Amazing Spider-Man from the beginning

[matthewaos]

Amazing Spider-Man #15


"Kraven The Hunter!"

Another story indroducing a new villain, as well as re-indroducing Spider-Man's first foe, the Chameleon.

Spider-Man stops some burglars who are planning to rob a bank. One of them, the mastermind of them, escapes and we see that he is the Chameleon.

In his hideout, he is thinking what he can do about him and then he has an idea: He will invite his friend, Kraven the Hunter.

JJJ, Betty, Peter, and his schoolmates are running to the docks to see Kraven, who arrives and announces to Jameson that he came here to hunt Spider-Man. JJJ informs him that this is illegal.

At the same time some gorilas and snakes escape his capture. Peter quickly changes to Spider-Man, but he is useless, cause at the time he arrives in the scene Kraven has already caught the escaped animals. Betty is too jealous of Liz.

Kraven is described as a legand, and the greatest hunter ever, who has caught every living pray sigle hand.

Kraven next visits the Chameleon's house to gather information about Spider-Man. The Chameleon arranges for some burglars to commit a ribbery, as for Spider-Man to stop them. Kraven watches his pray from afar.

The two meet and they fight. Kraven is not an easy opponent. He scratches Spidey with somekind of drug or something, which makes Peter dizzy.

The next morning Peter better, but during the day we see that he still has shakes. Kraven confesses to the Chameleon that he has great power, cause of the posion he stole from some hidden witch doctor of a hidden african tribe.

Aunt May tells Peter that she arranged for a blind date with Ms Watchon's niece.

Kraven arrives at the daily bugle, chalenging Spider-Man through the paper. Spider-Man follows him, but he does know that he is following the Chameleon.

The is a sequence where Chameleon dressed as Kraven, pounds some drums, which makes Peter feel wierd. Kraven tries to catch Spider-Man with a net and later with some kind of magnetic cuffs.

After a while, Spider-Man manages to defeat Kraven, and discover that the Chameleon was behind it.

Peter has to ditch Betty cause he promised Aunt May to go on the date. Betty things it is because of Liz. Miss Watchon's niece has a headache and she does not come, so he calls Betty but she hangs up, so he calls Liz qho is dating Flash.

The Chameleon and Kraven are escorted from the country. The editor announces that Spider-Man annual will be in stores.

[matthewaos]

Overall a nice issue. Nothing eciting. Kraven does not seem like the loser he really is, before JMD catches up with him. I liked Chameleon's role in this. I also liked Miss Watchon's first appearence. The MJ mystery will drag for quite a while though...

[matthewaos]

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1


"The Sinister Six!"

The issue opens with Doctor Octopus, last seen in ASM #11 - 12 seperated bu his metal arms. We now see that he can comtrl them mentally, so they break him free.

Spider-Man reads about it the other day, and Thor just passes by. In a secret hideout, Doctor Octopus meets Electro (I read he had an appearence on DD latetly), Kraven (first appearence after his debout in issue #15), Mysterio (last seen in his debout story, issue #13), Sandman (last seen in Strange Tales #115), and the Vulture (last seen in issue #7). They say that they couldn't defeat Spider-Man by themselves, so they should work together.

The other day at school, Flash is angry at Peter cause he saw he with Liz. Flash is trying to punch Peter but he ducks, and Doctor Strange's "ectoplasmic spirit form" passes.

Peter returns home, but sees a light in the atic. It's Aunt May watching pictures of Ben and cry. Spider-Man reminds us his origin, while he walks on a ledge on a rooftop. He says that he would much prefer to live like a normal teen ager and it shows how much a burden is for him.

Somehow he trips and falls. He realizes his powers are lost. The FF pass by. Peter retunrs home for dinner, while he wonders what to do now that he got his wish.

Back at doc Ock's, Otto says that he has a detailed plan, since some of the villains are not thrilled by working together. Everyone is drawing a card which has a number and a location. The number states which one of them will ffight first, and the location is best suited for each villain as his battle ground (obviously the papers cannot be random and have the locations, so I guess Stan made a mistake her).

The next morning Peter is not so well and he goes for a walk. He does not go to school, and May learn about this. She fears it's something about Betty, so she goes to the Daily Bugle.

While Betty also arrives there, the Sandman and Electro forces them to follow them. JJJ sees this through his window. Peter learns about this by Jameson, and soon after that the Vulture appears and orders the publisher publish in his newspaper that if Spider-Man wants to see Betty again, he should go to an electric plant for his first challenge, owned by Stark.

By that time we had also cameos by Giant-Man and Wasp, as well as Captain America and alo the X-Men.

