Amazing Spider-Man:Mark Of The Tarantula

Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #231-237 and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16
Written by Roger Stern and Bill Mantlo.
Penciled by John Romita Jr. and Bob Hall.
Inked by Jim Mooney, Dan Green, Frank Giacoia and John Romita Sr.

Klaus Vorhees, better known as Spider-Man's enemy the Cobra, is on a crime spree. Using his snake-like powers, he's been sneaking into the NYPD's evidence room and stealing stolen jewels. He thinks to himself how much better his life is compared to days when he partnered with fellow super-villain Mr. Hyde. The Cobra betrayed Hyde when he fled from prison and didn't attempt to free his ex-partner.  To Cobra's relief, Hyde died in a battle with Captain America. 

At the same time, the Daily Bugle is planning an investigation of the Brand Corporation. The paper's publisher J. Jonah Jameson has a personal stake in the story. His girlfriend, electro-biologist Marla Madison, recently turned down a job offered by Brand when she grew suspicious of their activities. Bugle reporter Ned Leeds has a contact in the underworld named "Nose" Norton. Leeds agrees to take Marla with him to meet Norton at a waterfront bar. Ned's wife, Betty Brandt Leeds, is worried about her husband and calls Peter Parker. So Peter dons his Spider-Man costume and follows Ned.

Coincidentally, Cobra also shows up at the same bar out of costume. He sees Norton meeting with a reporter and gets suspicious, since Norton is the only person who knows Cobra and Klaus Vorhees are one and the same. The villain goes after Norton, but Spidey jumps in and battles Cobra. Nose Norton disappears in the middle of the fight.

The battle is brief, with Spider-Man winning easily. But there's no time to celebrate, as another villain shows up: Mr. Hyde! It turns out Hyde is not dead and wants revenge on the Cobra for abandoning him in prison. Mr. Hyde demands that Spidey hand over Cobra.

Hyde is determined to wring Cobra's neck and he'll destroy Spider-Man if the wallcrawler gets in the way. A brutal battle ensues between Hyde and Spider-Man.

Shortly after that, the Bugle and the police are searching for Nose Norton, and the webhead joins the manhunt. Things get more complicated when Spidey's old sparring partner the Tarantula is hired to kill Norton. When they converge on Norton, Spidey easily trounces "Taranny" (as he calls the villain), but he escapes and Norton is shot.

Things heat up (quite literally) at Brand Corporation. Will-'O-The-Wisp attacks a Brand factory in Boston, blowing it to bits. Spidey (correctly) presumes that Brand's facility in Queens, NY is next on Wisp's list and pays a visit.

While Spider-Man is tangling with Will-'O-The-Wisp, we learn that Tarantula was hired by Brand to kill Norton. Brand offers to give Tarantula the powers of Spider-Man, but it doesn't work out the way they planned. Tarantula is transformed into a monstrous half-man, half-spider creature. He goes on a rampage and blames Spidey for his loss of humanity.

 Later, the failed villain known as Stilt Man has fallen on hard times. Years ago, he fought and (briefly) defeated Spider-Man, but his criminal career went downhill after that. He reads an article in the Bugle about a device at Cordco, a subsidiary of Stark International. Stilt Man decides to steal the device, thinking it will help him regain his status as a super-criminal. However, Spider-Man arrives at Cordco and does something that will have a major impact on Stilt-Man's life.

Last but not least, Spidey meets a new superbeing who calls herself Captain Marvel. She has the power to transform into pure energy. She uses this to travel at super-speed and shoot blasts of electricity.  When she accidentally zaps the webslinger with a bolt of energy, Spider-Man isn't sure if she's a good guy or a villain.

And if that's not enough, we get guest appearances by the Thing and the Avengers!

Review:
More excellent Spidey stories from Roger Stern.

Story:
The Cobra/Hyde two-parter is a great way to open the book. The battle with Mr. Hyde is one for the ages.   

The Daily Bugle/Brand Corporation storyline is excellent and takes up most of the book. Stern makes good use of the Bugle in this story. Even Jameson is more multidimensional than usual. We get several scenes of him and Ned Leeds discussing their expose of Brand, not just the ranting JJJ we know and love. Sure, Jonah wants to tie Brand's corruption to Spider-Man at the beginning, but he eventually gives in to reason.

