Tangled Webs: Peter David’s Spectacular Spider-Man Part 1

Peter David is one of my favorite Spider-Man writers, so I’ve been meaning to reread his 80s material in order. It gets immediately complicated since he was the lead writer on Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man for about three years, but other people filled in at times, and he also did fill-in issues for Amazing Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man. Even with these limitations, he immediately makes a mark on the wall-crawler and storytelling at Marvel comics.

Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #103
Peter David and Rich Buckler’s first issue is a bit clunky. The story is framed by an interrogation as college students explain how an effort to get Spider-Man’s attention backfired.
Peter David has continued a comics career for 40 years after this issue, so he’s a smart guy and we’re seeing the early hints here (in a few months he’ll write one of the most popular Spider-Man stories ever.) At the time, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man was the street-level series and this story shows a direction closer to crime dramas than normal superhero comics. The Mantlo/ Hannigan run a few years earlier borrowed from Frank Miller’s Daredevil, but this is more Hill Street Blues.
Focusing on new characters allows David and Buckler to find entry points to the likes of Spider-Man, in addition to new things to say about the character as Peter Parker realizes how much these strangers have learned about him, and that this may have implications on his ability to keep his identity secret.

The story’s unconventional, and a bit over the place with a lot of twists. But we get a good sense of Spider-Man’s voice and a sense of caution in how he operates. And while he gets the upper hand, it doesn’t work perfectly, so this issue sidesteps clichés. Unrepentant bad guys are thinking up new projects, which immediately shows off Peter David’s sense of humor. Buckler has a realistic sensibility that works here for police investigations, but not as effectively for the superhero scenes. (Fortunately, he’s got the right balance by the Death of Jean Dewolff.)
B+

Amazing Spider-Man #266
For whatever reason, Peter David didn’t write the next issue of Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man, but he had a fill-in for the main book that same month. This issue opens before the events of Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #100, although it’s understandable in context. Spider-Man rescues a suicidal jumper who decides to never abandon him. That scene’s pretty decent, with Spider-Man trying to handle a serious situation, and getting frustrated at weirdos who want a guy to jump.

The next scene has a robbery at a comics store, which had to be fresh in a Marvel comic in 1985. Turns out the jumper was Toad of the X-Men and now he wants to be Spidey’s sidekick. And that doesn’t go well with the Frogman, or another fan of Spider-Man (who had popped up a few issues earlier, which makes this feel earned as an issue of Amazing Spider-Man.) It’s a funny fill-in story, with good character work by Peter David and varied storytelling (domestic scenes, slapstick comedy, menacing conversations in a sketchy bar) by the great Sal Buscema (who foreshadows his funny work with Frogman a decade later with DeMatteis.)
I know that Peter’s cute neighbors (Bambi, Candi and Randi) are part of the larger run, and there’s a nice scene where Peter wants to be on the rooftop as Spider-Man, but finds Bambi, so he asks for advice on how to gently ditch someone. They share a moment together which would make for a decent What If? Story. It’s also a bit of a different take on romance in the Spider-Man comics, showing a promising moment of connection, even if it doesn’t always lead somewhere (like in the real world.)
The story is fun, and there are plenty of decent sequences that say something about the characters or living in New York City in the 1980s. I’m reading these comics written before I was born, early work by a writer who is still telling stories about Spider-Man, and who will earn his position as one of the best writers within half a year. There was some in-fighting at Marvel when Peter David was hired because he worked in marketing, so he had to be really good to establish that as a footnote in his career. Better is coming, but he’s off to a decent start.
A-

