Issue(s): Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #7, Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #8
Cover Date: Jun-Jul 77
Title: "Cry mayhem-- cry Morbius!" / "...And only one shall survive!"
Credits:
Archie Goodwin - Writer
Sal Buscema - Penciler
Jim Mooney / Mike Esposito - Inker

Review/plot:
Spider-Man busts up Morgan's headquarters in return for Morgan's attack on him a few issues back.

He doesn't actually take Morgan to jail or (obviously) kill him or anything, so i'm not sure how this deters future attacks, but it does seem to do the trick; Morgan won't be bothering Spider-Man any more.

That does raise a question, though. Spider-Man is supposedly more involved in dealing with street level crimes than, say, the Avengers. But he doesn't seem interested in dealing with organized crime here. After roughing up Morgan he just heads off. You'd think he'd want to find a way to bring down his organization. But i guess that's not really his focus. It's more about stopping muggers and stuff.

And science-vampires. This arc is about Morbius, who used the Living Eraser's interdimensional transportation device to isolate himself on an unoccupied world. But while he was there he wound up under the influence of another...

...and now he's back on Earth and kidnapping Glory Grant so that Spider-Man will come after him.

Who is the guy controlling Morbius? Some interdimensional threat like Dormammu? An established Spider-Man villain like Mysterio or (god forbid) Mindworm? Someone related to Morbius like maybe Daemond or even the Living Eraser?

No, it's a new guy called the Empathoid...

...and he feeds off emotional conflict. So Spider-Man takes him to a football game to get rid of him.

Ok then.

Spider-Man lets Morbius fly off, even though Morbius can't stop himself from eating people every six panels.

And he says he'll drop off the Empathoid with the FF.

Earlier, Peter tries to avoid the "frozen clothes" problem from issue #5 but winds up with a different problem instead.

Someone writes in to issue #7 complaining that Marvel always prints letters from a select group, including Larry Twiss, Ed Via, Bruce Canwell, Ralph Macchio, Dean Mullaney, Peter Sanderson, Jo Duffy, Doug Zimmerman, Bob Rodi, Kim Thompson, Lou Fetters, and Jack Frost (Macchio and Duffy were working for Marvel at this point). Surprised Kurt Busiek and Mark Gruenwald weren't listed as well. The response is, well, they write good letters, so shut up. It is interesting to think that those guys (and earlier correspondents like "verde" and Cat Yronwode) probably had a disproportionate influence on Marvel thanks to their frequent and detailed letters. Today they'd have blogs and their voices would get lost in the crowd. Or, can you imagine Peter Sanderson - who would send in letters measured in pages - trying to communicate with Tom Brevoort via tumblr?

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Spider-Man notes that he's been busy lately, with a reference to Amazing Spider-Man #169. That's why he hasn't followed up on Morgan, who sent the Hitman after him in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #5.
  
• When she is attacked by Morbius, Glory Grant is looking at a photo, taken by Peter, of Spider-Man fighting the Lizard, probably from Amazing Spider-Man #166. We didn't see him set up his camera in that issue, but since every time we do see him set up his camera something goes wrong, it's nice to see that there are also other moments where he does manage to get some actual photos that he gets paid for.
  
• Continuing to keep the Sha Shan subplot alive, and another refence to Amazing Spider-Man #108-109.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Someone needs to create a list of all of Marvel's "oid" characters.

Ironically, Kim Thompson and(to a lesser extent)Cat Yronwode became some of comic fandom's most hated figures due to their involvement with the Comics Journal and other fan publications.

I thought only the Falcon and Luke Cage were alowed to rough up Morgan! Now Spidey gets into the act. Poor Morgan, always getting throat grabbed and having his office busted up.

I collected Spec Spidey from the beginning, but it just got progressively worse so I stopped. The enemies - Lightmaster (worst costume ever?) and then the Punisher ripoff Hitman - were getting really stale. Loved Sal in Defenders and he's one of my favorites, but no one does Spidey as awesome as Romita did, not even his son.

On Paul Gulacy's cover for #8, someone either redrew Spider-Man's head or had a photostat pasted on.

The cover to #8 crosses the line between hyperbole and flat-out lying. "The final battle with Morbius! ...and only one shall survive!"
As seen by them teaming up and parting on weirdly good terms.

The Empathoid could have been a cool villain. He reminds me a bit of the aliens in the Harlan Ellison short story "Passengers." But the writer would have to be able/willing to go to some pretty dark places that comics just couldn't go in the seventies, or at least be used in a more complex, nuanced way. Maybe he'll be brought to his full potential some day, the way Bendis did with Killgrave.