Issue(s): Amazing Spider-Man #105, Amazing Spider-Man #106, Amazing Spider-Man #107, Amazing Spider-Man #108, Amazing Spider-Man #109
Cover Date: Feb-Jun 72
Title: "The Spider Slayer"/ "Squash! Goes the Spider!" / "Spidey smashes thru!" / "Vengeance from Vietnam!" / "Enter: Dr. Strange!"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Writer
Gil Kane / John Romita Sr. - Penciler
Frank Giacoia & Tony Mortellaro / Tony Mortellaro & John Romita Sr. - Inker

Review/plot:
Spider-Man saves JJ from a mob of people, including Randy and his friend Josh, protesting the Daily Bugle. In the Marvel Tales reprint, we never find out exactly what they are protesting, but it is clear in the original.

Spidey ducks out early from the subsequent haranguing from JJ since he's got an appointment that requires him to get home before Harry (but we never find out what that was about, either, at least in the Marvel Tales reprint).

Jameson is working with Spencer Smythe again, and Smythe's got a new Spider-Slayer, which JJ uses to attack Spidey again.

Smythe's also got funding from the city police to install cameras all over the city, but he's got his own ideas for those cameras as he's decided to throw in with the city mob. He catches Spider-man changing into Peter Parker on film.

Smythe lets Jameson think he's got control over the robot, but he really uses it to steal the last piece of equipment needed to control the cameras himself.

The mob bosses are completely unimpressed with Smythe's camera's and Spider-Man's identity ("He looks like any of a million guys!")...

...but are willing to cut him in if his robot can defeat Spider-Man. Using Doc Conner's lab, Peter creates a Peter Parker mask for himself which he wears over his real face in order to further fake out poor Smythe.

JJ leads a protest against the police cameras...

...which would work to make him a more sympathetic character if he wasn't simultaneously engaging in illegal activities in his vendetta against Spider-Man.

Harry has returned home from the hospital but is still acting funny.

And of course MJ's flirtations with Pete aren't helping.

Pete isn't interested in MJ anyway, cause he's got a "voomy" girl of his own.

Gwen takes Peter over to Flash's apartment to try and cheer him up because he's been acting strange since he returned from Viet Nam, but that doesn't go very well.

Luckily, the Spider-Slayer doesn't attack until after Peter's date with Gwen. Spider-Man defeats it after an issue-long fight, but then sees Flash and Gwen walking together, and then Flash is forced into a car by strange men. It turns out that they are actually military police who are there to protect Flash, which Spidey learns after he "rescues" him.

Flash is in trouble because his unit bombed a temple in Viet Nam. Flash himself tried to stop the bombing, but the temple worshipers still blame him for it and they've come to New York for vengeance. With the help of Dr. Strange, Spider-Man stops the evil (?) worshipers and actually restores the life of the old man who was apparently dead.

Flash will eventually marry the old man's daughter, Sha Shan.

It would have been interesting to read a story dealing with Flash's trauma dealing with civilian killings in Viet Nam, but all this mystical stuff isn't very good.

Meanwhile, Gwen is a little too assertive in telling Aunt May that's she's too possessive.

Issue #108 is probably best known for providing one of the internet's favorite out-of-context panels.

To spoil the fun, here is the full sequence. The sticky mess is of course Spider-Man's web fluid.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - first Sha Shan

Chronological Placement Considerations: At the beginning of this issue, Spider-Man is on the rooftops, saying that he is happy to be back in NYC after his trip to the Savage Land. This doesn't necessarily mean that this story takes place directly on the heels of that one. Issue #109 ends with Spidey on a rooftop feeling glum, and issue #110 begins the same way. Based on that, there's a run from Spidey #105-115 or so where Spidey's appearances in Marvel Team-Up and some other guest appearances can't fit. The Index solves this by finding a gap in Amazing Spider-Man #105 and another in #107. But i'm instead breaking at #109 with the assumption that the roof Spidey is standing on at the end of that issue isn't necessarily the same one he's on in #110. Or you can go with the Index (as the MCP does) and just assume that this arc spans a period of time throughout this year with my placement of those other appearances representing where the gaps are.

References:

• Peter uses the "Spider-Man is kidnapping Peter Parker trick" in order to go into action as Spider-Man while Gwen is around. "You guessed it. This isn't the first time Spidey's pulled this stunt! - Sly Stan". I know that he did this a long time ago when protecting his identity from Fredrick Foswell back in Amazing Spider-Man #46, but i think Stan might be referring to when Peter jumped out the window and came back as Spider-Man in order to fool Gwen and Captain Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man #85 or when Peter was assumed to be kidnapped by Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #53-56. No actual issue reference is given. I guess it happens so often that citing a specific issue wasn't warranted!
  
• Spider-Man & Dr. Strange: "If you wonder how they know each other, they've met before! A No-Prize if you remember when! ('cause we don't!) - Stan" It was Amazing Spider-Man annual #2.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Marvel Tales #84, Marvel Tales #85, Marvel Tales #86, Marvel Tales #87, Marvel Tales #88

Gil Kane drew #105;those are definitely Kane nostrils.

Right again. Credits updated.

Foom #3, in the Spider-Man index, definitely credits Tony Mortellaro as an inker(probably just backgrounds only)for ASM #108-118 and #120-125, but not for any issues prior to #108.

To back up what Mark said, the Official Marvel Index to the Amazing Spider-Man 5 lists Tony Mortellao as a background inker for Amazing Spider-Man 114-125 of Amazing Spider-Man. (The Index starts with 114.)

ASM Index #4 has Mortellaro on backgrounds inks going back to issue #89 and the UHBMCC does the same. ASM Index #5 & the UHBMCC also have him on #132.

I also seem to have him on ASM #83 but i don't know how i got that information, and i've removed him from that issue.

David Michelinie has a letter in #108.

No, don't back down Gwen! It's so nice for someone to actually get at the whining Aunt May and make her realize she's not the only person around.