I was very much enjoying AMAZING SPIDER-MAN at this point. Under writer Marv Wolfman, the character’s harsher, more anxiety-ridden bad behaviors had been toned down to a level where it was easier to connect with him. Part of this, no doubt, was that I’d by this time read the earliest Spider-Man stories and so felt that connection with the formative version of the character. I also liked that artist Keith Pollard, while still defaulting to the more solidly-built Spider-Man of the John Romita era, would pull influence from Ditko in terms of his posing and panel compositions. So it all felt a bit like a return to form for me. This issue promised a shocking climax, and they really weren’t kidding.
What this particular two-parter is best known for is the debut of the Black cat, a character than has gone on to become a huge part of teh web-spinner’s world. I have to admit, I wasn’t much impressed by the Black Cat in this story, or in most of her formative stories. She seemed too much like an obvious riff on Catwoman, both in terms of her powers and iconography and the role she was set up to play in the series. Consequently, I never entirely warmed to the idea of her as a viable romantic interest for Spider-Man. Still, all of that was far off in the future at this point, and here, she’s simply a villain whose bad luck abilities (which were later dismissed as the result of prior planning and preparation that doesn’t really hold water when you look at what happens, where and when) have lain Spidey low in their first encounter.
The web-slinger was attempting to prevent the Black Cat and her gang from breaking lifer Walter hardy out of prison when a wall collapsed on him. Spidey survives, but his arm is injured in the process, which will give him some classic trouble for the rest of the issue. With the Cat in the wind, Spidey haphazardly makes his way home to resume his regular life as Peter Parker and nurse his injured wing. This includes resolving a subplot that’s been brewing for the last couple of months: the return of Betty Brant. Betty has left her husband Ned and decided that she wants to be with Peter, but Ned isn’t ready to let her go. As a way of getting himself out of the middle of this situation, Peter deliberately acts like a jerk, insulting Betty and causing Ned to come to her defense. His hope is that the two will reconcile as a consequence (which they do.)
Elsewhere, the burglar who killed Uncle Ben has taken over the nursing home where Aunt May is currently living, and is keeping a watchful eye on her with the aid of the facility’s administrator Ludwig Rinehart–a name that was meaningful to longtime Spidey readers. Meanwhile, the Black Cat has taken Walter Hardy back to his home, so that he can die in peace among family. she reveals herself as his daughter Felicia, and explains how she trained to follow in his footsteps as the greatest cat burglar of all time–this despite the fact that Walter wants his daughter to have nothing to do with crime.
The Spider’s Web letters page runs at this point in the issue, and contains a long letter from future comic book historian Peter Sanderson. Among other things, Peter is happy that the recent Spider-Slayer storyline is intended to be the very last one–things didn’t quite work out that way in teh end–and he wonders whether there’ll be some other shocking change of direction by the time of ASM #300 to rival the death of Gwen Stacy. I’d say that the marriage of Peter Parker to Mary Jane Watson probably fits that bill, to say nothing of the introduction of Venom right around that time.
It’s at this point that Spidey shows up at the Hardy household, having worked out that his daughter was still living here–which apparently puts him Peter one step ahead of the police, who you’d think would be all over this given the break-out. Anyway, Spidey’s still got his bum arm, but he figures he can still take on the Cat. And for her part, Felicia is determined to keep the wall-crawler away from her dying father. This leads to the action set piece of the issue, a running battle across the city rooftops throughout which the Black Cat stays one step ahead of her pursuer.
Their battle takes them to the edge of the waterfront, where the Black Cat sends herself and Spidey over the edge towards teh dark water below. Spidey saves himself and grabs the Cat. But his arm is still injured, and try though he might, he can’t hold onto her. And so she plummets into the water to her presumed death. This is super-villain death 101, though, so there was no question that she’d be back again. Once Spidey gets back to the Hardy house, he discovers that Walter Hardy has died, so the Black Cat accomplished her objective after all.
And now we get to the big wrap-up. A depressed Peter Parker makes his way home to discover a telegram from the nursing home, informing him that his Aunt May has passed away. It’s a pretty shocking turn–and given the earlier subplot sequence with the Burglar and Rinehart, something to clearly be suspicious about. But I remember that as a less experienced reader, I bought it completely. It seemed like the sort of true-to-life thing that the Marvel of this period might do. After all, Gwen Stacy was killed off, as was her father before her, right? My buddy David Steckel was more skeptical of this turn, but I was adamant that it had to be legitimate–and, indeed, Marv would play it as such pretty much for the next couple of issues. By that same token, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #200 wasn’t all that far off, and if I’d been thinking about such things, I would have detected the warning signs. But I didn’t–largely because this was the first time I was experiencing this trick. Which is a good lesson to remember: even a bit of business that’s been played out before is new to the latest readers, and if it’s played legitimately, it can still connect with them. That’s maybe harder in our spoiler-heavy, cynical fan culture today, but I maintain the truth of it.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
I liked Wolfman better than Conway or Wein but I never connected with his Spider-Man much, just more than those other two. Pollard for some reason always left me cold. I follow very few titles for the artist (Colleen Doran and Steve Rude are exceptions) so as long as they’re not terrible to my eyes I could read their books just fine.
