haven’t yet met her. The readers of the day surely had no idea if they ever would, and may have imagined all kinds of potential developments. I wonder which is more fun—1960’s speculation about Mary Jane, or my unique perspective of knowing she’ll become a major player, but not knowing the exact moment of her debut.
WHAT’S NOT
COLOR ME…NO, ON SECOND THOUGHT, DON’T. In the reprint I read, the splash informs us that this comic mag is colored by B. Sharen, “Caliph of Captivating Color.” I’ll say! On the next page we’re treated to the jarring image of teenaged Peter Parker in a fuschia suit with creamsicle-colored sweater. No wonder the kids at school pick on him!
YEAH, THAT’S THE TICKET! When Peter decides he’ll attend the circus as Spider-Man, he buys a ticket. Now, why on earth would he need a ticket? There’s only one good explanation: so he can accidentally drop it in front of Betty while turning down her offer of a homemade dinner (“I just found the greatest recipe for spaghetti!”) The insecure Betty jumps to the conclusion that Peter must be taking another girl to the circus, and Peter has no good explanation. Being a secret superhero has its own set of peculiar drawbacks, but he’s certainly not helping himself by buying a completely superfluous ticket, then dropping it at the most inopportune moment. As Spider-Man, he swings from skyscraper to skyscraper with unerring ease, but as Peter Parker, he flubs his grasp on a tiny piece of paper. Either Peter’s subconscious is working overtime to prepare Betty for some future revelation, or Stan simply felt the need to inject an extra dose of soap opera drama.
STRANGE TALES #124
“Paste-Pot Pete”
Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Dick Ayers
Inks: Paul Reinman
Letters: Art Simek
IN A NUTSHELL
The new and improved Paste-Pot Pete kidnaps Thing to lure Torch to his rented paste factory. Thing and Torch are glued to the wall…until Johnny figures out it’s easier to break the wall than the paste! Once Thing is free with huge boulders on his wrists, and Torch cuts Pete’s paste tube with a fiery dart, the villain caves and demands to be taken away by the police, rather than suffer the wrath of Thing. Johnny returns to his bowling date with Doris, who changes her mind about never wanting to see him again.
WHAT’S HOT
CONTINUITY. Remember way back in Avengers #6, when prisoner Paste-Pot Pete provided a super-dissolver as an antidote to Zemo’s Adhesive X? Now he’s paroled for his participation in the fight against evil! Of course, Pete cares nothing about fighting evil. He’s still up to no good! He simply worked the system for his own advantage. But panache points for perfect use of continuity between titles.
WHAT NOT TO WEAR. Even Paste-Pot Pete himself admits he’s been “more CLOWN than serious menace” in the past. So immediately upon his release from prison, he treats himself to a full makeover! His new broad-shouldered costume, in villainously stylish shades of purple and green, is lighter, with cleaner lines, and a whole new set of utilitarian accessories. Not only that, but he’s lost the old man goatee, and is now sporting a mod 1964 Beatles haircut. I DARE you to laugh at Pete now!!
WHAT’S NOT
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD. Why would anyone rent a GLUE FACTORY to Paste Pot Pete? That can’t possibly turn out well.
A STICKY SITUATION. I’m not sure how Pete’s paste continues sticking when he needs it to (hold his adversary to the wall) yet stops sticking when it’s most convenient for his plans (boots and gloves allow him to cling to and release from any surface). Does he use different kinds of paste for each situation? Here we learn of an elastic paste that Pete uses like a rope or bungee cord, and “Stick-em,” which gums up the dashboard of the Fantasticar. Of course he’s also invented an “asbestos paste.” Why am I not surprised?
FICKLE DEAREST. When Johnny has to leave their bowling date for superhero business, Doris gets cranky and tells him she’s had it, don’t bother coming back. Well, she’s said that before, hasn’t she? And Johnny comes back, and they make up, and then we do it all over again. Doris is not my favorite Marvel gal (though she does look nice here in her pink bowling shirt). These two are in a truly unhealthy relationship pattern which I’d like to see broken. Johnny can do so much better than this!
GET THEE BEHIND ME, DEVIL! Johnny looks really weird with all those little flames coming out of him.
“The Lady From Nowhere”
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
Letters: George Bell
IN A NUTSHELL
Strange finds a woman under a mystical spell and has the Ancient One send him back in time, where he vanquishes the powerful Zota. Strange squeezes back to his own time, then breaks the spell over Cleopatra, sending her back to her time.
