"THE STRANGEST FOE OF ALL TIME...DOCTOR OCTOPUS"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: Steve Ditko/Inker: Steve Ditko/Letterer: John Duffy/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: Steve Ditko
Synopsis: After a radioactive explosion fuses his four metallic arms to his spine, Doctor Otto Octavius is reborn as the evil Doctor Octopus...
Review: To my mind, there are two contenders for the crown of Spider-Man's arch-nemesis: the original Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. Whilst personally I favour the Goblin, due to the significant loss he deals to Spider-Man by murdering Gwen Stacy - not to mention his personal connection to Peter Parker - I wouldn't disagree with anyone who put Doc Ock forward instead. Even in this first appearance, it's clear just how brilliant of a villain he is, and I feel that a large part of that is down to Ditko's design (as is the case with so many of Spider-Man's enemies). Ock is such a visually exciting character, whether in a fight scene or simply performing one of his experiments; each of his metallic arms is always busy doing something; he's a truly inspired piece of Ditko genius. Ditko imbued his characters with heaps of personality, but Ock is one of his greatest triumphs, a villain whose lust for power and supreme arrogance are obvious even without Stan's dialogue, and these first battles between Spidey and Ock are beautifully rendered; easily the best fight scenes we've seen so far.
I feel that this is the first truly 'complete' issue of ASM; it tells a story in which Peter actually learns something. We begin with him taking down a trio of crooks in just a couple of panels, boasting to himself that crime-fighting is almost too easy when you have spider powers. Pretty soon he's taken down a peg or two when he confronts Ock, only to be callously tossed aside without much effort at all on the villain's part, and the ease with which he is defeated causes him to have a period of crisis in which he debates hanging up his web-shooters for good. I'll admit that he starts having doom and gloom thoughts rather quickly - he doesn't even pick himself back up to face Octopus again straight away - but considering he's a teenager, and every emotion is heightened, I'd argue his actions make sense, and it's still early days for him anyway; he's not yet had to face someone as powerful as Ock before. Of course, he battles the villain again, this time using his head rather than going in gung-ho, and emerges not just triumphant, but wiser, the foolhardy cockiness with which he began the issue has been tempered by experience.
Once again, we get a cameo from a member of the Fantastic Four, this time just the Human Torch alone, marking the start of the character's long-standing friendship/rivalry with Spider-Man. It's a brief appearance, and one that actually serves the story rather than the pretty shameless marketing ploy that we got in ASM #1, though I feel that the Torch is oddly out of character, urging the students of Midtown High to stick to their studies and do well in school; the Johnny Storm I know cares more about sports cars than schoolwork. Regardless, it's a fairly unintrusive cameo, and I'm glad that Stan and Steve had the sense not to team the two heroes up to go against Ock, instead allowing Spidey to take him down alone. It's worth noting that while Ditko draws a pretty great looking Human Torch, every other Marvel artist at this point in time struggles to make Spider-Man look as dynamic as Ditko does.
Doc Ock's first appearance is appropriately brilliant, and remains one of my favourite ASM issues. Not only does it introduce a fabulous new villain, giving us some of the best fight scenes of the Ditko era, but it allows Peter Parker to mature just that little bit further, to become the hero we know him to be. The way in which he defeats Ock in the end is another great example of Peter as a science whiz as well as a superhero. The supporting cast don't get much of a look-in - Jameson, Flash and Liz only appear briefly - but I really don't mind when the quality of story and art are this high. An absolute triumph for Lee and Ditko's first full-length Spidey story.
Rating: 5/5
Next time, Spider-Man has to fight on home ground when the Sandman attacks Midtown High!
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