"THE HORNS OF THE RHINO!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: John Romita Sr./Inker: Mike Esposito/Letterer: Art Simek/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: John Jameson returns from a mission to space after coming into contact with some mysterious spores, and the Rhino aims to capture him and deliver him to the highest paying foreign power...
Review: ASM #41 very much heralds the start of a new era for Spider-Man - it even says so on the splash page. We're seeing more erosion of the tropes that defined the Ditko era, as well as some new elements that aim to propel Peter Parker and his supporting cast forward into the 60s cultural zeitgeist. Peter buys a new motorcycle for himself, presumably an attempt by Stan and John at making him look a bit hipper and less of the buttoned-down college kid that Ditko had portrayed him as. Gwen and Harry start to act more cordially to him, the first seeds of friendships between them are starting to flower. Even Flash's jibes towards Peter are more playful than antagonistic. Change is in the air, and it's about time. All that, and we get a brand new supervillain as well. What more could you ask for?
The Rhino is another of my favourite villains; I always love seeing Spider-Man go up against someone that's a lot bigger and stronger than he is, and the Rhino fits that bill perfectly. He's a rather different character in these early appearances compared to how we think of him now; he's a lot more intelligent for a start, and is actually the mastermind behind his own little scheme, rather than just being the hired muscle for another villain, which he'd become in the next few years. I also have to applaud John Romita for creating such a long-lasting and beloved villain on his first try at coming up with a new adversary for Spider-Man; the Rhino's costume is simple, but effective, and speaking personally, I don't think it ever gets better than this initial grey costume, without all the spikes and armoured plating he would get in later years. Sometimes, less is more, and that's certainly the case with the Rhino (don't even get me started on that hideous Ultimate Universe design).
With a big strong villain comes the potential for really cracking action, and that's exactly what we get. Lots of great scenes of the Rhino rampaging further and further towards New York, and his goal of capturing John Jameson, and the battle between him and Spider-Man is fantastic; Romita's confidence with working on Spider-Man is growing by the issue, and whilst I still don't think he's nailed Spider-Man's acrobatic abilities or the weird poses that Ditko would give the character, there's no denying that his fight scenes are a lot of fun to read and full of dynamic, bulldozing action. Artie Simek's killer sound effects add a lot to this era as well; every "SKRAK!" and "BTOOM!" seems to be breaking free of the panel borders, and I love the way that every stomp the Rhino makes is accompanied by a sound effect; it just enhances the power of the character.
Even with all the Rhino action, Stan makes sure to dedicate a lot of time to Peter and the supporting cast, which is a very welcome inclusion. As the Lee and Romita era progresses, we'll start to see a decline in these more balanced issues which give us just as much character drama as action, and there'll be an increase in issues that are essentially just one big fight scene, but for now, it's nice that we can still enjoy dropping in on the supporting cast for the usual soap-opera stuff. I particularly love that the issue opens with Aunt May and Anna Watson; it's a nice, understated way to start the story, and we get to see the winds of change blowing early on when Anna suggests to May that the two of them move in together; later on, Peter wishes to himself that he could move out and have an apartment of his own. The status quo is ready to be rattled, and this is one of those occasions where that's a good thing. We also see another hallmark of the Ditko era well and truly knocked on the head when Betty returns, and we find that the spark between her and Peter has fizzled out; Ned practically steps in-between them to say, "Well, there's always me, Betty..." This of course, leaves Peter free to pursue something with Gwen, which at the end of the issue, is clearly something he'd be interested in.
Really, there's so much going on in this issue that I haven't even had chance to mention how nice it is to see John Jameson again, for the first time since Issue #1. We'll see more developments in the whole space spore storyline next issue, but for now, it's a nice little set-up that brings in a little bit more of an espionage feel to the book, as well as being another example of Stan trying to key Spider-Man into the zeitgeist by really acknowledging the space race, something that had been done several times in the pages of Fantastic Four - hell, the space race is key to that team's origin. John doesn't really do much in this issue, but there is some nice back and forth between him and his dad as they disagree about Spider-Man. It's really just a way of getting new readers up to speed with the basic concept of Spider-Man, as well as introducing the supporting cast to anyone who may not have picked up a Spidey comic until now, but it's a nice dynamic between the two characters all the same.
ASM #41 is another great issue following in the footsteps of the previous top tier tale. It's got plenty of action, but also plenty of story, with great character development, the potential for an espionage-themed plot involving John Jameson and the space spores, plus it gives Romita the chance to prove that he can create villains for Spider-Man that are just as delightful as those created by Ditko. The new artist is wearing his new mantle well.
Rating: 4.5/5
Next time, the spores begin to affect John Jameson, as he becomes a superhero himself, and goes head to head against Spider-Man...
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