"THE PARENTS OF PETER PARKER!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: Larry Lieber/Inker: Mike Esposito/Letterer: Artie Simek/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: Spider-Man journeys to Algeria to try and find evidence that his parents weren't traitors to their country...
Review: At long last, an ASM annual actually feels like an event again. Whilst annuals #3 and #4 are hardly the worst Spidey stories ever put out, there's a distinct lack of ambition or scope to them, especially compared with the first two annuals, both of which felt like a celebration of the character that brought something new or exciting to the table; the Sinister Six in one, a team-up with Doctor Strange in the other. The team-up format was retained for the next two annuals, but without Steve Ditko, they felt rather flat, tired, and in all honesty, a little bit boring. Thankfully, we're back on solid ground with one of my favourite Spider-Man annuals ever; it's not quite as good as the first, but I would put it on par with the second.
Until this story, we'd never really had much mention of Peter's parents; all we knew about them was that they died when he was very young, forcing Uncle Ben and Aunt May to raise Peter themselves. This issue finally solves the mystery by revealing that Peter's parents were, in reality, secret agents working for the US government, who were killed by the Red Skull. Despite loving this story, I am still in something of two minds about this revelation. It does give us a nice bit of history and a connection with a major Marvel villain - not to mention a pretty cool issue of Untold Tales of Spider-Man - but at the same time, I have to wonder if such a fantastical backstory really works for a character like Spider-Man, who is generally kept very grounded. That's one of the reasons why we love him so much; he's the superhero that could be you or I, and once you start introducing the idea that his parents were super-spies, that relatability starts to evaporate a bit. They have the same issue during the Michelinie run in the 80s and 90s, where Peter found himself married to a successful actress/model, but that's a story for another time. I guess the idea of Richard and Mary Parker being secret agents is one I accept rather than necessarily liking; to be honest, I usually forget about it because Peter's relationship with Aunt May and Uncle Ben is so much more important; they are the ones who raised him, after all.
Having the Red Skull as a villain is quite a fun inclusion, I must admit, and though he only really gets in on the action at the end, the Skull certainly presents a step-up for Spider-Man, who usually fights street-level crime or mad scientists. Here, we have the head of an evil spy organisation, and whilst this kind of grandiosity may look a bit out of place in the ongoing monthly title, in a double-length annual, it feels entirely appropriate. The Skull's henchmen are a little bit naff, admittedly; there's a stereotypical strongman in Sandor, and the Finisher - supposedly the Skull's best assassin - is defeated with speed and ease by Spider-Man, in a scene that raises the question of Spidey's ethics; he technically does lead a missile to blow up the Finisher's car with the villain inside it. I suppose when the reputation of his parents is involved, he's more willing to bend his usual no-killing policy.
Larry Lieber's artwork has improved noticeably since his last work on a Spidey annual, although I have to wonder if Esposito's inks aren't doing a lot of heavy lifting. With that said, I will give credit to Lieber for crafting some engaging and easy-to-read action scenes, solid figure work and expressive characters. It's still nowhere near as good as the work we've been getting from Romita lately, but it's decent enough, particularly the opening fight in the casbah - where Stan uncharacteristically reins in his dialogue to heighten the impact of the moment where Spidey's head is grazed by a bullet - as well as the big battle scenes between Spider-Man and the Red Skull, and the final splash page of Spider-Man triumphantly swinging into the air having found the evidence to clear his parents' names is one that always sticks with me when I think of just how inspiring and rousing the character can be at his best.
The story, whilst suitably epic for an annual, does have a few holes to pick, the biggest one being how exactly the US government allowed Richard and Mary Parker to be branded traitors when presumably they had been ordered to infiltrate the Red Skull's organisation by...the US government? Couldn't someone have put out an official statement condemning the so-called evidence against the Parkers? Also, why is Richard's US secret service card hidden inside his Red Skull card? Why would it be there? Surely if you want to hide your true allegiance from the Skull, you would just leave your other secret service card at home, or hide it somewhere else. These are nit-picks, but I feel that I have to bring them up, as they're probably the only thing that let this story down.
From the opening scene of Spider-Man being attacked in the casbah - love that they open this story right in the middle of the action without too much build-up - to a nice cameo from the Fantastic Four, to the first appearance of the Skull to Spider-Man vindicating his parents, this is a classic Silver Age story, and possibly my second favourite ASM annual after the first one, despite a couple of plot holes and my misgivings about the Parkers' backstory. The Algeria setting is a nice change of pace - and again, gives the story the broader scope that befits an annual - and the artwork by Lieber is some of his best. Stan's dialogue is great throughout as well, especially in that final splash page; he really pulls at the heartstrings and has you feeling the same joy as Spider-Man himself. All in all, a great return to form for the ASM annuals. It's a shame they'll contain nothing but reprints for the next few years.
Rating: 4.5/5
But, of course, we have some extras, although they're pretty scant this time around.
First up is a nice enough pin-up of the Bugle, and regular readers will know how much I love the Bugle regulars: Jameson, Betty, Robbie and Ned are all here, and I'm happy to see them.
Next is a bizarre inclusion where Peter imagines what it would be like if an athlete had the powers of Spider-Man. Stan admits that the Bugle splash page is filler, but this feels even more so, though it does feature some of Lieber's most dynamic artwork in the annual.
After that we get a simple one-page feature called, "Where It's At!", which sort of tries to show the reader where exactly the notable locations from the world of Spider-Man are located in New York - the Bugle, ESU, Peter and Harry's apartment, the Coffee Bean, and Aunt May's house. It's a nice idea, but one that I don't think comes across all that well in practice; I'm no native New Yorker, so can't place where any of these are - obviously Aunt May lives in Queens - but even residents of the city may struggle with this image as the map is so blurry and the writing is tiny to the point of illegibility. Good idea, poor execution.
Next we get a pretty fun double-page spread featuring Spider-Man in the style of other comic creators. I particularly like the Chester Gould-esque Dick Tracy Spider-Man, and the Charlie Brown Spider-Man is nice too. Rather pointless, but fun nonetheless.
And last, but not least, we have "Here We Go-A-Plotting!", a three-page comedy skit in the vein of Marvel's Not Brand Echh satire comic. It's kind of amusing, featuring caricatures of Stan Lee, John Romita and Larry Lieber as they map out the next issue of ASM - parodically, of course. It's fine for what it is, but nothing exactly stellar.
And with that, another annual is done. A great main event, with some hit or miss bonus items. As said, this would be the last annual for several years to feature a brand new, original story; it wasn't until Annual #10 that we got new material again. Oh, well; at least the next few annuals have some nice covers.
Next time, we're back to ASM after our little break, with an all-time classic in Issue #68, wherein the Kingpin tries to steal an ancient petrified tablet from ESU during a student protest...
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