Issue(s): Amazing Spider-Man #229, Amazing Spider-Man #230
Cover Date: Jun-Jul 82
Title: "Nothing can stop the Juggernaut!" / "To fight the unbeatable foe!"
Credits:
Roger Stern - Writer
John Romita Jr. - Penciler
Jim Mooney - Inker
Tom DeFalco - Editor

Review/plot:
Madame Web gives Spider-Man a call. She's been having premonitions of being stalked by a giant monster, and she wants Spidey's help in stopping it.

While waiting for Madame Web to give him more info, Peter Parker stops at the Daily Bugle, where he reconciles with Betty Brant Leeds after the recent problems he's been having with her and her husband Ned.

The threat turns out to be the Juggernaut, who's been tasked by Black Tom with kidnapping Web for her precognitive abilities.

What follows is an issue-long epic battle as Spider-Man gives everything he's got trying to stop the unstoppable Juggernaut.

As the battle rages across Manhattan, Madame Web tries to contact the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, and Spidey tries to contact Dr. Strange, but none are available.

Spider-Man fails to stop the Juggernaut, but Madame Web goes into convulsions when Juggernaut lifts her out of her weird chair, which is also her life support device. Realizing he can't kidnap her without her dying, he abandons her...

...and Spider-Man performs CPR until help arrives. Then he goes back after the Juggernaut, in another issue long battle.

Ultimately it's resolved when Spider-Man tricks the Juggernaut into sinking into 40 feet (and a few thousand tons) of cement at a building site.

There's a comical scene at the end of the issue, with Black Tom waiting for the Juggernaut to burst out of the cement. And waiting... and waiting...

Madame Web's trauma caused brain damage. It's implied that she's lost her memory and her precognitive powers.

We're also introduced to Amy Powell, Lance Bannon's "open relationship" girlfriend.

Lance himself gets a bit of a smackdown when it turns out that Peter was accidentally taking pictures during the Juggernaut fight.

Great writing by Roger Stern and nice art by JRJR. This one is considered a classic.

Quality Rating: A-

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - the Spider-Man vs. the Juggernaut arc.

Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place concurrently with Fantastic Four #241 and Avengers #219 (see footnote reference below).

References:

• Madame Web previously helped Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #210 and Amazing Spider-Man #216.
  
• Glory Grant perceives that Peter is still hurting emotionally from his last encounter with the Black Cat in Amazing Spider-Man #227.
  
• The reasons given for the FF and the Avengers not being available are Fantastic Four #241 and Avengers #219.
  
• Looking for Dr. Strange, Wong mentions that Strange has met the Juggernaut before. It was in Dr. Strange #182, although it's not explicitly referenced. Still, Wong is unable to offer Spider-Man any advice. It's not said where Dr. Strange is at the moment, but I have him off in Asgard and other dimensions with the Defenders.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I have to wonder if Madame Web wasn't disposed of on orders from Shooter; she certainly hadn't been used much previously--maybe it was decided she was an unnecessary "spider" character who infringed on Spider-Man's uniqueness.

another example of sterns awesomeness

Did you notice Spider-Man has toes in that splash page?

I hate to say it but I was a tad, just a tad, let down by this after hearing everyone rave about for years online. Amazing set up, amazing action, the thing is I was lead to believe that Spidey finally defeated the Juggernaut with a well laid plan of some sort. At least I wasn't let down by Peter's determination but I was expecting a little more than 'accidentally making him wad into wet cement.' Ah well I still see it as a classic. I love that gradual close up of Peter at the end of the first issue as he vows to take down the Juggernaut.

One of the best Juggernaut stories, I think. That guy usually gets stopped awefully easy for an unstoppable force.

Odd to see Black Tom describe the X-Men as "them bleedin' mutants" while speaking to the Juggernaut: wasn't Tom established as a mutant himself from the start? Need to re-read those old Claremont X-Men again to make sure.

In X-Men #103, fighting Banshee, Tom says "our mutant powers cancel each other out", and that was pretty much his first appearance. So yeah. Maybe he's taking the word back.

Supposedly, for drawing the scenes of Spidey uselessly wrestling with the Juggernaut, Stern told JR to think of Bugs Bunny trying to take down Toro the Bull in the classic cartoon "Bully for Bugs."

Spidey drives a gasoline tanker truck into Juggy. Bad. Ass.

When Spiderman is sitting on Juggernaut's shoulders at the end of the story, what is stopping Juggs from ripping his arms out of his sockets or doing a dozen other things, which would dispose of him?

@Bernard, I was kinda thinking the same thing. Reconciled that by figuring Spidey was covering Juggy’s eyes and twitching around just fast enough so he couldn’t be grabbed, but could still get walloped plenty by flailing fists... or maybe the dude’s biceps were just too huge to allow that kind of flexibility!

I also appreciate how Peter looked so beat up at the end of the issue that others commented on it. That’s one thing about superhero comics in general, the lack of obvious cuts and bruises on alter ego characters after their hero self just went through bloody battles. Looks like Stern made a point in this issue to show how badly Peter was beaten up.