Issue(s): Web of Spider-Man #50
Cover Date: May 89
Title: "1,000 words"
Credits:
Gerry Conway - Writer
Alex Saviuk - Penciler
Keith Williams - Inker
Glenn Herdling - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
A giant-sized $1.50 issue celebrating the fact that 50 is a round number by providing a story chock-full of guest stars. The plot, which is kept secret from us, is that Spider-Man has been hired by Silver Sable to get documents proving that an eccentric millionaire named Winston Walker has been laundering money for the Maggia, and Spidey's strategy is explicitly based on a Sherlock Holmes story (title not given, but it's A Scandal in Bohemia), where Holmes fakes a fire to get a lady to go to a valuable document she was hiding. So Spidey raids Walker's apartment and then follows Walker when he goes to the secret location where the documents are hidden to make sure they weren't stolen too. The complication is that a paparazzi reporter named Nick Katzenberg photographed Spidey raiding the apartment...

...and so several characters decide to "help" Spider-Man clear his name and/or arrest him for the break-in. Specifically, Rocket Racer and Prowler, after fighting amongst themselves...

...try to help Spider-Man but then turn on him when they find out that he really did break in to the apartment, while Puma and Will O' The Wisp go after Spider-Man from the start.

And then there's Sandman, who as a member of Silver Sable's Wild Pack, helps "defend" Spider-Man against his friends, a little more violently than Spidey would like.

The truth all comes out in the end, though, and everybody leaves on good terms.

Will O' The Wisp is a weird character whose personality i never got a good grip on, so it's weird to see him included here, especially after such an extended absence.

It's a fun issue even if it's a bit contrived. And despite the large cast of guest stars, Conway continues with the regular subplots as well. One thing that's interesting is the degree to which all the Spider-Man books share subplots. That's not entirely surprising considering that Conway is writing two thirds of them, but even that is unusual considering that a reader might not be following both books. But on top of that, we're seeing the Chameleon storlyine, introduced in Amazing, continued here.

You'll notice that JJ is very happily buying the pictures from Katzenberg up above; actually, he's putting Katzenberg on staff. But then when JJ goes home, he gets knocked out by someone...

and at the end of the issue we find out it's the Chameleon.

The Chameleon has replaced JJ at the Bugle, setting off Peter's Spider-Sense but not enough for him to investigate yet.

When JJ/Chameleon refuses to run the photos exonerating Spider-Man, i am surprised Peter doesn't take them to another paper, as he's done in the past. Peter is not on staff at the Bugle at this point. It may be because he's got other things on his mind, like trying to have a little nookie with his wife without Aunt May busting in on him.

Joe Robertson's trial plot also continues here. His son Randy yells at him, although it's not quite clear for what. Originally Joe was going to plead guilty, but his family convinced him to go to trial and fight. So now he's fighting. From anything we've seen so far, it's not his fault the trial isn't going well.

That appearance of the Joker in the scene above has him telling the punchline of his joke from Alan Moore's Killing Joke, which someone has helpfully transcribed on the Rap Genius website.

The Lobo brothers plotline also continues. They give the Arranger a threatening call, and then chuckle amongst themselves about how they've got Glory Grant ready to do whatever they want.

Statement of Ownership Total Paid Circulation: Average of Past 12 months = 238,115. Single issue closest to filing date = 197,700.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Nick Katzenberg

Chronological Placement Considerations: Peter and MJ are staying at Aunt May's house, placing this after Amazing Spider-Man #314.

References:

• Spider-Man thought things were settled between him and Puma after Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man annual #7.
  
• Spider-Man helped Rocket Racer get his life together in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #104.
  
• The Will O' The Wisp is given a footnote for Amazing Spider-Man #235, "among other places".

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

"His son Randy yells at him, although it's not quite clear from what. Originally Joe was going to plead guilty, but his family convinced him to go to trial and fight. So now he's fighting. From anything we've seen so far, it's not his fault the trial isn't going well."
As we'll see in Spectacular 150, which came out three weeks later, Robbie refused to allow Cynthia to try to get the charges dismissed on a technicality.
Note that Puma becomes indebted to Spider-Man again here- this will become important in future issues.

As a kid this issue was a favorite of mine. I loved all the guest stars. This is the first comic I had where I started thinking about things from a collector perspective. I was sure this issue would be worth money someday so I made sure to take extra care of it. I'm not sure why I thought that. Maybe the gold lettering on the cover. You can imagine how my little heart broke when I got my hands on a price guide.