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:
