Issue(s): Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #99
Cover Date: Feb 85
Title: "Spider on the Spot!"
Credits:
Al Milgrom - Writer
Herb Trimpe - Penciler
Jim Mooney - Inker
Bob DeNatale - Assistant Editor
Danny Fingeroth - Editor

Review/plot:
Spider-Man convinces the Black Cat to go with him to confront the Kingpin to confirm that she's no longer in his debt and to learn more about the powers that she got from him, but on their way there they are attacked by the Spot, who is acting on his own since he's still keeping his new powers a secret from his boss.

The Spot's name is revealed to be Jonathan Ohnn. That's not a "Spot on!" joke of some kind, is it? He's a goofy guy...

...but i still kind of like him. I think Herb Trimpe's very old school style contributed to the fact that he wasn't exactly well received. Of course his name and visual design were probably a factor as well.

After a final cryptic message ("Don't harness the Kingpin again!")...

...the Spot disappears, but Spidey and the Cat decide it's probably a good idea to cut their losses and head home instead of pressing on to the Kingpin.

The Black Cat's powers continue to get expanded. It used to be that bad luck would befall people that attacked her. You wouldn't think that would affect automated weapon systems, but apparently it does.

Also in this issue, Peter meets some new neighbors, Randi...

...Candi...

...and Bambi.

These three ladies will be minor supporting characters for a while, although they'll undergo some major design changes and Candi's name will be changed to Candy.

The Black Cat tries to give Spidey a homemade version of his Black Costume...

...but he's not ready to wear something that looks like the creature that tried to bond with him.

Meanwhile, the real costume is on the loose and takes over the body of a poor tourist.

Finally, Sha Shan contacts Peter and asks him to look into the mysterious actions of Flash, but he doesn't get around to doing so this issue. Flash sees Peter talking to Sha Shan and gets the wrong idea. He's also shown to be part of a mysterious "organization".

It's all a little on the silly side, but not bad.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Randi, Candi, and Bambi.

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• The Spot got his powers by analyzing Cloak's during the big fight in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #96.
  
• Spider-Man's black costume turned out to be an alien symbiote in Amazing Spider-Man #258.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I think the script meant to say "Don't harass the Kingpin again".

Yeah, i was just attempting to snarkily mock the weird error (how does what looks like a spellcheck typo get into a hand-lettered comic in 1985?).

I always had a soft spot (haha) for the Spot. Probably because I was first introduced to him via the 90's Spider-Man cartoon, in which he was a more serious character, and his teleportation device was a major plotpoint for the later parts of the show.

I thought he had potential too, as a character used the way DC dealt with some of their lower-tier characters during the 1980s. He just disappeared for years though.
The Legion of Losers stint was pretty fun though, I thought.
The Spot finally got his day with one issue of Spider Man during the 2000s, written by Fred Van Lente. If you're a Spot fan, you should check out that story.

"All my friends call me Randi."

"I'll BET they do."

Aaaahh, Peter, you naughty devil! You're quite the filthy lil' animal, arencha? You've come a long way since your bashful, nebbish days as a puny bully-target from Midtown High...

Johnny on the spot, is an old name for a person, on hand and ready to perform a service.

@Transparent Fo: Randi (or Randy) actually is a name that people have in the US without a hint of irony. I've always wondered if Peter was "in" on that joke or just saying something random.

If I ever have a son, I'll just name him "Horny".

Yeah, "randy" in a sexual sense isn't a commonly used word in the U.S. However, we do roll our eyes every time one of Robin/Nightwing/Grayson's friends calls him "Dick".

No love for Honey Hornee?
https://youtu.be/52FdiECWnhQ

Why Randi, Candy and Bambi didn't get their own graphic novel, I'll never know.

Romita, Sr. or one of his Raiders redrew Spidey laughing at the Spot.

A friend of mine who moved to the US had a boss called... Randy Dicks! Nobody knew why we were laughing.

I love this issue. DeFalco and Frenz are heavily influenced by Ditko over on ASM and this is Milgrom doing a different Ditko riff with some laugh out loud jokes. The puppy line is great. In his long absence following the next issue did people often ask "Where's Spot?"?