After a less-than-stellar middle chapter to this brief saga, I think this finale holds more water, pun fully intended. It doesn't really answer my concerns brought up in last issue's review however. There's no fortification of Kingpin's character; Peter's supporting cast still mostly takes a back seat. However, I think a forceful thrust towards resolution really helps minimize those concerns.

It's not all perfect though. I find some of the plot contrivances here a bit egregious. I mean, I've been fiddling with early Batman a little bit and that has really opened my eyes to how garish early comics writing can be, but Stan Lee was definitely a traditionalist of some sort if this comic is something to go by. It's not that it doesn't work. It works the way an obscene amount of duct tape holding a radiator together works (I've been having car trouble). Things had to happen, and I'm sure Romita Sr. had it all flow well with his art, but Lee had to throw words in front of his own feet to trip himself. It reeks of simplification, if I'm being harsh about it. We can't have a major upset to the status quo. JJJ must hate Spidey after this is done, after all.

The death of Fred Foswell is something that I feel like is largely overlooked by creators and fans, and it's gotta be because the character was too separated from Peter's day-to-day to leave a real, defining impact. Sure, he was the proto-Kingpin and it was fitting that he die here, but now he's not even remembered for that.

Peter's supporting cast gets a bit more play here, but nothing terribly interesting happens. Flash returns from military duty and has some pretty standard Lee Dialogue with MJ, Gwen and Harry, and that's it. The interesting stuff will come later. The most interesting part about this segment of the story is that the general tone regarding the Vietnam War is still largely positive. This was early 1967 so I'm genuinely wondering when the shift in sentiment will change in the comics because a year from this comic's publication, the majority of Americans would be against the war.

I don't want to make it seem like I dislike Stan Lee, by the way. I've been quick to criticize him these last two reviews, but I think that his legacy sort of deserves that treatment. He will always be Stan Lee, the good and the bad. An incredibly charming personality that did some awful things.

Quote of the issue: "We don't need a blasted Huntley-Brinkley Report!!" more