Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: June 11, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
By: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
9ish pages
Confession time, here’s what I got. I haven’t decided the best way to break up issues with a lot of bonus content like this. My posts don’t cover entire issues, but stories within them. So what is a “story”?
This issue has 3 comic-sequence-like features: the main feature of 41 pages we just covered; a 9-numbered-page sequence we are covering now; and, a 3-page sequence I’ll cover in the subsequent post.
After the main feature, there is a 14-page gallery of all Spider-Man’s villains from the first 15 issues of the series: the Burglar, Chameleon, the Vulture, the terrible Tinkerer, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Doctor Doom, the Lizard, the Living Brain, Electro, the Enforcers and the Big Man, Mysterio, the Green Goblin, and Kraven the Hunter. That’s quite the collection of villains for only 15 issues. All original except Dr. Doom. No other series can match.
That brings us to the featurette which is the main subject of this post: “The Secrets of Spider-Man!” This isn’t a narrative story, but it is told in standard comic panel format. We get a recap of the origin of Spider-Man followed by a detailed analysis of his powers and web shooters.
We get a Ditko time-spanning panel like we’d just seen in issue 16. This one an impressive full page splash.
The page numbers go on for 9 pages, so presumably we then get a series of 1-page features, but we’ll cover those here as well.
A Spider-Man pin-up with a famous pose; a page about Betty and Jonah; a high school scene; Peter Parker’s house; a pin-up of the other superheroes who have guest-starred. (That’s prior to this issue and to Daredevil’s appearance in issue 16.)
There are only 3 pages left. But they seem to form another story with numbered pages and everything, so we’ll give them their own post.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 55/100
Significance: ★★☆☆☆
I read this story in Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection vol. 1: Great Power. You can also find the story in Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Spider-Man/Peter Parker
- Thor
- Hulk
- Thing
- Human Torch
- Mr. Fantastic
- J. Jonah Jameson
- Betty Brant
- Mr. Warren
- Principal Davis
- Flash Thompson
- Liz Allan
- Aunt May
Story notes:
- The Burglar is the semi-official name for the unnamed burglar who killed Uncle Ben.
- Gallery claims Dr. Doom first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #5; I guess they mean his first appearance in a Spider-Man title.
- Recommends reading the upcoming Fantastic Four Annual 2 for more on Dr. Doom.
- Green Goblin’s gallery entry emphasizes that his identity is unknown.
- Origin recap clarifies the fateful experiment was in science hall of Midtown High.
- Of the heroes so far introduced, only Thing, Thor, and Hulk are stronger than Spider-Man.
- Spider-Man can leap the width of an average city street, and attain a height of three stories with one spring.
- Spider-agility makes Spider-Man one of the greatest balancers on Earth.
- Parker one of the world’s foremost experts on spider webs.
- Web-shooter activated by slightest touch of finger.
- Spider-Man can adjust the nozzle of his web-shooter to make his web shoot out as: a thin line, a spreading spray, or an adhesive liquid.
- A half-inch of webbing is strong enough to hold the Thing.
- Webbing is 90% fireproof.
- Webbing stretches to a limited degree.
- Webbing dissolves after one hour.
- Webbing can be used as: a shield; a parachute; a safety net; a barrier; skiis; a raft; a club; a ball; or sticky glue.
- Spider-sense described as radar unit; only Daredevil has more highly developed senses.
- Plastic lenses allow Spider-Man to see out the eye-holes but nobody to see in.
- Peter is a senior at Midtown High in Forest Hills.
- Peter a straight-A student.
- Peter and May live 3 blocks from his school in a two-story house.
#235 story in reading order
Next: Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1, Story C
Previous: Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1
