Reading The Amazing Spider-Man: Issue Number Five

Every week, I invite you to join me in reading The Amazing Spider-Man comicbook an issue at a time. As we examine each story with a critical eye, we learn a little something about building an enduring storyworld and story franchise. This week, it's issue number five: "Marked for Destruction by Doctor Doom!"

As always, we begin with the splash page… and it's a doozy. The cast of characters run down the left and right side — there's Peter Parker, Doctor Doom, J. Jonah Jameson Betty Brant, Flash Thomson and Liz Allen, "the other Spider-Man," and, represented by an image of their skyscraper headquarters, "the world's most fabulous super-team!"

In the middle are profile shots of Spider-Man and the armored, green-robed Dr. Doom. They're supposed to be facing off, ready to do battle… but really, it looks like a freeze frame from a groovy sixties go-go movie, and guess who the star dancers are? Let's get past this as quickly as possible.

Synopsis

Our tale begins with the Midtown High gang — Flash Thompson, Liz Allen, Peter Parker and assorted un-named teens — at the local bowling alley, where the game has been interrupted by interest in a television show vilifying the amazing Spider-Man and sponsored by J. Jonah Jameson. The kids are all fans of Spider-Man, especially Flash Thompson, and Liz Allen reveals an all-out crush on the hero. Because Peter Parker thinks he needs to avoid raising suspicion, he speaks out as a devil's advocate and gives Jameson the benefit of the doubt.

This offends Flash Thomson, who tells Peter to get lost, since "this is a bowling alley, not a knitting parlor!"

In another part of town, a far more sinister viewer takes in Jameson's propaganda piece. It's the wicked and brilliant Dr. Doom, who until now has concerned himself primarily with antagonizing the Fantastic Four. Lamenting that he has never been able to defeat the Fantastic Four on his own, Dr. Doom decides he will recruit the amazing Spider-Man to fight at his side.

First, though, he has to contact Spider-Man. It's "a simple matter for one my genius to create" a transmitter that targets the same wavelength as Spider-Man's spider senses. Peter Parker, back in his bedroom practicing with his web-shooters, picks up the "calling Spider-Man" message loud and clear and marvels,

Who can it be? How could anyone have figured out a way to reach me through my spider's sense?

Well… maybe if you're the amazing Spider-Man, you'd immediately think it could be the Chameleon, who already created such a transmitter and used it to double-cross you in the first issue of your comicbook!

Another interesting conclusion we have to make: either the Chameleon, a disguise artist and spy, is as smart as Doctor Doom… or Doctor Doom, who has invented devices to travel through time and levitate entire skyscrapers, is as smart as the Chamelon.

Or… Stan Lee and Steve Ditko were counting on very few people actually having read the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man by the time the fifth issue came out.

But I digress.

Spider-Man tracks the signal to Doctor Doom's hideout in short order. Despite Spider-Man's immediate antagonism, as he knows Doctor Doom is a world-class criminal, Doom makes his pitch:

Friendship is for weaklings! What I offer you is power! Together, we could rule the world!

You're an outcast, the same as I! You dare not reveal your true identity! And yet, right under your nose, the Fantastic Four basks in the limelight, while you are shunned and hunted!

Of course, Doctor Doom's real plan is to use Spider-Man and then "destroy him without a second thought," as is revealed in a thought bubble. Not that there was much of a chance for their partnership. Spider-Man firmly declines.

Doom warns him that this will make them enemies. Spider-Man responds to that threat by webbing him up from head to toe… but wait! It was only a robot! The real Doctor Doom emerges from behind a panel and attacks.

Twisting and turning to avoid trap doors and shots from Doom's miniature finger guns, the amazing Spider-Man escapes. Dr. Doom lets him go. He has bigger plans… to use Spider-Man as bait to lure the Fanastic Four!

First, he blows up the building he'd been using as a hideout… I guess it had the stink of rejection all over it, and that never washes out. Spider-Man takes some pictures of the fire, which he sells to J. Jonah Jameson the next day.

While he's at the offices of Jameson Publications, Peter discovers two things: J. Jonah Jameson's only real motive in attacking the amazing Spider-Man is money — the attention sells newspapers — or so he says. Also, Peter realizes for the first time that Betty Brant, Jameson's young secretary, is kinda hot.

Meanwhile, two very different people are about to have the a meet-cute of the worst kind. Flash Thomson, still steamed that Peter Parker could have anything bad to say about his hero, dresses up as the amazing Spider-Man with the intention of jumping Peter and scaring a lesson into him.

Doctor Doom, in another disposable hide-out, creates "an instrument which will react to a spider's impulses" in order to track down Spider-Man. Seems like he's going to get a lot of false positives unless he creates an instrument to react to Spider-Man's impulses. not every freakin' spider in the city, but, hey, whatever. Doom wants to learn Spider-Man's true identity so he can use him in a blackmail plot.

Naturally, when Doom, flying around in his helicopter, zeroes in on Peter Parker's "spider's impulses," he sees Flash Thompson in his Spider-Man costume about the intercept the oblivious Peter. Doom knocks out Flash with some sleeping gas and zips away with him.

