Issue(s): Amazing Spider-Man #267
Cover Date: Aug 85
Title: "The commuter cometh!"
Credits:
Peter David - Writer
Bob McLeod - Penciler
Bob McLeod - Inker
Keith Williams - Assistant Editor
Christopher Priest - Editor

Review/plot:
This one's a minor classic. It has Spider-Man chasing a low level thief...

...into the suburbs, where there are no buildings to swing on.

The result is comedy...

...but it's also a (semi-)realistic reminder that Spider-Man normally occupies a very specific niche and he'd be a bit limited outside of it. (Of course, Spider-Man still has a full range of powers to draw on. It's mainly his mobility that's a bit limited and has him looking a little ridiculous.)

In order to track the guy down, Spidey has to pull out his rarely used Spider Tracer gadget, which Peter David helpfully, finally, gives a name to. The Spider Tracer-Tracer. Clearly.

The issue starts off with a nice bit of banter between Spidey and the Human Torch.

Peter David really was a great fit for Spider-Man. It's been mostly comedy so far, which works well for Spidey, but he'll be getting serious soon enough once he settles in to his actual run on Spectacular. Bob McLeod does a good job matching this story's tone as well.

Daredevil has a cameo appearance in this panel where Spidey is scanning Manhattan for the thief, pre-Spider Tracer-Tracer.

Quality Rating: B+

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - the "Spidey goes to the suburbs" story

Chronological Placement Considerations: Thoughts from Spidey on the opening page of this issue refer to the escape of Doctor Octopus (Web of Spider-Man #4) (as well as the formation of the Misfits, from last issue) placing this after that Web of Spider-Man issue but before Doc Ock's defeat in WOSM #5. Also takes place after the Human Torch/Blaze plotline from Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #103. The Human Torch tells Spider-Man to "swing by the Baxter Building for lunch some time", placing this before Fantastic Four #278-279. This is also the first time the Torch sees Spider-Man in his cloth black costume; he initially wonders if it's the symbiote.

References:

• Doctor Octopus escaped and became "crazier than ever" in Web of Spider-Man #4.
  
• The Human Torch references "'slugging it out' with Blaze" from Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #103.
  
• Begging off from hanging out with the Torch, Spider-Man tells him "normally I'd love to chat. Fill you in on goodies like Silver Sable" from Amazing Spider-Man #265.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

This is a great issue but something about it has perplexed me for years.

Why did Peter David (who was writer of PPTSSM at the time) skip issue 104 and instead write ASM 266 and 267? Either this issue or last could have easily fit as SSM 104 ... if DeFalco was going to miss an issue or two, why didn't the Mantlo story that appeared in 104 instead appear here.

Has Peter David ever publicly commented on this?

The little gurl on the tricycle is PAD's real life daughter Shana.

In these 1985 issues is there any continuity between the different suits that Spidey wears? Or is it just at the whim of the writer/artist?

The cab driver will show up again for a comedy bit in PAD's Spectacular Spider-Man #122. Strangely, this time he's driving in New York City.

He also appears in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 5.

@Kveto, there's no continuity consideration regarding the costumes. As you can see, Spidey wears both in this issue. One idea around this time was that he would wear the red and blue costume during more traditional daytime stories in Amazing while wearing the black one at night for darker themed stories (like the death of Jean DeWolff) in Spectacular, but it was never implemented so rigidly. And for placement purposes it's not a factor.