This is another one of those early Spider-Man comics that I read very, very young. And honestly, I'm sure it held up better then. Before I knew anything about how computers work. This issue is such a silver age issue. It's advertised as a special "tribute-to-teen-agers" issue, and I think that's code for a tribute to Daredevil readers because this is super, super silly.

First, let's just get this out of the way. The Living Brain is a character created from a wellspring of... Inaccurate knowledge about how computers work. Of course, this is a comic book and so we have to suspend our disbelief somewhat, but I made fun of the Vulture so I'll make fun of this too.

One, computers/AI are not smarter than humans. They may possess more information, but knowledge is not the same as intelligence. Now, the Living Brain here is obviously using some advanced machine learning. He's taking advantage of Bayesian deep learning well before it was a thing. But uh, it's Marvel time, it's different. Even then, rough-brained Peter should know better.

Two, what exact inputs does the Living Brain accept? Early in the issue, Peter has to convert the information that his classmates give him into... Something, and he inputs it using a control panel. And then later, the Living Brain seems to hear sounds and have visual inputs as well. Kinda doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Also, I can't tell what the Living Brain outputs either. Is that hexadecimal or something? I wouldn't be surprised if it is, because the company that makes the Living Brain is ICM, which is clearly a parody of IBM, who had just introduced hexadecimal in 1963. Maybe that news blurb is what Stan Lee based this entire issue on.

Three, is the Living Brain malfunctioning or not? Why would scientists make their supercomputer into a humanoid robot with the ability to fight people? For dramatics?? I mean, that's what they say in the issue, but I don't believe it! On one hand, they act like the Living Brain was damaged by the two idiots hitting its control panel. On the other, the Living Brain is clearly even more functional than it was. It's not acting random as it should be. So clearly, these scientists programmed it with these abilities for some reason. Why? Why would they do that?

Four, Probability does not equate to knowing. The crux of the issue relies on this machine being able to accurately know... Everything. This is not how computers have ever worked. And the fact that Peter is sweating over it is soooo silly. These two random guys who apparently work with the scientist who is showing this around at schools only now decide that this machine is their meal ticket, after presumably sitting through this presentation many, many times. And it's like, man, these people are all idiots.

With that out of the way, we can focus on the Peter Parker stuff. Flash and Peter finally fight! This whole part of the issue reads like an Archie comic, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's not exactly Spider-Man. It's just all so silly. This issue is so ridiculous. At least Peter gets to turn it around for himself at the end. At least he's happy.

The back-up is awful. Peter acts like an asshole, and I was on board for it until he tried fighting the entire FF for no reason. I don't really mention the art much in these reviews, if at all, but I have to say, Jack Kirby's Spider-Man just isn't nearly as good as Ditko's. Maybe it's just because of how iconic Ditko's Spidey is, but I really had a problem with Kirby's version.

This issue is really dumb and I think it was glorified filler. They had to get an issue out, but hadn't any good ideas. Way to go, Marvel. Way to pander to your prime demographic and then fuck it up. I really hope this sort of thing doesn't happen again, personally.

Quote of the issue: "Drat This Knotted Shoelace!" more

"This nonsense has gone far enough" - quote of the issue. And that's what I thought while reading the second mini-story... Pointless FF fight (I really already had enough FF in this series...), stupid Parker behaviour, VERY ACCURATE WEB-BAT and other things... Jack Kirby is great and it was cool to see him in this series, especially if you know, that it was he who designed the first unused version of Spider-Man and he could be the penciler of his story. But the script is awful, just like the main idea of that story.

What about the first, bigger one... Well, it's not that cool too. The Living Brain is a bad villain... It's not even a villain, to be honest... After Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Sandman and Lizard, Stan Lee introduces just a big green robot? It was designed to answer every question, but somehow it also could fight? I won't believe that... It's stupid. Also there was a good cliffhanger, when Spider-Man's identity was almost revealed. I guessed what would the answer of that robot be... BUT NO. THERE WAS NO REAL ANSWER. JUST SOME ""SYMBOLS"" THAT COULD BE ""SOMEHOW"" TRANSLATED, BUT STILL NO ONE TRANSLATED THEM... So stupid... I hate false cliffhangers... The battle was not of the greatest ones too. To win, Spidey just pressed some buttons on the control panel and that is all. Why couldn't he do it at the very beginning of the battle? Mystery...

This comic is a mistake, it's a shame... I like the art and some parts of the story. BUT WHAT THE HECK, PETER AND FLASH BOXING?? AND PETER JUST DIDN'T PRETEND THAT HE WEAK???? HE ACTUALLY DEFEATED FLASH EASILY AND UNHARMED AND NO ONE GUESSED A THING ABOUT HIM NOT BEING THAT WEAK AS THEY THOUGHT HE WERE?????

Aaaaarrrr...!! I like Ultimate Spider-Man where Peter almost always allowed himself to be kicked in the ass just to be sure that no one will ever think that he's a Spider-Man (spoiler, one of the school guys still figured that out) more

I surprisingly enjoyed living brain story but wtf was this second one ?
Living brain story: 7/10
Peter acting like dick and fights fantastic four: 2/10
Score should be 4.5 but I boost it to 5 because second story was at least short