Spider-Man goes to the randevous point, where he finds Electro, telling him that if he defeats him he will get a card to go to the next location. Spider-Man magically regain his powers. Must have been because he wished for them and his mind made him think he did not have them anymore.

Spider-Man manages to ground himself, so he can stand Electro's attack, and as he attacks him, we have the first splash page in (in the form we knoe it today) in Spider-Man, while he hits Electro. Iron - Man appears.

The next opponent is Kraven, with his two tiger pets. Spider-Man manages to avoid all three of them at the same time. He does not bit him however, just takes the card with the next location.

He finds the X-Men, but soon realizes that its not them, but just robots. He finds the robots manipulated by Mysterio. They fight, but he escapes.

The next location leads him to the Sandman. It seems easy, when metalic walls graow from the ground, making both opponents to be trapped inside. They fight, but Sandaman made this air proof, and he can't stand, while Spider-Man can hold his breath a little bit more than any ordinary human.

Next, atop of a building, he finds the Vulture. He makes him leave the spider web down. The Vulture uses a lasso, which Spidey turns to his favor and catches him.

The final location is in a castle. Doctor Doom, is walking when Spider-Man catches up with him. He does not know he can control his arms telepathically. Doc OCk escapes for a while, and Spider-MAn searches for him but he fells into a trap door that leads in a giant fish bowl. The Doctor enters with his mask an oxigen. Spider-Man manages to defeat him.

In the end he catches up with Betty and May, who was very pleased by Octapus' hospitality and believes he is very gentle.

All six villains are in the same holding cell.

The issue also contains a "Gallery of Spider-Man's Most Famous Foes!" which has pin ups and a vey short history about the up until now Spider-Man villains. "The Secrets of Spider-Man" have some clues about Spider-Man's powers and all the gdgets he uses (his web and stuff). "How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man" is a three page strip that shows humourusly how Stan and Steve collaborated on creating our favorite hero.

[matthewaos]

I'm not sure what to say about this issue. Sure it's a fun issue, and sure it has great art. But the issue alone has some mistakes.

First, why draw cards with numbers and locations? We have to auume that the location cards were different.

Kraven at first states clearly to Electro that obviously Octapus wants them to team up cause each one himself will not defeat him. Then he says that he wants to avenge Spider-Man by himself.

Really, what's the point of the team up, if they don't fight Spider-Man all at once?

Peter magically loses his powers, and then he gets them back, cause he instanntly wished them off and his mind made him believe that they were gone. Yeah, right :roll eyes must be put here:

When he sees May cry, while he is outside his home apparently we have to assume that he went back to the city. When JJJ is searching for him through the FF (cause his extra will be a little late and he is worried) Reed says that they saw him yesterday in Madison Avenue, and I don't know NY, but I guessQueens is not close there. It is obvious he is in the city by the background drawing.

Also, the cameos, though funny, they were a little lame.

And why would they put all six of them in one cell?

On the bright side, we got the first sinister six appearence.

For every one of the six Spider-Man is fighting we have really great splash page, except the Vulture one which is a little ugly.

We see Aunt May not realizing Octopus' meanace, thinking of him as a gentle man with a problem in his hands.

JJJ is speaking to Spiders to contact Spider-Man, considering that if Ant-Man can do it, why not Spider-Man?

There are plently of extras, and the story is 42 pages.

Overal I think nice and enjoyable, with great art, but a little silly for my tastes.

[Chris N]

I like the annual better than you did, though your points as to its flaws are not without merit. I consider the plotholes minor and better overlooked to appreciate how cool the story is. Because it's, you know, the Sinister Six.

I like the powers coming and going but turning out to be in his head (which I have to assume inspired Spider-Man 2)

Notice the high drama of Spider-Man having to fight all of his villains one-by-one without his powers!!

And if this is to be my finish.. at least I'll face it... like a man!

Ditko's really become the great artist he's remembered as by this point and the splash pages in this issue are gorgeous.

Despite its many flaws, I'd actually point to this issue as one of the greatest Spider-Man comics ever. There are holes in the setup, but the setup gets to the point of the issue, which is a dramatic high for the series.

Also, one of the funniest moments: JJ talking to spiders, hoping they'll get a message to Spider-Man is hysterical.

