"SPIDEY SAVES THE DAY!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: John Romita Sr./Inker: Mike Esposito/Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: Spider-Man has been captured by his arch nemesis, the Green Goblin, who aims to finish off the wall-crawler for good...
Review: First things first: that gorgeous cover. One of my all-time favourite Spider-Man covers; such a powerful pose on Spidey himself, while the utterly defeated Goblin is beautifully rendered, the broken glider in the background only adding to the sense of finality, as the flames rage around the two arch foes. An iconic image, and one of John Romita's best. The interior artwork is a lot stronger this time around as well; I feel that between issues Romita has developed a lot more confidence in drawing for a superhero comic, as the action is a lot more engaging, the poses more dynamic and dramatic, and the whole book feels like it has so much more life and energy to it. The previous issue had a good script from Stan being let down slightly by solid but unspectacular art from Romita, but here, the two of them are on a level playing field and compliment each other perfectly. I particularly love the dramatic poses Romita gives Spider-Man and the Goblin, and the emotional intensity on Norman Osborn's face is excellent.
Stan's dialogue is also a lot of fun; in just two issues since gaining more control over the book, he's creating some of his best work for a while; the verbal sparring between Peter and Norman at the start is absolutely superb and genuinely gripping. Norman is so brilliantly characterised as a completely delusional psychopath, always teetering on the edge of rage and viciousness, likely to flip out at any moment; he's such a terrific villain, and anyone reading this for the first time in 1966, who felt disappointed with the suddenness of the reveal last issue, must surely have backtracked on that when they read these scenes; Norman is easily the most complex and exciting villain the comic had ever seen up to this point - and for my money, he still is. The flashbacks to the Goblin's origin story are a wonderful inclusion that only expose Norman's delusions further; his insistence that he was a good father to his son when it's quite clear that the two didn't spend much time together when Harry was growing up, what with Norman constantly focusing on his business. I particularly love the detail that if Norman had chosen to go to Harry's high school parents' evening, he would never have suffered the accident that turned him into the Goblin; a great little metaphor for how prioritising the wrong things in life can lead to disaster further down the road.
It's a small scene, but a really good one: Betty waiting anxiously at a train station, bound for New York. After several issues without her, it's a pleasure to see her returning to the title again, even if her relationship with Peter isn't going to pick up again (more of that next issue). The thing I love especially is actually just one line from Stan, as Betty reminisces about her time in New York, thinking back to Jameson, Ned, and of course, Peter, but looming over all her recollections is Spider-Man; as Stan describes him, "a figure who seems to somehow overshadow all else as he silently swings from memory to memory...!" A really quietly beautiful piece of writing, and Romita's talent for soap-opera-esque romance works wonders with this scene in particular. We also get one brief stop at the Bugle to check in with Jameson; an even shorter scene than Betty's this, but Stan makes the most of it with a hilarious comment from JJ, who wants to write an editorial about how the younger generation's going to the dogs; he adds that he'll follow that up with a similar piece about the older generation, as he may as well blast everyone! Priceless.
Half of the issue is taken up with a lot of dialogue, but once Spider-Man and the Goblin go for each other, they really go for each other; it's one of the best Spidey/Goblin battles yet, with some fantastically exciting artwork from Romita; his fight scenes are starting to develop that signature Romita 'crunch'; every blow and impact feels powerful, as if the characters are about to break free of the page. All throughout the fight, Spider-Man is plagued by the question of what he's going to do if he wins; even if the Goblin is defeated, he knows Peter's secret and could leak it to the world, and Peter's not about to murder someone just to protect his secret identity; it's a really nice way of adding some extra jeopardy. This dilemma ends up being solved for him when the Goblin is caught in a chemical explosion which wipes his memories of the past few years; Norman can't remember ever becoming a supervillain. Call it a cop-out, but I think it sets up a lot of storytelling possibilities for the future; who knows if or when Norman's memories may return to him? With that said, the final panel, of Norman and Harry truly reunited after several dark years, does genuinely seem to offer some hope for the future, and that, for now, at least, the threat of the Green Goblin is over. This makes for rather heart-breaking reading in hindsight.
ASM #40 is a huge step forward from the last issue, which in itself wasn't exactly a miss. It concludes the Green Goblin saga - for the time being - in a more than satisfying way, that still manages to set up new possibilities for future stories. Yes, several pages of the issue are just there to fill up space, with the Goblin using some weird thought-image device to project the history of his encounters with Spider-Man onto a screen, but this really doesn't bother me when the quality of everything else is so high. The Lee and Romita era is now ready to begin in earnest, and I for one, am really excited to dive into these stories again.
Rating: 5/5
Next time, Peter purchases a new motorbike, and a new supervillain charges into Spidey's life, in the form of the Rhino...
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