Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 16

Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #156-168, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #10
Written by Len Wein and Bill Mantlo.
Penciled by Ross Andru and Gil Kane.
Inked by Mike Esposito and Frank Giacoia.

Summary:
It's an exciting day for Peter Parker. His friend (and first girlfriend) Betty Brant is marrying Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds. Many of Peter's friends and family members are in attendance at the wedding.

 
However, the nuptials are interrupted when a gang of armed gunmen crashes the wedding with intentions of robbing the guests. They're led by a villain named Mirage who can seemingly disappear at will.

With just about all his family and friends in the room, how can Peter change into his Spider-Man suit and save the wedding party from Mirage?

Subsequently, Peter pays a visit to his Aunt May's home. He's surprised to see that she has a house guest: none other than Spidey's arch foe (and May's ex-fiance) Doctor Octopus!

The villain was presumed dead after a recent fight with the gangster Hammerhead. While Doc Ock is explaining how he survived, their conversation is interrupted by what appears to be the ghost of Hammerhead!

After changing into Spider-Man, Peter battles Hammerhead's ghost and Doc Ock. But when Ock accidentally restores Hammerhead to his corporeal form, Spidey is forced to form an alliance with Doctor Octopus. Can this unlikely duo defeat Hammerhead?

Following that battle, J. Jonah Jameson meets with a scientist named Harlan Stillwell and asks him to create a new super-powered being to fight Spider-Man. A petty thug named Rick Deacon is shot and stumbles on Stillwell's lab. Deacon asks Stillwell to save his life, the scientist does this by imprinting the genetic coding of a fly onto Deacon, turning him into a Human Fly!

When Deacon kills Stillwell and takes Jameson hostage, Spider-Man is the only hope for defeating the Fly and rescuing JJJ!

Sometime later, Spider-Man is attacked by his car, the super-powered Spidermobile. It turns out to be the work of his old villain, the Terrible Tinkerer. Can Spidey defeat a car that has powers that are similar to his own?
 

Next, the X-Man known as Nightcrawler learns that his old friend Eric Hoffman has been murdered in New York City. He visits Coney Island to investigate. Nightcrawler witnesses a shooting and winds up holding the rifle. Spider-Man finds Nightcrawler with the gun and presumes the mutant to be the shooter.

They battle until they find themselves in the crosshairs of the vigilante known as the Punisher. He believes one of the heroes killed Hoffman, but the real killer is the criminal who calls himself Jigsaw! Even though they disagree with his methods, Nightcrawler and Spider-Man are forced to team up with the Punisher to bring Jigsaw to justice.

Following that adventure, the Kingpin of crime sets his sites on capturing Spider-Man. After a brutal battle, Spider-Man is gassed into unconsciousness, so the Kingpin can transfer the webslinger's life energy into the body of his comatose son Richard. How will Spidey regain his strength and defeat Kingpin?

As Christmas approaches, Spider-Man sees someone break into a SHIELD facility. It turns out to be the work of Stegron, the dinosaur man! He visits the home of his former mentor Dr. Curt Connors. Stegron takes Connors' young son Billy as a hostage and orders Connors to help him complete his master plan.

The dinosaur man breaks into the American Museum Of Natural History. He uses his retro-generation ray (made with equipment he stole from SHIELD) to reanimate the museum's collection of dinosaur skeletons! Stegron needs Connors' help to make this reanimation permanent.

When Spider-Man goes after Stegron, their battle is joined by Connors, who has transformed into the Lizard, one of Spidey's oldest foes! Can Spider-Man stop Stegron and the Lizard while simultaneously rescuing Billy Connors?

Finally, J. Jonah Jameson has a new Spider-Slayer robot. Electro-biologist Dr. Marla Madison has created a slayer that she and Jonah believe will finally stop Spider-Man once and for all.

In the midst of dealing with the Spider-Slayer, Spidey encounters a new foe in the form of Will 'O The Wisp! He's not evil. Will O' The Wisp is being forced to commit crimes for Jonas Harrow. If the Wisp disobeys, a bomb in his head will explode and kill him.

