"THE MAN IN THE CRIME-MASTER'S MASK!"
Script: Stan Lee/Plot/Pencils: Steve Ditko/Inker: Steve Ditko/Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: Steve Ditko
Synopsis: A new masked villain known as the Crime-Master makes a move to take over the city's criminal underworld, but the Green Goblin has plans of his own...
Review: This is the first issue of ASM to give Steve Ditko an official plotting credit, much to Stan's chagrin, and this is where I feel it becomes clear that Steve has been the driving creative force behind Spider-Man for quite some time now, as he delivers one of his most well-plotted and intricate issues yet. This is also the first time an issue of ASM ended on a real cliff-hanger; in the past, we've had stories that ended with uncertainty for our hero, or questions about where his life would go next, but this instalment ends with Spider-Man knocked unconscious and at the mercy of the Green Goblin, the Crime-Master, and a room packed full of mobsters. It's a brilliant way to end yet another top tier issue from the Ditko era. If you've been reading these posts from the beginning, I'm sure I'm starting to sound like a broken record at this point, but for me, Ditko's run really is the peak of Spider-Man; almost every issue is brilliant.
In the past, I referred to Issue #23 as featuring almost every Ditko element I love; the only thing lacking was some noir-ish shadows. Well, guess what he chose to include in this issue? This is quite possibly the most 'Ditko' issue of ASM, only rivalled by Issue #30; you've got not one, but two masked mystery villains, tons of gangsters, an intricate crime story, and Frederick Foswell. It doesn't get more Ditko-esque than that. This is where I feel Foswell starts to become a really interesting character in the comic, a shadowy figure that you're never sure if you can entirely trust, and with two masked bad guys roaming the city, he certainly stands out as a prime suspect, especially after Spider-Man is shot at by the Crime-Master whilst searching Foswell's apartment (a fantastic scene, enhanced by the "thwock" sound of the Crime-Master's gun. We'll learn Foswell's secret in the next issue, and I think that readers of the time were probably pretty surprised by the reveal, but I'll discuss that in my next post.
The Crime-Master himself is a classic case of Ditko's 'masked man in a suit' characters, and I've always liked him. I'm not entirely sure what the bizarre markings on his mask are meant to represent, but he certainly looks cool, and for a guy with no super powers, he manages to almost kill Spider-Man in their first encounter, by releasing a load of suffocating gas into the web-slinger's face, and punching him off a rooftop. Of course, the Goblin is here as well, even if he is largely overshadowed by the Crime-Master for much of the issue. It's established that both he and the Crime-Master know each other's true identities (see the final issue of Untold Tales of Spider-Man for a funny twist on this), and whilst the Crime-Master would be unmasked in the following issue, the Goblin's real face would remain a mystery until the landmark Issue #39. I love the early scene between the two of them on the waterfront where the Crime-Master rejects the Goblin's plan for the two of them to team up to take over the city's rackets; the gloomy shadows and rotting structure of the pier set the scene beautifully.
Not only do we get a textbook Ditko crime story, but we see some great moments from the supporting cast as well. Peter and Betty have a huge argument at the Bugle over what Betty thinks is Peter's continued betrayal of her by seeing other girls like Liz and Mary-Jane. Of course, being Betty, every time Peter tries to offer her any kind of explanation, she just blows up in his face and refuses to listen. His luck with Liz runs pretty sour as well, after he gets into a brawl with Flash and his cronies at Midtown High; upset that Peter has become just like the jerks that pick on him, Liz runs off, and Peter is called into Principal Davis' office as a result of the fight. Here is where we see one of the earliest examples of Flash proving that he's not such a bad guy at heart, as he tells the principal that it was he and his friends that started the fight by goading Peter into it; I love Flash's gradual transition from being Peter's bully to one of his best friends, and whilst they wouldn't get really pally with each other until years down the line, I like to look at this moment as the start of Flash gaining more of a grudging respect for the 'bookworm' he's tormented all these years.
I feel that I have to mention one of the defining aspects of this issue for me, and that is Spider-Man's costume. In the previous issue, Peter left his costume on a rooftop to act as a decoy for Jameson and Smythe, and when he got home, found that Aunt May had discovered his spare costume and confiscated it, leaving him without anything to wear to go superheroing. This leads to him buying a temporary replacement in this story, a 'one size fits all' Spidey costume from a costume shop. Of course, the outfit doesn't fit quite as well as it should do, and he's forced to constantly web up the various parts so that he doesn't find himself without a glove or a boot. This initially humorous subplot pays off in a big way, as at the end of the issue, after the Goblin has knocked Spidey out, the villain is unable to remove his enemy's mask, as Spidey has been forced to web it tight to the rest of his costume. This is the first thing I think of when I think of this issue: an absolutely perfect piece of plotting from Ditko, a set up that has a fantastic pay-off at the end.
ASM #26 is another of my favourite Ditko issues; I'll have to wait until I've re-read the following issue first, but I'd generally say that each Ditko Goblin story is better than the one preceding it, and that this Crime-Master/Goblin two-parter is the jewel in the crown. Two great villains, impeccable plotting from the industry's greatest artist, and for the first time, a genuine cliff-hanger. This is about as good as it gets.
Rating: 5/5
Next time, Spidey busts loose and goes after the Crime-Master, but someone else beats him to the punch...
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