Issue(s): Amazing Spider-Man #301
Cover Date: Jun 88
Title: "The Sable gauntlet!"
Credits:
David Michelinie - Writer
Todd McFarlane - Penciler
Todd McFarlane - Inker
Glenn Herdling - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
This cover of this issue is a recolor of last issue's cover.

I know Todd McFarlane represents a change for the worse in the comics industry, but i still enjoy his art and i don't mind opening a book to see his depiction of Silver Sable's Wild Pack storming a corridor.

They're just helping to test a new security system at The Pruett Building, a new commercial skyscraper. When the Wild Pack are stopped by the security system, Mr. Pruett's associate Fred Cruz convinces him to hire Silver Sable to personally go up against it.

Before she does that, Spider-Man shows up at her apartment to complain about her sending the Wild Pack against him (at J. Jonah Jameson's dime) in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #128, but she is of course unsympathetic. Spidey notices something fishy about Sable's guests but opts to not tell her about it.

He then goes to Empire State University to enroll in a camera course. It turns out to be full already, but he's recruited by his old Professor Sloan, who he used to TA for, to do some ad hoc teaching.

Spidey later feels guilty about not telling Sable about his funny feeling, so while she's going through the security gauntlet...

...he goes and checks things out, illegally searching Fred Cruz's apartment, and finding a secret room. A secret Nazi room.

Frank Cruz is really Franz Kraus, son of a Nazi war criminal that Silver Sable's Wild Pack put in prison (where he died).

Spider-Man shows up to stop Sable from blowing herself up, but she assumes it's part of the test.

Eventually he convinces her to stop fighting, but by then Kraus has fled. Pruett agrees to still pay Sable in full and even hires her to search for Cruz. This leaves Peter feeling bad about his money problems again. But throughout this issue we've seen someone trying to contact Peter, and in the end it turns out that good old Doc Conners has recommended Peter for a job.

Storywise, it's kind of slight. But fun enough.

Statement of Ownership Total Paid Circulation: Average of Past 12 months = 284,692. Single issue closest to filing date = 263,163.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Per the second reference below, this takes place after Web of Spider-Man #39.

References:

• Silver Sable accepted the Pruett job because her mercenary outfit's success rate has been low after Amazing Spider-Man #265 and Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #128.
  
• Spider-Man has a "real" costume again, after Web of Spider-Man #39.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Spider-Man Legends vol. 1: Todd McFarlane Book 1 TPB

Yeah, Todd's awful.

The letters page of this issue printed some responses to Kraven's Last Hunt that slammed Marvel for "glorifying suicide." Jim Salicrup mentions that J.M. DeMatteis would be writing a follow-up story to deal with this issue. I'm guessing that would be "Soul of the Hunter," which wouldn't see print until 1992.

Like fnord, I rather enjoy a lot of MacFarlane's art, provided you ignore the faces - he's pretty bad at those.

Secret Nazi room reminds me of Father Ted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w8aE99weR4

Todd does a great Spidey, but yeah not much else.