Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #103Issue(s): Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #103 Review/plot: The office politics surrounding Peter were too stupid to imagine. He was disliked largely on the strength that he worked for the late Carol Kalish, a very smart woman in charge of the sales department who clashed with Shooter on occasion. There was an incredibly stupid "us" and "them" mentality, and I came under great pressure from nearly everyone in Marvel Editorial to dump David. I mean it, editors were furious with me for using him (ironically, nearly all of those staffers pursued Peter after I left staff, helping make him the A-List comics writer he is today). This is David's first work as a writer at Marvel, and it's very good for a first effort, and it's good even without that qualifier. It's a one-off story that uses lots of humor as well as, in a surprise twist, Spider-Man's relationship with the Human Torch... ...to tell a story of a group of college students who try to drive a super-hero crazy as an intellectual exercise. They make up a fake super-villain called Blaze... ...and use him to harass Spider-Man, but things backfire when one of the students backs out and lets the Human Torch in on the plan. The Torch, impersonating Blaze, terrifies the remaining two college kids... ...and gets them to confess to Jean DeWolff, although by the end of the story they still don't seem to have learned their lesson. A fun plot made all the better by PAD's snappy dialogue. Longtime artist Rich Buckler seems to have updated his style a bit. Is this a "Ned Leeds is the Hobgoblin" hint?: Quality Rating: B+ Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place before the Baxter Building is launched into space in Fantastic Four #278. References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (4): show CommentsPeter David's "Ace" story was originally announced for this issue. Posted by: Mark Drummond | October 25, 2013 5:15 PM Peter David stated in Amazing Heroes #175 that the college students were based on Leopold & Loeb. Posted by: Mark Drummond | April 14, 2015 10:28 PM @ Mark Drummond - Given that this story is named after the 1959 film that was a fictional version of their trial, I'm surprised he had to point that out. But, given your amazing penchant for pointing out titles derived from songs or films, I'm more surprised you didn't point that out! Posted by: Erik Beck | May 27, 2015 10:37 PM I actually hadn't heard of the film before. Posted by: Mark Drummond | May 28, 2015 5:50 PM Peter David stated in Amazing Heroes #175 that the college students were based on Leopold & Loeb. Their dialogue about the two students from the 1920s is a reference to Leopold and Loeb, though those two hardly got off lightly. Posted by: Omar Karindu | October 13, 2015 2:26 PM Comments are now closed. |
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