Spider-Man in 1966
One worry I’ve had through reading these older issues: I’ve noticed that I’ve gravitated to characters and villains that have survived to modernity (or, at least, to the era where I was a Spider-Man reader). Is this because I have some connection to these characters, or is it because the characters who continue to be used just have more lasting power? I suppose I like Gwen Stacy’s characterization, so that’s an argument toward “lasting power” and quality, given that she didn’t figure into issues during the 80s and 90s, but she’s also a recurring personality fixture for Peter Parker. Gwen Stacy is impactful on Spider-Man to the extent that Uncle Ben is, so I suppose it’s probably the second option: I just gravitate to strong characterization (as expected).
Getting older makes me appreciate issues with Kraven the Hunter. Yes, Spider-Man is the most dangerous game and Kraven is chasing his own mortality and all that. There’s a bizarre sort of nobility to his villainy that separates him from the riffraff who seek power or money. I suppose I didn’t quite appreciate that until the 80s Fearful Symmetry storyline. Anyway, Kraven returns in March and I just realized this particular appearance presages Fearful Symmetry twenty years later.
We’re also introduced to Harry Osborne’s father, Norman, this year; Norman Osborne will eventually profoundly impact Peter Parker’s life (to the negative). Osborne will also set off the most shocking run of mainstream comics issues for this era, definitively moving comics from the silver age to the bronze age. We begin to see a lot of this play at as early as the end of 1966, where Parker and Osborne discover each other’s identities. This concept plays out in at least three Spider-Man movies (Green Goblin, Vulture, Mysterio), and the intensity goes through the roof each time.
The secret identity conceit that so many heroes hold is usually inviolable. Yet when it is violated in its rare occasions, the results are like a powder keg. The explosion expands instantaneously, as every aspect of a hero’s personal life is immediately put at risk of death. Suddenly, May is in a more imminent danger than a fainting spell or two. Yes, the mundane cold or blood poisoning is a hallmark of “grounded” SM, but you can have high stakes in this book. It’s totally fine that big things happen to Parker and Spider-Man. There were a lot of other big things we saw play out this year, such as the completed transition to university life.
College is much better for this series than high school. I realize the high school era is romanticized by many fans, and it’s been the primary fodder for the movies and cartoons alike. Yet I think the college setting has freed the Peter Parker character from a certain type of shackles. Those high school issues as the outsider were obsessed with a sheer lack of luck for Parker, to the extent that it became a formulaic expectation. Even the social outcasts in high school had friends, but the original iteration of Parker didn’t even have that. The college issues allow Parker to, at least, find a social niche and something resembling a personality out of costume.
And I think the high school run was much, much shorter than the non-comic fans of SM may realize. By the end of 1965, Parker had already moved on to university, and a new world was opened up to the franchise. With that said, I don’t have any worries about story opportunities for the current college-bound Holland era of film SM.
On another note, either I’m warming up to Ditko’s art or it has profoundly matured over the last few years. Parker is more expressive, his SM is more agile and confident, and the secondary characters each have unique characteristics that don’t rely on facial exaggeration. But, alas, we lose Ditko and gain John Romita. Thankfully, Romita is AWESOME for this series – to the extent that everything he draws in this series immediately becomes the definitive manifestation of every character.
And it’s the iconic introduction of Mary Jane Watson that couldn’t have been done better than by Romita. Watson is sort of played off as a peripheral dating interest, who uses almost too much 60s slang, but it’s clear that Lee is keeping her on the shelf with larger plans for later. She’s just tangential at this early point.
Was this year any good, though? It’s hard for me to say, but I’m inclined to say yes. A lot of plotting and artistic growth for this series for this year, but it’s a painful growth for the ongoing narrative itself. University Parker is a step up, but the shift hasn’t quite matured. Goblin has become the prime enemy of SM in this era, but the ultimate irredeemable action is still a few years away.
