Amazing Spider-Man #38

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: April 12, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Written and edited by Stan Lee
Plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko
Lettered, unfettered by Artie Simek
20 pages

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Strange Tales #146, Story B	Reading order	Avengers #30
Amazing Spider-Man #37	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #39

Goodbye, Steve!

We come at last to the final Steve Ditko Spider-Man story. We just saw the final Steve Ditko Dr. Strange story. One thing they have in common is awful covers. My best guess is Ditko had resigned before turning in a cover for either. So like the Dr. Strange cover, this cover is cut and paste from Ditko’s artwork within the issue.

Here are the interior panels the cover cribs from:

I’ve been pretty clear that the saga of the Amazing Spider-Man as told by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is basically my favorite story ever. I won’t belabor why any further than I have in the posts on the last 37 issues.

I’d also been pretty clear that I thought that story ended extremely well with issue 33. And that these last 5 issues represent a step down in quality, and a story that no longer seems to be going anywhere in particular.

I find it unfortunate that that was not Ditko’s final issue of Spider-Man. As the man says, it’s better to burn out than to fade away. I wish he’d gone out at the top of his game.

That excellent climax of the Spider-Man saga came out the same month as the excellent climax of the Dr. Strange saga in Strange Tales #141. Both series then went at the same time into a phase I’ve described as “spinning their wheels”. Where any of the next 4 months of issues could have been removed with minimal consequence. Ditko had one more great Dr. Strange story in him, a final confrontation between Dormammu and Eternity.

Does he have one more great Spider-Man story in him?

It’s worth nothing that the last several issues have not been bad and they have their charms. Despite the small number, this phase can actually be broken into two subphases. Issues 34-35 pit Spider-Man against returning foes, Kraven and Molten Man respectively. Some minimal advancement to the romantic supblots surrounded by action that is well told, but not adding much to Spider-Man’s previous encounters with these villains.

Issues 36-38 take a different tactic. They all introduce new villains, none of whom will become the iconic villains that the rest of the series had introduced. But all are interesting in their own right, and all have stories that center around them. Spider-Man becomes almost a secondary character, as we get to know the Looter and the Robot Master.

And they’re actually good comics, taken on their own terms, and not compared to the expectation of Spider-Man comics we’d developed over the previous 4 years of stories. Just offbeat tales about some offbeat characters who run into Spider-Man, tales that function more as satire than drama.

This falls into that mold. The story, Ditko’s final Spider-Man story, isn’t really about Spider-Man. It’s about this guy named Joe.

Just a Guy Named Joe

Joe thinks he can be a championship boxer despite no apparent qualifications. Then he thinks he can be a wrestler. Then an actor.

He doesn’t seem to think these things require aptitude or training.

His poor manager.

Spoiler. By the end, he will be a successful actor, though not through any skill on his part.

It begins when he gets a costumed part with no lines as an alien monster.

Continues when an electrical accident on set gives him super powers. As electrical powers are wont to do.

“Good work, whatever your name is!” says the director. His name is Joe. Joe Smith.

By the end of the third page, we remember that Joe is not the star of this comic. Yet another secretary of Jameson’s is quitting, and he blames Peter for his best secretary, Betty Brant, running off.

We learn something new. When Betty and Ned both left, we assumed she went off with him because she’d chosen him over Peter. But it turns out Ned hasn’t seen her either.

Ned had always seemed nice, even while competing with Peter for Betty’s affections. But now he’s a jerk to Peter. In fairness, it’s because he’s worried about Betty. It’s not like he’s a super-villain in the making.

“No one can predict a female’s reaction!” reflects Peter.

It’s probably worth noting that subplots remain unresolved. So perhaps this isn’t truly the final Spider-Man issue.

Joe goes on a rampage with his new powers. The director keeps filming and likes what he’s getting.

Joe Smith will never get a proper villain name, but Spider-Man has a few suggestions for him: “Purple Panty-Waist” or “Human Windshield Wiper”.

Back to the ongoing character drama. Last issue we learned that Jameson’s friend was named Norman Osborn, that he was father to Peter’s classmate and rival Harry Osborn, and that he was a bad dude. Also that he was somehow able to be standing outside a very high window without any obvious means of getting up or staying up there.

Now we see Harry and Norman together for the first time. We see Flash has a good impression of Norman, but aren’t sure he’s the best judge of character.

Norman proceeds to be up to shenanigans.

To the best of my understanding, the plan of breaking the bills in half to pay half up front is a legal thing to do. It’s not legal to do it in the context of criminal activity, of course. This very scene is covered on money.stackexchange.com (though they get the issue number wrong in the question).

Subplots continue. Gwen has been turning around on Peter from her initial poor impressions of him, and begins to think Flash and Harry are unnecessarily mean to him.

Then comes a scene that’s never sat right with me, and I think shows both Stan and Steve as old men out of touch with their audience.

They have a scene with protesters, who behave in a cartoonish and satirical manner, to allow Peter to express his scorn, seemingly over the act of protesting itself. It was 1966. I’m pretty sure the youth was into protesting. But Steve is not, as evident by the art. And Stan must not have been either, as he had the final word on dialogue.

