UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN - Part Three

Identity Crisis

Written by Michael Jan Friedman

The Plot: After Jonah Jameson casually informs Norman Osborn of the newspaper practice of deep background, Osborn dons his Green Goblin identity and attacks a newspaper’s office. The staff is reluctant to give up its unpublished information on Spider-Man, but only one staff member, a young photographer, is willing to stand up to the Goblin. When Spider-Man eventually makes his appearance, the Goblin realizes he’s exhausted his weaponry and escapes.

Web of Continuity: This story takes place a few weeks prior to Amazing Spider-Man #39.

Review: Perhaps the most memorable installment in the book, Michael Jan Friedman toys with the reader’s expectations and manages to pull off a twist ending that still plays fair with the audience. I don’t want to spoil the ending (although it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out if you read between the lines), so I’ll just say that this is a clever story that’s executed masterfully. It’s also a story that could only be told in the prose format, so Friedman deserves even more credit for taking a format that isn’t exactly suited for the superhero genre and using it to his advantage.

The Doctor’s Dilemma

Written by Danny Fingeroth

The Plot: Dr. Bromwell expresses his concerns to Peter over his job for the Daily Bugle. He offers him a job as a lab assistant, hoping that he can support Aunt May in a safer environment. Meanwhile, a destitute victim of radioactive steroid testing named Walter Cobb becomes the supervillain Impact. Peter is forced to abandon his job and stop Impact during one of his rampages. Spider-Man seeks a peaceful resolution, but Impact’s heart gives out. Later, Aunt May gives her blessings to Peter to work for the Daily Bugle. He apologizes to Dr. Bromwell and leaves the job.

Web of Continuity: This story is set shortly after Amazing Spider-Man #42.

Review: This is more reminiscent of an Untold Tales issue than any other story in the novel. A new villain from the past is introduced (one with sympathetic motives and a simple, old school origin), as the story focuses on a minor supporting cast member who’s never been fleshed out before. And Fingeroth does a fine job transforming Dr. Bromwell into a likeable, believable character. His characterizations of Aunt May and Peter are also faultless, as he addresses a conflict that was often skipped over in the early issues. If Aunt May is so overprotective, why does she accept Peter’s job chasing Spider-Man for the Bugle?

Aunt May’s made it clear that she doesn’t like what he does, but she doesn’t tend to bother him about it. She theorizes in the story that she knows she needs the money, which might’ve influenced her silence. May berates herself for not doing enough to stop Peter after she overhears Dr. Bromwell giving him a lecture on the topic, but later in the story reconciles his job with Uncle Ben’s belief that Peter should be free to make his own decisions. If he thinks he’s doing the right thing, she can’t stand in Peter’s way. The story isn’t entirely clear, but Fingeroth might even be hinting that Aunt May knows that Peter is Spider-Man by this point (remember, this predates the “genetically altered” actress, so the continuity at the time had Aunt May knowing "for years" that Peter was Spider-Man) and is giving him her blessings to keep going if it’s something he feels compelled to do. Peter’s guilt over potentially leaving Aunt May alone or causing her undue worry, and Dr. Bromwell’s anger at Peter for his apparent selfishness, are also well executed.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #72 - January 1991

The Reckoning

Credits: Danny Fingeroth (writer), Dave Ross (penciler), Al Milgrom, Keith Williams, & Andy Mushynsky (inks), Rick Parker (letterer), Renee Witterstaetter (colorist)

The Plot: Spider-Man locates the rigged statue in Steele’s hideout and throws it out of the window, seconds before it explodes. Later, Dominic Fortune abandons his partners and locates Steele’s ship. He reconnects with Sabbath, who reveals that she married Steele’s anti-Nazi brother shortly after WWII. After the birth of their daughter Elena, Sabbath’s husband was mysteriously killed. Believing Steele to be reformed, she accepted his support and eventually married him. Unbeknownst to her, Steele took Elena under his wing and trained her to become his loyal agent. Now calling herself Sabbath, Elena is eager to kill her mother. The elderly Sabbath is saved by Spider-Man, who’s followed Silver Sable to the ship. Steele and Elena are placed in custody, and Fortune makes peace with Sabbath.

The Subplots: None.

