Spider-Man Read-Through 009: The Petrified Tablet (ASM 68-77)
MASTERPOST
In this arc, we see (in no particular order) cake, fire, water, chest hair, facial hair, and politics!!! Also, very interesting reader's letters.
Enter year 1969, a year I've fully read before thanks to THIS baby.
Bless my country and its compilations by year.
Of the three years I'd fully read before, this is probably the one I'm least familiar with, so I'm still curious to read it.
So our dear friend is after the petrified/clay tablet and shows off his hairy chest to his harem of henchmen, and I might almost enjoy it.
Replace "Spider-Man" with "a gay man" and see the subtext. Also gorgeous colors as usual.
Robbie's son, Randy, gets reintroduced, and navigating these pages fills me with nostalgia. Peter is absolutely clueless about local politics, which checks out in multiple ways (he has other stuff to do but he's also a white guy in that era). Peter is an outstanding guy though and would like to be involved. Don't worry, people, Peter won't get too ~political~. He eventually two-sides Randy. No, not like that. He's a bit wishy-washy through that issue. It happens.
The first panel is exactly what I love in these comics: purple, yellow and blue clashing with each other.
I wonder if Randy's gonna die, though, because he was introduced very effectively and almost suspiciously. May, at least, is very sick, again, as she's always been.
The issue ends with Randy and Josh getting arrested because they're Black the police thinks they're with the Kingpin, but Robbie's there and assures them they'll get the best lawyer. Peter isn't worried about them. He's a bit clueless, like I said. Randy is instantly very lovable, especially as he tries to fight the Kingpin and helps Spidey in the process.
In the letters, a very interesting question is asked by one Tom Prehoda: would super-heroes be on the front page of newspaper, would they really sell more than "pressing matters" (ie. "politics, and Vietnam, and the race problem")? And considering that many super-heroes do stuff every day in the Marvel world, wouldn't the front page get a tad crowded?
I think it'd be funny if there was a "Daily Vigilante Section" where the recent accomplishments AND failures of those individuals filled half a page. I imagine a lot of people would try and be featured in that kind of section. I'm sure you could do a few issues around that. I doubt I'm the first one to think about this.
(If you're wondering, this issue's letters don't get answers.)
Meanwhile, Nils Osmar says he finds that the last few issues have been less verbose and pleads Marvel to not reduce the verbosity even more, which I find quite funny. He did have a point: these issues have been *slightly* less verbose (the initial ASM run was completely indigestible at times) but imo (with today's sensibilities) it's much better that way, hahahaha.
To my 23-year-old French self, Randy feels incredibly sympathetic. And the confrontation between the young and their parent continues with Gwen going to the ESU protests and going to talk to her father. It's a fascinating theme! Much more entertaining than Kingpin's plot. Peter do be shirtless for a part of the fight, so that's nice enough. I can't wait to read what the readers said about this story arc.
This issue is very interesting and the diminution of dialogue bubbles is nice. In the next issue, the police thinks Spidey stole the tablet, the political plot gets resolved (the students won, yay! and Josh thinks maybe not all white dudes suck...).
In other news, Ned Leeds is back! I love Ned Leeds. Isn't he a key player in the Jackal arc?
So Spidey gives Jonah a heart attack, which is honestly quite deserved!
In the letters, Scott Hamilton deduces that Spidey has the strength of about 64 men and Stan Lee doesn't dare to say whether he's right or wrong.
Cole Kitchen, meanwhile, thinks Peter should enlist in Vietnam to end his bad Parker Luck while keeping the misery. Cap has been fighting for SHIELD and thus, the Marvel comics have no war chief among their super-heroes. Kitchen says he understands the Vietnam war's controversial status, but argues Marvel has never strayed from such subjects - as they "started a revolution in the handling of race in comic books". This is fascinating. I was certainly surprised to see complicated subjects even tackled in ASM #68. "Stan and John" inform me (among other things) that they've seen about as many letters for both sides.
As for Jan Wayenberg, she sent a long letter! She's in love with Peter (very understandably). She says a few gems, notably "Aunt May can't keep getting weaker and weaker without transforming into an anemic vapor."
Ben Brosgol wants May to be a supervillain, which I'm surprisingly in favor of.
Anyway, it's time for issue #71!
Spidey fights none other than Quicksilver. I very clearly remember that fight, so that's fun. The issue starts with Peter's who's shirtless once again, which is always a good sign.
Harry's back again, and once again gets gaslit by Peter. I love them, but dear lord, Harry needs some love. At least they have a bit of guy talk.
So Quicksilver's here to get the help of the Avengers, but they're in Wakanda, so he has to resort to spending some good ol' time with Spidey.
Thanks to Jonah being at the hospital, Robbie gives some much needed money to Peter. Robbie's great!!!
Overall, it's a fun issue. Peter knows some joy in his life, and he sure needs it, right?
This issue's letters bring some good food so I'll just screenshot them:
I definitely agree on the point that Peter should share his identity with *somebody*, and I think Harry would be a great choice, narratively speaking. My Parksborn tendencies might influence my opinion just a bit...
