Spider-Man's Hollywood Issues Long Predate Sony

This week at CBR, I'm revisiting Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends for the first time -- an episode that also served as an Incredible Hulk pilot, and was inspired by a silly premise Stan could never let go of.

SPIDER-MAN: THE MUTANT AGENDA #0 - February 1994

Credits:  Stan Lee (writer), Larry Lieber & Fred Kida (artists)

Summary:  Brand Corporation CEO Neil Landon hosts a conference on mutations.  Peter Parker attends, wondering if he can learn about his own powers.  He’s seated next to the Beast, who distrusts Landon’s motivations.  The Hobgoblin interrupts the conference and causes a panic.  As Spider-Man, Peter places a tracer on Hobgoblin’s glider.  With Beast, Spider-Man follows Hobgoblin to Brand’s research facility, where Hobgoblin steals a folder of research.  Beast is captured by Brand’s guards, while Spider-Man follows Hobgoblin to Landon’s office. He discovers Hobgoblin blackmailing Landon, threatening to release info on the “mutant genocide” Landon is planning.  Landon pulls a gun on Hobgoblin, but Spider-Man leaps to take the blast.  He awakes inside a cage with the Beast.  Hobgoblin reappears and accidentally frees the heroes while searching for Landon.  Spider-Man tries to swing away with Landon, but Hobgoblin’s pumpkin bomb forces them to fall into a chemical vat.  Landon emerges as a monster.  Beast subdues Hobgoblin and Spider-Man suggests Landon seek the X-Men’s help to deal with his mutation.

Continuity Notes:  

• Landon's first name is Neil in the strip, and Herbert in the comics. He also appears to be 20 years older in the newspaper strip's continuity.
• This storyline is set in the continuity of the Spider-Man newspaper strip.  Originally, this lengthy story arc was supposed to cross over with the Spider-Man: The Mutant Agenda miniseries making it the “first ever comic book-newspaper strip crossover.”
• The specific strips covering the newspaper’s “Mutant Agenda” storyline ran from December 6, 1993 to February 26, 1994.
• For the record, Spider-Man isn’t harmed by the chemicals in the vat because his costume covers him from head to toe.  Also, the gun Landon shoots Spidey with was set to “stun,” of course.

Production Note:  This is a forty-eight page comic, going for the standard cover price of $1.25.  Why, you ask?  Because half of the pages are blank.  The rest of the comic has previews of upcoming Spider-Man comics, and a reprint of the newspaper strip’s version of Spider-Man’s origin.

Miscellaneous Note:  Although the cover date reads February, the indicia list March 1994 as the month.

Review:  I recall Marvel promoting this miniseries in the fold-out inserts that ran in all of their titles in late 1993, and while I might seem to be the target audience for a limited series featuring Spider-Man and the X-Men, I can only recall an overwhelming sense of apathy.  Even at this early age, I was wary of the glut of X-product (Spidey-product, too, come to think of it) and didn’t want to waste my limited funds on a tossed off mini that clearly wasn’t going to be impacting the main titles in any way.  The idea of the comic series crossing over with the newspaper strip wasn’t much of an enticement either; to this day, I’ve never seen the Spider-Man strip in an actual newspaper.  Why would I buy a limited series that wasn’t even going to provide me with a full story?

As it turns out, the crossover element of the two “Mutant Agenda” storylines fell through early on.  The strip’s story is totally self-contained, so no reader was left confused by only getting a fraction of the storyline in this specific format.  But due to what I’m assuming were legal issues, kids purchasing this comic didn’t get much of anything.  Half of this comic is blank because they expect you, the reader, to physically cut the Spider-Man strip out of the newspaper and tape it on to the blank pages.  That’s seventy-two strips -- if you missed one, tough luck -- you’re expected to track down and preserve in-between the covers of a cheaply printed early ‘90s Marvel comic.  I’d like to give Marvel the benefit of the doubt and assume that the original plan was for the actual strips to be included in this issue, but they discovered later the syndicate wouldn’t allow them to be reprinted, or perhaps the deadlines were blown.  I’d hate to think the original plan was to sell kids a blank comic.

