Issue(s): Web of Spider-Man #39
Cover Date: Jun 88
Title: "Petty crimes"
Credits:
Fabian Nicieza - Writer
Alex Saviuk - Penciler
Keith Williams - Inker
Glenn Herdling - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
Fabian Nicieza's second fill-in in between Gerry Conway and Peter David's runs. And aha, here we go:

Since it was said that Spider-Man's red and blue costume is actually the cheap costume replica that he bought in Germany in Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1, i've been wondering if it says Die Spinne on the back, as it did in that issue. And i've gone back and looked and it turns out that you actually can see that lettering in Spider-Man's appearances in Thor #391 and Spectacular Spider-Man #138. It's inconsistent and hard to see even when it's there, but i think it's really cool that they made the effort to show that before addressing the costume in this issue.

The costume is in fact a central point of this story.

Mary Jane comes home to find Peter sewing up the costume, and instead decides to make a call to some friends of hers in the fashion world.

In real life, Bob Flanagan and Robert Temple are the people who designed the costume for Marvel's Thanksgiving Parade float.

Another point is to move things forward with Nate Lubenski and Aunt May. We hadn't seen much of Nate since he and May had a falling out when he arranged for the home invaders to be killed by the police in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #113, but he was at dinner in Amazing Spider-Man #300, but it's confirmed here that they are no longer dating. While Nate is contemplating that, we get to our third thread, and the villain of the piece.

That guy robs Nate's apartment, and May calls Peter to go and look in on him. Among the things stolen was the engagement ring that Nathan was going to give to May. With his new costume, Spider-Man then hunts down the thief by checking the local pawn shops, and eventually figures out that the thief is the homeless guy that Nate gave change to, and is also the Looter. Peter remembers that he saw him ambling around near Aunt May's house, and he rushes over there.

The Looter, or Meteor Man if you prefer, has gone a bit crazy and is justifying his crimes on the fact that he's been reduced to poverty.

But no one takes that seriously and Spider-Man eventually punches him enough that he surrenders to the police. Nate then digs the engagement ring our of the Looter's loot bag and gives it to May, and she accepts it and invites him back to the boarding house.

I've always been neutral towards the May/Nate relationship so i'm ambivalent about the conclusion, but one nice thing is that there's a point where Nate tells Peter that he's been wrong to berate him all the time for neglecting May, while Peter also concedes that he had been neglecting his aunt, so that should be one less unnecessary point of strife in Peter's life.

Nicieza does pretty good for a fill in (there's a funny/cute line when Spidey is having trouble with the pawn shops and he thinks to himself "What would Power Pack do?"), but it helps that this story was probably editorially driven to a degree, which allows significant events (the costume, the Nate/May reconciliation) to occur.

Statement of Ownership Total Paid Circulation: Average of Past 12 months = 242,875. Single issue closest to filing date = 243,741.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - Spider-Man gets a legitimate red and blue costume. Nate Lubenski and Aunt May get back together.

Chronological Placement Considerations: I wouldn't be overly concerned if an appearance of Spider-Man without the visible Die Spinne text appears prior to this, since even in the issues it's supposed to appear in it isn't always visible. But this should definitely take place after Spectacular Spider-Man #138 and Thor #391.

References:

• Nate thinks that things had been going downhill with May since Amazing Spider-Man #271, but it really ended in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #113 after the home invasion situation. And then we saw him at dinner at May's place in Amazing Spider-Man #300.
  
• Spider-Man says that he doesn't know how the Looter survived their last encounter, in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #41, wherein the Looter exploded. Looter attributes his survival to his super-strength.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Its actually cool to get a villain to represent the homeless. and it fits it well with Fester's implied mental disorders from earlier issues.