WHAT’S HOT
GROOVY GALS. The artwork on the “Lady from Nowhere” is very nice. Recently, Tales of Suspense #55 featured bathing beauty Pepper Potts, and in this month’s Torch story, Doris looks quite fetching with her blue yet stylish hair. Are we finally trending towards more attractive females?
A MENTOR’S SORROW. When the Ancient One thinks Strange will be trapped in the past forever, he breaks down. “Have I trained him so long…have I taught him so much…have I loved him so deeply…only to lose him now?? I NEEDED him!” I know Strange is the favorite for succeeding the Ancient One, but the elder’s admission of love and need fleshes out the bond between these two super sorcerers like nothing I’ve yet seen.
WHAT’S NOT
NOT VICTORIA. The splash puts forth the question: “Can you guess the identity of the lady from nowhere?” I was hoping for Victoria Bentley from ST 114, so I was disappointed this was not her next appearance.
NOT AGAIN! I was also disappointed that the lady from nowhere turned out to be Cleopatra. Haven’t we seen Cleopatra in Marvel comics before? Iron Man had a dalliance with her in Tales of Suspense #44. Are there no other great female historical figures to showcase?
AVENGERS #8
“Kang, the Conqueror!”
Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
IN A NUTSHELL
When the Avengers are called in to deal with a threat from outer space, Kang reveals himself as a time traveler with plans to conquer the 20th century. He traps the Avengers with paralysis rays, but the Teen Brigade tricks their way onto the spaceship and frees the heroes. Wasp provides a Power Ray Gun, which disintegrates Kang’s technologically powered suit. In a last ditch effort, Kang releases a flood of radiation, but Thor uses Mjolnir to hurl the rays back at Kang, who runs away and escapes in his time-traveling spaceship.
WHAT’S HOT
SELL IT, STAN! On the cover, not only is Kang the Conqueror touted as “one of the most unique villains of all time,” but it’s also suggested his power may exceed that of all the Avengers combined! Follow with “Wait till you learn his surprising identity!!!” and who can possibly resist turning the page? I mean…what if Kang is actually Zarrko the Tomorrow Man?? (Don’t laugh. Apparently anything is possible. Read on.)
FACETIME. The Avengers meet with the Pentagon via closed-circuit TV, and are shown a video of a UFO taken by someone who just happened to be standing nearby with a “motion-picture camera.” Today, long-distance meetings and digital footage of every happening in news and entertainment has been streamlined and perfected, par for the course, but the technology employed in this 1964 comic no doubt caused readers of the day to gasp in awe. Kudos to the Marvel bullpen, visionaries in the same class as Gene Roddenberry and Arthur C. Clarke. However, it’s interesting to note that, in this newsprint medium, when “the incredible news about Kang is flashed,” the information appears as newspaper headlines, not TV news broadcasts.
I’M FROM THE FUTURE, AND I’M HERE TO… Kang was born “in the year 3000.” Are there any Conan fans in the audience? ‘Nuff said.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Well, finally! Instead of me being in danger of getting spoiled regarding future events in Marvel Comics, at last I have a chance to offer up some spoilers! The cover promises our super villain has a “surprising identity,” and within the pages of this story, I have discovered what it is! In case you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read the rest of this paragraph, which is hidden under anti-spoiler technology Russ has been able to apply (If you’re in Firefox, you may see some blurriness, or if you’re in Internet Explorer, there might be a big empty space. Hover over if you wish to learn Kang’s surprising identity!
(Spoiler: Kang is from the future and at one point, in FF 19, he was Rama Tut. And by the way, just this month, in Fantastic Four Annual #2, we learn that Rama Tut may also be Doctor Doom! So now you know!)
LET’S GET BIG! In the last couple of posts, I’ve made it clear I’m not on board with Giant-Man having the ability to change Jan’s size, simply by thinking about it. He does it here again, but this time I have no problem. Wasp is small, and about to be crushed by Kang’s mighty gloved hand, so in returning her to normal size, Giant-Man saves her life. As a rule, changing someone’s size at will is NOT a good thing; but as with all rules, there are exceptions.
CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN. Or, unmake him, in the case of Kang, who is significantly weakened after Giant-Man shoots him with a fabric-decaying solution. NOT what the well-dressed super-villain is wearing this season.