Time for issue 72! And it starts with a banger, as the Shocker assaults Captain Stacy with his (*snickers*) vibropowers. Sure. The issue tries to make the Shocker feel like Spidey's most powerful foe, but he's honestly a bit pathetic. I don't know, I just can't take him seriously.
By this point, the writers are acutely aware of how they showcased May for the past ~70 issues. But I'm not sure they knew I'd ship her with Anna five decades later. Anyway, Peter's outfit is an absolute win, it's very striking, can't help but love it.
The writers then prepare the Lizard's return, as Peter recounts how he beat him "a few months ago" (#45!), which explains why I was oddly not that invested when I read the actual issue.
And Flash is back -again!- from the war. He's still a jerk and Peter calls out his character regression.
THESE LOOK BEAUTIFUL.
This issue is alright, nothing fascinating. The actual subject of the Vietnam War is still avoided hahahaha.
In the letters, Eddie Christopher thinks the team uses the Kingpin too much and I definitely agree! But he seems to be fairly popular among readers. Charles Blackcrow is relieved that the student's protest wasn't a Communist plot, and also asks if Peter could graduate from college. Dear Charles, I think you had to wait for a bit more time. [He recently made a Reddit post, yay!]
Issue 73 makes it clear that the Italian mafia is involved in this imbroglio as well. Meanwhile, Randy wants to give up school and this feels VERY relatable. But his dad argues that education (knowledge) is a great power. Oh, how à propos! And Randy argues back that Robbie was lucky, compared to plenty of their siblings.
Peter wants to do an internship with Curt Connors, once again foreshadowing that the Lizard is about to make his return. And Curt, at least, is back, coerced into helping the Maggia, ooh~
In the letters, May is still very unpopular (and rightly so!).
Until now, this arc hasn't been particularly compelling. Sure, you wonder about this exact's tablet's purpose (although Silvermane mentioning his age several times in this issue certainly points the reader towards the truth), but the villains are lackluster (as you've seen, I'm no fan of the Kingpin, and Marko the Mountain Man isn't particularly helpful in that regard). The soap opera are the best parts, and sadly there's not many of them. The highlight is, of course, Randy, who's just been introduced to the readers and already has great dialogues with his father (and Josh).
However, in issue 74, a compelling plot point is brought forth: with Curt Connors forced to work with the Maggia to uncover the tablet's secrets, his Lizard alter ego is also sollicited.
Oh look, he's back to insult me!
Silvermane's age keeps getting mentioned and seems to be all he talks about.
Stan Lee laying it on thick.
Meanwhile, plot twist! Connor's son actually figured out his dad is The Lizard. I mean, yeah, that makes sense, it wasn't a particularly well-kept secret.
Peter wishes he could confide in his twink boyfriend. But what would he tell him anyway? The truth? I wish!
Sadly or luckily for us, Harry does make this famous apparition. I never forgot about this specific face. What the heck. I think he immediately gets rid of this muustache. Dear Lord.
Issue 74 ends with Silvermane drinking Connor's serum and being young again...! I figured it would be in the next issue, but oh well. I know how it ends.
In the letters, Stan says that the writers are still figuring out the Kingpin's wife. I don't recall ever actually seeing her, so I'm very curious! She should appear soon... I just imagine that fashion lady villain from Totally Spies.
Her name is Helga von Guggen, according to online sources. I love that Google immediately pointed me to the right direction with my query above.
The next issue has an iconic cover. SOMEONE DIES!
I love how subtle the twist is foreshadowed. Silvermane's transformation at first appears to simply make him younger... but for a few panels, his hair still have a bit of grey in them... but by page 7, the grey has disappeared. Sadly, as is constantly the case in these comics, Marko makes it explicit on the same page, barely letting the reader piece it together. If Silvermane's getting younger every second, when does it stop?
Side note: he really looks like Peter in these panels. I wonder how intentional this is.
So while Silvermane is busy looking handsome for five minutes, the Lizard is back.
CAKE!!!!!!!!!
For my grievances, I really enjoy this ending.
And while Silvermane is definitely dead (although I heard he reappears decades later, what the fuck Marvel), the Lizard is back.
An excellent letter from Steve Games lays out his issues with current-era Spider-Man. He argues the Ditko era is definitely different the two halves of the Romita Sr. half (during, and after No More). He calls out the emphasis on fights instead of the cast's personal lives, which I definitely agree with. We've been seeing so little of them!
I completely agree. Maybe my issue isn't so much the Kingpin than the fact that most of his appearances makes the secondary cast's appearance very limited. The letter isn't all negative either: the reader recognizes that three years before, Randy, Robbie and Josh probably wouldn't have appeared, and he appreciates that SM "now recognizes national problems and is more realistic about its portrayal of black people and other minorities". Steve essentially concludes that there's not enough Peter Parker content.
It feels cathartic to read such a letter. I couldn't exactly articulate it before, but I definitely agree!
In response, Stan Lee (by whom I mean "the actual person who answered this, I dunno what that was") says they'll poll the readership about that! Very interested to see how it goes.