Thanks to the miracle of the internet, all of these strips have been compiled and scanned.  And how lucky we are.  Actually, this is less goofy than I was expecting it to be, even though it’s filled with the awkward writing that’s common in newspaper adventure strips (such as Peter spontaneously explaining to MJ who the Beast is a few days before he actually appears in the strip. “He's okay -- for a mutant!” Peter tells her, which is perhaps a joke, but it just feels wildly out of character).  Lee spends the first few days patiently explaining the Marvel concept of mutants to his “civilian” audience, then moves on to his story of the evil CEO and the returning villain who wants to blackmail him.  It’s odd to think that plotting to kill mutants is considered blackmail material in the Marvel Universe, but maybe the rules are different in the strip’s version of the MU.  I will say that it’s a relief to see the Hobgoblin have a scheme that actually requires him to use his brains; blackmailing a CEO feels like something he would’ve done in his earliest Roger Stern appearances.  And the story, by the staid standards of adventure strips, is relatively fast-paced.  Much of it is an involved chase sequence, and the Hobgoblin does make a decent showing for most of the adventure.  If the plot sounds familiar, that’s because much of it appeared a year later in the Spider-Man animated series.  Landon even becomes a monster in both stories, although in the strips, he’s much smaller and isn’t subdued by a random telepathic mutant who’s shoved into the plot.  In the strip, turning into a hideous freak is enough motivation for Landon to stop the fight.  Hopefully, the strip didn’t use this arc as an excuse to reintroduce Landon as an ongoing antagonist, one with a shocking resemblance to Two-Face.

The Origin of Spider-Man

Credits:  Stan Lee (writer), John Romita, Sr. (artist), Joe Agostinelli (colors)

Summary:  Student Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider during a school experiment.  Realizing he has spider powers, he makes money as the costumed performer Spider-Man on various television shows.  During a robbery at a television studio, he allows a criminal to go free.  Days later, his uncle is killed by a burglar.  When he captures the burglar, Spider-Man discovers that he’s the man he could’ve stopped earlier.  Spider-Man realizes his uncle died because he shirked his responsibility.

Continuity Notes:  In the newspaper strip’s version of Spider-Man’s origin, the fateful experiment happens at Peter’s school, and he’s an active participant in it.  The implication seems to be that he’s in college instead of high school.  Peter’s also trying to get a job as a Daily Bugle photographer before he gains his powers in this origin story.  Spider-Man’s realization that he can’t cash a check made out to “Spider-Man” is also moved up from the comics’ timeline.  (As Bob Ingersoll points out, his agent could’ve avoided this problem by just having the checks made out to “Cash.”)  Finally, wrestler Crusher Hogan has been renamed Crusher Clark.

Review:  In one of the earliest outside-media adaptations of Amazing Fantasy #15, the comic strip goes through the motions and presents the basics of Spider-Man’s origin.  This was originally published in the ‘70s, and it’s interesting to see what aspects of the origin aren’t quite considered sacrosanct yet, such as the missing phrase “With great power…”  Stan Lee plays around with the continuity, touching on some issues that AF #15 didn’t address while also setting the stage for the basic Spider-Man status quo.  I suppose nothing’s harmed by Peter’s motivation to work as a professional photographer before he becomes Spider-Man, but some of the changes are arbitrary (such as Dave, the lab partner present when the spider’s irradiated.)  The most obvious difference from the comics is John Romita, Sr.’s interpretation of Peter Parker.  He’s already twentyish, handsome, and not wearing glasses in this origin story, which noticeably undermines the impact of his transformation.  I suppose Lee wanted to start the comic strip with Peter at college age and didn’t want Peter to have years of unrevealed adventures as Spidey in the strip’s backstory.  That’s reasonable, I guess, but it does lessen the significance of Peter's transformation into Spider-Man.  Still, it’s fun to see a run of the Lee/Romita strips reprinted, and up until recently, this was your only shot at reading them.

SPIDER-MAN/KINGPIN: TO THE DEATH - November 1997

Credits:  Tom DeFalco (plot), Stan Lee (script) John Romita, Sr. (penciler), Dan Green (inks), Steve Oliff (colors), Bill Oakley (letters)

The Plot:  Spider-Man is framed by a series of lookalikes who have super-strength and web-shooters that fire bullets.  Daredevil suspects Spider-Man is innocent and offers to help him investigate the scheme.  They soon discover that a scientist working for the Kingpin, Dr. Mindella, has created Death’s Arrow, a drug that induces super-strength before causing death.  While fighting the Kingpin’s men, Daredevil is exposed to the drug.  Kingpin takes advantage of Daredevil’s confused mental state and uses him as a secret weapon against Zoltaro, a terrorist who has arranged to purchase a supply of Death’s Arrow.  Spider-Man crashes their exchange, as Zoltaro and Kingpin turn on each other.  Spider-Man is able to inject Daredevil with the antidote and spare his life.  Kingpin kills Zoltaro and safely escapes, while Dr. Mindella is arrested.  Later, Peter Parker submits photos clearing Spider-Man of his doppelgangers’ crimes.