Casting Brand Corporation as the primary villain also makes this an interesting tpb. The bad guys in the real world usually don't dress in costumes, and Brand is shown to be just as evil (if not more so) than Tarantula, Hyde and Cobra. The ending of the story shows that, like the real world, crime does NOT always pay.

Stern engages in a little bit of what we would today call "meta" commentary. Spider-Man wonders aloud why the Tarantula gave him so much trouble in the past. The webhead is expressing Stern's belief that Spidey shouldn't struggle to defeat foes who don't have superpowers. But Tarantula also works here as a sympathetic and tragic character, victimized by Brand Corp.

I appreciate that we get to see Cobra's thoughts in the opening pages of Mark Of The Tarantula. Cobra talks about how happy he is to be living in a luxurious apartment (obtained through ill-gotten means, naturally) and how much better it is than his prison, where he's spent most of his adult life. By taking us inside Cobra's head, Stern humanizes the villain without excusing Cobra's crimes. 

The portion reprinted from ASM Annual #16 is unrelated to the Brand story, but it features the debut of Captain Marvel. Monica Rambeau was an exciting character and her origin story is lots of fun.

Stern also brought back Spider-Man's armpit webs, which was a nice nod to earlier depictions of Spidey's costume.

The Stilt Man story was penned by Bill Mantlo.  He does a nice job of adding some depth to Stilt Man, a villain who was generally treated like a joke at this point.

Art:
Most of this book is penciled by John Romita, Jr.and he does a great job. His work is nicely embellished by several inkers. But the most interesting portion is inked by Romita's father, comics legend John Romita, Sr. We get to see the best of both Romitas and they make Captain Marvel's first appearance feel like a classic tale.

Bob Hall and Frank Giacoia take over art on the Stilt Man story that finishes the book. They're a slight step down from Romita & Co., but they give us some good Marvel "house style" art.

How does it look?:
Here's a page scanned from my copy of Amazing Spider-Man #232:

And here's how the same page looks in Mark Of The Tarantula:

Extras:
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 contained two one-page features (one about Peter Parker's romantic history, one about the Daily Bugle) and they're both reprinted here. This book also contains entries from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe for Captain Marvel and Tarantula. Mark Of The Tarantula ends with three pages of original art.

Amazing Spider-Man: Mark Of The Tarantula features great villains, good fight scenes, corporate crimes and is very enjoyable from start to finish. Excellent work by Roger Stern, John Romita Jr., and everyone else involved.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 Sals!

Thing: Liberty Legion

Reprints Invaders #5-6, Marvel Premiere #29-30, Fantastic Four Annual #11, Marvel Two-In-One #20 and Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1
Written by Roy Thomas.
Penciled by John Buscema, Don Heck, Sal Buscema, Frank Robbins, Rich Buckler & Dick Ayers.
Inked by Vince Colletta, Sam Grainger, Jim Mooney, George Roussos & John Tartaglione.  

Variant cover.

The Bronze Age meets the Golden Age in this World War II era time travel epic!

The Invaders have turned evil! The World War II era team of Captain America, Namor, Human Torch and Toro have destroyed a defense plant in the Midwest. It appears that the Invaders have allied themselves with their arch enemy, the Red Skull, and joined forces with Nazi Germany! But looks are often deceiving.

We later learn that the Invaders have been brainwashed by the Red Skull's Nulla Ray. But the general public believes the Invaders are traitors.

The Invaders ransack a defense plant.

In any event, the United States will need new superheroes to protect her from the Invaders and other domestic threats.

Captain America's sidekick, Bucky Barnes, takes it upon himself to organize a new super-team. He goes on the radio and calls for any hero to step up and defend Uncle Sam.

Bucky gets plenty of replies from various crimefighters:

Blue Diamond: Super-strong hero with skin as tough as his namesake!
Miss America: Wears a costume that gives her super-strength & power of flight!
The Whizzer: Super-speedster who is also Miss America's husband!
Thin Man: Possesses the ability to stretch his body into any shape!
Jack Frost: The mythological spirit of winter! 
The Patriot: World-class fighter in peak physical condition!
Red Raven: Wears anti-gravity suit made by the Bird People that allows him to fly!