WHAT’S NOT
IF IT WEARS PANTS… There’s no reason in the world for Wasp to assume that Kang is “not bad-looking under that silly headgear.” The only purpose of this comment is for comedy, but at the same time, it shows she’s not taking the situation as seriously as “the boys.” Anyone who would look at Kang and assume him attractive is obviously a nymphomaniac.
DR. THOR. When Iron Man is weakened by the paralysis ray, Thor thinks, “As Dr. Blake, I see he has trouble breathing…it could be his heart!” Two things: first, I’d never before considered that Thor retains all Blake’s medical know-how, but obviously he does. Next: it’s not much of a diagnosis, but then, he’s got little to go on, no time for a thorough examination, never mind treatment, so I guess it’s better than nothing.
SECRET NO MORE? Or…could this be the beginning of the end for Iron Man’s secret identity? Does everyone know that Stark has a transistor in his heart? If so, maybe Blake/Thor will piece together the odd coincidence that both Stark and his bodyguard (who, incidentally, are never in the same place at the same time) suffer from the same physical ailment. Of course, even if he figures it out, the noble Thor will no doubt keep Stark’s secret. I’m just wondering if we might be heading in this direction.
LET’S GET SMALL! The Power Ray Gun is too heavy for Wasp to manage alone. So rather than getting some big strong man to help her, she shrinks down to Wasp size, and calls on several flying ants to assist in transporting the thing across town. Once again, in what universe does it make sense to get smaller and lighter when you have a heavy load to carry a great distance? Oh yeah, that’s right—the MARVEL Universe!
YOU SAY PHAROAH, I SAY PHARAOH…Oh, the heck with it! Who cares if it’s a spoiler, it’s not that big of a deal, anyway. Kang’s secret identity is revealed as “Pharoah Rama-Tut” whom the FF met in their issue #19. It’s a surprise, to be sure, though nowhere near as good as anything I’d been hoping for. I half-expected to find out J. Jonah Jameson has been moonlighting as a super-villain. Now THAT would have been worth the price of admission! Rama Tut is okay, but I need more to float my boat. And by the way, being from the future does not guarantee spotless spelling, whether it’s a matter of 3,000 years, or only a few months between comic book issues. Pharaoh is still spelled wrong.
WHO THE HELL IS RICK BROWN??? Oh, that’s right. He’s that kid who hangs out with Bob Banner.
X-MEN #7
“The Return of the Blob”
Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Chic Stone
Letters: Art Simek
IN A NUTSHELL
The X-Men graduate, and Professor X puts Scott in charge, while he takes off for other pursuits. After some initial resistance, the Blob’s memory is jarred, and he joins Magneto’s band of Evil Mutants. Magneto challenges the X Men to a fight. All use their skills against the Blob, Quicksilver, and a barrage of torpedoes. In the end, Magneto is willing to sacrifice the Blob in order to kill the X-Men. No one dies, and the Blob rejoins the carnival, as Magneto and his Evil Mutants escape in the Magna-Car.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? I’m confused. If the X-Men have graduated, why aren’t they leaving the school?
WHERE ARE YOU GOING? Just a wild guess, but one of those “unfinished tasks” for which Prof. X mysteriously departs must be improving his golf swing. He’s tried on the green jacket, and likes the way it looks. Can the Masters’ Tournament be in his future?
WHEN CAN WE GO? Scarlet Witch still feels beholden to Magneto for saving her life. At what point will she decide she’s paid her debt, so she and Pietro can “leave this dreadful band”? What do these two have to do to get out of this gig?
“GO, CAT, GO!” We’re treated to a whimsical touch of the 60’s when the X-Men party in Greenwich Village. The scene is “far out,” with poetry readings, unmelodic jazz, freestyle dancing and a fascination with Beast’s feet. As Beast observes, “Those far-out characters wouldn’t be inclined to suspect anything unless it were NORMAL!”
I’M GOING. The Blob is like Hulk, equally anti-social, though somewhat better behaved. It’s a toss-up at this point which would be less likely to align himself with a group. Any group.
CEREBRO… OR NOT CEREBRO? It looks more like another Dr. Seuss creation than the impressive set from the X-Men movies, but it’s good to see more of the mythology falling into place. Of course, later in the story when Scott listens to “the steady drone of CYBERNO’S voice,” I feel I may still be missing something. Who or what is “Cyberno”? For that matter, who is “Rube”? (page 8 and 9) Who’s MacDuff? (page 7) Maybe I’m not as in-tune with the 60’s as I think I am.