Review: So, five years after Web #10, the mystery of the young Sabbath is resolved. Revealing that she’s the original Sabbath’s daughter is fairly obvious, but in the world of comics, it’s entirely likely that she could’ve been a clone, shapeshifter, robotic duplicate, or just plain immortal. As little as any of this has to do with Spider-Man, I’m a sucker for dangling plotlines, so I’m glad there was an eventual resolution. Spider-Man’s actual presence in this issue is more than the plot recap would lead you to believe...he helps to save the day, he just isn't particularly involved in any of the issue's big revelations. He saves the heroes from last issue’s death trap, reflects on why Dominic Fortune reminds him of Uncle Ben for a few pages, and saves the elderly Sabbath during the issue’s climax. There’s also an extended sequence that has Dominic Fortune faking a heart attack, and then faking his death while in the hospital. Spider-Man passes a mystery man outside of Fortune’s room and lets him go, even though his spider-sense tingled. The man turns out to be one of Steele’s agents, and he just filled the dummy in Fortune’s bed with bullet holes. Spider-Man believes Fortune is dead for a couple of pages, and predictably, he flashes back to his origin story and beats himself up. It’s obvious that Fingeroth is trying to find some way to make this a Spider-Man story, but there’s only so much you can do. If this were the main story during a regular run, he would be free to check on the supporting cast and advance some subplots. Unfortunately, fill-ins are almost always standalone stories, and this particular story requires Fortune for most of the action, so we’re left with an issue of Dominic Fortune, guest-starring Spider-Man and his ever-reliable guilt complex.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #71 - December 1990

Fortune’s Fury!

Credits: Danny Fingeroth (writer), Dave Ross (penciler), Keith Williams & Andy Mushynsky (inks), Rick Parker (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: Spider-Man runs across Dominic Fortune, who is still searching for Baron von Lundt, a.k.a. Simon Steele. Silver Sable is also hunting the ex-Nazi, which aligns her with Spider-Man and Fortune. Fortune learns of Steele’s location and charges after him, ignoring Sable’s warning that it could be a trap. Fortune is indeed ambushed by Steele, who also has Fortune’s former love Sabbath and her adult daughter on his side. Steele traps Spider-Man, Fortune, and Silver Sable in his hideout and detonates an explosion after he escapes.

The Subplots: None.

*See _________ For Details: Dominic Fortune’s son briefly took on the identity and was killed by Simon Steele in Iron Man#213. Another footnote points towards Marvel Team-Up #120, Spider-Man’s first meeting with Fortune.

Creative Differences: The letters page says that Gerry Conway will return with issue #76 after a few fill-ins by Danny Fingeroth, John Byrne, and Tony Isabella. The return doesn’t materialize, due to Conway’s commitments on The Father Dowling Mysteries.

Review: You might remember Web of Spider-Man #10, which was clearly intended to be the first part of a storyline centering on Dominic Fortune. You might also remember that the early issues of this series were surrounded by behind-the-scenes turmoil, which likely explains why that storyline was dropped after the first issue and subsequently ignored. Even if he couldn’t finish it during his initial Web run, Danny Fingeroth apparently never forgot about the story. He revived the idea again in an Iron Man fill-in, and five years after the story began in Web, he returns to wrap it up in a filler arc. Iron Man fans complained that this story didn’t exactly belong in that character’s book, and it’s hard not to feel the same way about Spider-Man’s involvement. Fingeroth briefly connects Fortune’s guilt over his son’s death with Spider-Man’s guilt over Uncle Ben’s, and perpetual guest star Silver Sable does show up, but this still feels like a generic story that could’ve starred whichever Marvel hero needed a fill-in that month. Dave Ross did a lot of fill-in work for Marvel during this era, and while not every page is great, I’ve always enjoyed his interpretation of Spider-Man. I first saw it in a Punisher War Journal fill-in, and was impressed with his ability to merge the distorted McFarlane Spider-Man with a more traditional look. I also liked the way he played around with the black area around Spider-Man’s white eyes in order to create the illusion of facial expressions, which doesn’t make any literal sense, but it looks cool.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN Annual #3 - 1987

Credits: Danny Fingeroth & Roger Stern (writers), with numerous artists, colorists, and letterers

