"THE LIZARD LIVES!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: John Buscema/Inker: Jim Mooney/Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: The Lizard has returned, and Spider-Man's got to stop him. Yeah, sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Review: I don't want to be too down on the first issue I've reviewed since taking a bit of a break, because reading and reviewing Spidey comics for this blog is one of my favourite things to do, but in this instance, as in every review, I have to give my honest thoughts and say that this is a bit of a dud, the first dud in a long time.
One big positive that I'll give the issue is the artwork. John Romita takes a bit of a break for a few issues apart from doing covers, and Big John Buscema takes the artistic duties in his absence, producing some really top notch work during his time on ASM. Allegedly Buscema wasn't too happy about being given the Spider-Man gig (much like Romita himself), as he much preferred working on high fantasy characters and settings, and you only need to look at his work on Thor and Conan the Barbarian to see just how masterful he was over such things. Despite his reluctance to take on the Spidey issues, he does an admirable job, replicating the look and feel of a Romita comic, but still with his own recognisable style (it's the way he draws faces here in particular that really stand out to me as Buscema's hallmark). Buscema did also provide the pencils for a couple of issues during the Petrified Tablet Saga, but I didn't touch on his talents much there, because there was so much else going on. Here though, with so little of interest in the issue, I think it's only right to highlight just how clean and dynamic his artwork is; it's just a shame he's not been given a better plot to work with.
This is only the third Lizard story and already we're starting to see Stan run out of ideas. This is pretty much exactly the same thing as the previous two Lizard outings: Curt Connors turns into the Lizard, Spider-Man has to stop him without harming him...you get the picture. Wouldn't it be a good idea to make the antidote to the Lizard serum in bulk? Is that not something that Connors could do in his spare time, just in case his transformation is ever triggered again (and let's face it, that is going to happen)? Anyway, the issue largely consists of big splashy panels showing Spider-Man fighting the Lizard, and regular readers will know that issues containing little more than a big fight are not really my cup of tea, unless the fight is pretty spectacular, which this one isn't, despite Buscema's efforts to lift the material; there's nothing for a reader to get invested in, nothing that they haven't seen before, anyway. I do like Buscema's dramatic panels of the Lizard prowling along New York's rooftops, and he definitely brings out the scaliness of the monster's skin, but I'm less of a fan of the way he denies the Lizard any teeth. Neither Ditko nor Romita gave him teeth either, but his lack of pearly whites is particularly noticeable here; it looks like he's going to gum you to death, making him significantly less menacing.
Outside of the Lizard stuff, there's no real development of ongoing storylines; all we get is more Peter and Gwen drama that's going nowhere; Captain Stacy and Robbie discussing Spider-Man, which does admittedly lead to a nice bit of tension with Peter, albeit brief, and that's about it, really. Buscema does a great job doing what he can, and toothless Lizard aside, he's the real star of this issue, because everything that Stan's doing is pretty lacklustre. It feels as if Stan introduced the Lizard again during the Petrified Tablet Saga to add a bit of drama (which it did), but then didn't have any idea what to do with him afterward, and this is the result. To make matters worse, this is only part one!
Rating: 2/5
Next time, the Human Torch joins the battle against the Lizard, but unlike Spider-Man, he doesn't know that the reptilian foe is really Curt Connors, and has no qualms about letting loose with his hottest flame...
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