MUTANT MUTINY? Mastermind has the hots for Scarlet Witch—well, if not “the hots,” at least he gets hot thinking about how much power they could have if they combined forces. More than anything, he seems turned on by the possibility that “together, our power might even exceed Magneto’s!”
MUTANT MANAGEMENT. Magneto remains unapologetic regarding his leadership style. “Bah! Loyalty is for homo sapiens!! I expect no loyalty! I only demand FEAR—and blind obedience!!” He may not be the nicest guy, but nobody could accuse him of being insincere.
MUTANT IMAGINATION. When Magneto is attacked by carnies, Toad springs to his defense. Does Toad actually believe Magneto needs his protection? Or is it only in his demented fantasy world that Magneto would be forever grateful for such intervention?
Well, I didn’t expect to see a post on the last day of the year, but it’s always a pleasure, ma’am!
Just some commentary to add and some cobwebs to clear for you:
I’ve never been a Spider-Man fan. I was just never attracted by his woe-is-me attitude. But Spider-Man # 16 was one of the few issues of his comic that I enjoyed. In fact, I liked it so much that, five years ago, I made it the subject of the “Forgotten Gem” sub-set of my Deck Log column.
If you’d care to see my review of it, you can find it here: http://captaincomics.ning.com/profiles/blogs/deck-log-entry-103-a
(I’ve checked it for spoilers; there are none.)
The only answer I can give to the question you raised about Thor, with regard to his displaying medical knowledge, in The Avengers # 8, is that it’s was one of those inconsistent things. Some stories, like this one, indicated that the Thunder God possessed Dr. Blake’s medical knowledge; others insisted that Thor would have to change back into Blake in order to do anything medical, including a clinical examination in the field.
Thor and Blake shared all other memories, so logically, Thor should possess Blake’s medical knowledge. But I think the idea of forcing Thor to become Blake in medical situations was a way of making the character vulnerable when it was dramatically convenient.
As for any suspicions that Thor might have gotten about Iron Man’s true identity, that was addressed, but not until 1973, so you have a way to go, yet.
As to the questions you asked in your CEREBRO . . . OR NOT CEREBRO? section of your review of The X-Men # 7, here we go:
“Cyberno” was erroneously used in place of Cerebro in this instance. However, as kind of an ad hoc fix, Cyberno was later revised to be the name of an earlier prototype of Cerebro.
“Hey, Rube!” does not refer directly to an individual named “Rube”. In carnival-worker slang, it is the traditional rallying cry for help. Though active carnivals are fewer these days, it is still in use, and modern theatre actors employ the term as a way of alerting security to the presence of a violent audience member. Especially in open-air performances where there are likely to be several intoxicated patrons.
“Lead on, MacDuff!” is a common perversion of the actual line from Shakespeare’s MacBeth—“Lay on, MacDuff!”
In the Scottish play, MacDuff was the thane of Fife and the most strident opponent to MacBeth’s usurping of the crown of Scotland. After MacDuff leaves for England, to rally troops around Malcolm, the rightful heir to the throne, MacBeth orders MacDuff’s wife and family killed in reprisal. Now a thirst for vengeance is added to MacDuff’s rightful indignation; MacDuff returns to Scotland, and in the last act of the play, confronts MacBeth.
During the exchange of dialogue, MacBeth says “Lay on, MacDuff!” In the vernacular of the day, to lay on meant “to make a vigourous attack”. In present day terms, MacBeth was inviting MacDuff to bring it on. (As it develops, a classic case of “beware what you wish for”.)
I’m skipping a great deal of the etymolgical history—since its overlong and, as in most cases, isn’t definitive—but at some point, at least, in the nineteeth century, “Lay on, MacDuff” was perverted to “Lead on, MacDuff!” and took on a new meaning—that of an invitation for someone to take the lead and a promise to follow him.
And since the Good Mrs. Benson is waiting for me to take her to a movie, I’ll leave it at that. Hope it helps.
Thanks for all that clarification! I felt certain some of my questions had answers grounded in pop culture (if you can call Shakespeare “Pop” culture…), and I also felt certain some of it was strictly due to error. I’ve gotten used to a fair amount of error in Marvel Comics, but when you think of it, it’s probably no more or less than we get in EVERYTHING we come across on a daily basis. Good thing I’m not a perfectionist! But it is fun finding the errors, sort of like doing one of those visual puzzles that contain hidden objects.
