Hey, look at me, I'm reading this issue and writing this review within the original timeframe that I provided myself... Give or take a few hours! I'll try to maintain my speed. For reminders, it's supposed to be "a story arc per day," otherwise I'd be doing this for a thousand plus days, and a three year (or more!) commitment is just too much for me. Just ask any of my exes! Of course, during these early days, a lot of these issues tell a complete story on their own, so it's a bit slow so far. But with my lack of accountability, it's probably a blessing in disguise.

Now, as for this issue in particular, I find myself both liking and disliking it. It's a finicky position I'm in, one called fence-riding. I'm noticing a pattern in my opinion, which is that my enjoyment of these early issues tends to depend on how much these issues involve Peter Parker's life drama. I know that is a very common opinion to have, but I've never said that I am a trailblazer. This issue has a little bit of that. Ned Leeds leaves for Europe, which makes Peter interested in Betty again. He seemed very okay with Ned and Betty in the last issue, but I guess time and opportunity make us all more desperate. However, that's about it for the Peter Parker side of things.

I noticed that the page count of this issue is 20 pages. That's two pages short since.... I want to say issue 12 or so. And that page count remains consistent at least through the end of the Lee/Ditko era. I didn't investigate further than that because I'm too lazy to get the next few collections off the shelf. Why is this important? Well, because pacing is something that can make or break an issue. And losing two pages is a bit rough, especially during this time where two pages can cover a whole conclusion to an issue. This issue is super straightforward and it all happens at a breakneck speed, and I found myself wanting to slow down for a second, but I couldn't. That really hurts Mac Gargan, the Scorpion, as a villain. You never really get a reason to relate or at least care about the guy, aside from his incredible strength and inherent threat level to Spidey.

Let's focus on Mac Gargan for a second. Now, I've kind of grown to really enjoy Mac Gargan, in a more modern context. Things like his time as Venom, as controversial as that was, really helped elevate his character, in my opinion. Here, he doesn't even have a cool costume yet. He's severely in need of a stinger, at least. Maybe they couldn't get away with a sharp, super strong stinger back then. Or perhaps they just didn't realize that a tail with a stinger is a defining feature of a scorpion, I don't know. Mac Gargan's sole motivation is money. And that's fine, I guess, just not very compelling. This man is willing to undergo unproven and extremely dangerous experimentation for $10k. And yes, adjusting for inflation, that's around $82k or $83k. It's not quite so preposterous. But I do really think less of him for it, you know? Maybe if it were a million dollars or something. This is life-altering, never change back experimentation. Mac Gargan is a dunce and deserved to be played by JJJ. The only victim here is Scientist Stillwell, may he rest in peace.

I guess this marks as an interesting chapter for J. Jonah Jameson, now that I think about it. He creates something much worse to deal with Spider-Man. His morality is right out the window. I remember seeing this post somewhere about how decent a person JJJ is in the comics, and how much of a shame it is that he may become an Alex Jones type in the MCU. But issues like this really are going a long way in convincing me that he's truly a piece of shit. He's relentlessly shitty here and, yeah, he has some scruples at the end, but he turns it around to make himself right. JJJ, as a good person, is more of a modern convention. He was pedaling false narratives, using his platform to demonize regardless of the facts and reality, and unleashed more than a few dangers into the world. He's exactly like Alex Jones, he's just doing it through the Yellow Press instead of a crappy internet live show. That all being said, he's still a loveable monster. He's one of my favorite Spidey characters, and I stand by that completely. But let's not kid ourselves now that modern writers want to make him more sympathetic, JJJ was formerly a horribly dangerous and destructive rich man whose personal vendetta has led to several deaths, and more to come.

Quote of the issue: "I'll Polish Him Off Later, When My Hand Stops Hurting!" more