R: Miss America, Blue Diamond & Jack Frost take out Nazis;
L: The Liberty Legion makes its first public appearance.

They form a new team and call themselves the Liberty Legion! They will act as America's Homefront Heroes, defending the U.S. from saboteurs and other Nazi sympathizers.

Thin Man & Red Raven take down some American fascists.

But the Red Skull is undaunted. He takes over the airwaves and challenges the Legion to fight the Invaders at Yankee Stadium. A battle ensues and the Human Torch destroys the Skull's dirigible. It explodes, freeing the Invaders from Red Skull's control. The villain disappears for the time being.

Liberty Legion accepts the Red Skull's challenge at Yankee Stadium.

Back in the "present" (1976), the Fantastic Four are attacked by Nazi soldiers! They wonder what they're doing in New York, so many years after the war. The Watcher shows up, saying nothing (he was not allowed to speak at the time), but his presence alerts the FF that something isn't right.

It turns out the Nazis won WWII and it was the FF's fault! They accidentally sent a cylinder of vibranium into the past. Hitler used it to deflect missiles and ultimately won the war because of the Fantastic Four's mistake. Reed Richards decides they must go back to 1942 to fix this. When they enter the war, they're joined by the Invaders.

The Fantastic Four fight the Invaders until cooler heads prevail.

After recovering the vibranium, the FF return home to their time. But the Thing feels there is still something wrong. Newer buildings start disappearing from New York's skyline! The Watcher appears once more and Ben decides he must go back in time to finish the battle with the Nazis.

The Thing tries to get the Watcher to help him, but the Watcher can't speak.

Grimm (correctly) theorizes that a small piece of vibranium was left behind in 1942. The Thing knows that he must go back in time once again.

The Thing finds himself in 1942. Nice drawing of the Flatiron Building!

When he appears in New York of the past, he encounters the Liberty Legion. They fight at first, but then realize they're on the same side. The city is under attack from a Nazi pilot called Skyshark. Ben and the others quickly stop Skyshark and his squadron of stukas, but Skyshark escapes.

The Legion takes on Skyhawk.

At the same time, a military base is attacked in upstate New York. The Legionnaires check into it and learn that it was work of the Nazi strong man Master Man and Merrano of Atlantis, better known as U-Man. These two have battled the Invaders in the past.

 

But these baddies aren't the real menace.  The literal and figurative brain behind the operation is Braindrain, the living Nazi brain! Braindrain attacks New York in a swastika-shaped aircraft. Will the Thing and the Liberty Legion be able to stop the threat of Braindrain, U-Man, Master Man and Skyshark?

Review:
Thing: Liberty Legion contains some ridiculous stories that are very contrived, even by comic book standards. But as silly as it is at times, it's lots of fun! Any book that features a Nazi brain flying a giant swastika can't be all bad!

Thing faces off against Braindrain and his minions.

Story:
Roy Thomas wrote everything in this book. It gets off to a good start, with the Invaders "betraying" the United States and the Legion forming to combat them. I liked the depiction of the radio show that featured Bucky and the Patriot. Thomas loved to write World War II stories and he does a nice job showing what the homefront was like.

Anthropologist Elton Morrow is attacked by Nazis & changes into Blue Diamond.

I should mention that this is an odd and little-remembered period where the Thing was turned human for a short while. When Ben felt superfluous, Reed Richards built a "Thing suit" so that Ben could still fight crime.

Red Skull is used well in this story as the "Big  Bad". Braindrain is ridiculous, but lots of fun. I always thought U-Man (that's "U-Man" as in "U-Boat") was a cool villain when he fought the Invaders, it was fun to see him battle the Thing.

During the Fantastic Four portion, it gets a bit convoluted. The FF go back in time because Nazis stole their vibranium, changing the outcome of WWII. Fine, they defeat the Nazis, the world is back to the way it should be. Then the Thing has to go back by himself because they didn't bring back all the vibranium? It feels a bit forced. There is no good reason for the Fantastic Four to be left out of this tale.  But it was nice to see Ben Grimm use his brain and take a leadership role.

