Amazing Spider-Man #9

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: November 12, 1963
Cover: February 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko
Lettered by: Art Simek
22 pages

We’ve had some great superhero battles in these pages. Put Spider-Man’s wits and abilities to the test against great foes. We get a new foe this issue.

But this issue also gets to the core of what Spider-Man is really about: balance.

His first appearance ended with the famous phrase about responsibility. That suggested he had a responsibility to use his powers to stop criminals and such. But this comic underscores other responsibilities. His aunt is sick and he has a responsibility to her. He also has financial responsibilities. He’s also a student, responsible for his studies. But what of his social responsibilities? What does he owe the kids in his class toward attempting to be friends with them? What about responsibilities to his romantic life? He’s also a photojournalist, and has a responsibility to journalistic integrity. He has a lot of responsibilities. How to balance them all? That’s the main theme of this series, and this issue is the best microcosm yet.

In fact, Stan’s opening hype seems pretty accurate to me for once. I’ll go ahead and call that my review.

There’s a lot going on in this issue, as my preamble may have implied. Let’s dive in.

We begin with Spider-Man ignoring a crime in progress. Criminals are in a shootout with cops, and they give up when they see Spider-Man. But it was their mistake as Spider-Man had not been planning to stop and fight them.

This echoes right back to Spider-Man’s first appearance. In his defining moment, he did not stop a criminal running past him, and that decision– that failure to act– had great personal consequence. This time, it all worked out anyway.

The comic doesn’t explicitly draw the parallel; neither Spider-Man nor the narrator mention it. But what else would any fan think of upon reading the scene. Oddly, the comic has not mentioned the famous burglar scene since it happened. It gave a short recap of Spider-Man’s origin in the first issue of this ongoing series, but left that scene out. It seemed perhaps a pointed omission.

The lesson of the series sprung from that original burglar scene: “With great power there must also come– great responsibility.”

So what causes Spider-Man to shirk his responsibility yet again? Last time, it was vanity and indifference. This time, it is responsibility. He has other responsibilities besides being Spider-Man and battling criminals. As Peter, he has a responsibility to his aunt. Aunt May is very sick and he is bringing her medicine. That is his responsibility.

Aunt May needs to go to the hospital and will need an operation. Peter’s responsibility is to take care of her. She asks him to wait in the hospital while she undergoes the operation, and he promises he will. But in keeping this promise, he will neglect other responsibilities.

When May learns she has to go to the hospital, her first concern is for Peter. Who will cook for him? She also has responsibilities.

The operation isn’t cheap. It required a specialist that costs $1000. Perhaps we should come up with a way to somehow amortize the burden of medical care across the population. But until we do that, coming up with the money is Peter’s responsibility. Should he be waiting by his sick aunt’s bedside where she wants him? Or should he be out earning the money?

This brings us to Electro. Spider-Man has the best rogues gallery in comics (the contender being Batman). Spider-Man’s best enemies were all created by Steve Ditko (with Stan Lee) over the course of a couple years. Chameleon, Vulture, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Lizard… that’s a great collection of villains already. Here, we get one more. Electro.

Max Dillon was a selfish but talented pole man. In a freak accident, he is struck by lightning while grasping electrical wires. This should have killed him, but instead gave him electrical powers.

He describes this occurrence as a “million-to-one” chance. A lot of the accidents we’ve read about have been so described. We live in a world with billions of people. So million-to-one accidents are possible. In fact, it’s very unlikely there won’t be at least one. Now, I suspect “million-to-one” does not accurately describe the odds of this accident. If it did, there would probably be someone with electrical powers walking around in our world. Even if he is correct, the odds of two unrelated million-to-one occurrences are trillion-to-one. Even on a planet with a few billion people, that is very unlikely to happen. Three such crazy accidents?

Electro built himself a lab with a machine that can charge his powers. His spiffy suit contains a harness which helps him control his powers. He’s ready to go do some crime.

Of course, Electro is not the first Marvel character with that name. Or even the second. We’ll meet the original Electro in the next post.

Why does Spider-Man go after Electro when he should be taking care of his aunt? Is it because of his responsibilities as Spider-Man? No, it’s because of his responsibility to May. His financial responsibilities in this case. There is a reward for Electro’s capture which could pay for May’s operation.

Check out these great panels of Spider-Man desperately searching for Electro.

Unfortunately, Electro defeats Spider-Man. In fact Electro walks away thinking he’s killed Spider-Man.

“…no single human is strong enough to challenge me!” says Electro. Really, Electro? What about Thor? Iron Man? Human Torch? Cyclops? Etcetera.

Meanwhile, J. Jonah Jameson has deduced that Spider-Man is Electro. His theories are usually along these lines, but this time he has more evidence than usual. He has offered a reward to anybody who can prove his theory.

