Issue(s): Web of Spider-Man #60
Cover Date: Jan 90
Title: "The harder they fall"
Credits:
Gerry Conway - Writer
Alex Saviuk - Penciler
Keith Williams - Inker
Glenn Herdling - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
Spider-Man fights Goliath twice this issue.

But since Spider-Man has his mysterious extra powers, it's not really a challenge.

For the second fight, Dr. Doom has rigged Goliath to keep growing bigger.

In response, Spider-Man's powers adjust as well.

And the energy bubble around Spidey would have started looking familiar to some readers.

And then those readers would have gotten confirmation.

No one actually says "Captain Universe" or "Uni-Power" this issue, though. But Dr. Doom had been observing the fight, and he seems to have figured it out.

Goliath's heart had been giving out during that second fight as he continued to get bigger, and Spider-Man was trying to get him to stop fighting for his own sake. But when Goliath picks up that boat (pretty awesome), Spidey has to weigh his life against the boat's passengers (and as Michael notes in the comments, Goliath is supposed to be ionic like Wonder Man at this point, so him having a heart problem doesn't really make sense).

To understand the impact of that, we'll have to go back to this scene, which happens between the two fights.

"He knows! He knows my secret! Even if I die, Mephisto will bring me back to life!"

Ok, i don't really know why she's quite so shocked, but she tells Peter that no one should have the power of life and death. So that's why Peter having to choose between Goliath and the boat passengers is a big deal. We don't actually see what happens to Goliath, in any event.

Spider-Man heard Goliath mention Doom, and it was the Kingpin that lured Spider-Man out to the second fight. And Spider-Man also earlier fought Magneto and saw that it was the Wizard's anti-gravity discs that were used by the Brothers Grimm to cause Madison Square Garden to float. So he's actually in a really good position to figure out this whole Acts of Vengeance thing, but i guess he doesn't think to go to the Avengers with his info.

Fun issue. I do kind of feel cheated since Spider-Man has the Captain Universe powers during all these fun fights, but i know there's a rematch of sorts coming up.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Spectacular Spider-Man #159 was the last Acts of Vengeance Spidey book. Amazing Spider-Man #328 is next. I guess i'll note that at the beginning of this issue it's said that New York is having an "Indian summer" which is consistent with the idea that Acts of Vengeance is happening in the fall (Dr. Strange's fight with the Hobgoblin took place on Halloween).

References:

• Spider-Man mentions his previous Acts of Vengeance opponents: Graviton (Amazing Spider-Man #326), Trapster (Spectacular Spider-Man #158; also the issue where Spider-Man got the Uni-Power), Titania (last issue), Magneto (Amazing Spider-Man #327) and the Brothers Grimm (Spectacular Spider-Man #159).
  
• Spider-Man fought Erik Josten when he was the Smuggler in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #49. Josten got a power upgrade after that, but unfortunately for him so did Spidey.
  
• Spider-Man also goes to the Daily Bugle this issue to yell at Puma for his overly positive coverage of him in the paper. While Spider-Man is at the Bugle, Glory Grant sees him and they make eye contact and then she runs away because she knows that he knows that she tried to shoot him in Web of Spider-Man #55 and wound up killing her werewolf boyfriend Eduardo Lobo.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

As a kid, it never made sense to me why a heart attack was supposed to bother Goliath. West Coast Avengers 1 established that he doesn't have blood anymore. So why should a heart attack bother him?

@Michael: Perhaps the "heart attack" was a failsafe put into Goliath when Doom gave him his upgrade just to make sure that while he fights Spider-Man long enough for Doom to figure out what's been going on, he won't kill him by accident.