Issue(s): Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #24
Cover Date: Nov 78
Title: "Spider-Man night fever"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
Frank Springer - Penciler
Frank Springer - Inker

Review/plot:
I don't know why everyone in the 1970s hated disco so much because, as this issue proves, it was clearly awesome.

But first, it seems there's a slight lack of communication between Spidey titles. We recently learned in Amazing that Peter failed to graduate because he didn't take a required Gym class. In this issue, he's rushing home to hit the books and study hard so that he can make up the credits he missed. And he's very distraught when he arrives at home to find that all his friends are waiting to surprise him with a night at the disco.

I guess it's possible that Peter is such a bookworm that he really does need to spend the whole night studying how to do jumping jacks or whatever (disclaimer: i have never taken a college level gym course).

But now for what you're all here for: The Hypno-Huster. And yes, he's an awesome Parliament-Funkadelic space-suit wearing dude with a giant afro and giant pink goggles.

It seems that both he and his back-up singers, the Mercy Killers, independently have trance-inducing powers.

And he's got an MO straight out of the Ringmaster's playbook - hypnotizing crowds and then stealing their wallets and jewelry.

Peter is able to resist the effect long enough to stuff web balls in his ears and get in costume, but it turns out that the Hustler has some additional, platform shoe-themed, powers as well.

I think there's an interesting clue to the Hustler's bad behavior in that second platform shoe picture. The Hustler's "creepy truant officer" says to him, "Don't be a chump! This can only end one way"? What's that mean?

Spidey wins by removing the Hustler's headphones, which causes the Hustler to get himself hypnotized. The Mercy Killers themselves are hypnotized by the Hypno-Hustler (and i'm not really clear on whether they were willing accomplices or not. In some scenes they seem to be acting of their own free will, but it also seems they get hypnotized by the Hustler whenever he activates his powers. Odd).

I was sure this guy had appeared in a Hostess Fruitpie ad, but it seems to not be the case. His back-up singers, however, could easily be the Magpies.

I don't know why the Hypno-Hustler didn't at least go on to be a Dazzler villain. Instead he languishes in complete obscurity until he's brought back as a joke villain in more modern times. The dude is awesome and he deserved better. He is no joke!

In a set-up for next issue's story, a group of goons hijack a truck. I just love that the truck is labeled "Nuclear Materials" in giant letters like it's advertising a brand name.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Hypno-Hustler

Chronological Placement Considerations: Needs to take place after Amazing Spider-Man #186.

• While fighting some thugs on the subway (out of costume but in the dark), Peter thinks about the fact that Spidey is no longer wanted by the law as of Amazing Spider-Man #186, but the Daily Bugle still attacks him because J. Jonah Jameson can't accept Spider-Man as a hero, unlike his son John Jameson, who will be re-appearing in Amazing Spider-Man #190, per a pluggy footnote.
• Peter learned in Amazing Spider-Man #185 that he was one credit shy of graduating because he didn't take a gym class.
• Peter likens the Hypno-Huster's powers to that of the Mindworm, who he fought in Amazing Spider-Man #138.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Disco in the 1970s was primarily hated by rock fans, punk fans, and lovers of 1960s rock--Disco had a really bad habit of taking classic 1960s rock songs and "Discofying" them. The worst example of that is the 1978 "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" film, which simultaneously gave nuclear meltdowns to fans of both 1960s and 1970s rock and seriously derailed the careers of Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, and Peter Frampton.

when i read this issue i was thinking the same thing, how could dazzler have missed this guy? he could have been her arch-rival.

You know from the name "Hypno-Hustler", I was expecting some pimp complete with zoot suit and feather hypnotizing kids or something. But to see he's an evil George Clinton/Bootsy Collins...just epic beyond belief. But I guess Marvel is just too square to understand the funk.

I think Sir Nose D. Voidafunk ran the company at the time.

You skipped the awkward part when mary jane showed up and saw him with betty

The first page contains the strange graffiti line "Does Tartag still ink MOKF".

'Tartag' is this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tartaglione

MOKF = 'Master of Kung-Fu', I'm guessing.

I know what the graffiti refers to; I just found it strange that it appeared here, considering that Springer and Mantlo had nothing to do with Master of Kung Fu at this point(if they ever did).

Tartaglione had been Jim Craig's inker on MoKF, but he had been/would shortly be replaced by Mike Zeck, who had drawn issue #22 of this series. I guess that at the time of the graffiti there was confusion over whether Tartaglione would continue to do the inks over Zeck's pencils, or if Bruce Patterson (who had inked #22) would follow Zeck to the Shang-Chi series. (Patterson did, but I'd have to check the issues to see if it was immediate.)

"He" in the above referring to Jim Craig, not John Tartaglione. Craig got bounced for missing deadlines; Tartag was just collateral damage. Apologies for my poor pronoun usage.