And if I may be a continuity nerd without offending, somewhere before this annual we also saw Spider-Man appear in

Tales to Astonish #57

Egghead tricks Giant-Man and Wasp into thinking Spider-Man is a bad guy and out to attack them. I'm going to start keeping count of how many times Spider-Man has been framed, because such things amuse me. I'm going to call this #4 (Chameleon, some random criminals over in Strange Tales, Mysterio, and now this)

So this falls under the standard header of people being ready to assume the worst about Spider-Man. A fight between Giant Man and Spider-Man breaks out. Wasp tries to get them to be reasonable. Finally, ants stumble on to Egghead's plan and alert Giant Man. Smart ants. In the end, Spider-Man and Giant Man team up to stop Egghead. I don't have many comments about the above.

What doesn't sit right with me is the end. It's a point that seems a bit silly to me but gets harped on. Wasp feels particularly hostile towards Spider-Man and thinks to herself that it may be because spiders and wasps are natural enemies. Something about them assuming aspects of the personalities of the creatures of their namesakes seems off. But Spider-Man mentions being "red" around the Wasp. Hank also assumes its his natural instinct as a spider. Wasp and Spider-Man are then particularly rude and insulting to each other. In fact, I'd assume there was sexual tension at the root. Then Giant Man repeats the same phrase that Wasp had thought, "spiders and wasps are natural enemies", in bemoaning why it would be hard to be allied with Spider-Man. Something about the leaps in logic about both their powers everybody is making just does not sit well with me. Ah well. Let's move on.

EDIT: On the continuity note, my notes (cribbed from the MCP and research of CBR's Cei-U!) suggest issue 16 should have come before the annual, but I can't see that it actually matters.

[oldschool]

I'm not sure what to say about this issue. Sure it's a fun issue, and sure it has great art. But the issue alone has some mistakes.

First, why draw cards with numbers and locations? We have to auume that the location cards were different.

Kraven at first states clearly to Electro that obviously Octapus wants them to team up cause each one himself will not defeat him. Then he says that he wants to avenge Spider-Man by himself.

Really, what's the point of the team up, if they don't fight Spider-Man all at once?

Peter magically loses his powers, and then he gets them back, cause he instanntly wished them off and his mind made him believe that they were gone. Yeah, right :roll eyes must be put here:

When he sees May cry, while he is outside his home apparently we have to assume that he went back to the city. When JJJ is searching for him through the FF (cause his extra will be a little late and he is worried) Reed says that they saw him yesterday in Madison Avenue, and I don't know NY, but I guessQueens is not close there. It is obvious he is in the city by the background drawing.

Also, the cameos, though funny, they were a little lame.

And why would they put all six of them in one cell?

On the bright side, we got the first sinister six appearence.

For every one of the six Spider-Man is fighting we have really great splash page, except the Vulture one which is a little ugly.

We see Aunt May not realizing Octopus' meanace, thinking of him as a gentle man with a problem in his hands.

JJJ is speaking to Spiders to contact Spider-Man, considering that if Ant-Man can do it, why not Spider-Man?

There are plently of extras, and the story is 42 pages.

Overal I think nice and enjoyable, with great art, but a little silly for my tastes.

A lot of your gripes with this issue I think can be explained as just the storytelling of comics back in that era. Remember, this the early 60's and the "new age" of superhero comics was just being born which meant that there was still a heavy cornball influence from the Batman/Superman 50's comics. Read one of those sometime if you really want to howl with laughter!

[matthewaos]

Generally I think it is a great issue, for what it represents. Though, in previous issues there were not so many flaws as this issue, I think. There are some really funny moments, Jameson talking to spiders and May not realizing the danger are just amazing!

Sorry for the delay, I had some work to do. I'll return today with the review of DD issue #2 which features Electro!

[Combustible Pumpkins]

Hey this is a good idea! I love the Lee/Ditko days! I remember the Doc Ock issues really standing out, and the Doom issue lacking luster. Good luck with this!

[Chris N]

Hey this is a good idea! I love the Lee/Ditko days! I remember the Doc Ock issues really standing out, and the Doom issue lacking luster. Good luck with this!

I echo these sentiments.

[matthewaos]

Daredevil #2


"The Evil Menace Of Electro!"

Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Joe Orlando
Inker: Vince Colletta
Cover: Joe Orlando/Jack Kirby/Vince Colletta

The issue opens in the law office of Nelson and Murdock. The Thing enters asking for a laywer to review the new lease on The Fantastic Four skyscraper. Foggy tells him that Murdock is more appropriate on leases. The thing asks him for a photo of Murdock to give it to the "electric-eye watchdog gizmo" so that Murdock can just walk in when he arrives.

In the next scene we see Daredevil busting in a car stealing operation. He stops those thives, and we learn that the mastermind of this opperation, Electro will be pished.

