"THE KINGPIN STRIKES BACK!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Breakdowns: John Romita Sr./Penciller: John Buscema/Inker: Jim Mooney/Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: The Schemer continues his war against his enemy, but the Kingpin is preparing for an attack of his own...
Review: The middle part of a trilogy can sometimes feel like a bit of a bridging issue and less like a strong development of the overall narrative, and that's mostly what we get here. Whilst ASM #84 is nowhere near bad - it's actually pretty solid - we don't really learn anything new here that progresses the plot that began in the previous issue. The Schemer is still trying to take down the Kingpin, and both the Kingpin and his wife are mourning the death of their son, whilst Spider-Man is caught in the middle. I can't help but wish that some of this gang war had been shown to have more of an effect on the everyday citizens of New York, rather than just on Spider-Man and the various bad guys involved. I suppose Gwen gets injured as a result of one of the Schemer's attacks in the previous issue, but again, she's a major character, not just an ordinary person whose life gets uprooted by the gang war.
Speaking of Gwen, she's already somewhat forgiven Peter for leaving her alone at the hospital last issue, although she's still suspicious of where he went and why he's always disappearing at a moment's notice. This makes for quite a nice little scene between the two of them, their mugs of cocoa, comfy armchairs and crackling fire really adding to the atmosphere. There's a nice wintery feel to this issue similar to ASM #47, but taken even further; the city streets are covered with so much snow that buses can't get to their destinations, and snowploughs are called out to get the roads clear again; the weather's having more impact on the city than the gang war is. Romita really captures the atmosphere of a brutal New York winter, complete with constantly falling snow and driving wind, and the chilly atmosphere makes for quite a nice, cosy read.
As said, the Schemer and Kingpin stuff is much the same as last time, but it's still nice to see more of the Kingpin and Vanessa's despair over the loss of their son, and Vanessa's dissatisfaction with her husband's continued criminal activities. I also quite like the brief action scene where Spider-Man jumps on top of the Schemer's armoured car, although I think the car itself could have done with a few more varied weapons to make the fight that much more exciting. Any reader with a reasonably sharp mind will have been able to guess by now who the Schemer really is, but we'll have to wait until next issue to see him properly unmasked. We'll also have to wait until next issue to find out just how exactly the Kingpin "strikes back", as he doesn't really do a lot again in this issue other than brood. He gets in a few hits against Spidey at the end, with the best being the way he rips up the room's carpet to try and unbalance the web-slinger, but other than that, he's still kept slightly in the background of events.
ASM #84 is certainly not a bad issue, and its wintery atmosphere really helps to make it stand out, but as far as advancing the Schemer story, this falls short of the mark. The scenes individually are a lot of fun, but together they amount to not a whole lot, meaning we've got to wait until the final part for things to get moving again. Still, pretty good on the whole, with some typically great artwork.
Rating: 3.5/5
Next time, the Schemer's secret is revealed, and the life of the Kingpin will be changed forever...
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