"THE MENACE OF THE MOLTEN MAN!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Plot/Pencils: Steve Ditko/Inker: Steve Ditko/Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: Steve Ditko
Synopsis: On the day of his high school graduation, Peter goes up against his latest foe, the Molten Man...
Review: Steve Ditko created/co-created the vast majority of Spider-Man's greatest villains. He also created the Molten Man. Now, it's rare that you'll hear me confess that a Ditko character leaves me a bit cold, but I've never been a fan of the Molten Man. I'll admit that he looks cool - or, at least Ditko makes him look cool - with his shiny golden skin that gleams in the light, but what is it he can actually do? Yes, his molten skin makes him super strong, and gives his body a slippery quality, meaning Spidey can't use his webs or grab onto him, but honestly, there isn't a whole lot more going on with him. It's not until Gerry Conway's run on ASM that we see something a bit more interesting done with the character, and even after that, his appearances have a real rinse-and-repeat quality. He doesn't even have much of a personality; he's just your typical power-crazed supervillain. An incredibly rare dud of a character from Lee and Ditko. One thing I really don't understand is why the liquid metal alloy doesn't cover Raxton's clothes as well when it spills over him - why does it only bond with his skin?
I will admit that it's nice to see Spencer Smythe again - and not yet in his psychotic villain mode yet - as Peter visits his laboratory to retrieve his old Spidey costume, and I do get a kick out of the bizarre sequence in which Smythe's robot latches onto Peter, detecting his spidery qualities, prompting Smythe to question if Peter is really Spider-Man, before Peter produces a jar of spiders that he's brought to 'help Smythe with his research,' claiming they are what drove the robot wild. Little bits of continuity like this are appreciated, but it's puzzling as to why two big errors made it through to this issue. Early in the story, Peter refers to Liz Allan as Liz Hilton for some strange reason, and towards the end, Anna Watson says that Mary-Jane is her daughter, instead of her niece. I'm sure these are just typos or small oversights, but it's especially strange when you consider that the Molten Man's appearance in Gerry Conway's run - the first time he'd appeared in 8 years - is also plagued with continuity errors. Is this one of the Molten Man's abilities, one we know nothing about? Is he subconsciously able to warp reality itself?
The thing that really saves this issue is the final scene, Peter's graduation from Midtown High. Prior to Marvel debuting their line of superhero comics, superhero stories rarely had continuity between issues, were mostly standalone plots with no repercussions outside of the issues they were in, and certainly didn't have anything like a concept of real time. Marvel - and especially Spider-Man - was different. It's been three years since the web-head debuted in Amazing Fantasy, and now, he's graduating high school at the time that he should be doing so. The readers at the time grew up with the character, which I feel provides a stronger connection between them and Peter. Yes, within a few years, any ideas of allowing the Spider-Man stories to progress in real time are thrown out the window - Peter spends 13 years of real time at ESU before graduating, and even then he doesn't really leave - but for now, it's nice to see such a strong level of realism in the comic. And the scene itself is just wonderful: Aunt May's pride over her nephew; Jameson's horrendously conceited speech, not to mention his false charm when talking with Aunt May; and Liz's forlorn farewell not just to Peter, but to the life she's known since starting at Midtown. It's a genuinely affecting scene, sentimental without being sappy, and the image of Peter taking a last look at the school as he walks away is one of my favourites in all of Spider-Man: the end of one chapter, but the beginning of another.
ASM #28 is mostly a bit of a bland affair, what with most of the issue being dedicated to a villain who just isn't very good, but as usual, the Ditko art is flawless, and the fight between Spidey and the Molten Man is well done, although I would have liked the moment where Spider-Man sends the room into pitch darkness to have lasted a bit longer, because it looks really cool. The graduation scene is what really makes this issue for me. As a story, this is just about average, but that final, fond farewell to everything we've known up to this point is so good that it makes the whole thing worthwhile.
Rating: 3/5
Next time, we'll be heading over to ASM Annual #2, for a team-up with that other Ditko Marvel creation, Doctor Strange...
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