The 1987 Amazing Spider-Man annual told the story of Peter and Mary Jane’s wedding. The Spectacular Spider-Man annual detailed their honeymoon. What does Web bring us this year? A series of profiles on Spider-Man’s supporting cast, along with a gallery of Spidey’s “forgotten foes.” Most of these losers are one-time Marvel Team-Up cannon fodder; although Black Cat is thrown in there for some reason (maybe the reasoning is that people “forgot” she was originally a villain). These aren’t even Handbook entries, they’re pin-ups of throwaways like Moondark with a few lines of text thrown in. Some of these villains are so ridiculous I’m happy to see them for the first time, but I still can’t believe Marvel published an annual that consisted entirely of annual back-ups. It’s obvious the books were having scheduling difficulties at the time, but Web really caught the worst of it. Web’s already endured months of fill-ins, and now this? The abundance of filler sends readers the message that this book is a low, low priority, which is a reputation you don’t want the third book in your franchise to receive. Couldn’t the filler annual be assigned to Spectacular, so at least the honeymoon story could show up here?

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #11 - February 1986

Have You Seen That Vigilante Man!

Credits: Danny Fingeroth (plot), Bill Mantlo (script), Bob McLeod (art), Phil Felix (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: After Peter Parker stops an attempted rape at a laundromat, he’s declared a local hero. Against his wishes, the community starts “Peter Parker Patrols” to monitor the neighborhood. The three thugs from the laundromat begin vandalizing his apartment, forcing Peter to intimidate them as Spider-Man. After Peter asks MJ and Flash Thompson for advice, he returns home to see smoke coming from his window.

The Subplots: MJ is worried that knowing Peter’s secret ID is bringing her too close to him (didn’t she regret turning down his proposal just a few issues ago?). Peter comments that Flash no longer thinks he’s seeing his girlfriend, Sha Shan, behind Flash’s back. That’s the first time this subplot has been referenced in this title.

Forever Young: Peter and Flash talk about their long-ago days of high school.

Creative Differences: Peter’s conversation with Flash appears to be re-lettered. It certainly isn’t Phil Felix’s work.

Review: This is a nice two-parter with a clever premise. Every so often, you’ll see Peter Parker forced into stopping crime in his civilian guise, but I don’t think any story ever dealt with the repercussions of what would likely happen afterwards. The last thing Peter wants to do is draw this kind of attention to himself, which is exactly what happens. And while the local patrols are unable to stop the thugs from breaking into his home, they’re persistent enough to guard the skylight he uses to go in and out as Spider-Man. Watching Peter’s friends react to his newfound celebrity is also entertaining, as Robbie Robertson wonders if Peter is somehow endorsing vigilantism. Imagine that. The scene with Flash Thompson is interesting, as Flash refuses to acknowledge that he ever acted as a bully. His stance is that Peter distanced himself from the other kids and that Flash was only giving him a “razz.” I can see this working as Flash’s personal justification for his behavior, but it’s odd that Peter just seems to accept it. Peter only distanced himself from the others after he became Spider-Man, out of sheer necessity. Amazing Fantasy #15 makes it very clear that Peter wants to be close to the other kids, so Flash’s argument has a giant hole in it. At any rate, this is a strong start for the story, even as the book remains unable to keep a consistent creative team. Bob McLeod pencils and inks this issue, and turns in a great job, reminiscent of Mike Zeck’s work.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #10 - January 1986

There, But For Fortune!

Credits: Danny Fingeroth (writer), Jim Mooney (art), Rick Parker (letterer), George Roussos (colors)

The Plot: Spider-Man runs into Dominic Fortune, an aging adventure hero who is being pursued by war criminal Baron von Lundt. Fortune is searching for Sabbath, a female agent he partnered with in 1940. Von Lundt hires the Shocker to deal with Spider-Man and Fortune. Shocker is defeated, but Fortune lands in the hospital. Unbeknownst to Fortune, a woman named Sabbath is now working for Baron von Lundt.

The Subplots: Spider-Man briefly reflects on the golden notepad he stole a few issues ago.

Web of Continuity: Dominic Fortune first appeared in Marvel's black and white magazine line, apparently as an analogue to another Howard Chaykin character, the Scorpion. You would think this was the first part of a multi-chapter story, but five years pass before Danny Fingeroth returns to Web to finish this story.

Review: Here’s another sign Web had some sort of behind-the-scenes chaos in the early days. This clearly isn’t supposed to be the end of the storyline, yet it’s abandoned and just forgotten as the issues go on. It’s also the third issue in a row that has little to do with Spider-Man, although Fingeroth does draw a connection between Spider-Man’s constant stream of regrets and Fortune’s remorseful feelings over Sabbath. Fortune himself is appropriately likable, and the addition of his straight-laced son who just wants the old man to go back to the retirement home works well. I’m also happy to see Jim Mooney, one of the greatest Spidey artists ever, back.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #6 - September 1985

Gold Rush!