The Subplots:  None.

Web of Continuity:  Captain America and the Fantastic Four appear in a scene that has various Marvel heroes attempting to apprehend the framed Spider-Man.  This means the story must take place after Amazing Spider-Man #430, which features Spider-Man’s relieved response to the return of the Fantastic Four and the rest of the “Heroes Reborn” characters.

Creative Differences:  Zoltaro is referred to as a “gang-lord” on the back cover, but portrayed as a terrorist in the actual story.

I Love the ‘90s:  Rosalind Sharpe, the head of Matt Murdock’s legal firm, says that a Spider-Man trail could potentially be “a bigger case than OJ!”

Production Note:  This is a forty-eight page bookshelf format comic, with a cover price of $5.99.

Review:  Marvel would occasionally boast of Stan Lee “returning” to Spider-Man throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, although most of these comics were plotted by someone else and only scripted by Lee after the art was completed.  To the Death is no exception, with Tom DeFalco stepping in to provide a story for John Romita, Sr., who agreed to pencil the comic as his big return to Spider-Man.  (I believe it was promoted as his final Spider-Man comic.)  Daredevil is here essentially because Romita demanded it -- Romita makes clear in the one-shot’s text piece that he considers Daredevil Marvel’s best character.  Why Kingpin maintains a top billing when Daredevil is truly the co-star is beyond me.  I wonder now if this was intended as Kingpin’s major return to the Marvel Universe, or at least the Spider-Man line, and no one thought to change the title as the plot evolved.  (Kingpin's appearance in the recent Batman crossover of course isn't an "official" return.)

Unfortunately, the Kingpin’s role is interchangeable with any mobster character, or just generic supervillain really, which is a major reason why the story feels like nothing special.  Marvel could’ve made the six-dollar comic more of an event if it truly served as a reintroduction of the Kingpin and impacted future issues of Daredevil or the Spider-Man titles.  Instead, it’s a glorified fill-in plot with Kingpin as the very generic villain.  Spider-Man, for the most part, doesn't fare much better.  Stan Lee became famous in the '60s for making the heroes, and even some of the villains, well-rounded fictional characters with distinct personalities.  Spider-Man only feels uniquely Spider-Man in this one-shot when he concocts a quickie antidote that will save Daredevil at the story’s end.  The Kingpin is a ruthless thug, but also an intelligent businessman, a patriot in some regards, and a father and husband with a complex relationship with his family.  The plot exploits none of these elements.  Instead of wanting to stop a terrorist, Kingpin’s motive for double-crossing the ridiculously named Zoltaro is that he simply wants to keep Zoltaro’s money and the drugs he just sold him.  Surely, as a “legitimate businessman,” the Kingpin must know that this kind of stunt will ruin his reputation and kill any future deals.  Statistically, spurned terrorists tell at least fifteen other vaguely Middle Eastern terrorists when they’ve had bad business dealings with an American imperialist pig.

There’s also the utterly gratuitous plot element concerning the fake Spider-Men.  Not only does this idea feel like it belongs in a different story, but it’s too dumb to be taken seriously.  Why do the fake Spider-Men have super-strength and bullets that shoot out of their wrists?  Why would they take this drug, which is fatal within a few hours of ingestion, when they can blast machine gun fire out of their wrists?  I realize that Marvel wanted Romita to draw as many heroes as possible in the one-shot, so Spider-Man’s been framed in order to set up their appearances, but is this really the best excuse DeFalco could think of?  If you are going for the Marvel Universe vs. Spider-Man plot, why isn’t that the main story?  Who cares about Zartan-O the terrorist when you could have more pages of John Romita drawing every Marvel hero?  Also, of all the heroes, why is Daredevil the only one smart enough to even suspect Spider-Man has been framed?  And did Tom DeFalco not realize that he was using a nearly identical plot in Amazing Spider-Man #429?

The one-shot does have John Romita’s art going for it, though.  If you just want Romita drawing Spider-Man and Daredevil, this is exactly what you’re looking for.  The characters are all well-constructed and consistently on-model, and it’s interesting to see how Romita conforms to the larger eyes Spidey developed post-McFarlane.  In a perfect world, Spider-Man’s look on the cover would be an excellent model for future artists to follow.  I don’t think the paper stock really does Steve Oliff’s colors any favors; the preview pages I saw in Wizard looked great, and Oliff’s work on Spawn at this point was considered the best color art in the business, so it’s a shame that the published book looks so drab.  The Spawn paper stock of this era, which was very glossy but didn’t have that obnoxious glare that’s so prevalent in comics printing, would’ve been perfect for this book.  Also, as ridiculous as the plot is, I have to give Stan Lee credit for a decent scripting job.  He manages to work in a crack or two regarding the more cliché elements of the story, but the relentless jokiness that often appeared in his later scripting jobs is mostly gone.  He’s not given much to work with, but Lee still delivers a perfectly competent script that’s old school but just shy of corny.  Honestly, his dialogue is more plausible and natural than most of DeFalco’s work from this period.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #52-#53, July-August 1989