This gives Peter his next opportunity for money. With some light doctoring, he can arrange the photos he took of his fight with Electro to make it appear that Spider-Man is Electro. This is a serious breach of ethics, particularly of journalistic ethics.

Peter has never been an ethical journalist. Taking photos of yourself without disclosing that you are the subject is itself unethical. He crossed another line in issue 4. When he forgot to take pictures of his battle with Sandman, he staged some recreations of it. That’s an even more serious breach. We get now to the straight criminal breach. Doctoring photos to convey false information. That would get him fired from any reputable news organization. And probably get him a bonus at Breitbart News.

Is it wrong to commit a crime to save your sick aunt? Perhaps our society should not place us in situations where we are faced with that question.

Does being a high school student come with social responsibilities? Flash and Peter have never gotten along, their disputes culminating in last issue’s boxing match. Flash seems ready to try to mend fences. Peter blows him off. Flash has been a bully to Peter. Perhaps he does not deserve reciprocation of his efforts at friendship. Peter’s concerns about his aunt are more important. It’s true it would cost Peter very little time to have a smile or kind word for Flash or Liz.

But it’s not only time we have to budget and balance. It’s also emotional energy. And Peter’s is spent.

And then there’s Betty. Betty is the secretary to J. Jonah Jameson. Since Peter’s in high school and she has a career, I took her to be a little older than Peter. But we learn in this issue she dropped out of high school to get a job. So perhaps they are close in age.

We saw Peter and Betty flirt a little in issue 5. He considered asking her out in issue 6. They shared a moment together in issue 7. There seems to be mutual romantic interest. Romantic relationships are something Peter will always struggle to balance with his Spider-Man persona.

Now, Betty has come to the hospital to visit Aunt May. This was very kind of her.

We get some ominous moments with Betty. She suspects Peter is carrying some deep secret. She also fears Peter enjoys danger, like someone else she knows. Who?

She does not want Peter to go to the prison where Electro has started a riot. But he has to. It’s his job. He needs the money. And only he can stop Electro. But Betty does not want him to. What responsibility does he have to her feelings? To her needs? She fears his love of danger will come between them.

To top off all the big challenges swirling around, Spider-Man’s suit gets wet in the rain and he has to dry it.

Ultimately, Electro is defeated by a water hose. We then get a great moment which will echo throughout this series. The dramatic unmasking. Who is beneath the mask of Electro? Well, it’s some guy Spider-Man has never seen before or heard of. Really the most likely outcome. His name is Max.

And a great issue has a great ending.

That was a good comic. It seems utterly ridiculous that this comic has the same (credited) writer as some of the others we’ve been reading. The other day, we covered the latest Human Torch story. The Eel escaped from prison and stole some stamps. Human Torch defeated him. I rounded out my commentary with a joke about streaking. There was just nothing going on in that story. It’s a wonder they could stretch it out to fill 13 pages. Same for a dozen other Human Torch stories. The plotting is thin and often inane in so many of these early Marvel comics: Thor, Giant-Man/Wasp, Iron Man… And then there’s this. An intricately woven story with something like six distinct subplots all intersecting to form a brilliantly cohesive whole. It’s a wonder it fits in 22 pages. It’s sublime.

Spider-Man stories will continue for many more decades, even until the present, when neither creator is still with us on this earth. Later writers will mine these original stories for ideas. The idea of Aunt May being sick is one later writers will return to again and again… ad nauseam for decades. Eventually, after 30 years of being near-death, a writer went ahead and let her die. It was the right call. A few years later, another writer revealed she hadn’t actually died. And then soon enough she was dying again.

And I’m afraid that may impede the appreciation of Spider-Man fans for these early comics. It can be easy for someone used to later Spider-Man comics to pick this up and see it as an “Aunt May is sick again” story. But there’s no “again” here. It’s a great story and not to blame for derivative works.

Rating: ★★★★½, 87/100
Significance: ★★★★☆

I read this story in Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection vol. 1: Great Power. You can also find it through Kindle.

Characters:

• Spider-Man/Peter Parker
• Electro/Max Dillon
• Aunt May
• Betty Brant
• J. Jonah Jameson
• Flash Thompson
• Liz Allan

Minor characters:

• Harris (electrician)

Story notes:

• Max Dillon struck by lightning while atop an electric pole.
• Electro’s costume has strange wiring. He has machines that charge him up.
• Electro is a living electrical generator; he tosses electric shocks or creates ring of electricity.
• Jameson has account at Forest Hills bank.
• Fee for specialist for Aunt May is $1000.
• Reward for Electro’s capture.
• Spider-strength allows Spider-Man to survive shock that would kill an ordinary human.
• Electro seeks recruits through jailbreak at West Side House of Detention.
• Aunt May’s operation successful.
• Spider-Man’s signal is referred to as the “sign of the spider”.

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