Credits: Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Harris (layouts), Zeck/Layton/Simons/Mooney (finishes), Phil Felix & Rick Parker (letters), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: A solid-gold building created by the Beyonder collapses, leaving Spider-Man to rescue the people inside. Kingpin is awakened in the middle of the night with news of the gold building. He makes a deal to help the federal government dismantle the building and cover up the story, lest the global economy collapses. Spider-Man is told to evacuate the building by a federal agent. He continues to save the occupants, avoiding shots from the Kingpin’s men. When Spider-Man learns that the Kingpin is being paid for his services with golden typewriters, he steals a golden notepad from the trashcan.

The Subplots: Nathan Lubenksy reveals to Aunt May that he told Peter about her financial problems. Mary Jane questions if she should’ve accepted Peter’s marriage proposal years earlier.

*See _________ For Details: This story follows the events of Secret Wars II (I have no idea which issue because there’s no footnote), and is continued in Amazing Spider-Man #268.

Review: Priest wrote stories about the global economy collapsing in Black Panther, didn’t he? Maybe I’m looking too hard, but it seems like he could've influenced at least this aspect of the story. I do like the focus on a realistic response to a fantastic event like a golden building, although I question if this could ruin the global economy. It would obviously drive down the price of gold, but the “gold standard” isn’t necessarily the global standard. America’s currency is worth something because the government says it is, and not because it’s backed by gold. The real conflict in the story comes from Spider-Man’s decision to take the golden notepad. It’s not a bad moral dilemma to explore, especially since the story is structured so that any qualms Spidey could have about taking it are philosophical ones. One gold notepad won’t harm the price of gold, it had already been thrown away, and Spidey is already in a bad mood after getting shot at for doing the right thing. Plus, Aunt May is in danger of losing her home, and we all know that Spider-Man does irrational, horribly misguided things when that old broad is involved. (Ahem. Sarcasm.) Visually, this is an inconsistent rush job, the kind where Spider-Man’s eyes are occasionally different shapes within the same page. However, Mike Zeck and Jim Mooney produce some lovely pages, so the majority of the issue looks fine.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #5 - August 1985

The Enemy Within!

Credits: Danny Fingeroth (writer), Jim Mooney (penciler), Greg LaRocque (inker), Phil Felix (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: Dr. Octopus spars with a Spider-Man robot before joining his men in a bank robbery. Spider-Man comes across the robbery and briefly fights the henchmen, but has to take a bystander to the hospital. Soon, Dr. Octopus invades the Daily Bugle, taking Kate Cushing captive as bait for Spider-Man. Spider-Man follows the tracer he left on one of the henchmen and locates Dr. Octopus’ lair. When Dr. Octopus realizes that he’s fighting the real Spider-Man and not a robot, he becomes catatonic. The police arrest Dr. Octopus’ henchmen, but Kate Cushing’s presence leaves Spider-Man unable to take photographs.

The Subplots: Aunt May’s boyfriend, Nathan Lubenksy, tells Peter about her financial problems. Peter meets Kate Cushing, the new city editor who is responsible for giving Peter photo assignments. The photos Peter takes on his assignment at the Schavian Embassy can’t be used because the mesh from the building’s ventilation system is in the way.

Web of Continuity: Kathryn “Kate” Cushing appears for the first time. She remains a routine Daily Bugle cast member until the mid-90s.

*See _________ For Details: Spidey references an adventure with the Rocket Racer from Peter Parker #104. He’s also wearing his black costume in one scene with no explanation (I know he wore a replica of his black costume during his night adventures during this era, but it hasn’t been explained in this series yet). As of Amazing Spider-Man #265, Peter and Aunt May have reconciled, ending the dumbest feud in comics history.

Production Note: It looks as if this issue was printed with flexographic printing. It’s certainly bright enough, but thankfully the print is actually legible, which was often a problem with that printing technique.

Creative Differences: Jim Mooney and Greg LaRocque have swapped penciling and inking duties with this issue. Christopher Priest claims this was done to teach them a lesson and stop their complaints about one another.

