I have a vague memory of running across this issue in a candy store far from my usual haunts in a shopping mall where my parents had gone to get something. I was very much invested in the ongoing storyline featuring Carrion–probably the first such “mystery villain” plotline that I’d ever read–so i was excited to drop my four dimes and pick it up. Of course, I also at this point didn’t have enough of a grasp on Spider-Man’s history to even really make an educated guess as to who Carrion would turn out to be. But I found him creepy regardless.
Of course, as we’ve spoken about in the past, writer Bill Mantlo had to adjust his plans on the fly. He’d originally intended for Carrion to turn out to be either a resurrected Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin or else the clone of Spider-Man that was believed dead at the end of the original clone storyline depending on which account you prefer. Either way, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN writer/editor Marv Wolfman objected to this reveal and had enough sway as the keeper of the main Spidey title that it caused Mantlo to have to come up with another option for Carrion’s identity. As we’ll see in this issue, he did that, and relatively well.
Before the reveal, though, what we mostly get is an extended fight sequence between Carrion and Spider-Man, one that’s intercut with a simultaneous battle being waged between Carrion’s underling Darter and the White Tiger, Mantlo’s pet creation. This was all illustrated competently if not explosively by artist Jim Mooney. Mooney had been in the business since the Golden Age and he’s made his bones at Marvel by finishing the work of John Romita on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, so he understood the look and feel of the character. And while action wasn’t especially his forte, he was good at the soap opera portions of Peter Parker’s life.
The White Tiger has been created by Mantlo and artist George Perez for the black and white DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU magazine. He was the world’s first Hispanic super hero, and Mantlo clearly had high hopes for him. Bill brought him into SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN as a supporting cast member just as soon as he got the assignment, and he’d been a regular fixture of the book in a second banana sort of a role ever since. He was a good character, but unfortunately, operating always in the shadow of Spider-Man, he rarely got an opportunity to shine.
As witness Exhibit A: As the two fights converge on the gymnasium, the Tiger winds up getting clocked by a kick from Carrion that helpfully (to the plot) puts him out of the fight. It’s not as though Spidey himself does much better–he gets knocked out by Carrion’s dust of death in another page or two. But that defeat comes across as honorable, whereas this one feels like it’s the result of a character fighting outside of his weight class somehow. Some of that comes down to the lack of dramatics here, which make the kick and the White Tiger’s fall seem small and inconsequential.
In any event, Carrion knocks Spidey out, and spirits him off to a hidden laboratory elsewhere in Empire State University so that he can pontificate out loud as villains love to do. Darter, meanwhile, comes to and is immediately unhappy that Carrion ran out on him, leaving him to be picked up by the authorities. This would come back to bite Carrion next issue. By this point, Mantlo isn’t really hiding the reveal that he’s building up to, but I can recall getting more and more excited by the crescendo as it built to the unmasking moment.
And there it is–Mantlo’s solution to his problem of who Carrion might plausibly be. It makes sense, it fits the pieces that he had in play, and it’s satisfying as a reveal. I thought so as a young reader, anyway, and I didn’t really even know who the Jackal or Miles Warren were. But from the context of the issue, this did seem like a pretty big, pretty cool deal. And I was primed to come back for the climax next month and learn all the specifics of Carrion’s origin and backstory.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
I always had the impression that Bill Mantlo had a lot of drive and ambition and loved the comics medium.
Some of his early work was execrable (remember his “Tommy Tap” Defeders fill in or his War of the Worlds story in early 1975?).
But he improved rapidly, I hope he knows people still think about his work.
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Carrion would have been so much better as the Spider-Clone.
And he’d surely have become a recurring villain, so think of all he might have headed off…!
Ehh, probably would have happened anyway.
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Primed to come back next issue? Then Mantlo, Mooney, & Milgrom (not a law firm) did their jobs.
Bill’s dialog for Spidey was spot on. “I like a sadist who’s happy in his work.” “Your sense of humor goes with your decaying personality.”
Carion’s lanky sinewy figure reminded me of Kerry Gammill a little bit.
White tigers make me think of Siberia. Bill should’ve had White Tiger fight Kraven the Hunter.
I’ve never liked all-white costumes. A little lazy, and very visually boring.
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I really liked the White Tiger and his awareness of his potential importance as a Hispanic hero. A shame he didn’t see more action. IIRC Bendis did him dirt in a DD issue years later.
I find Mantlo a very uneven scripter but this reboot for Carrion feels like it was planned from the first.
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I liked this arc a lot. I generally enjoyed the run of PPSS from about 19 to 38.
I think Marvel had something in the White Tiger. I would have read the adventures of a college aged street level kung fu super-hero. Wasn’t meant to be I guess.
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1970s and martial arts heroes ( Probably have Bruce Lee & Chuck Norris movies to thank for the inspiration ): Shang-Chi [ Special Marvel Edition#15 ( December 1973 ) ], Sons of the Tiger ( Lin Sun, Abe Brown, Robert Diamond use the Amulets of Power & Lotus Shinchuko ( her in#8 ( January 1975 )) [ The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#1 ( April 1974 ) Master Kee ], Iron Fist ( Daniel Rand ) [ Marvel Premiere#15 ( May 1974 ) ], White Tiger ( Hector Ayala who gets the Amulets of Power ) [ The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#19 ( December 1975 ) ] and The Daughters of the Dragon ( Colleen Wing & Misty Knight ) [ The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#32 ( January 1977 ) ]
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i think the suit hurt.
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I was a big fan of Bill Mantlo’s run on Spectacular Spider-Man. I also liked him on The Hulk, Rom and Micronauts.
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As a young reader, I was likewise mesmerized by this storyline. In fact, I was a much bigger fan of Spectacular than Amazing, which I dropped around this time (I don’t remember specifically why, but looking back I see Amazing had some pretty ho-hum covers in the #190s, which may have been part of it).
Clearly, we were at least meant to suspect that Carrion was Norman Osborn, based on the costume. But if that’s what Mantlo really had planned, I’m glad it didn’t turn out that way. To me, at least, the Jackal was always kind of a mediocre villain, so becoming Carrion was an upgrade, whereas for the Green Goblin, it would have been a step down. Although I have to agree with Kurt above, that having him be the Spider-Clone would’ve packed a hell of an emotional punch.
Poor White Tiger. I remember thinking the character was cool, but he never seemed to get much to do in these stories. In a grudge match between Spidey and Carrion, he’s a bit of a fifth wheel, but he could have had a better showing. Maybe it would’ve helped if Carrion had more than one (rather pathetic) henchman…
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Wikipedia ( Carrion-(comics) ) says: According to Tony Isabella, in Mantlo’s original plans for this story, Carrion would have been revealed as the Peter Parker clone. That the real Spider-Man had also dumped the then-deceased Green Goblin’s gear in the same furnace explained the Goblin-esque look of Carrion. However, Marv Wolfman, then writer of The Amazing Spider-Man book, had some second thoughts about it. He decided he didn’t want a second Spider-Man running around so Bill was asked to change the planned revelation of his extended story, even though the first chapter had already been published. THIS PART FROM ME, Marv Wolfman didn’t want a second Spider-Man running around — boy has Marvel changed. Plus the Goblin Gear and the Clone being dumped in the same place would explain why we would think it was Norman Osborn.
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