The Amazing Spider-Man #267
The Commuter story is Peter David’s first addition to frequent best of lists, stylistically quite similar to his first Amazing Spider-Man issue. Peter David and Bob McLeod put Spider-Man through some embarrassing situations. He’s wearing the black costume and the Human Torch thinks the symbiote is back; hijinks ensue. He tries to fight a crook but the guy escapes to the metro thanks to a plan that works so well Spidey’s embarrassed. Spidey follows the Commuter to suburbia, but there are no skyscrapers to swing from, little kids offer to lend him their tricycle and the wife of the neighborhood watch decides to go for a very thorough investigation.
Peter David has a well-earned reputation as one of the funniest comic book writers ever (he sometimes goes against it; soon enough we’ll have a story that begins with a decorated police detective taken out by a shotgun so the man has range) and while Spider-Man fans know Bob McLeod better as the inker on Kraven’s Last Hunt and Marvel fans know him for his GI Joe work and co-creation of the New Mutants, he has a sense of humor and his straight style works for a story about the ridiculousness of a particular normal setting in a Spider-Man comic. The story is also very tight, with all sorts of threads coming together at the end. It says something about Spider-Man’s refusal to give up, but I don’t think he wants others to know what happened here.
A+

Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #105-106
Peter David and Luke McDonnell feature an unconventional team-up. Spider-Man discovers the body of a union leader, and learns that the Wasp is part of the board of the company, involved with an Italian-American gentleman named Granetti who would like to be a big force in organized crime. Granetti has hired the mercenary Paladin, who tackles Spidey and flirts with the Wasp. Shenanigans follow.
The opening scene highlights Peter David’s approach to Spider-Man, looking at things from the perspective of a New Yorker who has been reading comics for a long time and thinking about things that haven’t been depicted yet. Spider-Man’s swinging and he sees an explosion in a specific part of Manhattan, and the story puts thought into the specifics of how quickly he’ll be able to get there. He arrives too late to save a union leader, but it leads to some media commentary because Robbie Robertson will pay for the photos of a dead man. And that scene works because we get how Peter feels about how it’s close to sacrilege to profit from the dead, but Robbie has a point that the material is newsworthy and relevant to an ongoing story.
The art’s a bit off. It could be that a back issue older than I am (barely, but let me have this) has aged oddly. There’s something just odd about Luke McDonnell’s handling of superheroes- he seems like he might be more at home with more realistic material.
This is still enjoyable. And it’s a story that I think I can share with people who aren’t big comic book fans, but like the spectacle of Spider-Man being stood up at a fancy restaurant where someone offers to buy him a drink, and a waiter (who saw Janet Van Dyne in negligee and responded to “What are you staring at?” with “The lady’s figure, sir.”) comes with a menu. It’s a type of comic I might share with my dad (along with the Commuter story- which is better.) There’s something that can appeal to boomers who don’t read a lot of comics.

Spidey also has a great line, describing a frock as gaudy without being chic. There’s a scene where the Wasp encounters white powder and realizes it’s sugar- and it’s meant to imply something else, and my copy’s not approved by the comics code authority- not sure what’s going on there.
We’re one issue away from Peter David’s best Spider-Man story, and I’m realizing something he does well here and in the Death of Jean Dewolff. In his team-up stories, he gets to the differences between the characters, in a way that fits fans of both. A Spider-Man fan will agree with him about the Wasp, but a Wasp fan would think Janet Van Dyne has the right approach. The cocky mercenary approach to Paladin is also quite effective. It’s an approach someone else can use with a character who has been around for a while (though there are rumors may increase significantly very soon.)
A-

Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #5
This is the first of two annuals focusing on Prince knock-off Ace. Spider-Man comes upon a gang hit in Harlem, and Ace saw it as well. New reporter Joy Mercado (I remember her from various back issues) grabs Peter along. Searching for Ace, since he’s a witness, the two are attacked. Spider-Man chases after Ace, disappointed that he’s not doing more to stop the gang wars.
An encounter with Jean Dewolff is especially meaningful. It’s a conversation with wit and potential, which makes me want to see more of her. It’s like if Batman flirted with Commissioner Gordon. But we all know where the story is going.
I do like the idea of Peter realizing how nasty parts of the world can be. A shift to straight crime photography makes sense for him and the series. It forces him to be in more mature situations. Mercado’s cynicism is a bit of a cliche, but it’s a decent dynamic for Peter, and it’s different coming from an attractive woman than it is from Ned Leeds or Ben Urich, the other reporters Peter is often paired with. Honestly, it could make sense to bring her back, because it’s a decent professional dynamic. The story has some nice complications like a witness succumbing to injuries in a way that doesn’t allow the prosecution to bring up what he’s said.

The pacing is a bit weird. Sometimes, scenes breathe like when Ace gets six pages to ride his motorcycle to check in on his mom and sister, while a sequence in a cab is much more crammed (this may be intentional.) The biggest problem with that is in the final fight scenes.
Mark Beachum’s style is different than what I’m used to in Spider-Man, although it fits a gritty mood. It feels like it’s out of some crime drama where the superhero rarely puts on his costume (Mike Grell’s Green Arrow) or 80s independent comics. Sometimes it’s cinematic. Sometimes it seems out of place.
Ace is weird. There is texture to the character but it seems a bit of a hodgepodge of 80s clichés. He’s distant and mysterious, which makes it hard to care about his big decision at the end.
C+

Web of Spider-Man #7
It kicks off with Peter Parker walking naked into the Daily Bugle, where Captain America and Doctor Octopus are hanging out. The Hulk goes on a berserk rampage. It’s not exactly a shocker when it all turns out to be a dream, with Nightmare chased by a dream manifestation of the Incredible Hulk due to events in that title. Spider-Man is now in a situation where he can die in real life due to the events of his dream, and considers whether it’s worth risking his life to save the life of a monster like Nightmare.
Dream sequences are notoriously difficult to pull off in fiction, just because it can seem low-stakes and pretentious. It works here, because Peter is risking his life. There is also a meta-connection that Peter David will eventually have an impressive run on the Hulk (and he has a TPB-length Nightmare story in that series a generation later, which suggests that this is a topic he’s interested in.) It’s an excuse to get into Peter’s head and features all sorts of absurd sequences, competently handled by the great Sal Buscema. It’s not his best story, since he doesn’t take advantage of a setting where anything can happen as well as he could.
I do like how it ends with Peter making an unconventional decision. That’s handled deftly, and it says something big about him, even if he doesn’t remember it.
B

Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110
Captain Jean Dewolff is murdered by a lunatic with a shotgun, just before a new resident at Aunt May’s boarding house is mugged by thugs. The Sin-Eater also murders a judge who ruled that the teens don’t have to pay bail, and that judge is a good friend of Matt Murdock. The Sin-Eater evades Spider-Man, in a battle in which a civilian is killed. Spider-Man befriends Stan Carter, the detective assigned to the case, and goes through the criminal underworld looking for evidence. It seems that the Sin-Eater is caught attacking the Daily Bugle, but there’s one more twist. And it leads to a battle between Spider-Man and Daredevil, where the man without fear is trying to keep the wallcrawler from committing manslaughter.

Peter David was already good, but that first issue is exceptional. It breaks some rules of comics, since Spider-Man never gets into a fight with the supervillain in the first issue, and doesn’t encounter Daredevil (as far as he knows) until Issue 3. We see Jean’s perspective in a monologue, before her murder and it is heart-breaking. This isn’t all that funny, even if it’s clever, but it’s painful to see Spider-Man realize his loss and what it means for him. A major moment – Matt Murdock realizing that Peter Parker is Spider-Man- occurs quickly and casually.

There are some nods to some of the best Spider-Man stories ever, with a crook at Josie’s remembering another time Spider-Man was upset (going after the Master Planner), Spidey comparing Jean Dewolff’s photo collection to the kid who collects Spider-Man, and Peter trying to make it up to Aunt May after Nate Lubensky was injured in “Whatever happened to Crusher Hogan?” It is rare to see Spider-Man absolutely lose his temper, but when it’s done well, it’s incredible. And it earns the nods to the Master Planner saga.