I Love the ‘80s: Spidey says that Doc Ock’s public profile is as low as Ronald Reagan’s. There’s also an ad for a contest with an Apple II as the grand prize.

Review: Wow, Dr. Octopus was a total putz for a few years there. The previous issue played up his anxieties surrounding Spider-Man rather well, but it's not as effective this time. It is somewhat amusing that Dr. Octopus spends the entire issue demanding a rematch with Spider-Man, and then wets himself when the opportunity arises, but I wonder how exactly a classic villain got to this point. The rest of the issue moves a few subplots along, as the “bad luck” routine is exercised quite a bit. Peter can’t sell any photos, his aunt might lose her home, and his conscious won’t let him keep the extra money the ATM accidentally gives him. (He drops the money when Ock’s goons attack the bank anyway. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but this scene is a nice prelude to next issue's conflict.) None of these scenes are bad on their own, but it feels like the gimmick is hammered in a bit too much. Wouldn't Peter have noticed the steel mesh in the way when he took the photos? It is great to see Jim Mooney pencils. He draws a Romita-style Spider-Man perfectly.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #4 - July 1985

Arms and the Man!

Credits: Danny Fingeroth (writer), Greg LaRocque (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker), Phil Felix (letterer), J. Ferriter (colorist)

The Plot: Dr. Octopus undergoes therapy while in prison, but his progress is derailed when he notices a spider inside his cell. He sends a mental command to his metal arms, which break out of their holding facility. Spider-Man hears word of the arms’ escape and travels to Dr. Octopus’ prison to stop them. The arms destroy part of the building, forcing Spider-Man to hold debris while Dr. Octopus escapes.

The Subplots: Peter Parker tries to sell “eerie” photos of Spider-Man fighting thieves in the shadows, but Robbie Robertson declares they’re too dark to be printed in a newspaper. J. Jonah Jameson is interested, revealing that he’s reviving NOW Magazine, which is “one of” his secret projects.

Web of Continuity: NOW Magazine goes back to the earliest issues of Amazing Spider-Man. Jonah Jameson was the editor of NOW when Peter Parker first began selling him photos. After going back and forth, Stan Lee just decided to make the Daily Bugle Jameson’s official publication.

*See _________ For Details: Peter is aware of some problems Betty Brant is experiencing. A footnote points towards Peter Parker#100 for details (Good Lord, how many things happened in that comic? I think it’s been referenced in every issue of this comic so far). In Fantastic Four#267, Reed Richards thought that he could cure Doc Ock’s mental problems. Ock flashes back to an embarrassing defeat in Peter Parker#79, and his terrifying encounter with the Molecule Man from Secret Wars #12.

I Love the ‘80s: Spidey declares that he feels like he’s on Hill Street Blues while fighting the thieves in the dark.

Creative Differences: John Byrne's original cover for this issue was rejected. It eventually showed up in Amazing Spider-Man (I believe it's this one).

Review: I’m assuming Louise Simonson wrote the first three issues to finish off her contract, because according to Christopher Priest’s site, Danny Fingeroth was always supposed to be the regular writer of this series. He also says that Jim Shooter hated Fingeroth’s writing, which lead to Priest (then Jim Owsley) taking on Fingeroth as some sort of “project” (in the letters page of this very issue, Owsley says he’s staying late on a Friday, working out the next issue with Fingeroth). Fingeroth doesn’t last long, and having read Priest’s “confessions” as Spider-editor years earlier, I wasn’t expecting much from this run. However, this isn’t bad at all. The opening scene has Spider-Man hiding in the dark, taking out a band of fur thieves one-by-one. It could be a clichéd action opening, but Fingeroth uses the shadowy setting effectively, playing up an aspect of Spider-Man that really only appeared in the Ditko run. The idea of mentally troubled supervillains has been done to death over the years, but I don’t think it had been played out by this point. Whether or not Dr. Octopus could reform is an interesting question, since he was just anti-social and rude before he gained powers, and not evil. There’s also some “typical Parker luck” here as Spidey is unable to stop a runaway truck before it damages some civilian’s car, and he’s forced to let Ock escape because he has to save the prison staff from the falling debris. Vince Colletta does show up as inker, although most of the pages don’t have that rushed, lazy look people now associate with his work. Aside from the occasional panel where Spider-Man looks fat, or his hand is way out of proportion to the rest of his body, this looks fine.