"WHEN ICEMAN ATTACKS!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: Gil Kane/Inker: John Romita Sr./Letterer: Artie Simek/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: With Sam Bullit's appointment as DA only days away, Spider-Man desperately fights to avert disaster...
Review: It's always seemed slightly strange to me that this issue doubles up as a conclusion to the Bullit story, and a guest appearance for Iceman. The Bullit stuff carries on much in the same way as the previous issue, but Iceman's involvement in events just feels a bit weird, almost as if they stuck him in as an afterthought when they realised that ASM #91 didn't have a lot of superhero action in it. I guess it works well enough, as it manages to retain Bullit's more grounded brand of villainy - rather than enlisting the help of a mad scientist and a lumbering monster like Richard Raleigh did back in Spectacular Magazine #1 - whilst still giving us some fun fight scenes.
The developments of the Bullit story are all really well done; the man is scarily close to becoming DA by this point, as he's managed to convince the public that he has their best interests at heart. The highlight of the entire issue is a minor comeuppance for Bullit, as Jameson withdraws the Bugle's support for his campaign, after discovering that Bullit not only employs thugs to intimidate those who are against him, but that he's being backed by "lunatic hate groups", presumably organisations like the KKK. Jameson's anger at Bullit is such a satisfying moment, and one of the Bugle publisher's finest hours, even if he does try and foolishly claim after the fact that he had Bullit figured out all along.
Bullit isn't about to take this lying down, however, and promptly kidnaps Robbie, planning to have him murdered so that he can't take the evidence he has against Bullit to the police, prompting Spider-Man and Iceman to investigate. As said, Iceman's involvement feels slightly odd, and the fight scenes he has with Spidey are the usual misunderstandings you get so often in comics of this era. Iceman thinks that Spider-Man is a bad guy because of recent events, Spidey has more important problems to worry about...you get the idea. It is cool seeing them team up at the end of the issue though, especially as a big fan of Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends, and Gil Kane really nails Iceman's look; every crystalline line of his body is delicately rendered, and really does make him look as though he's made of ice. It's a lot of fun seeing his ice powers in action as well, particularly the ice slides.
In the end, Robbie is saved - obviously - and both Spider-Man and Iceman apprehend Bullit's thugs, who tell all to the police. Bullit is confronted with this at a fundraiser, and the idiot confesses his guilt in front of everyone as soon as he finds out that Robbie is still alive. It all ends pretty abruptly with no kind of coda, but we do see Bullit being led away by the police, so at least we know things have turned out right. In the world we currently live in, where hatred and callousness are so widespread - even popular - where the lives of human beings and their families are valued less than the price of eggs, where society will willingly condemn untold numbers of people to exile and misery simply because they are a different colour, I truly want to believe that an ending like the one presented in this issue is possible. Right now, I doubt it, but hopefully someday, the public will finally be able to see what a horrid mess we have made of ourselves, and that something needs to be done about it.
The Bullit two-parter represents one of Spider-Man's most daring and provocative stories. I can imagine there are many people out there who would consider it to be 'overly political', an opinion that I find rather worrying, as it suggests some level of agreement with Sam Bullit's ideology. ASM #92 is a great conclusion, with only the bizarre inclusion of Iceman standing out as being a bit off, and even then it doesn't bother me; at least we get some cool action with the two heroes to go alongside the social commentary. Stan Lee took a consistent stand against bigotry and corruption throughout his time at Marvel, and this is one of his crowning achievements in that vein. It's a story that really needs to be praised and discussed more often than it is, because today, more than ever, it is terrifyingly relevant.
Rating: 5/5
Next time, we're taking another break from Spidey's monthly adventures to take a look at ASM Annual #7, featuring three reprints of Ditko stories...
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