"THE SPEEDSTER AND THE SPIDER!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Breakdowns: John Romita Sr./Penciller: Jim Mooney/Inker: Jim Mooney/Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: Quicksilver attempts to prove his innocence to the Avengers by apprehending Spider-Man, who is still a wanted felon...
Review: This is an issue that I found far more enjoyable on a revisit than I would have ever thought. It's hardly one I've ever rated poorly - in fact, I've always felt it to be a pretty decent instalment - but on this occasion, I had a real blast going through it; in many ways, I feel that it's an improvement on the previous issue, which suffered slightly from plot contrivances and some rather frustrating subplots. There's none of that here; just good old-fashioned Spider-Man action combined with the usual personal drama that we crave.
It may seem even more unusual for me to be praising this issue considering it's another in a long line of mashups that we've been suffering from lately, what with Ka-Zar in ASM #57, Medusa in #62, and not to mention a return for the Human Torch in ASM Annual #4. Regular readers will know that I am no great fan of crossovers, especially when they involve Spider-Man fighting another Marvel hero for no discernible reason other than...it's cool, I guess? I much prefer each Marvel character to kind of occupy their own unique space in the Marvel Universe; the odd crossover every now and then is fine, but I like it when a creative team can carve out their own little niche for a character, and obviously this goes for Spider-Man as well. With that said, I find the appearance of Quicksilver here to actually be pretty good fun, all things considered. It helps that he's a much more visually exciting character than the likes of Ka-Zar or Medusa, and Romita and Mooney really emphasising the speed and power of the character through the use of heavy speed lines and ghosting effects. His reasons for battling Spidey are also somewhat believable, as he wants to prove to the Avengers that he and his sister Wanda - plus the Toad - are innocent of wrongdoing, so his desire to capture a dangerous fugitive makes sense in context. I'm not a big Avengers fan at all, so I'm unfamiliar with the whole history of what was going on in the comic at the time, but as Stan's annotation says, that doesn't really matter, as you can follow the plot and character motivations easily enough. All in all, one of the more successful guest appearances.
Of course, we still get plenty of great stuff from our own loveable cast of regulars, even if the Spider-Man/Quicksilver battle takes up a good bit of the issue. It's always lovely to see Robbie get some focus, and I particularly liked seeing another glimpse into his home life here, as his wife consoles him about the worries he has about their son's future; their conclusion about Randy's generation wanting to change the world for the better is a really sweet and optimistic moment. In addition to this, with Jameson still in hospital, Robbie's running the Bugle, and he's giving out more money than JJ ever would! I love the scene where Peter gets handed a huge check for the photos he brings in, and I love even more Jameson's reaction when he finds out that Robbie has begun printing pro-Spider-Man articles in his paper; we've rarely seen the man so livid. There's not much going on with the petrified tablet this issue; we just see Spider-Man leaving it in the care of Captain Stacy, which I suppose makes some kind of sense, although I still don't know why he doesn't just hand it in at a police station and swing off; it's not like a load of ordinary police officers are going to prove much of an obstacle to him escaping.
There isn't much to say about ASM #71 other than that it's another really fun issue, probably better than the last one, but not quite a top tier outing. It manages to slip in more plot developments than I remember, and the fight between Spider-Man and Quicksilver is actually pretty enjoyable, thanks to the typically phenomenal art combo of Romita and Mooney.
Rating: 4/5
Next time, the Shocker enters the scene, and he's got his eyes on the tablet...
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