The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #100

 "THE SPIDER OR THE MAN?"

Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: Gil Kane/Inker: Frank Giocoia/Letterer: Artie Simek/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.

Synopsis: Knowing his future lies with Gwen, Peter decides to take a potion that will strip him of his powers, only for him to fall into a delirious dream where his old enemies - and an old friend - await him...

Review: ASM #100 is a bit of a mixed bag. As far as milestone issues go, it gets the job done, bringing back a plethora of old villains to battle Spider-Man again, and keeping the focus on the character of Peter Parker; who he is, and why he does what he does. In that department, it works very well. But at the same time, it's always felt very slight to me; all the components for a celebratory issue are there, but without any real story or substance to back it up. The fact that the whole thing is just a dream (everyone's favourite plot device) only adds to this problem.

I also take issue with Peter's reasoning here. I can understand perfectly why he would want to relinquish his superhero identity again. He's with Gwen once more, and there's talk of wedding bells on the horizon. Gwen still blames Spider-Man for her father's death, so naturally Peter has trepidations about holding onto his secret identity. To this end, he decides to develop a potion that will take away his powers - a potion that is completely untested - and drink it. Peter is not that stupid, surely? Could he not just stop being Spider-Man, if that's what he wants? It feels like an incredibly contrived segue to get to the issue's final panel (more on that later), and nothing more. With that being said, I do actually quite like the little detail of Peter mentioning that he's been working on this potion since he first got his powers, in case the radioactivity in his bloodstream ever became harmful; it's a nice reminder of his scientific brain at work, before it promptly breaks down again when he decides to drink a completely untested liquid.

The bulk of the issue is taken up with Spidey battling his old foes in a dreamscape, and it gives Gil Kane more opportunity than ever to show off just how great he is at dynamic action scenes. The fights with each villain are all too brief, honestly, with none of them really getting enough time to shine considering they're having to all be crammed into just eleven pages of the story. One thing I do like is that each villain represents one of Peter's fears or anxieties: Vulture taunts Peter about how he always hurts his loved ones; Lizard calls him insane; Green Goblin tells him he's never won any battle, only survived them; Doc Ock calls him a fraud who has only ever been after glory and fame, and Kingpin brands him a failure. It gives the issue a nice structure, with Spider-Man having to defeat each villain in turn and overcome his fears, all the while homing in on a mysterious voice that's calling him from the distance. My one complaint is that the fears that the villains represent should have been more appropriate to each villain. Surely Lizard should be the one who mentions Peter always hurting his loved ones? Wouldn't it make more sense to have Green Goblin be given the line about how Peter is insane? Going to an extra level of detail with this would have elevated the issue that little bit more for me; as it is, it's a great idea, not quite taken to its full potential.

Eventually, Peter reaches the mysterious voice and discovers it belongs to Captain Stacy, in a quite nice moment where he cautions Peter that he can never live a normal life, simply because of who, and what he is. It's a decent way of wrapping up the incident that began the issue, and it's nice to have Stacy return for this little cameo, but wouldn't Uncle Ben have been more appropriate for a centennial story?

But all of that becomes irrelevant as soon as we get to the last page, and by far the best moment of the entire issue. Peter awakes from his dream, only to find that the potion has caused him to grow four extra arms. The final panel is just fantastic, a beautifully weird piece by Kane as Peter stares in horror at what's become of him; it's almost like we're back in the Ditko era again. I also love the little box at the bottom of the panel, promising that this is no cop-out: Peter really does have six arms. I suppose he'll think twice now before drinking some random concoction he knocked together in his bedroom. For all my griping earlier about the stupidity of drinking the potion, it does lead to a phenomenal pay-off, even if I'm sure there was a less absurd way in which we could have got here.

ASM #100 is perfectly fine. It's not great, nor is it below average. It has a few interesting ideas, and some moments I genuinely like, as well as allowing Gil Kane to draw five bad guys in one issue, but it's always felt like killing time until we get to that last, shocking panel. It has a similar problem to Fantastic Four's 100th issue; too much focus on bringing back a load of old villains, and not enough on telling a compelling story.

Rating: 3/5

Next time, the Six-Armed Saga begins in earnest, as Peter takes on a monster called...Morbius!

The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #99

 "A DAY IN THE LIFE OF--"

Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: Gil Kane/Inker: Frank Giocoia/Letterer: Artie Simek/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: Gil Kane

Synopsis: A reunion with the love of his life, a permanent staff job at the Daily Bugle, a prison riot, a TV appearance; just another day in the life of the Amazing Spider-Man...

Review: Although he pens the following issue and comes back for a handful more in the near future, as far as I'm concerned, ASM #99 is the conclusion to Stan's run on the title. It may not be a big, spectacular, action-packed extravaganza, but it doesn't need to be. Thematically, and from a character perspective, this is every inch the culmination of all of Stan's years on ASM, and everything he wanted to do with Peter Parker. And it's pretty great.

