"THE SINISTER SHOCKER!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: John Romita Sr./Inker: John Romita Sr./Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: Johm Romita Sr.
Synopsis: Spider-Man tackles the Shocker, the world's deadliest safe-cracker, whilst Peter Parker finally leaves Aunt May's house behind...
Review: This may sound like a really odd thing to say, but the Shocker has always been one of my all-time favourite Spidey villains. I feel that these days he's viewed as a bit of a joke, I think largely due to Brian Michael Bendis reducing him to a complete pushover in Ultimate Spider-Man (something I will never forgive Bendis for), but he's anything but in his debut; he's quite the formidable opponent in this outing, able to blast Spider-Man into oblivion with his vibro-shock gloves, charge his punches with enough power to down ten men, and deflect any blow that Spider-Man throws at him by absorbing the impact through his cushioned suit. Really, the Shocker is a complete badass in this story, even if he does inevitably get defeated by Spider-Man at the end. The fight scenes are awesome, easily Romita's best artwork yet; I just love how Spidey himself looks in this issue, so bold and striking and ready for action, whilst Shocker's design is loud and colourful and all kinds of wonderful; I adore it. One of the things I always appreciate about Shocker is that, as Spidey says, without all the gadgets, he's just another petty crook, and in all honesty, I admire the simplicity of the character. He's the Shocker, he steals stuff, he'll knock you into the middle of next week whilst doing it. Sometimes less really is more.
If you're still unconvinced, just take a look at some of these action shots of Spider-Man vs Shocker:
Just sensational stuff, and this is only a brief sample of the delights of this issue's battle scenes. I always love seeing Spidey and Shocker duke it out; there's a raw power and an impact to it that few other Spider-Man/villain fights can match.
This is another issue of major change for Spider-Man. It marks the first time that Peter moves out of his childhood home where he was raised by Uncle Ben and Aunt May, to move into an apartment in the city with Harry. Once again, we're being given a reminder that the character is growing up, and the book feels all the fresher for it. Peter is no longer an outcast, but a well-liked and admired member of ESU's student body; he fits right in with the gang at the Silver Spoon, chatting amiably with Harry and Mary Jane whilst agreeing that Flash's send-off party should be a suitably grand occasion. You could never imagine a scene like this playing out in the Ditko era. It's with this particular issue that you realise just how radically Stan and John have re-invented the character, and they're not done yet.
We also see some welcome, if very frustrating development of the 'Foswell tailing Peter' subplot that was set up in Issue #44. Here, Foswell - in his Patch disguise - actually achieves the unthinkable and figures out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. The impact of the moment is completely undercut however, because Peter realises that Foswell is there and just fakes his way out of the situation by putting on two different voices - yes, really - which somehow convinces Foswell that he was wrong, and that's...kind of the end of that particular subplot. It really goes nowhere, which is such a shame, as having Foswell know Peter's secret could have been a really exciting twist for the book to take, but sadly it was not to be, and Foswell won't get anything remotely interesting to do again until Issue #50.
Of course, after all the fun action with the Shocker, and the rather disappointing scene with Foswell, we get an absolute corker of a moment from the end of the issue, when Peter moves out of Aunt May's house. The dialogue is beautifully written by Stan, and whilst you could argue that Romita's tearful faces are a little bit over the top - even Anna Watson's sobbing at the sad occasion - the emotions feel genuine, and for the readers at the time, this must have been even more impactful, as for four years, Peter living with Aunt May was all they'd known; it may even have felt like a part of them was leaving home as well to see such a major shift in their favourite comic. It's not as if Aunt May goes anywhere - she's still one of the major characters, after all - but this issue depicts a very real change that the vast majority of us will go through at some point in our lives in a really touching way. At the same time, there's a real sense of excitement about this development for the characters; I particularly love the detail that Peter hasn't been able to sleep much overnight because he's too excited about moving in with Harry. So there's sadness and trepidation, but there's a lot of hope and anticipation for the future as well. Sounds a lot like real life. This is all slightly diminished by a rather amusing final panel in which Peter's tendency to become brooding and self-reflective at the end of an issue takes on a pretty absurd quality - he's just sort of depressed for no reason in the final panel - but in truth, I find that last bit so funny that I can't begrudge it much.
ASM #46 has a few problems, but I can quite happily overlook them because this is one of my favourite Spider-Man stories ever. I've made my love of the Shocker abundantly clear, but I can't get enough of all the character stuff in this issue either. The teen soap-opera stuff at the Silver Spoon, a hilarious and snappy exchange between Peter and Jameson, and that final, gorgeous scene between Peter and his aunt as their lives take different paths just elevate the issue to top tier quality. A must-read from this era.
And, once again, if my own words haven't convinced you of this issue's brilliance, I give you an undiluted, uncensored look at the single greatest dialogue exchange in the history of the written word. Dig that groovy slang, man:
Rating: 5/5
Next time, Kraven the Hunter's back, and he wants Norman Osborn...
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