Spider-Man and Will 'O The Wisp's fight takes them to the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, where they're joined by Jameson's Spider-Slayer! Can the webhead survive a battle with both the Slayer and the Wisp?

Review:
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 16 contains material that is consistently entertaining, even if its contents aren't exactly Bronze Age classics. While I credit the writers for bringing in several new villains, most of these antagonists aren't very interesting.


Story:
Len Wein wrote all but one story here and and most of these tales are okay. The book gets off to a weak start with the introduction of Mirage. He's a rather bland, generic villain who didn't appear again until seven years after this story (he was brought back only once after this, then was killed by Scourge).

The follow-up with Doc Ock and Hammerhead is an improvement. Turning Hammerhead into a "ghost" is an interesting change for Spider-Man villains. In fact, Wein seems fascinated by characters who can disappear or become intangible, since Hammerhead, Mirage and Will O' The Wisp all do this in these stories.

In addition to Mirage, there are other problems with these tales. For instance, during the Punisher/Nightcrawler/Jigsaw story, Spider-Man is easily knocked out and captured by two of Jigsaw's thugs, who have no superpowers. This is something that should never happen. I should mention that as far as villains go, Jigsaw, despite his memorable facial scaring, is basically just a bad guy with a gun and only a slight improvement over Mirage.

The Human Fly, introduced in a story co-written by Wein and Bill Mantlo is another new mediocre villain. He's sort of tragic since he becomes a monster in exchange for his powers, but his cold blooded murder of Stillwell makes him even less sympathetic than Scorpion, another supercriminal whose creation was funded by Jameson. I guess Marvel thought it would be "cool" to have their spider character have a "fly" to battle, but it's not a great story.

Most fans roll their eyes at the Spider-Mobile today. As a child, I thought it was cool and I'll always have a place for it in my heart.  o I enjoyed the story where the Tinkerer turns it against Spidey.

However, the book ends with three enjoyable stories. Spider-Man's battle with the Kingpin shows that the crime boss was a force to be reckoned with long before Frank Miller made him one of Daredevil's deadliest adversaries. Spider-Man is left near death after dueling with Wilson Fisk.

The Stegron story has long been a favorite of mine. As a kid I loved dinosaurs, so how could I not love a "dinosaur man?" The presence of the Lizard, one of Spidey's oldest foes, makes this tale even better. Since this story takes place at Christmas, it's one I've read many times over the years during the holiday season. So I'm happy to see it get the Masterworks treatment. This page below brings a smile to my face when I re-read it every December.

The (then) New X-Men make an early guest appearance in the Jigsaw tale. If you're keeping score, this story was on the spinner racks the same month as X-Men #101, the first appearance of Phoenix. The portrayal of Wolverine here may seem a bit out of character today. However, Wein co-created Logan, so he had every right to depict him in this manner. Plus, very little was known about Wolverine when this story was was first published, so I don't have a problem with it.

Reading Nightcrawler's guest appearance is interesting, since Wein co-created Nightcrawler and wrote the first New X-Men stories. It makes me wonder if the X-Men's series would've focused more on Kurt Wagner if Wein hadn't left the series. 

Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 16 closes with the Spider-Slayer/Will O' The Wisp adventure. The Wisp is introduced with a lot of fanfare but never amounted to much. However, I've always enjoyed this story and it features a good battle with two very different adversaries.

Wein gives us plenty of scenes with Peter's friends and work colleagues, who were one of the best supporting casts in comic book history. A highlight is Glory Grant organizing Parker's friends to help furnish Peter's apartment.

Another positive in these stories is how Aunt May is written. She'd been around for about fifteen years and spent most of that time either being near death or overly protective of Peter. Wein turns May into an activist for rights of the elderly and it's a major improvement. It's nice to see May have interests of her own besides her nephew.

