Issue(s): Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #62
Cover Date: Jan 82
Title: "Gold fever!"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
Ed Hannigan - Penciler
Jim Mooney - Inker
Mark Gruenwald - Assistant Editor
Tom DeFalco - Editor

Review/plot:
The Goldbug has a problem. He uses real gold in all his stuff - his ship, his costume, and his weapons.

And gold costs money, creating a lot of overhead in his life of crime. A lesser man might become the Aluminumbug, or at least decide that maybe the costume doesn't have to have actual gold in it. But no. So he's trying to form a partnership with the Maggia which entails them getting an 80% cut of the gold he steals and a mechanism for fencing it.

The problem is that the gold for his inaugural run with the Maggia has been irradiated by Peter Parker as part of an experiment. So Spider-Man has to stop him, not just to prevent theft, but to stop the criminals from getting radiation poisoning.

The fact that Goldbug has been poisoned by gold seems to be traumatizing to him...

...but not as traumatizing as getting betrayed by the Maggia and plugged full of lead, and then falling into the ocean and (seemingly) drowning because your gold costume is too heavy.

Lots of use of shadow in this issue. Don't know if it's from Hannigan or Mooney.

On the soap opera front, Peter begins to hit things off with Marcy Kane, to the dismay of Debra Whitman.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this between Amazing Spider-Man #223-224.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

All of a sudden, Peter Parker has the clout to have the government trust him with a bunch of gold for an experiment I'm pretty sure Peter has never talked about before this issue? What?