I also didn’t buy the retcon about Felicia’s powers or cotton to her as Pete’s love interest. It would take McCay decades later to make her one of my favorite characters. Has Wolfman ever shared his plans for the version of Black Cat that would have taken on Spider-Woman had things gone differently?
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Mark me down as another sucker who bought into the idea that Marvel was finally putting May Parker out to pasture. There might be some good Aunt May stories that came along afterward, but I never saw them.
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I don’t remember if I bought into this twist back then or if I didn’t.
I do remember thinking that Marv was really well suited to writing SPIDER-MAN, due to TOMB OF DRACULA dealing with another set of hard-luck heroes who faced setbacks as often as (and sometimes simultaneously with) victories, but something wasn’t quite working for me about this run. Marv got Peter graduated from college, no longer wanted by the police…but somehow it felt to me like it was a checklist of changes being ticked off rather than satisfyingly dramatized — the bit with him no longer being wanted by the police particularly felt like a longtime plot line just fizzling out. So I was primed to like this run but it just wasn’t catching fire, somehow.
I look at it today and I wonder if it was the art — Pollard was very capable but also a little generic — or that it was that Marv was charged up to write FF but had taken on SPIDER-MAN out of editorial responsibility more than anything else, and didn’t really have the time to think out his approach more fully. And maybe it’d have clicked into shape if he’d stayed longer.
On the other hand, it was to comics’ benefit (and particularly DC’s benefit) that he didn’t, so there’s that. Much as I’d have liked to see a lot of Marvel talent of the time keep doing what they were doing, when they went to DC they got new opportunities and took strong advantage of them. So I ain’t gonna complain about that.
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Wolfman and Pollard sure were firing on all cylinders with this one! And things got even better as they approached #200.
One small quibble: as great as that last page was, it would have been even better had Marv not added captions to the last three panels. The art and the big reveal of the telegram tell the story admirably.
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I don’t remember if I bought Aunt May is Dead but it certainly fit the wringer Wolfman was putting Peter through. And I agree, every trick is cool the first time you read it.
The Black Cat retcon to “I plan carefully” made absolutely no sense.
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I wish we could have covers like this again….
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I liked this run. I liked Pollard’s art as well though I think he was more dynamic on FF and Ironman for whatever reason.
Back in the day I cottoned that Rinehart was Mysterio and that May being dead was a hoax prior to the reveal. I think I identified him through his bowl-cut and not his name. Is this a case where Wolfman forgot that Spider-man knew what Mysterio looked like without his mask or was he just making it obvious for long-time readers? I wouldn’t have counted myself as a longtime Spider-man reader but I had read the Ditko issues and it’s all right there.
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Black Cat kissing Spider-Man caught my attention. But I was young and a lot of these plots are going to resonate with adults.
I didn’t go for the Burglar at all. I thought the #200 issue was sorely lacking in AMAZING, not to mention even spectacular.
Pollard was all over it wasn’t he getting to do all these anniversary issues.
I don’t think that I was supposed to read 200 issues of Spider-Man and there was satiation. I can’t really fault Wolfman as I don’t have anything to suggest to bring excitement as I felt we were going through another death of Aunt May cycle.
That’s not really true. I have a great Rhino/J. Jonah Jameson story that would have fit well in early Lee/Romita. That’s the challenge with this. There are points where you’re retreading and can you keep/increase reader interest when you’re telling yet another JJJ life/death adventure with Spidey?
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I’m a big fan of Pollards work at that time. However much of this issues interiors seems a bit rushed. Perhaps being regular penciller on several monthly books at the time was takign a toll.
As for Black Cat — never a fan. Cheap Catwoman knockoff w/lame co-dependency issues.
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heck out all of Jed McCay’s series with her and her two parter by him in Avengers. I liked her a wee bit more than you and was shocked when McCay’s first series was in my top five of that year!
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Keith Pollard’s art on Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four never bothered me, but I felt ripped off when for whatever reason Sal Buscema wasn’t able to finish The Eternals ( 1985 ) 12 issue series ( Sal did the first 9 ( Granted I was disappointed Sal never put Kro in that cool look I saw him in the Official Handbook ), Keith Pollard the next 2 and Paul Ryan the last issue. Also I just noticed on comics.org that the writer who started it ( Peter Gillis – 1 to 8 ) never finished it — Walter Simonson finished it. ); plus I felt just as ripped off when George Perez couldn’t finish all of Justice League of America#197 ( December 1981 — pages 1-19 Pollard & 20-27 Perez ) or on The Infinity Gauntlet#1-6 ( That issue 4 was split with Ron Lim & George Perez and Lim did the last two issues. Back when George was alive I had wished he could finish what he started because to me it is unfinished, just like The Eternals ( both Sal & whatever ending Peter Gillis had in mind ) and the JL of A#197 ).
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Black Cat was probably given those Bad Luck abilities to demonstrate difference with Catwoman and be more of a challenge to Spider-Man who with his abilities ( strength, speed, agility, spider-senses, webbing and durability ) should have had no problems catching her. I wonder if her Bad Luck abilities were there when she was going to be a Spider-Woman foe?
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