As for the movies, I hope you took Mrs. Benson to see the new Star Wars. We went to see it over the holidays, and as a longtime fan, I thought it was FANTASTIC!!
Blast! I always get the formating for italics wrong. Sorry my above post looks such a mess.
I’ve added the italics for you.
Thank you for adding the italics, sir.
Ma’am, the chances of me going to see a Star Wars film are about the same as the chances that the Navy is going to backdate my retirement with a promotion to rear admiral. The Good Mrs. Benson and I went to see THE MARTIAN, and I have to admit, even though I am not a fan of modern cinema, even I choked up when Watney grabbed that tether and got pulled to safety within HERMES.
Anyway, glad I could clear up some issues from your reading. I don’t post often—only when I have something to contribute—but I thoroughly enjoy your reviews, and I rarely say that about Silver-Age-based postings.
I do have one question, though: why do you post the covers to SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS, but never make commentary on them?
Early on, Russ and I talked about it and decided that we should post the cover of Sgt. Fury in order to show all the comics that take place in the Marvel Universe during the month. I read and reviewed the first issue of Sgt. Fury, but as expected, and as Russ confirms, it is basically a WAR comic. The tag on my blog is “A Modern Girl’s View of Marvel’s Silver Age,” and as a girl, war stories simply don’t interest me a whole lot, so I’ve made a decision not to read them. After all, reading comics should be fun, and besides—it’s not like I don’t have plenty of other stories to read!
Every now and then I expect I might run into a story about which I have nothing to say, and if that happens, you’ll see the cover, and nothing else. I believe this happened with some of the early issues of Ant Man, and perhaps some others. But most of the time I find I have a whole lot to say about the Marvel Universe!
By the way, I took a look at your blog entry about the Spider-Man/Daredevil story, as referenced in your earlier comment (since you assured me there were no spoilers), and really enjoyed your observations. It’s amazing how each person picks up different things, and I can’t tell you how many times I exclaimed, “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!” My favorite is you noting how “obtuse” Foggy is for inviting a blind guy to the circus! Foggy is one of my favorite supporting cast characters—though I admit, that probably has a lot to do with his portrayal in the Netflix Daredevil series.
By the way, I took a look at your blog entry about the Spider-Man/Daredevil story . . . It’s amazing how each person picks up different things, and I can’t tell you how many times I exclaimed, “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”
I’m glad—because that’s exactly what a review of a comic book should do. It should engage the readers’ thoughts. In a sense, become interactive with them. That’s what your reviews do; it’s why I’ve read every single one of them—twice.
I’ve seen too many comic-book reviews simply spit back the events of the story. That’s not a review; that’s a synopsis. Sure, to some extent, a review needs to contain a recap of the story. But much more important, I want to read what the reviewer thought of the story; what his impressions and interpretations were; the details he picked up on. That reviewer has a different perspective than I do—in your case, a very different one—and if he provides his views, I might pick up on something I might have never seen otherwise.
I want to be engaged, even if it’s a review of a story I already know forward and backward. I don’t care if it’s “Hey, Chrissy spotted the same thing I did!” or “Boy, has that Chrissy got it all wrong!” But the best response of all is: “Hey, I never noticed that!” That’s the reaction that makes the story fresh, again.
There are other factors, of course, that turn me away from a reviewer’s blog, but failure to provide a personal analysis is the big one.
So, I’m pleased that you enjoyed my review of “Spidey Versus Daredevil”.
And “roger” on your reasons for not reviewing the Sgt. Fury title. And it makes sense. If a series doesn’t interest you, then you aren’t likely to put your full effort into a review; and if that’s the case, why bother? Better to not review it at all, than to present something done half-heartedly. I was just wondering if I had missed something more specific about why you were giving Sgt. Fury a pass.
As far as the reviews you do write go: you keep writing them, and I’ll keep reading them!
Thanks for all the encouragement! And as for reading reviews…My thoughts exactly! Of course, up till now, I’ve shied away from reading reviews, because from my vantage point, there’s just too much chance of being spoiled. It was your assurance that there were no spoilers that made me willing to take a chance, and I’m glad I did. Russ and I have talked about it, and we’re going to see if he can read ahead of me and “scope out” which reviews are “safe” for me to read, so hopefully I’ll get to visit your blog a bit more!