12:01 PM
Brad
Cover Date: September 1963
Plot Overview: The issue opens with Spider-Man foiling a couple of crooks about to rob a jewelry store. They claim that they were attacked and that Spider-Man has no proof that they were up to no good. They call for the police and Spider-Man realizes he's made a mistake and leaves the scene. Spider-Man complains that The Daily Bugle articles undermining his work as a super hero.
Later, Spider-Man comes across a police chase and sees a man climbing the building. Spider-Man confronts the man and quickly realizes it's the Sandman. The Sandman demonstrates his ability to become nothing but sand and to become hard as a rock. Spider-Man unsuccessfully until the Sandman knocks him over and Spider-Man's mask tears. He fears being recognized and flees the scene. The Sandman continues on with his plans to rob a bank.
Peter Parker tries to sew his mask up when he sees a special report on the news. The Sandman is Cain Marko and escaped from a prison. During his flight from the police he hid in a nuclear testing facility and was exposed to radiation. The radiation gave him his special powers.
The Sandman flees the cops but needs a place to rest and decides on Parker's school. Sandman enters a room and finds it full of students and the principal. The principal stands up to Sandman and just as things are about to get ugly, Spider-Man makes the save.
Spider-Man still can't do much to hurt the Sandman and tries to keep him distracted long enough for the police to arrive.
The battle continues until Spider-Man finds an industrial vacuum cleaner and uses it to capture the Sandman. Spider-Man turns over the Sandman much to the chagrin of J. Jonah Jameson.
Peter Parker approaches Liz Allen at the end of the issue and almost gets in a fight with Flash Thompson. He backs off at the last second and gets mocked as a coward. Parker leaves dejected and hears the people on the street commenting on Spider-Man. He wonders if he should have his head examined as the issue comes to a close.
My Take: This was a pretty good issue. The fight between Spider-Man and Sandman was really long and fairly detailed. It felt like a hopeless situation for Spider-Man and he found a way to defeat Sandman. The side plots were also really good in this issue. Parker losing out on a date with Liz Allen because of being Spider-Man. Spider-Man leaving webbing in the chair of J. Jonah Jameson. Jameson later sitting in the chair and greeting Parker in his boxers. This had a lot of what makes Spider-Man such a memorable character.
This issue also did a great job of establishing Spider-Man as the underdog. He was against a foe he had no chance of beating. He found a way to win. That's always going to be a common thread with a lot of the Spider-Man fights over the year. He's always going to be the underdog beating bad guys that he has no business beating.
The art was good in this issue. The Sandman had a distinct look and the J. Jonah Jameson look is down pretty well at this point.
I'd give this ***1/2 out of *****
Notes: There were a lot of first appearances in this issue. The biggest first appearance would be the Sandman. He is one of the more well known Spider-Man villains. He switches sides from good guy to bad guy over the years but he stays a pretty consistent player in the Spider-Man books for a really long time.
This issue also features the first appearance of Betty Brant. She will be a love interest for Peter for several years and pops up here and there over the years. She's a big supporting cast member for the first several years of the book.
This one is a retcon but this is also considered to be the first appearance of Jessica Jones now. She's the brunette in the last panel of page 12. She's not mentioned by name and I had to Google where she was in the issue. She's really just a nameless character cheering on Spider-man that was later made more important. Anyways, here's a picture... you decide!
Next Issue: Journey Into Mystery #96
Posted in: Amazing Spider-Man,Aunt May,Betty Brant,Flash Thompson,J. Jonah Jameson,Jessica Jones,Liz Allan,Sandman,Spider-Man
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