I'm a fan of time travel stories in general, so I appreciated that aspect of these stories.

Art:
The art here is a mostly good but never great.

Rich Buckler and Dick Ayers give us some good Kirby-esque art in the first part. Theirs is the best art in the book. I've written here before of my general dislike of the work of Don Heck and Vince Colletta during the Bronze Age. But I thought they made a decent art team here.

Heck and Colletta's work has a decidedly Golden Age quality, which suits the WWII setting. The pencils from Frank Robbins are par for the course for his Bronze Age work, meaning they're not very good. John Buscema is one of the all-time greats, but his art is a bit over-inked by Sam Grainger. John's brother Sal Buscema is embellished by multiple inkers, so his art sometimes changes from page to page.

How does it look?:
It looks good. I don't own all these issues, but I found a scan online from one of them. Here's the original page, from Marvel Premiere #29 (borrowed from the excellent Diversions of the Groovy Kind):

The reprinted version can be seen on the left side of the image below:

Nice splashpage from Don Heck & Vince Colletta.

Looks very close to the original page, no recoloring here.


Extras:
Two essays from Thomas about the Golden Age appearances and origins of the characters that make up the Liberty Legion. These were originally published in the pages of Marvel Premiere #29-30.

Rating:
Thing: Liberty Legion might seem a bit silly to readers who haven't read many Bronze Age stories, but it's undeniably fun and fans of time travel and WWII era stories should enjoy it.

J.A Morris' rating:

3 Sals.

Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga

Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #139-150 (plus 3 pages of 151), Spectacular Spider-Man #25-31,149, 162-163 & Annual #8.

Written by Gerry Conway, Bill Mantlo, Archie Goodwin & Mark Gruenwald.

Penciled by Ross Andru, Gil Kane, Jim Mooney, Frank Miller, Sal Buscema, Mark Bagley & Ron Lim.

Inked by Frank Giacoia, Dave Hunt, John Romita Sr., Mike Esposito, Sal Buscema, Keith Williams and Tony De Zuniga.

Bronze Age storylines don't get much more Bronze Age-y than this one.

This collection was just published in July, so I figure it' s a good one to start with.

Summary:
(Since some of you may not have read this story, I'll be avoiding any spoilers.)
Gwen Stacy, the love of Peter Parker's life was murdered by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121, buried in #123. But she shows up alive in Peter's apartment. He is shocked and angry, insisting she can't be still alive.

"Gwen" is actually a clone. She is part of a scheme concocted by the Jackal. Before the story ends, Spider-Man comes face to face with a clone of himself! How can he defeat a foe that knows him and has all the same powers?! And who, exactly, is the Jackal?
But that's not all! While trying to figure out the mystery behind Gwen's "resurrection", he must also combat villains like Scorpion, Mysterio, Lizard, Tarantula, plus new villains Cyclone and the Grizzly. Not to mention one of the few appearances of the Spider-Mobile and a guest appearance by the Man-Thing!

Gwen's clone also impacts Peter's life out of costume. Aunt May encounters the clone and the shock causes her to have a heart attack, putting her in the hospital. Peter had recently gotten over Gwen's death and his relationship with Mary Jane had gotten more serious. Gwen's return confuses Peter and MJ tells him he needs to figure out his feelings before they can have a future together.

Spider-Man eventually defeats the Jackal and the "Spider-Clone". Gwen realizes she's not the genuine article and leaves town to start a new life. Peter then begins to wonder if he is a clone or the real Spider-Man. After a battle with Spencer Smythe's Spider-Slayer, he knows that he is the one and only Spidey!

A few years later, a zombie-like villain calling himself Carrion shows up. He has the power to kill people by simply touching them. Carrion can also levitate and read minds. This combination of powers makes him a very dangerous foe. He has some connection to the clones of Spider-Man and Gwen, but we're not sure what that is. Carrion offers up his services to the Maggia (the Marvel Universe version of the Mafia), telling them that he will kill Spider-Man for them, he possesses information about Spider-Man that no one else has. He is rejected by the Maggia's leader, the Masked Marauder, because he is too dangerous.

The Marauder then takes center stage for a few issues, wreaking havoc around New York with his Tri-Man android. When Spider-Man attempts to stop them from robbing a bank, he is blinded by the Marauder's opti-blast. With the help of Daredevil, Spider-Man must learn to cope with blindness and stop Marauder and Tri-Man from blowing up Manhattan with a nuclear bomb!

At the same time, Carrion is creeping in the background of the story, looking for Peter Parker. He eventually finds Parker and attacks him in the ESU library. He knows that Spider-Man and Parker are one and the same, and has knowledge of the cloning that took place. Spider-Man doesn't understand how someone he's never met could know so much about him and want to kill him. What is Carrion's secret? In addition to Daredevil, this portion of the story also guest stars Hector Ayala, AKA the White Tiger!

Review:

I first read this story years ago in back issues of ASM and reprints in Marvel Tales. But the story has never looked better in any printing. If you're a fan of the Ross Andru era of ASM, you should pick up this book on that basis alone.

Back in 1995, Marvel reprinted some of these stories in a tpb called Spider-Man:Clone Genesis. This was done to cash in on the second Clone Saga.

But that book only contained reprints of ASM 141-150 (plus the first three pages from 151) and Giant-Size Spider-Man #5. This new edition adds ASM 139-140 and the follow-up Carrion story from Spectacular Spider-Man #25-31. The Daredevil/Marauder portion of the SSM story has been reprinted before, but never in its entirety (reprints usually pick up with #26 or 27). So that's a nice "bonus", even if it doesn't directly relate to the "clone" business.

So if your copy of Clone Genesis is worn out (like mine), or you just want an upgrade, this tpb is worth the price.

Story:

Gerry Conway writes a very good story here. The Jackal isn't the scariest villain in Spidey's Rogues Gallery, but he comes off as a very dangerous character here. Some of the sub-plots are just tangential to the clone business, but so what? It's all Bronze Age fun, with some of Spider-Man's greatest villains. Conway quit the title after issue #149, so Archie Goodwin ably filled in on #150 to wrap up the first part of the book.

Bill Mantlo wrote the SSM portion that introduces Carrion and it's just as good. Mantlo did some good work on Spectacular Spider-Man in the 70s and 80s that is often overlooked. Carrion is an extremely dangerous and disgusting antagonist who can kill people by simply touching them. And he knows Spider-Man's secret identity, which makes him even more dangerous. Mantlo also does a great job making the Masked Marauder a credible threat. The Marauder was usually a generic, B-grade villain, but here he blinds Spidey and comes close to destroying New York City!

If there are any flaws in Mantlo's script, it's Carrion's origin. We're never given a detailed explanation about how he got his powers, but that's a minor criticism, and fairly common in comic books.

Art:
I always liked Ross Andru's Spider-Man art, in ASM and Marvel Team-Up. Comic legend Gil Kane provides the art for the reprint of #150. In the SSM stories, we get pencils by Jim Mooney and Frank Miller, with inks by Frank Springer. These issues also mark the first time Miller drew Daredevil, but it's a far cry from his art on Daredevil's title. Miller's pencils are a bit overpowered by Springer's inks, so you don't see the "Miller Daredevil"(inked by Klaus Janson) that you might remember from the 80s,  but it still looks good and there are a few panels that resemble Miller's classic work on DD.

How does it look?
It looks great. Here's a short video of what the book looks like inside:

Extras:

Four post-Bronze Age follow-ups from SSM and SSM Annual. These were published in 1988, '89 and 90, written by Conway with art from Sal Buscema and Mark Bagley. They're not bad, but they don't add anything to the earlier tales.

My rating:
4 Sals!





Strongly recommended. This is a classic story that any fan of Spider-Man and Bronze Age comics should own, pick up Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga today if you haven't already!

Bonus!:
In ASM #153, Roger Slifer wrote a response to all the fan mail written in response to the Clone Saga, addressing some of the (alleged) flaws and discrepancies in the plot. It was not included in the tpb, but it's a nice supplement. If you haven't read the story, though, DO NOT click on the image below, as it contains SPOILERS.


That's all for now,

J.A.