Wein also adds some humorous moments, such us Spider-Man's encounter with his landlord, Mrs. Muggins:

Art:
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 16 features great art by Ross Andru. As I've mentioned in earlier reviews, Andru drew Spider-Man and others in some of their coolest poses of all time. While scanning the pages of this book, I sometimes had trouble figuring out if I had the book right-side-up or not!  These pages are a good example of what I'm talking about. Wolverine and Nightcrawler almost appear to be three-dimensional!:

Here's another great example of Andru's great Spidey poses seen in this book!:

And I love this page of the Doc Ock/Hammerhead story:

While most Marvel characters are based in New York City, Spider-Man is the most NY-centric of all heroes. Andru excelled at penciling realistic depictions of the city. Look at Andru's rendition of the world famous Nathan's Hot Dog stand:

Great work by Andru. I should mention that Mike Esposito does a fine job embellishing Andru's pencils.

Stegron also looks pretty cool penciled by Andru.

The Human Fly tale is penciled by Gil Kane with Esposito providing the inks. While Kane is one of the best artists of all time, I don't think Esposito was a good match. Their work looks kind of hurried and it's the worst art in the book.

How Does It Look?:
Here's a scan from a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #164:

This is how the same pages appear in Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 16:

Extras:
Veteran comic book writer J.M. DeMatteis penned a new introduction for this book and tells some very nice stories about his old friend and mentor Len Wein.  The book closes with three pages of original art. 

Rating:
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 16 features some excellent art by Ross Andru and the glossy paper makes Anru's work look better than ever. But the inconsistent stories and less-than-compelling villains makes for a book that 's not exactly essential. However, the Stegron Christmas story is great, plus the Doc Ock/Hammerhead battle are enough for me to give it a favorable review.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Sals.

  

Superman Vs. Shazam

Reprints All-New Special Edition #C-58, DC Comics Presents #33-34, 49, DC Comics Presents Annual #3
Written by Roy Thomas, Joey Cavalieri, Gerry Conway, Paul Kupperberg, Julius Schwartz and Gil Kane.
Penciled by Rich Buckler, Gil Kane.
Inked by Dick Giordano, John Calnan and Gil Kane.

Summary:
On Mars, a sorcerer known as Karmang The Evil lives a solitary existence. Thousands of years ago, he tried to discover the secret to immortality. His attempt made him immortal, but killed off everyone else on Mars. He hatches a plan to resurrect them. Karmang wants to force a collision between two planets, Earth-1 and Earth-S. This collision will generate enough energy to bring his fellow Martians back to life. 

Using his sorcery, he brings two super-villains to Mars: Black Adam, arch foe of Shazam (AKA, Captain Marvel) and Quarrmer, who recently battled Superman.

Karmang sends them to the Earths of their foes where they will activate a device called the space-time engine that will force each Earth towards the other. Quarrmer and Black Adam will also get Shazam and Superman to fight each other so they're too distracted to save their home planets from destruction.

Superman is surprised when Captaian Marvel shows up in Metropolis and challenges him to a fight. The fight is brief, but before Shazam flies off, he zaps Superman with a judgement ray. This causes the Man Of Steel to lose all judgement and sends him into a berserker rage, focused on nothing but fighting Shazam. We learn that "Shazam" was really Black Adam in disguise as the villain activates a "space-time engine" and leaves it in Metropolis.

Superman's cousin Supergirl witnesses this and is concerned. She has never seen Kal-El in such a rage and wonders why the two heroes want to kill each other. Supergirl follows her cousin as he pursues Captain Marvel.

In the New York City of Earth-S, Captain Marvel is attacked by Superman. A fight similar to the one on Earth-1 ensues, with Shazam being blasted with a judgement ray. "Superman" was actually Quarrmer masquerading as the Man Of Tomorrow and he activates the space-time engine that will propel Earth-S towards our planet. Captain Marvel is out for blood and heads for Earth-1.

Mary Marvel, sister of Captain Marvel, wonders what's happened to make Shazam so enraged and follows him to Earth-1.

Captain Marvel and Superman engage in one the greatest brawls any Earth has ever seen. They punch and throw each other across the United States, from Niagara Falls to the Grand Canyon.

Supergirl and Mary guess that impostors must have caused Superman and Shazam to fight each other. They deduce that Black Adam and Quarrmer must be the culprits. This leads them to Mars where Mary Marvel and Supergirl go after Karmang.