Electro on the other hand who watches what happens is saying that he is bored of this opperation. He realizes that it will be a better plan to steal Mister Fantastic's plans and sell them to enemy countries, cause the FF are out of town.

Back at the office Foggy and Karen announce Matt about the Thing.

Karen says Matt that she knows an eye doctor who can maybe cure him of his blindness but Matt refuses cause he is afraid he will lose his powers.

Electro in the same time enters the Baxter building, as Matt does. Matt realizes that there is danger and quickly changes into DD. Electro sees him in a monitor.

The two meet and they star fighting. DD finds the light switch to get some advantage. He tries to throw some steel bars at Electro, but those were actually belong to the Thing and they are too heavy to lift. In the moment wasted Electro illuminates the room and strikes DD.

DD is unconsious and Electro is dragging him. He throws him in the FF's space rocket. He cannot launch it, but he does it in the end, with his power. He then continues his search for Mister Fantastic's secrets.

DD wakes in the misile which is in space. He manages to fligh the rocket back to Earth and land it in the midle of Central Park.

To escape police, he jumps on a horse from a carriage and runs to the Baxter building where he left his cloths.

Matt wants to find a way to enter the Baxter building without alarming Electro. So he goes and grabs himself from a traffic hellicopter, or whatever. For some reason he knows by heart the road the hellicopter is taking.

At the exact right time DD looses his grab and enters the building by it's skylight.

The two start running outside the building. Electro realizes that he can't escape him long so he enters a movie hall. The two fight and Electro plays with him. DD manages to throw the curtain on him, so he loses his balance. The police trows water on him.

Back at the office, the FF enter saying they want to sue someone cause someone broke their skylight when they were gone. Matt tells them that he could not manage to do it. The Thing is complaining and Foggy is shouting at Matt wondering how he could lose their four most famous clients!

[matthewaos]

I liked Electro's second appearence. I think it was a great second appearence (if you don't count the ASM annual). That said, Lee's DD is not one of his strong points. The issue in general was not bad, but sure not good. I got bored a little to be honest. It's an amazing thing that Nocenti and Miller did such amazing work with thins character.

[matthewaos]

Oh, also I have to say that Joe Orlando is a fantastic artist. I really liked the art on this issue.

[matthewaos]

Amazing Spider-Man #16


"Dual With Daredevil!"

This is the first team up between Spider-Man and Daredevil.

We start at Peter Parker's house with Aunt May telling him that he should go on that blind date with her friend's niece who gets a name for the first time here: Mary Jane. Peter refuses cause he wants Betty.

Peter goes out as Spider-Man and he faces some thieves. Matt Murdock is there, who does not interfere as DD. Spider-Man stops the thieves and Mat thanks him.

Foggy and Karen tells Mat about going to the circus. We see that the circus is organized by the Ringmaster and his circus of crime. The editor informs us that he first appeared in Hulk #3 (but I think he was first introduced during the golden age). We see that the poster for the circus says that Spider-Man will appear (as to lore as many people) and that the income will go to charity.

JJJ tells Peter that he does not want no more pictures of Spider-Man, cause he hopes that if he does not give him all this publishity maybe he will stop.

Betty invites Peter and his Aunt for dinner but Peter says he has work. His ticket falls from his pocket and Betty believes that he wasnt to go with some other girl. Peter on the other hand wants to go as Spider-Man to help the charity.

Inside the circus, everyone wants Spider-Man to appear. Mat who is in the crowd realizes that Spider-Man is nearby, cause he heard his heart beat. (That means tha the moment he will meet Peter he will know who he is)

Spider-Man appears and does a show that everyone loves. Then the Ringmaster appears and hypnotizes Spider-Man and the rest of the crowd. His goons are going for the people's wallets.

Mat is changing to Daredevil. The Ringmaster orders Spider-Man to fight him. Saredevil has a difficult time, as has Spider-Man. DD manages to grab the Ringmaster's hat and wakes Spider-Man.

The Ringmaster sends his circus of crime to defeat both heroes, but they are not a match for the. Daredevil goes back to his seat as Mat, while Spider-Man takes care of the rest. The Ringmaster trys to hypnotize Spider-Man again but he closes his eyes and he defeats him.

Spider-Man then manages to break the Ringmaster's spell and everyone wakes.

[matthewaos]

Sure not a bad issue. It's a fun read. Nothing special, except the first meeting of a long friendship. I really liked when Mat realized Spider-Man is around. It made me want to see their next meeting soon! I also liked Ditko's take on DD.

[Gabe De Los Muertos]

Is Annual #1 collected in the Omnibus?