I was very much interested in what was going on in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN at this point–primarily because I didn’t even question the validity of the death of Aunt May two issues before. It seemed like a shocking turn of events to me, but one that was entirely plausible given her age and relatively infirm condition. So I wanted to see what was going to happen next. I can remember both myself and my friend David Steckel being especially all-in on this storyline–especially since we were just savvy enough to realize that issue #200 was right around the corner. To us, FANTASTIC FOUR #200 had been a momentous comic book (one that we couldn’t even lay hands on when it first came out but had to locate in back issue boxes afterwards) and so we expected that the same would be true for AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #200. The fact that the primary creative team was the same added even more certainty to the scenario.
And in preparation for that upcoming oversized issue, artist Keith Pollard only produced breakdowns for this story, which were thereafter finished by Jim Mooney. Mooney had been working on the series on and off for several years by this point, so he was very much a known quantity–his work could often be found in the sister title PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN. Readers of the time complained that the plot for this issue was a bit basic, and its outcome obvious, and they really do have a point. But as this was the first time that I encountered this particular sort of a set-up, it didn’t feel trite or obvious or repetitive to me. In fact, Marv Wolfman had ben steadily growing in my estimation as a writer whose work I generally liked.
The issue opens with Spider-Man, having been racing to the home where Aunt May had been residing when she passed away, having worked out a telltale clue about her passing, was waylaid by minions of the Kingpin. As the issue opens and the web-slinger revives, he’s confronted by the big man himself. This isn’t yet the Frank Miller incarnation of the character, Wilson Fisk. Rather, it’s the more super-villainous Kingpin originated by John Romita, who was heavily influenced by Sidney Greenstreet. Anyway, the bit here is that the Kingpin’s beloved wife Vanessa has given him until midnight to divest himself of his criminal empire and retire with her or else she’ll leave him. With no greater love than that for his wife, the Kingpin has acquiesced. But that means he’s still got six hours to polish off the hated thorn in his side, Spider-Man. And that’s exactly what he proposes to do. For his part, Spidey doesn’t see any point in trading punches with the Kingpin, not while he’s suspicious about Aunt May’s demise. But the big guy isn’t about to let him walk away, and so the battle is joined.
The spine of the issue is a running slugfest between the two–can you predict how the story will turn out in the end at this point? Plenty of readers could, apparently, though I wasn’t one of them. Anyway, as interludes in the action, to help account for the passage of six hours of fierce fighting, the narrative cuts away to other characters in the cast. We see Dr. Ludwig Rinehart, the physician who pronounced Aunt May dead continuing to be threatened by the Burglar who had earlier killed Uncle Ben. We also check in on the Daily Bugle, where J. Jonah Jameson’s constant harassment of Spider-Man has finally driven editor Joe Robertson to pack up his bags and quit. There’s a running bit of business going on here where Jameson had the opportunity to unmask Spidey a few issues ago, and the readers hadn’t been told whether he’d done so or not. So there was a bunch of additional intrigue tangled up in Jameson’s actions at this point.
The fight in this story is fine, but not really better than fine. And this is mostly down to the art. With Pollard only doing breakdowns, the action sequences feel a bit slight–definitely not like his best. And Mooney’s strengths were never in delivering kinetic Kirby-influenced action visuals either. So the impact of the issue is thus a bit blunted. Nevertheless, the Kingpin pursued Spidey through his mansion, with the wall-crawler looking for an escape route and the Kingpin determined to kill him before his deadline moment hits. Oh, Spidey also has a bad arm, an injury picked up in a previous adventure. There was always something I liked about Spider-Man having to go into a fight with some deficit or disadvantage–he was one of the few super heroes of this period to consistently get injured in this fashion, a way for Stan Lee and his successors to increase the hero’s handicap.
Anyway, it’s fight, fight, fight, quip, quip, quip, threaten, threaten, threaten as the combatants range all through the house, with Spidey not being able to elude his pursuer but the Kingpin also unable to put an end to his nemesis. Finally, though, things break the Kingpin’s way as he smashes through some load-bearing beams, bringing the ceiling down atop Spider-Man. The toppling web-slinger lands on his injured shoulder, and the pain from the impact prevents him from getting out of the way of the falling rubble in time. Even worse for wear now, Spidey can’t put up much of a fight as the Kingpin tosses his limp body into another room and readies himself for the coup de gras.
And of course, it’s just at that moment that clock bells begin to chime the hour and Vanessa enters the room. It’s now midnight, and she’s come for the Kingpin’s answer. Fisk only needs another minute to finish off Spider-Man–but he just doesn’t have it. What he does have is an unrelenting love for his wife. So he puts down his blaster cane and his vendetta and chooses instead to depart with her, leaving Spider-Man beat to hell but still breathing. So the question of what was going on with Aunt May was going to have to wait another month for us to get some closure on (though the next issue tag shouting out Mysterio gave a big clue to any reader that was paying attention.)
If I’m not mistaken, this would have been the first place where I got to read the new Marvel Bullpen Bulletins column, which was one of the few places I could glean information about upcoming projects and stories. Stan Lee’s Soapbox this time out is dedicated to letting readers know that, after having spent months promoting the company’s new upscale HEAVY METAL-style science fiction and fantasy magazine as ODYSSEY, Marvel had learned that another publisher has a trademark on that title, and so the project would hereafter be called EPIC ILLUSTRATED. There was also a blurb for an issue of MARVEL PREMIERE devoted to rock star Alice Cooper. As I wasn’t much of a music listened, this didn’t really mean a thing to me, but it’s more evidence of Marvel in the 1970s attempting to court an air of sophistication and cultural importance by cozying up to whatever celebrities came into its orbit.