Earth's time is running out, the heroes have only two hours before Earth-S and Earth-1 will collide and be destroyed.  Can the heroes come to their senses and stop fighting each other in time to thwart Karmang's plot and save two Earths?

Sometime later, Clark Kent is working at the Daily Planet when he hears trouble and rushes off to change into Superman. Clark is shocked to find that he's wearing the red and gold costume of Captain Marvel! He uses a passageway to Earth-S to visit Shazam and finds that the World's Mightest Mortal is wearing a Superman costume!

The heroes learn that it's the work of Superman's mischievous enemy, Mister Mxyzptlk, the imp from the fifth dimension. In addition to causing the costume-switch, Mxyzptlk has cast a spell which traps Superman on Earth-S.

But Mxyzptlk isn't working alone. He's teamed up with Shazam's old foe Mr. Mind, the worm-like alien genius, as well as the super-strong, barbaric King Kull, another adversary of Captain Marvel. Kull states that he plans to kill every human bein on Earth. His strength has been increased by Mr. Mind, making King Kull deadlier than ever.

If Shazam and the Man Of Steel want to triumph over their enemies, they'll need the help of Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior and...last but not least Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny!

Subsequently, when Superman saves an ancient Egyptian temple from an explosion, he unwittingly releases Black Adam into the world. The villain attacks New York City and declares himself the new ruler of Earth. Superman battles Black Adam, but after a brief exchange, the Man Of Steel makes a tactical retreat.  

Their fight is observed by a young man named Billy Batson. On Earth-S, his counterpart is the alter ego of Captain Marvel. But on Earth-1, Billy is just a normal kid and Shazam only exists as a comic book character. He confronts Black Adam and even shouts "Shazam" in vain hopes he will turn in to Captain Marvel. Black Adam laughs at the boy.

Black Adam seems more powerful than ever. Superman finds a way to get Shazam to Earth, knowing it will take their combined power to stop Captain Marvel's deadliest foe. But young Billy Batson will also prove to be a valuable asset in their battle.

Finally, Captain Marvel's foe Dr. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana attacks Metropolis in a giant robot.  Superman is able to stop the robot, but Sivana escapes.

When the villain returns to Earth-S, he cooks up his deadliest scheme yet. Sivana creates a device that will give him the powers of Shazam.

The device works and Dr. Sivana becomes Captain Sivana! In addition to his scientific genius, Sivana is now one of the most powerful beings who ever lived.

Shazam will need to enlist the assistance of the Marvel Family and the Supermans of two Earths if he wants to defeat Captain Sivana!

Review:
The material reprinted in Superman Vs. Shazam is exciting and should appeal to fans of both characters.  It also features scripts and art from some of the greatest comic book talents of all time.

Story:
The plot of the first story, written by Gerry Conway, is a bit thin, but it's lots of fun. It basically consists of "two extremely powerful heroes fight each other." But that's okay, and I thought that Mary Marvel and Supergirl were written well in the story.

Conway and Roy Thomas co-wrote the two-part tale from DC Comics Presents 33-34 and it's another good story. Mxyzptlk has long been one of my favorite DC villains (I even had his Mego doll when I was a kid!) and he's very entertaining in this tale. When Mxyzplk objects to Kull and Mr. Mind killing people, it's a good reminder that not all super-villains are bent on world domination and oppression.

I also appreciated the presence of Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny. Is he a bit silly? Sure, but adding a "funny animal" character helped lighten the mood in a story about characters trying to kill or conquer.

The final portion gives us a story credited to Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, Joey Cavalieri and legendary DC editor Julius Schwartz. Normally, when I see a story credited to four people, I expect the worst. Thankfully, that is not the case here. It's another great brawl issue, with Captain Sivana slugging it out with Shazam and the Supermans of Earth-1 and Earth-2.

It was published in DC Comics Presents Annual #3. Bronze Age annuals were often mediocre but this is a great story.