Chains

Credits: Gerry Conway (writer), Frank Springer & John Romita, Sr. (art), Rick Parker (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: Jameson attempts to break out of his chains while the Chameleon is away. He flashes back to his experiences as a young reporter investigating police corruption. When his editor refuses to pursue the story, Jameson goes to work for the Daily Bugle. Jameson’s sidekick, a copyboy named Danny, is soon killed by a trap intended for Jameson. Jameson works through his grief and connives a way for the cop behind Danny’s death, Kenner, to confess on tape. In the present, Chameleon returns as Jameson is freeing himself. He locks Jameson in the closet as retaliation.

The Subplots: None.

Web of Continuity: We learn about the history of Jonah Jameson and the Daily Bugle in this issue. Jameson is a twenty-year-old reporter in the flashback, working for the New York Herald Journal Express, after a stint at the Daily Bugle. He’s courted back by Bugle owner William Walter Goodman, who encourages Jameson to pursue the story and inspires him to keep going after Danny is killed.

Review: This is a “special” issue, from back in the day when stories that didn’t feature superhero action were rare. John Romita, Sr. is the co-artist, which is another indication Marvel probably wanted this story to have more weight than the average issue. Gerry Conway parallels Jameson’s struggle to expose police corruption with his fight to escape the Chameleon’s imprisonment, while also providing another justification for Jameson’s hatred of heroes. Following his experiences with Kenner, Jameson knows heroes “are the bunk” and he’s determined to know the truth about the people who claim to be selfless defenders of the innocent. He’s paired with Danny, a thinly veiled Jimmy Olsen analogue who actually gets offed during the course of the story. Conway goes a long way towards humanizing Jameson in the flashbacks, playing up his admirable qualities while not shying away from his blatant hypocrisy and inflated ego. Jameson’s one of the better supporting cast members in comics, and while it’s easy to play him for laughs, the stories that convincingly portray him as more than a cartoon character are also worth trying.

Wolves in the Night

Credits: Gerry Conway (writer), Mark Bagley (penciler), Keith Williamson (inker), Rick Parker (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: Spider-Man intercepts an arms shipment into New York and learns that the Lobos Brothers are planning to attack the Kingpin’s tower at midnight. As Peter Parker, he tries to tell Jonah Jameson, but “Jonah” refuses to run the story. After investigating Glory Grant’s apartment, Spider-Man locates the Lobo Brothers, but can’t prevent their escape. Soon, the Arranger sees their helicopter outside of his window.

The Subplots: Kristy Watson collapses in the bathroom, and Aunt May is unable to help her because the door is locked.

Web of Continuity: Notice that Alex Saviuk draws Spider-Man with larger eyes on the cover, which means the McFarlane look is now the “official” style. Mark Bagley’s interior art also follows the McFarlane design.

“Huh?” Moment: Peter storms out when “Jonah” refuses to print his story on the midnight attack, upset that a potential bloodbath won’t be prevented. There are other newspapers in New York, Peter. You’ve even worked for a few of them. Why does he act as if the Daily Bugle is his only option?

Review: The Lobos Brothers storyline continues, as Spider-Man finally pieces together that the Lobos Brothers are actually werewolves, Joy Mercado comes clean about spying on Glory Grant (a Spectacular Spider-Man storyline referenced here for the first time), and the Chameleon and Hammerhead sit back and wait for the Lobos to handle the Kingpin. You would think that the story is reaching the climax, but it actually runs until #55, with a few more chapters showing up in Spectacular Spider-Man. While Conway advances the plot, he works in some nice character moments. Spider-Man is disgusted by working with the Arranger, Arranger is terrified of Kingpin, Joy feels guilty for spying on Glory, Kristy is jealous of MJ and still trying to hide her crush on Peter, and Kate Cushing is sticking with the Daily Bugle out of loyalty to Robbie Robertson, even though Jonah appears to be worse than ever. To me, this is the material that makes a Spider-Man comic, and it’s one of the reasons why over-the-top “events” never seem to work with the franchise. If there's no room for the characters, it's not Spider-Man.