Issue(s): Web of Spider-Man #82
Cover Date: Nov 91
Title: "Pumping up!"
Credits:
Kurt Busiek - Writer
Ron Wilson - Penciler
Don Hudson - Inker
Danny Fingeroth - Editor

Review/plot:
This issue is about the long forgotten Man-Mountain Marko (although the colorist for the cover may have thought it was about the Hulk; on my copy even more than the GCD scans, Marko's pants are really purple, and there's no reason for him to have been colored grey). Marko's last appearance was in Power Man & Iron Fist #110 back in Oct 84, and for what it's worth, his appearance prior to that was in Power Man & Iron Fist #92, which was part of Kurt Busiek's short run on that title.

I mentioned in my review of Busiek's previous fill-in on Web that his three fill-ins were all about telling the story from a minor character's perspective. This one gives us two unique perspectives, one from Marko, who is full of frustration about having been beaten by "dweebs" like Spider-Man in the past, and one from a young boy that was being used by Marko as a hostage but who has fallen into a Stockholm Syndrome-like state of idolizing Marko for his strength.

The "dweeb" fear comes from what seems to have been an early encounter with Peter Parker.

Spider-Man, meanwhile, learns that Man-Mountain Marko was augmented by the Maggia (something that we learned in Hulk #354 if we didn't already suspect it), and that Marko is augmenting himself further with steroids, without regard to the risk of mixing them with his already mutated body.

And indeed, the results are not pretty.

Spidey has a cold in this issue, which dulls his spider-sense and weakens him, so there's no saying how well he would have done against the augmented Marko under normal conditions. In his current condition, the fight with Marko is a tough one, but he does eventually win. And the kidnapped kid switches loyalties when Spidey wins the fight.

Another simple fill-in enhanced by giving us different angles from the different characters. It's nice to see Man-Mountain Marko again, although i feel like it's kind of a waste to show him as being washed up and desperate. There's no reason he couldn't have continued as a mid-level goon with the proliferation of mob bosses running around the Marvel universe at this time (Marko's old boss, Silvermane, has returned, and there are also the new upstarts like Deathwatch, Bazin, and, er, Crimewave). I'm also a little wary of inserting an early coincidental meeting between Peter Parker and Marko, but of course Kurt Busiek will be doing plenty of meddling in Spider-Man's early continuity when he starts up Untold Tales of Spider-Man in a few years, and i trust him to do this sort of thing more than most people.

Ron Wilson was of course the perfect choice of artist for a story about a gigantic steroidal dude. I can't say his art here is looking his best, but the guy who drew The Thing and Super Boxers and He-Man should obviously be the artist for this plot.

Quality Rating: B

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A