12:01 PM
Brad
Plot Overview: Johnny Storm sits down to read the paper after a morning of training and gets upset that Spider-Man is getting all the headlines again. Meanwhile the Fox is planning to steal a Da Vinci painting and Spider-Man is going to help him.
The Fox and his gang steal the painting by cutting the power to the museum and then pose as repairmen. The Fox leaves a piece of webbing behind and the authorities believe it's Spider-Man.
Spider-Man decides to look up the Human Torch to help prove his innocence. The Torch isn't in a listening mood and instead attacks Spider-Man. Spider-Man eventually encases the Torch in cement and manages to escape the scene.
Spider-Man sneaks into a nearby chemistry lab and develops a new webbing with an ice based silicone in it. This way he can trap the Torch long enough to tell his side of the story. The Torch is talking with the local police when Spider-Man calls him out. The Torch gives chase until he falls into Spider-Man's trap. Spider-Man tells the Torch his story and the Torch decides to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The Torch heads to the local police and hears that Spider-Man stole another painting 30 minutes ago. The Torch tells the police that it wasn't Spider-Man because they were together then. The police figure out that the thief is probably the Fox. The Torch and Spider-Man meet up and the search is on!
Spider-Man comes across an old lady in the subway and takes her luggage. The luggage is covered in glue and Spider-Man is trapped. The Fox reveals himself and gets ready to shoot Spider-Man but the Torch melts his gun with a fireball. The Fox flees and escapes the duo. Spider-Man uses his Spider Sense to lead the duo to a couple of the Fox's lairs. They finally come across some of his minions and capture them. The minions tell our heroes that the Fox headed to Central Park.
Spider-Man and the Torch arrive at Central Park and find another empty Fox lair. They come across a man offering views from a telescope and Spider-Man grabs him. He pulls a mask off to reveal the Fox! The Torch opens the telescope to find the Da Vinci painting. Our heroes trade barbs as the issue comes to an end.
My Take: I find it interesting that the Fantastic Four have appeared 3 times in the first 5 issues of Amazing Spider-Man and now we have Spider-Man showing up in a Strange Tales Annual. I don't know sales figures but my guess is the FF and Spider-Man are by far the biggest selling titles at this point thus we're getting them guest starring with each other so much. I have always thought Spider-Man and the Human Torch are one of those great friendships in comics and that seems to be true from the start. It's also interesting because I think even in the 1960s, this kind of guest starring wasn't a very common thing. There seems to be some real trending setting going on at Marvel already.
This was a fun issue. Spider-Man and the Torch are very similar characters and it's fun to see them grate on each other so much. It's also funny that Spider-Man can't stop running his mouth, even when he's trying to get the Torch to help him. This issue doesn't disappoint as far as Silver Age Spider-Man/Torch team ups go. Their rivalry always proves to be entertaining.
I was a little disappointed that their first real team up was wasted on a lame one shot villain like the Fox. The villain stable is pretty thin at this point but I can't really blame them for that. Marvel has only been around for 2 years at this point. Still, seeing the Vulture and Wizard team up might have been fun to see.
The art felt pretty rushed in this issue. There are a lot of distant shots of Spider-Man that have zero detail whatsoever. I imagine they were in a crunch to get out an extra issue and it's disappointing to have to look at the mediocre art in this book.
Overall, this was a fun but forgettable book. I was entertained reading it from start to finish. I never felt myself checking the page numbers as I was leafing through and that's all I ask of these early comics.
I give this **1/2 out of *****.
Notes: The Fox is a one time villain so his first appearance in this book isn't very important. This issue would mark the first time that Spider-Man has appeared outside of his own comic book in a first run story. This is also the first official team up of Spider-Man and the Human Torch.
Next Issue: Fantastic Four #20
Posted in: Human Torch,Spider-Man,Strange Tales,Sue Richards
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