Spidey's Zoo: The Gibbon, part 2!

Amazing Spider-Man #111 (August 1972)
"To Stalk a Spider!"
Gerry Conway-John Romita/Tony Mortellaro/Romita

Doug: Today's post concludes our first of three stories taking a look at Spider-Man against some furry nemeses. First up is the Gibbon, a troubled youth who would certainly like to be a hero, but just can't seem to get past his inferiority complex. And Spider-Man certainly didn't help things last issue when he laughed at our new pal. So what's a fella to do? How about fall in with the wrong crowd?

Doug: As you see on the cover above, that "wrong crowd" came in the person of Kraven the Hunter. The Hunter watched from afar near the end of the previous issue, as Spidey had humiliated Martin Blank. Sensing an opportunity to harness the skills of the Gibbon and destroy his enemy at the same time, Kraven now made an offer. But first, the Hunter recounted his previous adventure opposed to Spider-Man, a tussle that had taken them to the Savage Land and had involved Ka-Zar. Kraven came out on the short end (as usual), and was actually believed to be dead.

Karen: Interesting how Kraven still has his arm in a sling from a fight that took place seven issues before! But I guess this is Marvel-time, so it might be only a few weeks. I have to say, I just love this John Romita art. I know some people consider it cartoony, but it's so sleek and powerful.
Doug: In the meantime, Spidey rushes away from his encounter with the Gibbon to light at Aunt May's apartment. Not any too cautious about being seen, Spidey enters through an unlocked window to find a note addressed to Peter. Aunt May had written it to inform Peter that she had left, to an undisclosed location. Spidey, with no idea where Aunt May could have gone, fears the worst. And then the cops pounded on the door... Spidey of course gets away, and after some self-beating heads to the Daily Bugle to see his friend Joe Robertson. If anyone might be able to sniff gold from a tip, it's Robertson. That's not what Spider-Man is after, though -- no, instead he's buying time. As the police arrived, a bulletin went out and finding no May Parker at home, the boys in blue jumped to the conclusion that she'd been kidnapped. By our hero. But of course, in the middle of the conversation with Robbie, JJJ butts in. Robbie shows him the note from May to Peter Parker, which clearly demonstrates that Spidey didn't kidnap her, and Jonah faces another heavy helping of egg on his face.

Karen: Peter's not trying too hard to protect his identity, what with climbing into Aunt May's apartment in full daylight. I do love the way Romita draws him just exploding out the window as he escapes the police. I've always liked Robbie, the cool voice of reason (is he even in the current book?). I always suspected that he, much like Capt. Stacy, had figured out who was behind the web-head's mask.
Doug: I wholeheartedly agree with you -- this is a supposition I've also had for many, many years. See, it's an unexplored area we were never treated to. How much mileage could be gotten out of subplots and storylines involving Robbie with privileged information, but trying his best to protect Peter?

Doug: Back to our evil villains du jour (well, maybe one of them is evil; I prefer to see Kraven as more of a deranged sportsman). Kraven has been giving Martin a bunch of his home remedies. Martin's strength and quickness have increased, and Kraven wants him to take one last potion to "finish the process". Martin tried to deny him, sensing that Kraven was merely viewing him as an animal as have all the others. But as he gave in and drank the final concoction his head began to feel like exploding. Rage overcame Martin Blank, and he attacked the Hunter. After a spirited scrap where master won with guile over creation, the new-and-improved Gibbon was given his orders: go, with Kraven directing his mind, and triumph over Spider-Man.

Karen: This was an exciting sequence, that built in tension panel after panel. I do love how Kraven has decked out his hideaway with a groovy jungle motif!
Doug: Maybe Elvis was his interior decorator! Check out the pic of the "Jungle Room" at Graceland...