Art:
Rich Buckler penciled most of this book and his art is good throughout. The art in the first story features Buckler's pencils inked by Dick Giordano. They give us page after page of fantastic art. When Captain Marvel and Superman are under the influence of the judgement ray, Buckler and Giordano do a great job depicting the heroes as psychotic madmen. Their facial expressions are almost scary. Lots of great action and fight scenes by two of the Bronze Age's best artists.

Buckler and Giordano also provide the art on tale that features Mxyzptlk, Mr. Mind, and King Kull.  Buckler's style had changed quite a bit since the first story, but it still looks good. John Calnan embellished Buckler on the next reprinted story. It's not bad, but it's the weakest art in the book. Black Adam just doesn't look right when depicted by the Buckler/Calnan team. 

Comics legend Gil Kane penciled and inked the Sivana story. Kane is one of my favorite artists, but this is near the end of his career. Kane's work here is good, even if it looks a bit rougher than his best work. Of course, Kane was a master of odd perspectives and he doesn't disappoint in that regard.

How Does It Look?:

I found this scan, from All-New Special Edition #C-58 on the internet:

This is how it appears in the tpb:

J.A. Morris' rating:
Superman Vs. Shazam features two of the greatest heroes of all time fighting each other and teaming up against great villains and is recommended. Fans of Rich Buckler's art will especially enjoy this tpb. It's also a good way to introduce the uninitiated to the quirky and amusing world of Shazam.

.5

3 and a half Sals.

Daredevil vs. Bullseye

Reprints Daredevil #131-132, 146, 169, 181 and 191
Written by Marv Wolfman, Jim Shooter and Frank Miller.
Penciled by Bob Brown, Gil Kane and Frank Miller.
Inked by Klaus Janson, Jim Mooney and Terry Austin.

In a New York skyscraper on 86th Street, a businessman named Hunnicutt is disturbed when a projectile is thrown through his window.  He's shocked when he discovers it's a paper airplane. When it's unfolded it contains a note that reads "Pay me $100,000 or I will kill you!! -Bullseye."

 As soon as he has read the note, Hunnicutt receives visit from Bullseye. When he tells Bullseye he doesn't have $100,000, Bullseye murders him with a ballpoint pen.   

Daredevil stumbles on the crime scene and takes an interest in the case. Daily Bugle reporter Jake Conover is reporting on the murder and asks to speak with Daredevil. Conover fills in DD about Bullseye's backstory. He was once a baseball pitching prospect, until he enlisted in the military.  Bullseye applied his pitching skills to throwing knives, guns and anything else during the Vietnam War.  Daredevil learns that anything in the hands of Bullseye is a deadly weapon.

That same night, Daredevil is attacked by Bullseye. After a brief skirmish, Bullseye leads the hero into an arena where a circus is being held.    

Sometime after that, Bullseye returns to New York. Matt Murdock is walking around and his radar sense recognizes Bullseye, who is out of costume. Bullseye attempts to rob a jewelry store, but Murdock intervenes. The police arrive and think Murdock is just an insane blind man, so Bullseye escapes. Murdock is released by the police, but Bullseye nails him in the head with a golf ball. This assault damages DDs radar sense, making him truly sightless.  

Later that day, Bullseye takes over a TV studio and calls out Daredevil on live television. Bullseye has taken hostages and will kill them if Daredevil doesn't accept his challenge to a televised duel to the death! Without his radar sense, the Man Without Fear must rely on intestinal fortitude, instinct and luck to defeat Bullseye.

Matt Murdock & Bullseye tangle in a jewelry store;
Bullseye later assaults Murdock with a golf ball!

Months later, Bullseye is taken to a hospital so that a tumor on his brain can be removed. But he escapes before the operation and is running loose in the streets of New York. The tumor causes him to hallucinate. He perceives everyone in sight as Daredevil. Bullseye lashes out at all the "devils" that surround him, which makes him more dangerous than ever!

Daredevil learns of this and goes after Bullseye. Their battle takes them from a Times Square movie theater to the tunnels of New York's subway system.

