As superhero comic book readers in
the 1960s, we did a lot of conscious and unconscious weight-classification,
just like prizefighting fans.
We assumed, for example, that a
super villain who could give Thor a real run for his Danegeld would be too much
for Ant-Man. So stories that challenged those expectations could be
particularly exciting.
That’s one reason why Daredevil’s
battle with Sub-Mariner in April 1965 was so satisfying. We knew the blind
costumed acrobat could not possibly defeat the superman of the seas, and he did not.
Similarly, I was eager to read The Amazing Spider-Man 5 (Oct. 1963).
I’d loved the first three issues of the title, with Spidey facing the
Chameleon, the Vulture and his multi-limbed opposite number Dr. Octopus. But I’d
skipped the fourth issue because the Sandman appeared goofy — dressed like a
longshoreman, looking about as sinister as a sandpile.
But the fifth issue brought me
back. Spidey was squaring off against Dr.
Doom! Oh no! How could Spider-Man survive against an enemy who’d already
nearly destroyed the entire Fantastic Four five times?
I couldn’t imagine a more exciting
battle — until the Thing went solo against the Incredible Hulk six months
later.
Comics historian Don Alsafi
remarked, “Over the last year, Stan Lee had been tentatively drawing the
connections between all these new superhero creations, and selling the fiction
that they all lived in the same world. The first step in that direction had
occurred when the Hulk appeared in the pages of the Fantastic Four not just in
passing but as the issue’s monster menace du
jour, and culminating this same month in the superteam-of-disparate-parts
known as the Avengers. So even if Victor Von Doom weren’t the most natural of
enemies to face off against a high-school kid, you can understand the intention
towards a tighter continuity that Stan Lee was going for. In fact, this is most
visible when Doom recounts how he last escaped the Fantastic Four.”
“In addition to inching forward
the nascent attraction between Peter Parker and Jameson's secretary, Betty Brant,
we get a humorous case of ‘mistaken identity’ shenanigans due to Peter’s main
high school tormentor, Flash Thompson,” Alsafi noted. “See, one of the most
inspired ideas in these early days is the fact that even though Flash looks
down upon the bookish Parker ... he idolizes Spider-Man! So at one point he
decides to have a Spider-costume made up, throws it on and lies in wait to jump
Parker and give him the scare of his life. Of course, this is exactly when
Doctor Doom is scouring the city for Spider-Man, and ends up nabbing this fake Spidey
in his stead...”
In this issue, Spidey tried wielding
his web like the Human Torch used his flame, making web pillars, throwing web
balls and so forth. He was effective enough to prompt Dr. Doom to give us a
lesson in how to beat a hasty retreat without losing face or, er, mask.
“I have found your juvenile antics
mildly amusing until now,” Doom remarks, on the run. “But now I begin to grow
bored, so…”
And with this issue, the title became
monthly, on its way to establishing Spider-Man alongside Superman and Batman as
one of most famous superheroes in history.
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