"Minutes later," Peter and his Aunt May are watching television when the Ed Sullivan Show is interrupted by a pirate broadcast from Doctor Doom, who reveals he has captured Spider-Man. He demands the Fantastic Four disband and surrender to him one at a time, or "Spider-Man will forfeit his life!" He set a one hour deadline.

Despite a brief, naughty temptation to let the the clock run out on his high school rival, Peter nonetheless changes to the amazing Spider-Man and sets off to discover Doctor Doom's new secret hideout. He scours the city, hoping to pick up Doom's use of "tremendous" amounts of electrical power, and finally senses "hostile emanations" from an abandoned factory.

Gotta say, that spider-sense is pretty good if it can discern one Latvarian madman's "hostile emanations" from a whole city's worth. This is New York, after all.

Anyway, Spider-Man hopes to surprise Doom by sliding in through the chimney, for all intents and purposes. Doom is thrown for a loop, since he thinks he has Spider-Man in a prison cell, but he recovers swiftly, blasting at Spider-Man with a finger-gun.

So begins their fight across six pages — Spider-Man's agility and spider-sense versus Doctor Doom's technological trickery and various booby traps. Despite Spider-Man's wisecracking, he's largely on the ropes throughout and indeed, is just about to fall when Doom catches sight of the Fantastic Four's "fantasti-car" on the approach.

Dr. Doom reckons he can't fight Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four at the same time — a rare instance of discretion winning over ego for this character — and makes good his escape. Spider-Man, recovering from temporary blindness caused by one of Doom's gizmos, is at first happy to show the Fantastic Four that he reached Doom before they could, but he remembers he'd told Aunt May he'd only be gone a little while.

I left her alone at home! She's probably beside herself with worry about me by now!

Poor Aunt May! Can't waste a second! Got to rush back home!

This feels like a forced exit, and it is — it's a setup to leave Flash Thompson — who has learned his lesson when it comes to dressing up like Spider-Man — free to be discovered by the Fantastic Four. The Human Torch quickly recognizes that they're dealing with an imposter, and (we presume) see him safely home.

The next day, at the office of J. Jonah Jameson, Peter gets chewed out by Jonah for not getting any pictures of Flash Thompson's kidnapping. Peter takes it in stride, though, for during Jonah's tirade, Betty Brant whispers boldly:

Don't feel too badly, Peter! I may only be J.J.'s secretary, but I think you're wonderful!!

Ho-ho! This gets Peter thinking interesting thoughts, but his excitement of potential new love is dampened when he gets to school and discovers that Flash Thompson has painted himself as the hero of the whole Doctor Doom affair. Peter's the only one who knows the truth, but if he speaks up, bye-bye secret identity. Flash wins again! Waah!

Thoughts On Issue Five Of The Amazing Spider-Man

The Fantastic Four, together or separately, appear in nearly every issue of The Amazing Spider-Man to date. On the one hand, it's a useful device to show that every Marvel comicbook is part of a larger story, a mosaic of characters with different adventures who all nevertheless co-exist in the same world. The Marvel Universe, even in this early, embryonic state, is a storyworld in the truest sense.

On the other hand, unless I mis-remember, the amazing Spider-Man rarely if ever appeared in the pages of The Fantastic Four during this same time. There's more going on here than establishing a milieu. Stan Lee, or his bosses, are wisely using their most popular title's characters to boost the appeal of their newest hit.

That's an understandable business decision, but the integration of Doctor Doom into Spider-Man's adventures feels both inevitable and forced. Doctor Doom, who is supposed to be one of the most brilliant characters in the Marvel universe, behaves more like a puppet of the writer than a megalomaniacal mastermind. The only saving grace is that Doctor Doom nearly cleans Spider-Man's clock, which is about the only way a fight between the older, more experienced and more heavily armed Doom and the teenaged Spider-Man could have gone.

So I give low marks to the "A" plot of this issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. That said, several interesting things happen in the "B" plot that lay the groundwork for future stories: we see just how dedicated a fan Spider-Man has in Flash Thompson, and Peter Parker inspires a surprising declaration of approval from Betty Brant. Therein lies our lesson and take-away for this issue: make your subplots count.

This issue, and the one previous, do a lot to flesh out the supporting cast of The Amazing Spider-Man to the point where they're more than just extras. Flash Thompson was the catalyst for most of this issue's action. Betty Brant is going to matter more and more in coming issues. Both characters will do much to shape Peter Parker's development and growth across the coming years. So, too, will Liz Allen, though so far she's really just been something for Peter and Flash to fight over.

More and more, we're seeing that no matter what super-hero action is happening, there's a lot happening when Peter Parker isn't wearing the tights, too. The Amazing Spider-Man is becoming as much about the boy as it is about the spider.

In your storyworld's installments, episodes, chapters, what-have-you, don't neglect your supporting cast. Make sure they truly support the story — they are among your most valuable assets!

The Amazing Spider-Man number five

"Marked For Destruction By Doctor Doom!"

Cover Date: October, 1963

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Steve Ditko

Inks: S. Rosen

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Matthew Wayne Selznick - Telling stories with words, music, pictures and people.