Following that, Bullseye is back in prison and hears that the Kingpin of Crime no longer wants Bullseye to be his #1 assassin. Kingpin has hired Elektra, a ninja who shares a romantic past with Matt Murdock, to be his new hired killer. Bullseye is determined to escape prison and regain his place in the Kingpin's organization.

He breaks free, but if he wants his old job back, he'll have to go through Elektra first. The two assassins engage in a duel to the death! And Daredevil is waiting in the wings to take on the survivor.

Lastly, Bullseye is recovering in the hospital from his latest battle with Daredevil. He's surprised when DD shows up with a gun and plays a version of Russian Roulette with his arch foe.

Review:
Bullseye is one of the greatest villains to come out of the Bronze Age and this is a good introduction to the character. But I have some problems with Daredevil vs. Bullseye.

Story:
Marv Wolfman wrote the two-parter that introduced Bullseye and it's a great debut for the villain. We learn right away that Bullseye is a cold-blooded psychopathic murderer, willing to kill for publicity and the thrill of it. Wolfman shows him using a pen and a paper airplane as weapons in his first scene, driving home the point that Bullseye has perfect aim and can use anything as a deadly weapon.

Daredevil knocks out Bullseye to conclude their first encounter.

The battle between Daredevil and Bullseye is a good one, but there are some plot points that are either ignored or forgotten.

Bullseye tells Daredevil that he must fight him at the circus because he has gunmen aiming at the spectators. When Bullseye gases the crowd they run away...and gunmen are nowhere to be seen. Was Bullseye lying? Did Wolfman forget? Or hoped we forgot? Otherwise it's a good story that establishes Bullseye as a serious threat.

Jim Shooter wrote the second portion and it's a great one-and-done tale.  Bullseye is getting crazier and more dangerous with every appearance. Daredevil becomes truly blinded for most of the fight and Shooter does a nice job getting inside the hero's head and illustrating his determination to bring down Bullseye without his radar sense.

The portions written by Frank Miller are very good. The story from Daredevil #181 is one of the best of the Bronze Age.  But the inclusion of the Miller stories in this tpb is problematic. They're part of a much bigger storyline and reading them out of order could ruin the bigger saga for new readers. Plus, there are other Bullseye stories that are skipped over that would've been better choices (the character also appeared in Daredevil #141-142, 159-160). Plus, the Elektra saga has been reprinted in multiple books.  I guess Marvel used the Miller stories because they're more famous and would help sell the book better than the earlier tales.

Art:
The art featured in Daredevil vs. Bullseye ranges from good to fantastic. Bob Brown penciled and Klaus Janson inked the first story. They do a nice job here. I love this image of Daredevil cartwheeling to avoid a charging elephant:

The art gets even better as the book progresses. Gil Kane penciled the story from DD#145 and it contains lots of his cool angle, "looking upwards" poses. Daredevil and Bullsye's brawl at the TV studio is a classic fight scene thanks to Kane's pencils. The scan below provides a nice example of Kane's work in this book:

Frank Miller's Daredevil art has been deservedly praised for more than 30 years and it still looks great.  But inker Klaus Janson helped define what most people think of when they talk about Miller's work.  Their noirish approach still looks amazing today. There are many pages in this book that feature no dialogue or narration caption, the gorgeous art is all that's needed to tell the story. Miller and Janson are one of the greatest penciler/inker teams of all time.

Bullseye escapes from prison during a televised interview.

The final story, from DD #191 features Miller inked by Terry Austin. This art looks much different than the pages embellished by Janson. But that's okay, as Austin was one of the finest inkers of the Bronze Age and his inks look great over Miller's pencils.

How does it look?:
Here's another problem. Some of the stories here are recolored. This might not bother new readers, but it looks garish and wrong to me.  

Here's a scan (borrowed from torriol.com) of an original page from Daredevil #181:

The same page looks like this in the tpb.

It's not enough to ruin the whole book, it's distracting and isn't necessary. 

Daredevil Vs. Bullseye is a good book and a nice introduction to a great villain, but the skipping of stories and (especially) the recoloring prevent me from giving it a higher recommendation.

J.A. Morris' rating:

      




3 Sals.