It’s a misstep. Old men shouting at clouds.

Peter has come pretty far since high school, but still stands alone while his classmates go off in a group. This is exactly how we were first introduced to Peter Parker.

Though there’s one key difference now. Gwen looks back, and thinks they’re being unfair to Peter. Liz would grow from her attitude in her introductory panel as well, and come to appreciate Peter over the years.

Harry makes fun of Parker’s science skills while praising his father, the scientist. As we saw last issue, it seemed more like Stromm was the actual scientist and Osborn the corrupt businessman who took advantage of him. What do we infer from this on Ditko’s thoughts on creative partnerships?

Peter just misses meeting Mary Jane Watson yet again. We don’t see her face.

Things work out for Joe Smith. He’s going to be a famous actor after news breaks of him defeating Spider-Man.

Things never work out quite so well for Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man.

The breakdown of a partnership

I don’t want to read too much into Ditko’s intentions here, but I can’t help but see some connections between the final three villains and the breakdown of the relationship between Ditko and Lee.

The Looter thinks he should be a brilliant scientist despite education and talent. And he just gets lucky when he finds a meteor. Does Ditko think Lee lacks the talent to be a creator, but thinks he’s brilliant anyway? Was Lee lucky to find Kirby and Ditko?

Professor Stromm and Norman Osborn were partners. But Stromm was the more brilliant scientist of the two. Osborn was really just a businessman who betrayed his partner and stole his ideas.

Joe’s story has some parallels to the Looter’s. It’s about a man with an inflated self-image. He thinks he could be a star boxer or wrestler or actor, despite no evidence of talent. He then lucks his way into being a star actor anyway through a freak accident that gives him powers.

What went wrong between Steve Ditko and Stan Lee? There’s not a lot of contemporaneous documentation. Lee has given plenty of interviews over the years with his own spin on things. Ditko has given very few interviews. Ditko has occasionally over the decades published his thoughts in various forms.

Here’s Ditko opining on what it means to create such a character as Spider-Man.

When Silver Surfer was introduced– a character whose creation is credited solely to Jack Kirby, a credit I disagree with– we reflected on what it really means to create a character.

The story of Spider-Man as I understand it goes something like this.

First, to caveat clearly: contemporaneous documentation is lacking, these questions are very controversial, and I am no historical expert.

Before he rejoined Marvel, Jack Kirby had been publishing his own comics with partner Joe Simon. A character concept the pair had developed but never gotten around to was called Spider-Man (or maybe Spiderman). Kirby at some point brought the idea to Lee, and Lee rejected most of his pitch, but liked the name Spider-Man.

Lee asked Ditko to come up with designs for a character called Spider-Man. The entirety of the power set and costume design were likely dreamed up entirely by Ditko at this point. The famous origin story from Amazing Fantasy #15 was co-plotted by Lee and Ditko, but nobody knows what that really means. Which of the pair came up for example with this key idea of a selfish superhero letting a criminal pass, ending in tragedy? I don’t know.

Here’s Ditko comparing his Spider-Man to Kirby’s, many decades after the fact, circa 1999.

Ditko claims the only things that came his way from Lee and Kirby were: the name, that he was a teenager, and that the teenager had an aunt and uncle. Ditko claims credit for the rest. While I have no reason to doubt Ditko, it must be noted the claims I am referencing were made almost 40 years later, long after Spider-Man had become one of the most popular fictional characters of the 20th century.

Tom Brevoort summarizes the story well on his blog, including how the Kirby Spider-Man concept had also given rise to the superhero called The Fly.

For the early issues of the series, Lee and Ditko came up with ideas for the stories together, then Ditko came up with the detailed plots through his layouts. Lee provided the final script based on Ditko’s notes and acted as editor, sometimes asking for changes to the art here or there.

For whatever reason, their working relationship deteriorated, and Ditko finally made not talking to Lee a condition of his employment. At this point, Lee received the artwork in a finished state without providing story input, and then made the final script and edits. That’s been the status for the last 18 months or so.

Lawsuits over Spider-Man would exist, but between Marvel and the Kirby estate, for Kirby’s role in that initial Spider-Man pitch. Marvel and the Kirby estate eventually came to a settlement over all Kirby’s contributions, including Spider-Man.

Ditko never sued (though his estate did 2 years after his death), but he did feel promises were broken, regarding his rights to the character of Spider-Man.

Ditko also felt he wasn’t properly credited. Lee was always claiming writing credit and pay when Ditko was doing most of the writing. This is the precise complaint that drove both Joe Orlando and Wally Wood away. And part of the complaints that would eventually drive Kirby away.

Ditko would return to Marvel here and there over the years, but he would pointedly refuse to ever write or draw a story with Spider-Man or Dr. Strange again.

Disney has just chosen to honor Steve Ditko with their Disney Legends Award, an internal Hall of Fame for people who have made significant contributions to the “Disney legacy”. I suspect Ditko would find the honor a dubious one.

The questions of who did what and how well Lee treated Ditko are divisive, and lead to continual outbursts on internet forums 60 years later.

Together, the men did great work. But who was the real creative force of the duo?

Stan Lee co-created many of Marvel’s most famous heroes, when working with talented artists like Bill Everett, Jack Kirby, or Steve Ditko. A key point of evidence for what happened in that era is what happened next.

Once these artistic partnerships ended, Lee mostly stopped writing and creating characters. He threw himself into the promotion and marketing end of things, which he had a great talent for.

Ditko moved companies and went on to create a number of brilliant characters: Hawk & Dove, the Question, the Creeper, Shade the Changing Man, Stalker, Mr. A… returning to Marvel, he’d create characters such as Speedball and Squirrel Girl. With or without Lee, Ditko was a creative force to be reckoned with. But with Lee, the characters Ditko helped create became some of the most famous characters in the history of the world.

His greatest contributions to Marvel were Spider-Man and Dr. Strange.

But it’s worth noting how impactful his short runs on Iron Man and the Hulk were. He didn’t initially create these characters, but set a template for their stories which would help them endure for decades to come.

Jack Kirby is inseparably associated with the Marvel Universe, co-creating so many of its most famous characters, and churning out so many high-quality books at a time, working at a furious rate. Most consider him Marvel’s greatest, most iconic, and most beloved artist.

And I respect Kirby immensely.

But for my money, the heart and soul of Marvel, and the reason I’m here writing this blog, is about Steve Ditko. His storytelling in both Spider-Man and Dr. Strange was just a level above anything Kirby was doing. Only as Ditko’s leaving has Kirby stepped up his game on Fantastic Four and Thor enough to contend with the best of the Ditko stories.

Steve Ditko is my single favorite comics storyteller of all time, and the Marvel Universe will never recover from his departure.

Steve Ditko passed away in the year 2018, the same year as Stan Lee. He was 90 years old. He remains the greatest comic creator of all time.

The end of an era

What’s notable is that Spider-Man is a corporate product. It’s ultimately made and owned by the company, not the creator. So Ditko’s decision to tell no more Spider-Man stories does not mean there will be no more Spider-Man stories. Stan Lee will simply find a new artist to tell more Spider-Man stories.

Do we see then the next issue as the continuation of the Spider-Man saga with a new storyteller? Or do we recognize that Spider-Man’s saga ended? And that whatever comes next is something of a reboot, a fresh start with a new creator’s take on a character named Spider-Man?

Is the story of Spider-Man over, or has it just begun?

I tend to think both are true.

It’s worth noting plenty of subplots remain unresolved. Where is Betty? Will she get together with Ned? Is Gwen showing an interest in Peter? Will Peter and Harry resolve their differences? Will Peter ever meet Mary Jane? Will Jameson find a new secretary? Will Spider-Man deal with the threat of Norman Osborn?

Plus, we never learned the identity of the Green Goblin.

And it’s not like Peter won’t still have financial problems and May won’t still have health problems. Perhaps there is more story to telll…

I feel a heavy heart bringing this write-up to a close. It is the end of an era, and Marvel will never see its like again.

But all things must end.

And with that, a very large hardcover can go back on the shelf.

Rating: ★★★☆☆, 52/100
Significance: ★★★★☆

We’re docking some points for the stance on protests. It’s significant for being Steve Ditko’s final Spider-Man story.

Characters:

• Joe Smith
• Tommy Tomkins
• Peter Parker/Spider-Man
• J. Jonah Jameson
• Ned Leeds
• Norman Osborn
• Harry Osborn
• Flash Thompson
• Gwen Stacy
• Aunt May

Minor characters:

• Marvin (lifting weights at gym)

Story notes:

• Joe Smith thinks he can beat the Champ in boxing. Mr. Tomkins reluctantly agrees to manage him.
• Smith knocked out in first minute of first round.
• Smith fails at wrestling.
• Tomkins gets Smith gig as costumed extra in TV fantasy film.
• Smith in costume as monster in Midtown studio.
• While on set, Smith knocks props he’s supposed to smash into light, spilling chemicals, and landing him in an electrical/chemical accident.
• Another secretary quits, the third this week.
• Smith plows into stunt men dressed as space explorers.
• Joe Smith now strong enough to lift a couple of cars.
• Harry gives ride to father Norman Osborn, then goes out with Flash
• Norman hires goons to kill Spider-Man, gives them bills cut in half up front, rest after.
• Gwen is annoyed that Flash and Harry hate Peter.
• Flash and Peter exchange barbs; Harry goads Flash to attack, but Flash declines. Gwen thinks there is something interesting about Peter.
• Hood brings in more goons, offering $20K to the man who kills Spider-Man.
• TV people will handle legal troubles and sign Smith as an actor.
• Spider-Man fights off more hoods and learns of reward on him.
• Peter mad at Leeds because he has a possible future with Betty.
• Peter just missed meeting Mary Jane Watson. He came in the back door at May’s house just as Mary Jane went out the front.
• Joe Smith signed 5 years contract with International Broadcasting Network

Previous	#521	Next
Strange Tales #146, Story B	Reading order	Avengers #30
Amazing Spider-Man #37	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #39