Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1985-07-01 00:02:10 |
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Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #104
Issue(s): Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #104
Cover Date: Jul 85
Title: "The last race"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
Vincent Giarrano- Penciler
Pat Redding - Inker
Christopher Priest - Editor
Review/plot:
There seems to have been a bit of musical chairs on the Spider-Man titles at this point. Peter David wrote the previous issue of Spectacular, but then he wrote this month's Amazing while Mantlo fills in here. That's in addition to the shift from Louise Simonson to Danny Fingeroth on Web.
Anyway, Mantlo turns in a nice little fill-in that helps make the silly Rocket Racer a somewhat more human character. He's still a criminal with a super-skateboard, mind you...
...but it turns out that he's actually a science wiz who had to forgo college and turned to crime to pay for his mother's medical bills. We even get to meet the Racer family.
Rocket is now pursued by a bounty hunter (or possibly The Bounty Hunter)...
...because he skipped out on his bail. And furthermore, it seems the bail boundsman is corrupt, charging onerous interest rates and actually suggesting that Racer return to crime to pay up.
Spider-Man puts a stop to the bounty hunter and Racer decides to face the music for his crimes.
This was generally decent, but i felt like at times i was reading an educational pamphlet about bail bondsmen (i also think Mantlo was way-overdoing Urich's coughing).
Quality Rating: C+
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: This issue takes place between Web of Spider-Man #4-5; when he first encounters Rocket Racer he says his search for Doc Ock will have to wait.
References:
- Rocket Racer appeared previously in Amazing Spider-Man #172 and Amazing Spider-Man #182-183.
- Doctor Octopus escaped in Web of Spider-Man #4.
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
Inbound References (2): showCharacters Appearing: Ben Urich, Rocket Racer, Spider-Man Previous:
Amazing Spider-Man #267Up:
MainNext:
Web of Spider-Man #5
Comments
As a youngster, I found this one really interesting. It worked well as a little introduction to the way that the system could be corrupted. Also, a bit of a shocker that a young man couldn't go to university because he had to pay his sick mother's medical bills.
The bail bondsman scheme is something that could actually work, a rarity in comic book crime.
but the rocket racer still sucks.
There was another Bounty Hunter in Ghost Rider, but he had nothing to do with this one.