Doug: While Pete mopes in his apartment, Gwen calls to check on him. She's alarmed that May has left, and of course blames herself. Peter really blows her off -- I thought this was strange, given how paranoid he was last issue that Gwen would somehow wind up with Flash Thompson. Pete gets rid of Gwen, and then heads outside for some web-swinging, and who do you suppose he meets? One guess and you got it right! The Gibbon attacks with ferocity, totally catching Spidey unaware. But even as he reels, Spidey feels that all is not right, that there is somehow another presence controlling Martin Blank. And as the Gibbon jumps on Spider-Man and encloses his strong fingers about the Web-slinger's neck. While Kraven urges him to choke, Spider-Man screams for Martin to break the control. Martin's innate goodness wins, he hesitates, and Spider-Man is able to kick him off and over the rooftop's edge. A simple webline down and Spidey catches the now unconscious Gibbon. And somewhere far away, Kraven the Hunter exploded in anger.

Karen: It was a little odd of Peter to brush Gwen off like that, but he was also completely pre-occupied with Aunt May's disappearance, and exhausted on top of that. Maybe he was also still stinging from his perception that Gwen was falling into Flash Thompson's arms too? In any case, I don't see his behavior as completely out of character. The fight sequence here was not as exciting as the fight between Martin and Kraven, but then again, Spidey could sense that Martin was being controlled, and so he was not fighting back that hard. I thought that was a novel use of spider-senses: Pete could actually tell that someone was directing Martin's actions. I can't recall that being used any other time, can you?
Doug: This was Gerry Conway's first issue as scripter of Amazing Spider-Man, and despite a few holes here and there, I thought it was a good debut. For a guy thrown right into the middle of the story I thought he got out of it OK. Perhaps the ending was anti-climatic, but the character development that went on throughout the rest of the story was welcome. As we've said, that's what a Spidey mag is really all about!

Karen: I thought Gerry wrote this very much in Stan's voice. But Gerry would put his imprint on the title soon enough.

Spidey's Zoo: The Gibbon!

Amazing Spider-Man #110 (July 1972)
"The Birth of... The Gibbon!"
Stan Lee-John Romita/Tony Mortellaro/Romita

Doug: Today kicks off a 5-week study of some rather strange Spidey rogues -- the Gibbon, the Kangaroo, and the Grizzly! Our look at ASM #110 features a cover with that typical, lovable Stan Lee bravado -- "Introducing: The Newest Marvel Super-Star!" Yeah, right... In spite of being a knock-off of the Beast, our ol' pal the Gibbon never really attained the lofty status that Stan predicted... er, schmoozed us into believing. Let's have a look:

Doug: I really liked this issue, because it was everything a Spider-Man story from the Silver and early Bronze Age should be -- part superhero, part soap opera. We've remarked around here in the past that Spidey in this period could almost be considered a team book because of the amazing amount of face time given to the supporting cast. In this tale, Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and Flash Thompson get a whole lot of mention and or time on camera. And the characterization is perfectly familiar. There's just a certain amount of comfort and warmth that comes from reading Spider-Man as written by Stan and drawn by John Romita -- this is like a well-worn pair of blue jeans.

Karen: Yeah, this combo is like comic comfort food! Particularly Romita's art -in my head, that is how Spider-Man looks!
Doug: Spidey's worried about events that transpired over the past two issues that involved Dr. Strange, Flash Thompson, and Flash's friend from Vietnam, Sha Shan. At the conclusion of that story, Flash told Spider-Man that after he'd been cleared of involvement in an immoral shelling in Vietnam, he could now tell Gwen with a clean heart about his all of his adventures. Spidey was left with his usual paranoia about competing against a former big-man-on-campus and now war hero like Flash. And that's where we pick this one up. As Spidey laments his condition, he first punches a hole in a brick chimney and then launches his camera into the Manhattan sky. But behold, the hand of an extremely agile young man juts out and snatches the camera. Spidey, who had tried to launch a web after it, arrives to greet his savior and is introduced to Martin Blank. Blank's an odd-looking chap -- his head and face are shaped like that of a caveman... or an ape.

Karen: A lot of Romita's villains have unusual faces. I guess that sort of style was common years ago -villains with almost cartoon-like faces. Certainly you can trace it back a long ways, to strips like Dick Tracy even. Spidey always did have a colorful set of foes. His enemies are probably just as freakish as Batman's.
Doug: After exchanging a few pleasantries, and Spidey telling Blank that any idol-worship tossed his way is certainly misplaced, the two part company and we readers then get the backstory of Martin Blank. Blank lives in a flophouse, and it's pretty obvious that he's not well-liked. He begins to reflect on his childhood as an orphan, where he was constantly teased for his bestial appearance, agility, and strength. While other children were adopted, Blank (not his real name; he took the name because he never got a real surname like the other kids, always having a "blank" behind "Martin") grew to adulthood and was eventually released from the orphanage's care. Forced to make it on his own, he attempted to find employment in a circus. But jealousies reared up there, as well, as the other acrobats resented Blank's abilities while performing as a costumed ape-man.

Karen: I liked how Stan had Spidey talk to Martin, trying to encourage him. That's one of the things I've always liked about Spidey/Peter: he's just such a nice guy at heart -although a bit later on he doesn't act so great. But of course the grotesque Martin assumes that since Spidey is a super-hero, his life must be peaches and cream. Little does he know!

Karen: Another thing that struck me is, once again, we get a Stan Lee story where a circus is involved! I swear, it seems like every other story by Stan had a circus in it. He must have seen one as a kid and it made a huge impression on him.
Doug: As Peter made his way back to the apartment he shared with Harry, he was suddenly reminded of how lousy he felt from his recent battles and the fact that he hadn't slept in three days. Feeling worse and worse the closer he got to home, he was about to collapse when he noticed that Aunt May and Gwen were there waiting on him. Gwen had had words with Aunt May the previous issue, chastising her for always babying Peter. As May started in again, Gwen drew attention to it; May left distraught and a bit hurt. Gwen nursed Pete as he succumbed to his exhaustion, and after he'd passed out she told him how much she loved him. At that point Harry and Flash arrived, and Harry told Flash to take Gwen home. Flash jumped at the chance, made a couple of flirtatious comments (which Pete deliriously heard) and then left with Gwen. Pete then went into a nightmare that was nothing short of a jumping-on point for new readers -- if you wanted soap opera, you got it in five panels!

Karen: That's really the truth: the book WAS a soap opera, but that's what made it so much fun. We get all the standard Spidey cliches: Peter feeling ill, guilt over hurting Aunt May, fear he's losing Gwen...if he worried about money or his grades, that would have made it perfect!
Doug: So Pete slept for 12 hours, which really surprised him. I thought one of the coolest parts of this scene was the fact that Harry had told Gwen that he'd look after Pete and he did just that -- stayed by Pete's side for the entire time he was asleep. That's what a best friend does. Pete got up to speed on what had gone down, and tried to call his Aunt May. She didn't answer, so Pete frantically left. He changed into his Spidey duds and was off to check on May. However, after only a short time of web-swinging, he was intercepted by a guy in a gorilla-suit. Lo and behold, it was Martin Blank, dressed not as a gorilla, but a gibbon.

Karen: Not the greatest costume in the world, but if you're gonna dress like an ape, I guess that's what it should look like. But why a gibbon? They're not particularly exciting or awe-inspiring. You never hear someone say, "That guy's as strong as a gibbon!" Not sure why Stan didn't use 'gorilla' in his name somehow.

Doug: Blank makes Spidey an offer -- he wants them to be partners. Now, seriously... one look at the poor sap and it's no wonder Spider-Man bursts into laughter. I mean, it's one thing to run around town with a kid in green shorty-shorts and elf booties... but a dude decked out as a giant gibbon? Well, Martin isn't too happy at the lack of respect, so he lunges at Spidey and grabs him around the throat. He's rebuffed, but after Spidey insults him yet again, the Gibbon grabs Spidey and hurls him off a rooftop. But Spidey's no amateur, and webs a flagpole and swings off toward his aunt. Distressed at this failure, the Gibbon drops to his knees in a temper tantrum. And that's when the mysterious super-baddie appears, promising to make the Gibbon powerful beyond his dreams!

Karen: As ridiculous as Martin may have looked, I did think it was out of character for Spidey to treat him like a laughingstock. But of course, the guy has been exhausted, is worried about his elderly aunt, and thinks his girl is leaving him! I guess we can cut him some slack. So far the Gibbon has been unimpressive-and I felt the same way when I read this as a kid -but I think next issue's villain will be a little more exciting!