In issue 76, neither Peter's handsomeness nor Harry's fu-stache have disappeared.
In retrospect, I assume Peter sending May to Florida was a move to make her less annoying to the readers. And almost as an answer to the aforementioned letter, the issue features more scenes with the regular cast. That's swell!
The issue is much better than some previous ones, although the Lizard battles lacks in variance... until the Human Torch flies in at the last minute!
The reader's letters mention the animated TV show, and I completely forgot about it 'til now. They complain the 1967 cartoon ridiculizes the brand. So even then, it was seen as very kitsch, huh? I've seen two episodes of it, I think it's cute hahaha. By that point, it was the gap between seasons 2 and 3 if you're curious.
Another reader asks if Peter could be drafted for the Vietnam War. Wow, this is fascinating. You don't really understand until you see it, huh. Someone agrees with someone else that Peter should tell his secret to Gwen's dad. There's also a patriotic doofus who really wants to mention his fascist advocacy group (the John Birch Society). This issue's batch is... oof.
Anyway. Final issue for this post! We've almost covered an entire year! As usual, any conversation between Spidey and the Torch is one of them (or the both of them) not listening to the other one.
I'm not sure why, but I really enjoy the colors here again.
Spidey uses his brain and tells off Johnny, which is smart. What is not smart (but entertaining), however, is Curt's son trying to help and fainting as the Lizard attacks him. What is smart, again, is Spidey using dehydration powder on the Lizard. That's clever!
Overall, it's alright as an issue. Not much to write home about (but the Lizard being momentarily stunned instead of hurting his son is compelling).
On the reader's side, Donald F McGregor (would, not unlike some other person, would go on to work in comic books and notably, for Marvel itself!) mentions that the outfits reflect the era, which is something I appreciate, as someone who wasn't born then.
Bill Labrie asks when the Goblin will come back, which I'm also curious about (surely it can't be The Night Gwen Stacy Died? It's around three years later, lol).
Dirck L. van Sickle says basically the same thing that was said a few issues ago: something should be done with May, she should get operated on and get super powers.
Robert E. Emmets asks "Doesn't Peter ever kiss girls like the rest of us?" no he's gay i'm sorry.
The next arc is about the Prowler, but I don't recall reading about him (even though my edition definitely had the first two issues), so that's nice.
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Alternate Universe/Dimension Travel/Alpha Avengers/Omega Peter/Pack Dynamics
I don’t know why, but I’m really in the mood for some Polyvengers, Alpha/Omega pack story with a way too involved and complicated plot.
Okay, so imagine the following:
- Peter Parker is Spiderman in a world where the Avengers are villains. (Only original Avengers, i.e. Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Thor) Spiderman is one of the only people who can and does stand up against them and fight them.
- Up to consideration if other (future) Avengers, like Falcon and Winter Soldier, are in this dimension as well and helping Spidey, or if they don’t exist in this dimension.
- But as you can guess, one against 6 is not a fair fight and the odds are always against Spidey. He manages to hold them off and protect the civilians most of the time, but it’s hard and Peter has accumulated more than enough battle scars to show for it. (I have this head canon that only wounds severe enough to almost kill him, are those that leave scars on Peter’s otherwise blemish free body thanks to his healing factor.)
- One day, Peter devises a trap for the Avengers, with a bomb/biological agent/something, that’s guaranteed to wipe them out.
- But to make sure the Avengers don’t get out of the radius last second, Peter has to stay and activate the bomb manually.
- Instead of dying (which Peter accepted and was fine with) (maybe even a little too fine with, considering that he had lost pretty much everyone he cared about and fighting the Avengers for the last however many years has left him with his fair share of trauma), Peter gets catapulted into another universe.
- A universe in which people have second genders (to which his body adepts right away, which Peter isn’t happy with at all), in which the Avengers exist and are good guys, and, to add insult to injury, most of the Avengers are Alphas, (some betas who at least don’t smell in any way appealing to Peter. Small mercies.) bonded through what is called a ‘pack’, and completely convinced that Peter is their mate and the missing piece to their pack.
- Now you have a Peter who is suddenly an Omega, in a dimension so incredibly different, and yet the same, as his own. His worst enemies keep trying to woo him, and the only thing that keeps him from trying to break their bones constantly, is the fact that his spidey-sense has never been as relaxed as when he is in their presence.
- Doesn’t mean Peter can just shut off years of accumulated trauma brought on by the alternate versions of these people, and the Avengers have a long way ahead of them to win their spider over. (they find themselves webbed to the walls or ceiling more often than not, whenever they accidentally moved a bit too fast with Peter.)
- Up to consideration who is all part of the Avengers pack, and who all would end up being in a sexual/romantic relationship with Peter (I do think definitely Tony, Steve and Natasha. But if people want Clint to have his own family like in the movies, he could be a beta - for example. I would like Bucky to be part of Peter’s harem - hahaha - too, he at least wouldn’t have been a bad guy in his previous universe. Rest is really up to whoever ends up writing it. Sky is the limit.)
- obviously, Peter cannot be some helpless, delicate little flower for this, even if he turns into an omega in the other dimension.
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