Amazing Spider-Man #33

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: November 11, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Script and editing: Stan Lee
Plot and illustration: Steve Ditko
Bordering and lettering: Artie Simek
Reading and enjoying that ol’ web-spinner: you!
20 pages

Previous	#449	Next
	PRELUDE	Space Adventures #33, Story B
Amazing Spider-Man #32	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #72, Story B
Amazing Spider-Man #32	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #34

I’ve failed! Just now– when it counted the most– I’ve failed! But, I can’t give up! I must keep trying! I must!! I’ve got to free myself– no matter how impossible it seems! And lifting is the only way! The– only– way–! Uhhhhh I can’t! — So exhausted– after all that fighting– I- I feel so weak–! It’s lying there– just beyond reach– as though mocking me– taunting me– It’s the one thing– the only thing– that can save Aunt May! And I can’t bring it to her–! If she– doesn’t make it– it’ll be my fault! Just the way I’ll always blame myself for what happened to Uncle Ben…! The two people in all the world who have been kindest to me! I can’t fail again! It can’t happen a second time! I won’t let it– I won’t! No matter what the odds– no matter what the cost– I’ll get that serum to Aunt May! And maybe then I’ll no longer be haunted by the memory of– Uncle Ben! Within my body is the strength of many men…! And now, I’ve got to call on all that strength– all the power– that I possess! I must prove equal to the task– I must be worthy of that strength– or else I don’t deserve it! The weight– is unbearable! Every muschle– aches–! My head– it’s spinning– everything’s beginning to whirl around–! The strain! It– it’s unbearable! The crack in the ceiling– it’s growing wider– getting bigger every second! I’ll never make it– I can’t–! No! I dare not give up now! If I close my eyes– I’ll go under! Must stay awake– must clear my head! Keep trying– trying–! I’ll do it, Aunt May! I won’t fail you! No matter what– I won’t fail–! Anyone can fight– when the odds– are easy! It’s when the going’s tough– when there seems to be no chance– that’s when it counts! Everything going black– my head– aching! Hold on– I must hold on–! It’s moving! Can’t stop now! Last chance! Must keep the momentum–more! Just a little more–!

One of my all-time favorite comic covers.

The Final Chapter. Perhaps the most aptly named comic ever. That’s certainly how I’ve come to view this comic.

Most Ditko stories begin with a splash page opening that serves almost as a second cover. This leaves that out in favor of panels to recap the story so far. Aunt May dying because of a transfusion from Peter’s radioactive blood. Dr. Connors unable to help unless Spider-Man can retrieve this canister. Dr. Octopus and his henchmen in the underwater layer. Spider-Man trapped beneath tons of steel in the base, which seems on the verge of flooding.

How strong is Spider-Man? We don’t really know. “Proportional strength of a spider”. He’s not as strong as Thor, Hulk, or Thing, all of whom could probably lift the equipment with ease. But he’s stronger than Captain America, who couldn’t possibly do it. He’s strong enough to lift several tons, but not strong enough to do that easily, and not strong enough to be confident he can do it at all. This is him at his physical limit.

He does lift the machinery off, but it takes 5 pages, a full quarter of the comic spent on Spider-Man lying on the floor, trapped. It’s a famous sequence.

He remembers failing Uncle Ben. Maybe if he can save Aunt May, he’ll no longer be haunted by Ben’s memory.

That’s the key to me. How this series has come full circle, and why this really is the final chapter.

We see Spider-Man has managed to lift it by a couple inches, but describes the strain of even doing that as unbearable.

The scene ends in a momentous splash page, one of the greatest pages in Marvel history. (Top two; we’ll see the other soon. It’s in a comic that comes out 3 months after this one.)

But that was only the beginning. His leg is injured. The base is flooding. And he still has to deal with Dr. Octopus’ henchmen. And even then, this is an experimental treatment. It’s possible there’s nothing that can save Aunt May from the radiation he introduced into her bloodstream… or perhaps it’s already too late.

He’s faced immediately with another seemingly impossible situation. A squad of goons he’s too tired and injured to possibly fight. But once again thoughts of Aunt May inspire him to do the impossible.

Speaking of full circle, Betty seems to finally come to a conclusion about Peter. He’d rejected her, but she hasn’t accepted Ned’s proposal, as she wanted to learn Peter’s secret first, the thing he hides that always seems to come between them. Seeing Peter’s injuries reminds her of her brother Bennet who died in Amazing Spider-Man #11. She realizes she needs someone who leads a less dangerous life. This should close the book on their relationship. Peter understands that too.

Aunt May made it. And she wouldn’t have without the serum. Spider-Man saved her.

Interestingly, Dr. Octopus didn’t even appear in this issue. Over the course of a 60 page story where Spider-Man battles Dr. Octopus, they actually battled for all of 4 pages last issue, ending abruptly when the equipment collapsed on them. 34+ pages of set-up led to that fight, followed by 22 pages of aftermath.

There’s an ad for the next issue, but there doesn’t need to be. Spider-Man will fight Kraven again. Whatever. And there are decades more Spider-Man stories to come, but there don’t need to be. This was the final chapter of the story of Spider-Man.

Am I being too glib? Is everything really resolved? No. We’ve just met Gwen, and she’s shown an interest in Peter, so there’s that thread to resolve. Perhaps Peter and Harry can reconcile and become friends.

And we never learned the identity of the Green Goblin, his face always purposely shadowed from us.

And Dr. Octopus seems to have escaped.

So maybe there’s story to tell. Maybe room for a sequel. But this story convinced me that Peter will handle whatever life throws at him. And find that balance we all strive for.

To be a superhero, and a nephew, and a student, and a worker, and a friend, and a boyfriend… balance.

I felt a lot of pressure in this post to try to convey why I think this is Marvel’s single greatest comic. And reading the above, I’m not convinced I conveyed it at all. Maybe just go read it.

Ditko and Lee have reached the point of irreconcilable differences, so Ditko will leave the company. He almost certainly knew that when writing this issue, which seems written as his swan song. It’s unfortunately not his final issue. He has 5 more issues of Amazing Spider-Man to go before parting ways with Lee forever. The series will spin its wheels, and the quality will feel phoned in; it will take a new artist to revitalize the series and take it in a different direction.

Ditko wrote this to be the final chapter.

Rating: ★★★★★, 98/100
Significance: ★★★★★

I read this story in Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus vol. 1.

I think of this as basically the best Marvel comic. A score of 98 ties it with Spider-Man’s origin, fitting as I think of the stories as the opening and closing chapters of one great saga. They’ll basically hold as the top two forever. Leaving the Best We’ve Read will be Sgt. Fury #3, which tells the story of Nick Fury’s first meeting with Reed Richards in World War II.

Characters:

• Aunt May
• Dr. Connors
• Spider-Man
• Frederick Foswell
• J. Jonah Jameson
• Betty Brant

Story notes:

• Spider-Man tests Connors’ serum on his own blood, and it’s proven effective.
• Spider-Man stages some shots of himself after the battle with the goons.
• Foswell gets tip about Spider-Man.
• Seeing Peter’s injuries reminds Betty of her brother Bennett.

Previous	#449	Next
	PRELUDE	Space Adventures #33, Story B
Amazing Spider-Man #32	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #72, Story B
Amazing Spider-Man #32	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #34