AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ‘97 - September 1997

Before the Dawn

Credits:  Roger Stern (writer), Kurt Busiek (story assist), Tom Lyle (penciler), Robert Jones (inks), Matt Webb (colors), Comicraft (letters)

The Plot:  Sundown is released from prison after serving his full sentence.  Due to his refusal to return to Osborn Chemical, he’s unable to find steady work.  Mobster Lucky Lobo singles Sundown out as a potential enforcer, but he refuses to return to crime.  Lobo eventually threatens the life of Mary Kelleher, a girl that Sundown accidentally harmed years earlier after gaining his powers.  He agrees to kill Spider-Man for Lobo in exchange for Mary’s life.  Unbeknownst to Lobo, Spider-Man makes a deal with Sundown to save Mary from Lobo’s men.  Sundown physically threatens Lobo to stay away from Mary, then watches as Lobo is taken by the authorities.  Spider-Man suggests Sundown become a hero, but he decides he’d rather be forgotten.

The Subplots:  Peter reflects on his past while thinking about the years that have passed since Sundown’s first appearance.

Web of Continuity:  

• Sundown debuted in the Untold Tales of Spider-Man ’97 annual.  
• The amount of time Sundown spent in prison is referred to as “the last decade” and “nearly ten years” on separate occasions.  A year or so after this comic was published, Roger Stern would co-write the Lost Generation miniseries, which was based on the premise that the modern Marvel Universe began only seven years ago.  Irate fans often used the time references in this very issue to refute the “Seven Year Rule.”

*See _________ For Details:  Lucky Lobo was sent to prison all the way back in Amazing Spider-Man #23.  We discover this issue that Lobo met Sundown in prison, and was impressed by his reluctance to use his powers.

"Huh?" Moment:  Tombstone is on the back cover, even though he’s never even mentioned in the issue.  He’s presumably there to represent one of New York’s crimelords.

Review:  It was only a matter of time before one of the new villains created for Untold Tales of Spider-Man showed up in the modern continuity titles.  I’m not sure if anyone thought it would be Sundown, though.  Untold Tales of Spider-Man ’97 is probably remembered as the UTOS annual that didn’t have the Mike Allred Fantastic Four story, and for not much else.  It wasn’t a bad comic necessarily, but I wouldn’t hesitate to call it the weakest UTOS story.

The sequel, thankfully, is an improvement.  Tom Lyle is back as artist, and while I wish he could be paired with a more polished inker, he’s able to straddle the modern and retro styles the story requires.  Sundown himself works much better this time, as his rather generic origin is now out of the way and the story’s free to delve into his psyche a bit.  Portraying Sundown as one of the few truly repentant villains in Spider-Man’s rogues gallery is a nice angle to explore.  Stern points out more than once that Sundown never attempted to have his sentence reduced, and he could’ve escaped prison at any time, anyway.  He stayed to pay his penance; he accidentally harmed young Mary and was compelled to pay the price.  This is of course a convenient way to explain why this retconned character never appeared in any comic over the years, but it also works to humanize Sundown.  It’s a sober story about the passage of time and the consequences of paying for your mistakes, told as a competent superhero adventure.  I don’t know if he was willing, but Stern should’ve been called to do more of these done-in-one Spidey stories.  

SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP #7 - June 1997

 

Old Scores

Credits:  Kurt Busiek (writer), Sal Buscema and Dick Giordano (art), Tom Smith (colors), Comicraft’s Team Dave (letters)

The Plot:  A Drone created by the Enclave robs a scientific firm, killing a security guard in the process.  The media blames Spider-Man, based on the testimony of the surviving guard.  The mayor orders the Thunderbolts to bring in Spider-Man, much to the delight of Mach-1, who previously faced Spider-Man as the Beetle.  Eventually, the Thunderbolts realize that Spider-Man is innocent and track the Drone to the Enclave’s headquarters.  Spider-Man follows, using the spider-tracer he placed on Mach-1.  During their fight with the Enclave, Spider-Man saves Mach-1’s life, and gives him the information he needs to stop the Enclave’s brainwashing scheme.  Later, Mach-1 gives Spider-Man a video recorded by Techno that implicates the Enclave.  He tells his teammates that this was in their own best interests, but later admits to himself that playing a hero is having an impact on him.

The Subplots:  J. Jonah Jameson is thrilled to have yet another opportunity to blast Spider-Man.  Later, Peter goes to the Daily Bugle to research the Thunderbolts, arousing Robbie Robertson’s curiosity.  I’ll also point out that Anna Watson is mentioned-but-not-seen yet again this issue.

Web of Continuity:  This story takes place early in the Thunderbolts’ career, when they are still villains-in-disguise.  And, like many stories, this issue has to take place prior to May 1997's Spectacular Spider-Man #246, due to Jonah's appearance.

*See _________ For Details:  The Enclave lost their original headquarters in Fantastic Four #67.  Some of their technology previously appeared in the Spider-Man: Dead Man’s Hand one-shot.  Mach-1 debuted as the Beetle in Strange Tales #123.  He points out that the Human Torch was his first opponent, but Spider-Man has been his main adversary over the years.  Finally, Spidey reminds the Thunderbolts that he said nice things about them in Thunderbolts #1.

I Love the ‘90s:  Dallas, the T-Bolts’ liaison with the mayor, says that she will “modem over the data” on Spider-Man’s alleged crime.

Production Note:  The tiny print is still incorrectly listing the year as 1996.  Also, this is the final issue of the series.  A new volume of Marvel Team-Up soon takes its place, but Spider-Man is no longer featured in every issue.

Review:  I believe this is the last time Sal Buscema provided pencils for a Spider-Man story, so there is some historical significance to the issue.  And it looks great, by the way.  Buscema has figured out how to make the post-McFarlane style work very well by this point, creating a stylized version of the character that’s still rooted in actual anatomy.  Buscema’s also asked to draw a lot of characters this issue, yet he never seems to be shirking on the work.  (Having Dick Giordano do the finishes doesn’t hurt, either.)  The story is probably more of a Thunderbolts story than a Spider-Man story, but Busiek is still careful to work in some of the Spidey hallmarks, such as Peter going to the Daily Bugle for research and JJJ gleefully blaming Spider-Man for the latest crime that he's been framed for.  Playing up Spidey’s past with Mach-1 also helps to make Spider-Man feel less like a generic hero, which is often a problem with team-up stories.  The Thunderbolts have a much more interesting role to play, as they debate just leaving Spider-Man out to dry, or actually finding the real culprit (if only to protect their image in the future.)  Mach-1’s character arc could easily come across as cheese, but Busiek executes the ending quite well.  

UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN (the book)

Marvel has a history of licensing its characters to prose novels that goes all the way back to the 1960s (when Captain America carried a gun), so it’s not much of a surprise to discover that a series of Marvel novels was published in hardback and paperback throughout the ‘90s. Unless you regularly visited the sci-fi/fantasy section of your local bookstore on a regular basis, however, you might not realize just how many of these novels were published. (This site has a comprehensive list if you're interested.)

I don’t pretend to have anything approaching a complete collection of the line, but I do have a couple of the novels; almost all of them purchased years after they went out of print from Amazon sellers. Obviously I was a hardcore X-completist for much of the ‘90s, and I tried to keep up with the Spider-titles whenever the current status quo didn’t infuriate me, but the novels were way off in whatever land for me. Marvel didn’t see fit to acknowledge them in their comics, not just in the stories but in house ads or Bullpen Bulletins blurbs, so I didn’t see the point in pursuing the prose novels.

I’m assuming the novels sold well, considering how many were made, but I’m not sure who the target audience for the books was supposed to be. Presumably hardcore fans who must have every appearance of their favorite character, regardless of format, although just keeping up with the comics can often be a financial burden. If you only read the comics, you wouldn’t be aware of the novels anyway. I guess the overlap of “comics readers” and just “general readers” was enough to help keep the line afloat. I can see this working -- someone looking through the sci-fi/fantasy section probably has some familiarity with the Marvel heroes. You’re looking for a book to buy, you recognize the name of the writer, and you remember the characters from the comics, so you risk a couple of bucks and try it out. It’s also likely that many of the viewers of the X-Men and Spider-Man cartoon shows never stepped inside a comic book shop or paid attention to a spinner rack, but did visit bookstores. If you’re already inclined to read prose instead of comics and like the characters, I can see why the novels would be appealing. Lots of Star Trek and Star Wars fans have probably never read those comics either, but they’re more than willing to read the various novels.

All of this brings me to the first in my series of prove novel reviews. Untold Tales of Spider-Man, published in October 1997 and co-edited by Stan Lee and Kurt Busiek expands on the critically acclaimed comic of the era and brings us untold stories from various eras of Spider-Man’s life. Most of the short stories are penned by genre writers, although a few comics scribes make appearances. No one seemed to treat the prose novels as a part of the comics’ “official” continuity, but each story is given a specific back issue reference to show the reader when exactly it’s supposed to take place. (Can you imagine the actual comics being this anal today?) Everyone seems to know and love Untold Tales of Spider-Man the comic book, what about the novel? It’s lived in obscurity for years, but I think it’s worth another look.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #83 - December 1991

Entrepeneurs (sic)

Credits: Kurt Busiek (writer), Chris Marrinan (penciler), Don Hudson (inker), Brad Joyce (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: Spider-Man comes across struggling PR exec Sturdevant E. “Bob” Robbins, who helps him defeat the criminal Hypertron. Unbeknownst to Spider-Man, Bob steals Hypertron’s harness, hoping to use his marketing skills to become rich as a superhero. He’s soon pursued by the former AIM scientists who created the harness. Spider-Man saves Bob and the scientists from each other, and orders Bob to turn over the harness. Bob complies, but secretly saves a backup of Hypertron’s schematics.

The Subplots: None.

Web of Continuity: Bob later reappears as the Bobster, which is just one of the potential superhero names he considers in the issue. During Spider-Man’s flashback to his origin, the spider on the back of his costume is colored blue. This is a reference to the very first printing of Amazing Fantasy #15. John Byrne, of course, provided an elaborate and unnecessary explanation for the blue spider in his Chapter One miniseries.

I Love the (Early) ‘90s: Bob has lost business, and the AIM agents have been laid off, since the start of the recession. An opening narrative caption even comments on how “easy” it was to make money in the ‘80s, but those days are over. The Hypertron armor is also powered by a series of what appear to be cassette tapes and floppy discs.

Review: I think Web of Spider-Man fill-ins are a good test of skill for writers. Even assuming that the story fits within one or two issues and actually makes sense, does the plot truly connect to Spider-Man in some way? Is the supporting cast used? Can future writers expand on the ideas you’ve introduced? Or are you just writing generic action stories that could star any hero? Too many of Web’s fill-ins fall into that latter category, which is why it’s a relief to get to the Kurt Busiek issues.

I don’t think any of these comics will go down as classics or anything, but they’re solid standalone stories that fit all of the criteria listed above (with the possible exception of the Bloodshed issue, which didn’t specifically feel like a Spider-Man story, but was still a solid character piece focusing on an average person who's crossed the hero's path). Bob seeks out Spider-Man, looking to overturn his steady stream of bad publicity. When he realizes that Spidey isn’t looking for representation, he decides to enter the hero business himself. Spider-Man recognizes his younger self in Bob, and feels an obligation to teach him that getting into the hero business for money is going to end badly. The story’s not very serious, but it still incorporates some of the central themes of the character and leaves the door open for more Bob adventures. Chris Marrinan’s art, which is highly reminiscent of Erik Larsen’s take on Spider-Man, is also better than your average early ‘90s fill-in.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #82 - November 1991

Pumping Up!

Credits: Kurt Busiek (writer), Ron Wilson (penciler), Don Hudson (inker), Brad K. Joyce (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: Spider-Man searches for Man-Mountain Marko, who’s allegedly kidnapped a child. He discovers that the Maggia’s genetic enhancements, and his steroid habit, have left Marko unstable. Spider-Man finds the unhinged Marko’s home, but is unable to rescue the boy quietly. Marko gives Spider-Man a challenge, but is eventually defeated.

The Subplots: None.

Web of Continuity: Marko is haunted by an incident from the past, when a small teenager unexpectedly knocked him to the ground in response to Marko’s harassment. It’s clear that the teenager is supposed to be Peter Parker, circa the earliest issues of Amazing, but I believe this is a new incident created for this story.

Forever Young: Marko, who’s clearly well into adulthood, is shown to be close to Peter’s age in the flashback.

Review: Kurt Busiek’s fill-in run continues, giving us an early example of his affection for obscure characters, and another brief “untold tale” of Spider-Man’s past. It’s possible I’m getting the dates wrong, but I wonder if the WWF’s early ‘90s steroid scandal was an inspiration for this story. Hero rescues kid from steroid-crazed villain is a pretty standard starting point, but Busiek puts some effort into tailoring the story for Spider-Man. Spidey’s given a cold throughout the issue, making Mary Jane the voice of reason who insists that he can take the occasional sick day. Spidey thinks he’s come to a reasonable compromise by simply rescuing the kid and leaving Marko for the police, only to discover that the kid actually idolizes Marko and can’t wait to see him finally beat up Spider-Man. It’s like Spider-Man always has bad luck or something. There’s not much to the ending --Spider-Man just hits Marko until he finally falls over -- but the little boy does change loyalties when he witnesses Spidey’s performance in the fight. True to his character, Spider-Man complains about the kid’s lack of loyalty and swings away. Another enjoyable, if not very memorable, issue from Busiek.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #81 - October 1991

Living in Fear

Credits: Kurt Busiek (writer), Steve Butler (penciler), Don Hudson & Chris Ivy (inkers), Rick Parker (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: Two brothers, Wyndell and Ricky, are apprehended by Spider-Man while stealing a car. Years later, Ricky works as a bond trader, but lives in fear that his teenage arrest will be discovered. Wyndell has become the super-powered criminal Bloodshed. When crimelord Bazin demands a million dollars from Bloodshed after a botched drug delivery, Bloodshed turns to his brother. Ricky is reluctant to help Bloodshed steal securities and reaches out to Spider-Man. Bloodshed soon attacks Spider-Man, who subsequently escapes and investigates Ricky. He mistakenly believes Ricky’s the criminal, but learns the truth when Bloodshed invades Ricky’s office. Ricky overcomes his fears and helps Spider-Man place Bloodshed in custody.

The Subplots: None.

Forever Young: Ricky has grown up, graduated college, and become a bond trader, all after an encounter with Spider-Man. The story tries to cover for this by later declaring Ricky was sixteen when Spider-Man apprehended him (although the art makes him look around twelve or thirteen), and by having Peter assert the event occurred during his “first few months as Spider-Man.”

Review: Before he really made a name for himself, Kurt Busiek would occasionally show up as the fill-in guy. This is one of his strongest stories from the fill-in days, a human interest story about two brothers that have followed very different paths in life. Not only is Ricky reformed, but he’s racked with guilt over his youthful indiscretion. Fearful that his past will be discovered, Ricky lives a lonely life of simply doing his job and keeping his head down to avoid attention. Wyndell has embraced crime, and even advanced into the early stages of supervillainy. Druglords have given Wyndell super-strength and an armored suit, and perhaps as a practical joke, an attached pink ponytail (Wyndell is a black man with short hair, making this even more ridiculous).

The story hinges on Ricky’s characterization in order to work, and Busiek’s portrayal of his insecurities and inner conflicts make Ricky an easy character to pull for. Spider-Man is, perhaps, not the best hero for this story, as it requires someone who’s been around for a while, but Marvel of this era wasn’t obsessed with “youth” so it wasn’t much of an issue then. Future Web artist Steven Butler makes his debut as fill-in artist, and I really like his interpretation of Spider-Man. It’s very much the classic Spider-Man of the Romita era, with a little bit of the ‘90s exaggeration thrown in. When Butler eventually takes over the title, he’ll stick with a Bagley-style Spidey, but this is the version I prefer.

SPIDER-MAN AND X-FACTOR: SHADOWGAMES #3 – July 1994

Shadowfall

Credits: Kurt Busiek (writer), Pat Broderick (penciler), Sam De La Rosa (inker), Joe Rosen (letterer), Tom Smith (colorist)

Summary

Spider-Man and X-Factor stop Mirrorshade from killing Flash Thompson, but fellow Shadowforce member Airborne takes him away. They rejoin the rest of Shadowforce in Washington, taking over their former headquarters and demanding that their criminal sentences be commuted. X-Factor battles Shadowforce while Spider-Man looks for the power core that gives them superpowers. Unbeknownst to Spider-Man, Shadowforce are now powered with battery packs and have wired the core to explode. Spider-Man talks their leader, Hardtime, into surrendering. Hardtime saves everyone from the explosion, and Spider-Man gives a disc with incriminating evidence against the government to a reporter. General Sharpe, the man in charge of the project, is soon dishonorably discharged and faces criminal charges.

Review

So, in the final chapter, the generic heroes beat the generic villains and the generic evil Army General goes to jail (why are military higher-ups always bad guys in comics?). Spending an entire issue of Spider-Man Unlimited on this would’ve been a stretch, but dedicating an entire miniseries to such a dull story is unforgivable. Out of all of the various team-ups between the X-franchise and Spider-Man Marvel could’ve done, this is the one they chose? X-Factor, in their blandest incarnation yet, teaming up with Spider-Man to stop these losers? They could’ve done a sequel to Spider-Man vs. Wolverine. They could’ve teamed up old-school hero Spider-Man with gun-happy Cable. Spider-Man could have met Deadpool for the first time. Spider-Man could have assisted the Beast on one of his experiments and ran into trouble. Mr. Sinister could have investigated whether or not Spider-Man is a mutant. Spider-Man could have just joined the X-Men for a few “quiet” issues where they discussed their problems. Anything would have been more interesting than this. This is the type of comic I read as a kid, shrugged my shoulders, and promptly forgot about its existence while I played Super Mario Kart.

SPIDER-MAN AND X-FACTOR: SHADOWGAMES #2 – June 1994

Shadowclash

Credits: Kurt Busiek (writer), Pat Broderick (penciler), Patterson/DeLarosa/Williams (inkers), Joe Rosen (letterer), Tom Smith (colorist)

Summary

Spider-Man takes a disc on Project: Homegrown with him as he tracks Mirrorshade. While disguised on a train following Mirrorshade to New York, Spider-Man is once again attacked by Shadowforce. X-Factor arrives to help, but Shadowforce suddenly leaves. On their way to New York, they grew out of the range of the government’s mental commands and are now on their own. Mirrorshade makes it to New York and stalks Flash Thompson.

Review

It’s almost an entire issue dedicated to Spider-Man fighting some generic villains no one could possibly care about. X-Factor’s role is negligible and could have been filled by any other superhero team. Pat Broderick’s art tells the story well enough, but it’s just as bland as every other aspect of the comic. I assume he’s going for a Ditko-style Spider-Man, but having never seen a Ditko comic when I first read this issue, I thought it was just weird looking. Kurt Busiek is a good enough writer to know that the best Spider-Man stories usually involve Peter Parker's supporting cast, so Flash Thompson is used to add some human element to the story. The setup, a villain mimicking and exaggerating Peter’s momentary anger at Flash, is pretty ridiculous, though. There’s also the odd moment when the mind-controlled Shadowforce move out of the government’s range to control them while tracking Spider-Man. Didn’t someone in the military think of this beforehand? Why weren’t they stopped from going on this mission if the government’s control didn’t reach New York? Why didn’t someone send them back before they got this far? And weren’t they fighting Spider-Man in New York in the first issue?

SPIDER-MAN AND X-FACTOR: SHADOWGAMES #1 – May 1994

Shadowgames

Credits: Kurt Busiek (writer), Pat Broderick (penciler), Bruce Patterson (inker), Joe Rosen (letterer), Tom Smith (colorist)

Summary

Spider-Man fights a new super-group called Shadowforce. Flash Thompson brings along kids from a Boy’s Club to watch the fight, angering Spider-Man. Distracted by the mimic Mirrorshade, Spider-Man is attacked from behind and kidnapped by Shadowforce. Flash Thompson calls the Fantastic Four and Avengers for help, but can’t reach them. He finally calls X-Factor, claiming that Spider-Man’s abductors were mutants. X-Factor examines hair follicles found at the scene and determines that they belong to six convicted criminals. Forge investigates why the convicts aren’t in prison, and tracks the address of a federal agency that won’t give him answers. Spider-Man wakes up and logs into a computer terminal to learn that Project: Homegrown is a government project designed to create superheroes. Shadowforce are criminals the government experimented on and brainwashed into service. The Shadowforce member Mirrorshade mimics Spider-Man’s anger at Flash Thompson and goes off to kill him. X-Factor arrives and confronts Shadowforce at their base. Spider-Man tries to leave and stop Mirrorshade, but is drawn into the fight.

Continuity Note

There’s a note that says that this limited series takes place before X-Factor #100. There’s really no easy way to fit it into continuity, but this is where I decided it should go as a teenager.

Review

Kurt Busiek would rather everyone forget about this mini, and I think he got his wish. Danny Fingeroth is the editor, meaning that this actually didn’t come out of the X-office, and it does have the same generic blandness that a lot of the early ‘90s Spider-Man titles had. It’s not offensively bad, and the plot mostly holds together, but nothing about the story is interesting in any way, either. It’s an entire miniseries dedicated to X-Factor and Spider-Man fighting goons from a cliché shadowy government conspiracy. Even though Spider-Man and the X-books are Marvel’s two largest franchises, it’s surprising that the two rarely meet. It’s more surprising that one of the few times Spider-Man starred in a miniseries with a mutant team, it was in this forgettable mini with X-Factor, going through its post-Peter David awkward phase. I guess the idea was that wisecracking Spider-Man would mesh well with the more lighthearted X-Factor, but that doesn’t come across at all. On top of that, Marvel had already decided to move X-Factor into a darker direction at this point (Madrox is dying of an AIDS allegory when this story is supposedly taking place!), so you’ve really got to wonder what they were thinking on this one.