As said, there's no grand villain plot here; rather, we get a series of little vignettes from throughout Spidey's day. We start off with Peter and Gwen, both overjoyed to finally be back together, and even making suggestions of marriage. These days we're so used to Peter being married to Mary Jane (or not, as the case later became, but that's a story for another time), that it's easy to forget that he and Gwen were getting seriously close to tying the knot in the early 70s; in several issues from around this time, Peter hints at the possibility of marriage, and personally, I really love this and find it a million times more effective than his later (actual) marriage to MJ. Peter and Gwen genuinely feel like two young people in love, who can't wait to walk down the aisle together. It's this youthful idealism that defines Peter and Gwen's relationship for me, and still to this day there's something so heart-warming and stirring about Peter saying to himself that he needs to get his act together in order to support a wife; ninety-nine issues in, and he's as relatable as ever.

Next, we get some wonderful moments at the Bugle, and anyone who knows me knows I would live in the Bugle offices if I could. Peter finally steps up to the plate and demands Jameson pay him top dollar for the photos he's being sent to take, as well as a real job on the Bugle payroll, instead of just being a freelancer. It's true that we'd already got a variation of this scene way back in ASM #33 (which was sort of forgotten about subsequently), but I still really get a kick out of this moment; it's real punch-the-air stuff to see Peter stand up to a man who's been practically robbing him for all these years, and Robbie's beaming smile in the background is just all kinds of perfect; love this scene immensely. Later on, we come back to JJ's office and get a cracker of an exchange between Peter and Robbie as they leave the Bugle's peerless publisher to his seething:

Peter: "Is he ever in a good mood?"

Robbie: "Sure! He's gotta sleep sometime."

The big action sequence of the issue is reflected on the cover; a prison riot has been started due to the prisoners feeling they receive unfair treatment. It's quite a brief burst of action, only lasting a few pages, but it's got some really dynamic moments, such as when Spidey bursts in and hurls two cons who are trying to escape into two of their comrades. In all honesty, the true purpose of this scene isn't to give the readers some exciting action (although obviously it fills that role as well), but to provide yet another piece of social commentary, namely the poor living conditions of the American prison system. Much like the student protests from ASM #68, it's all resolved a little too quickly, with the prison warden agreeing to the prisoners' demands perhaps more quickly than is believable, but it's a welcome addition to the issue nonetheless, and proved to be rather prophetic, considering the bloody and infamous Attica Prison riots occurred just a few months after this issue was published.

Lastly, we get Spider-Man's appearance on TV, a nice little call-back to his very first appearance, and further cementing the idea (to my mind, at least) that this is Stan's swansong on the book. Again, this is very brief, but it gives Stan a chance to discuss some of the themes that have been running all throughout his time on ASM. Spider-Man tells the TV audience of the violence in the prison, of how first-time offenders are put in the same cells as hardened criminals (a clear parallel to how Spidey himself is often branded a criminal by the press and public), and of how crime and justice are everyone's problem (the old lesson about responsibility again). It's simple, but it's effective, and provides a nice capper to some of the ideas that have permeated the comic since its inception.

The issue closes with a scene that genuinely made me well up a little bit this time around, when Peter goes to Gwen's apartment and confesses that he's broke; he can't give her the romantic evening she deserves. Her reply that she always planned for the two of them to stay in anyway rather than go out is genuinely lovely, and Peter's final line is just the perfect encapsulation of everything Stan Lee has been doing ever since he took over the reins with ASM #39: "Parker, you may have been a loser before--but it looks like you finally got something right."

Peter has come full circle once again. Much like ASM #33 was a flawless culmination of everything Steve Ditko wanted to do with the character, this is everything Stan wanted. After all the heartache and drama and pain, Peter is an adult, with a life, and a future, and someone who loves him. I can't imagine a better ending than that.

Rating: 4.5/5

Before wrapping up this post, I thought that now would be the perfect time to commemorate Stan Lee. As said, this isn't actually the last issue he wrote for ASM, but in my opinion it is the true conclusion to his run and so I can't think of a more perfect opportunity to celebrate the man, and his contributions to Spider-Man.

I've said before on this blog that Stan never gave Steve Ditko enough credit for just how much he contributed to ASM in those first few years, and I stand by that. Ditko was the main creative driving force behind the book up until the time he left, but that should never be interpreted as me not liking Stan or appreciating what he did for the character, because that couldn't be further from the truth. Stan gave Peter, his allies and his villains their voices; he made Spider-Man talk like Spider-Man. And once Ditko left, Stan really took command of the title, introducing so many elements that Ditko never would have done. He gave Peter a social life, gave him friends, made him popular with his classmates. He brought to light social issues that were dominant in the minds of the American public at the time the books were being published. He made Spider-Man not just a cultural icon, but socially relevant. Peter Parker developed so much as a character from Issues #39-99; his time at university really evoked the feeling of going to university, of growing as a person, of expanding your horizons. As much as Ditko will always be my favourite, by stepping further away from everything that defined the Ditko era, Stan was able to steer the development of the character, and the comic, to where it needed to be.

Stanley Martin Lieber (Stan Lee)

Excelsior!

Next time, it's the big one, ASM #100. There are cameos a-plenty, and one heck of a twist at the end...