Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1963-11-01 00:02:10 |
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Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1
Issue(s): Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1
Cover Date: Sep 95
Title: "To Serve and Protect?"
Credits:
Kurt Busiek - Writer
Pat Olliffe - Penciler
Al Vey - Inker
Glenn Greenberg - Assistant Editor
Tom Brevoort - Editor
Bob Budiansky - EIC
Review/plot: Spider-Man fights a flame-throwing super-villain called the Scorcher...
...but in the process screws up an ongoing police investigation that would have lead to finding out who the Scorcher was working for (Norman Osborn).
At one point Spidey offers to work for the police (which was a good idea and had a precedent in the android Human Torch) but Captain Stacy turns him away (and starts piecing together his identity).
Written in a time when the real Spider-Man had been replaced with a clone, these are good stories written for long time Spidey fans. They are written to fit in between the Lee/Ditko issues. This is a solid, fun Spidey story. Pat Olliffe' style has classic retro elements but doesn't descend into pure Ditko clonage or parody.
Quality Rating: B
Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Scorcher, who has enough staying power that he'll be brought back in modern times and still has the occasional appearance
Chronological Placement Considerations: According to the chronology chart in UTOS #14, this issue takes place between Amazing Spider-Man #6-#7.
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? Y
My Reprint: N/A
| Previous: Amazing Spider-Man #6 | Up: Main 1963 / Box 2 / Silver Age | Next: Strange Tales #117 (Dr. Strange) |
Comments
The only real problem I had with Untold Tales then and now is that the new villains were pretty generic and unoriginal, with character designs that just don't fit the period they're supposed to be in. Scorcher, for example, looks like he was designed by someone who had grown up in the '80s and had a nice action figure collection.
The first two issues of this were placed between Amazing#6 and 7 which I put all of this before Strange Tales#115. I enjoyed Busiek's writing on this but agree that some of it looked like it was from a different time frame than the original stories they fit between.
This is nitpicky as hell, but for continuity's sake, it's kind of a drag Pat gives Spidey big 90s eyes and not period-appropriate Ditko narrows. I mean, to have Peter still wear that blue dress outfit, but no eyes? blarglargh.
But that's piffle. UToSM was great for most of its run. It was my first monthly comic subscription, and a breath of fresh air as we reached the high Clone age.
At the time, Untold Tales and Karl Kesel's run on Daredevil were the only Marvel comics being praised by Wizard.