Later issues remain excellent. There are so many good moments in this story, like Peter calmly explaining to Aunt May’s friend that Judge Rosenthal is probably not a Nazi sympathizer. And the fight with the Sin-Eater in Part 2 is incredible, with Spider-Man distracted by seeing Jean Dewolff’s badge and wanting to wake up from the nightmare when a bystander is hit. That particular sequence will traumatize Spider-Man for the next few years in the series, which is understandable. It is the type of thing that will freak out a superhero who isn’t used that to that level of violence.

It’s very carefully coordinated. Rich Buckler pulls off the hat trick of making superheroes seem like they belong in the world of a cop drama, and showcasing impressive storytelling in everything from montages to exceptional fight scenes. The story focuses not just on Spider-Man, Daredevil and the bad guy, but on others affected. It’s a bit like Daredevil: Born Again that way. The victims, as well as random side characters (an Al Sharpton style minister, or a drug dealer Spider-Man chases down) all have personalities. The Kingpin has a hell of a brief appearance, explaining to Spider-Man why he is certainly not on the Sin-Eater’s side, while casually rejecting an assassin’s offer to work for him.

The third issue cliffhanger is astounding, as Spider-Man realizes that not only did he fail to stop the Sin-Eater, but that a good friend is in danger. I also love on a detail on Page 1 of Issue 4 where Spider-Man and Daredevil are swinging to save Betty, and we see that Spider-Man’s going faster.
This is just one of the best Spider-Man stories ever.
A+

It could make for an interesting very different Spider-Man movie if they want to give Tom Holland a more mature arc. Two later issues were also seeded in this saga.

Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #112
It’s Christmas, and Peter mistakenly avoids offers for a Holiday dinner from Aunt May (which would also include Mary Jane) and Robbie Robertson, The Santa Claus burglar from the Death of Jean Dewolff strikes again, targeting Peter’s neighbor Bambi and her son. This activates a sleeping Spidey’s spider-sense, but someone else takes out the bad guy.
The story has some modest developments, with the Black Cat calling in, a supporting character getting a new wife, Peter learning about Bambi’s son, some mistletoe related flirting with a coworker, a solid gag about beepers, a friend of Aunt May’s having legal developments following an earlier story and a cliffhanger promising a new challenge.
I didn’t care for artist Mark Beachum in Michelinie’s first arc, and he doesn’t seem to be the best fit for Spider-Man here. Otherwise it’s a pleasant Christmas story and fits nicely with the rest of the run.
B+

Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #113
Aunt May’s boarder Ernie returns after a grand jury declined to press charges over the time he shot some punks in the Subway. The Bugle sends Peter to Aunt May’s to see if Ernie’s willing to do an interview, while the friends of the punk he shot want retribution and take Aunt May’s residence hostage. Spider-Man is going to have to go into the house he grew up, when it’s surrounded by police and media to fight some teenage idiots who are threatening someone he loves. In ongoing plots, the Black Cat learns that the mysterious Foreigner may have things worth stealing, and a scientist’s abused child is exposed to some radiation.
This is a difficult situation for Spider-Man, and it is earned, building on what’s been established in the last few issues. There are some excellent moments, like Spider-Man recognizing someone Peter knows, and MJ’s advice to him that he’s too close to the situation (until someone fires a gun, and she tells him to go ahead- but she knows he would have done it anyway- it may be a top ten moment for her.) The crooks are nasty, and not just in a comic book way, but it gets more complicated. Ernie tries to empathize with them, and Nate Lubensky does something that shakes Aunt May to her core. Bob Mcleod’s style fits this material very well.
In one scene, Spider-Man’s looking for the Hobgoblin and torments Joey Face, a random punk from JM DeMatteis’ Marvel Team-Up, whose funeral is part of Kraven’s Last Hunt. So this story also serves to connect the most acclaimed black costume Spider-Man stories from the 90s. I get why the Death of Jean Dewolff is collected with the second Sin-Eater story, but these two issues of Spectacular Spider-Man do connect to it pretty well.
A

It seems Peter David had an excellent first year on Spider-Man. This isn’t even counting two issues of Web of Spider-Man that were published at around the same time. More on those next time.