Featuring: Spider-man
Release: August 8, 1963
Cover: November 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Steve Ditko
21 pages
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|---|---|---|
| Fantastic Four #20 | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #47 |
| Amazing Spider-Man #5 | Amazing Spider-Man | Amazing Spider-Man #7 |
I’ll get that masked menace if it’s the last thing I do!
Six issues in, and we meet Spidey’s fifth iconic villain. We’re only short one because he fought Dr. Doom last issue.
We learn newspapers around the nation are printing stories about the Lizard menacing the Flordia Everglades. I imagine the headlines read something like: “Florida Man sees human lizard in swamp.” Of course, not the Daily Bugle headline. That focuses on Spider-Man.
The Lizard is a great villain. His character has a lot in common with the Hulk, except it’s much better. They both draw from the Jekyll/Hyde trope. Unlike the Hulk, which never settled on anything in the comic, the Lizard as a character is very clear. Dr. Connors is a good guy. When he first transforms into the Lizard, he has his own mind, but feels it slipping fast. Soon, the Lizard personality is entirely in control. The Lizard has plans to lead an army of reptiles to conquer the earth and destroy all humans. Once cured, he is back to being a decent man.
That he has a loving wife and son hoping he will become human again adds to the pathos.
This comic really feels like it tells the story the Hulk comics were trying to get to but just not reaching.
As he has done repeatedly, Spider-Man draws on his science skills to solve the problem. I first read this, and most Spider-Man stories, in the Essential Spider-Man. I had also lent my copy to a friend. The Essential volumes are black-and-white reprints. My friend pointed out how odd the following scene was. It was a little confusing to tell if the serum worked or not when reading in black and white. At least Spider-Man seemed confident. It looked grey to us.
An otherwise great issue does do that thing I hate where the hero is coincidentally at the scene of a crime. In this case, Peter is at a museum when it gets robbed. The scene is anyway only tangentially connected to the Lizard story. Peter is at the museum to learn about dinosaurs, in case that gives him insight into the Lizard.
Some forward motion in the love life of Peter Parker. We twice in the issue almost see him ask Betty out.
When he can’t get ahold of her at the end, he asks Liz out instead. Liz had agreed to a date with him before, but he had to cancel. She usually seems to be going out with Flash Thompson, but they’re clearly not in a relationship. But now she is waiting for Spider-Man to call. Why would she think he has her number? Eh. Women.
Peter is depicted as a very nerdy person, but he’s not too shy to ask girls out. And he seems to be getting better at it. We saw him get rejected by a classmate in his very first appearance, but then his idea of a date was the science exhibition.
Rating: ★★★★☆, 73/100
Significance: ★★★★☆
I read this story in Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection vol. 1: Great Power. You can also find it through Kindle.
Characters:
- Peter Parker/Spider-Man
- Dr. Curtis Connors/Lizard
- J. Jonah Jameson
- Betty Brant
- Flash Thompson
- Liz Allan
- Aunt May
- Mrs. Connors
- Billy Connors
Story notes:
- Lizard menacing Florida Everglades.
- Bystanders claim Lizard has the strength of a dozen bulldozers and can’t be harmed by bullets.
- Daily Bugle headline: “The Bugle challenges Spider-Man to defeat the Lizard!”
- Spider-Man can’t afford the plane ticket to go stop the Lizard. He needs Jameson to send Peter Parker. Jameson accompanies Peter to Florida.
- Criminals show up at museum with Parker and his friends.
- Dr. Connors was a surgeon who lost his right arm in the war. They don’t say which war. He then became a reptile expert.
- Lizard has some of Dr. Connors’ mind, at least at first. He writes note to family, but his control slips.
- Spider-Man creates anti-Lizard solution. If it turns green, it worked.
- Lizard can control reptiles.
- Lizard plans to create army of super-reptiles to conquer earth.
- Dr. Connors burns his notes.
- Spider-Man agrees to keep Connors’ secret.
| Previous | #106 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Fantastic Four #20 | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #47 |
| Amazing Spider-Man #5 | Amazing Spider-Man | Amazing Spider-Man #7 |
