Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
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Spider-Woman #26
Issue(s): Spider-Woman #26
Cover Date: May 80
Title: "The blades of the Grinder!"
Credits:
Michael Fleisher - Writer
Stephen Leialoha - Penciler
Mike Esposito & Associates - Inker
Mark Gruenwald - Assistant Editor
Denny O'Neil - Editor
Review/plot:
This issue introduces Rupert Dockery, a British newspaper mogul who has just bought the Los Angles Courier. His intentions for the paper are made clear when two reporters express their concern about his reputation for sensationalism and are fired as soon as they leave his office.
Rupert's arrival on the title sets the stage for a change in Spider-Woman's life. She begins the issue by relishing her relative obscurity.
I think she goes off in a tangent when she talks about giving speeches and cutting ribbons, but the the first part of this, where she says that the goons had never heard of her, is an interesting point. It's an aspect of that weird fact about the Marvel universe, which is that heroes mainly congregate in New York. So a super-hero operating under the radar in Los Angeles would have the advantage of criminals not even considering the possibility of having to deal with anyone other than the police.
But that's all out the window when Spider-Woman rescues Rupert from an attempted kidnapping. He recognizes her potential to sell newspapers and has a story written up. Know-it-all Scotty McDowell gets crabby when he hears that Spider-Woman saved Rupert, but as she points out, what was she supposed to do? Let him get kidnapped?
In order to continue to be able to exploit Spider-Woman in his paper, Rupert contacts a low level criminal and convinces him to become a super-villain called the Grinder.
Scotty recognizes the challenge printed by the Courier as bait, but comes to the wrong conclusion and says the only possible response is to answer it. So Spider-Woman is in disguise at the home of rare coin collector Mr. Windersmith when the Grinder shows up.
That's Mr. Windersmith saying, "Mr. Windersmith! L-Look!" in that scene above, so stating the obvious is the least of his problems. But more importantly, also in those panels is Spider-Woman wasting her one allotted shot with a venom blast, so next thing you know, the Grinder is cutting her underarm webbing and she's falling.
She survives the fall and manages to take out Grinder with one of his own blades...
...but it's still a lot more trouble than you'd hope Spider-Woman would have with a newbie villain whose power is that he's got a propeller beanie.
Cameo by Spider-Man reading Rupert's paper and finally learning Spider-Woman's code name.
Again, at least we have Stephen Leialoha.
Quality Rating: C-
Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Rupert Dockery
Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places Spider-Man's cameo between Amazing Spider-Man #206-207.
References:
- Spider-Man met Spider-Woman in Spider-Woman #20.
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
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Comments
Rupert Dockery=Rupert Murdoch.
The Grinder is a name you'd expect from an exotic dancer super-villain.
After having Jessica loses to several weak foes in recent issues, I reckon that the writers who followed Fliesher on this title, made Spider-woman really tough in later issues in recompense. She defeats the Silver Samurai, the fly, and Hammer and Anvil and others, rarely losing a fight.
Rupert Dockery? Oh, how subtle!
Grindey's grinder does look a lot like a propeller beanie, but you can see, in the third from last scan, that it's actually attached to a big electric motor on his back. Steve Leialoha could have made that more apparent in the earlier panels. Maybe he changed his mind about it, after dealing with the impracticalities for a few pages, but didn't have time to go back and redraw those earlier panels.
