"A Night on the Town"
Kurt Busiek-Mike Allred/Joe Sinnott
Redartz: Hello everyone, and welcome back to the 1990's. Yes, the decade who's comics have a rather checkered reputation; but fear not. Today we will look at a little Silver Age gem, as told by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by Mike Allred (who gave us "Madman" and inked by the one and only Joe Sinnott.
Some may be familiar with "Untold Tales of Spider-Man", a title published all too briefly during the 90's. The kicker was that these stories took place during the Lee/Ditko era of Amazing Spider-Man, and fit into continuity between the original issues of ASM. In fact, they even provided a chart breaking down what issues went where, for those inclined to pursue it. Some issues of "Untold" featured such veterans as Doc Ock, Vulture, and Sandman. Some introduced 'new' foes, such as the Scorcher and Batwing. The cast included all the Lee/Ditko faces, including Liz and Flash, Harry Osborn, even Fred Foswell and Bennett Brant (Betty's brother, killed in ASM 12). Other characters were also added, as Busiek and artist Pat Oliffe took this fun book and had a blast with it. These comics were great and are well worth a read; you could probably find all of them in a dollar box.
Today, however, we are looking at the first Annual the title offered. The story, in a nutshell (a brief aside- the credits in this book tout a story suggestion by Paul Dini, comics writer extraordinaire):
Spider-Man is about to capture a gang of hoods, when his friend/rival the Human Torch swoops in and upstages him, taking the credit. Spidey decides to get even with the Torch...
and visits the Baxter Building. There he asks Sue Storm for a date (not expecting success). Sue, feeling neglected by Reed, actually accepts! Incidentally, I think Mike Allred did a nice job of giving the book a Silver Age look. And Joe Sinnott's inks certainly give the FF a familiar look.
The Torch, of course, is quite dismayed by events. Peter Parker, on the other hand, is beside himself with excitement. He floats through a day at school, but runs afoul of the old Parker luck when Betty Brant calls that evening. I sense Allred channeling Ditko here, especially with Betty's look...
While Sue and Spidey go out, the sulking Torch figures he'll fix the webslinger- he hunts down the Sub-Mariner, and tells Namor that Spidey has kidnapped Sue. Subby takes the bait...
The scene of Peter and Sue sharing a pizza is wonderful. I love the expression on Peter's face in the last panel. Of course, this is a Marvel comic, and it's been too quiet. At this point Namor rather dramatically intrudes upon the couple...
Now the fireworks ensue, and for awhile Namor gives Spiderman his lumps. And as fate would have it, who but Jolly Jonah Jameson, and Betty, show up on the sidewalk below the battle. They are quickly endangered by a pile of rubble, courtesy of the Sub-Mariner's temper.
Meanwhile, Sue summoned the rest of the FF, who are less than pleased to discover the cause of the commotion...
In a scene reminiscent of Daredevil 7, Namor witnesses Spider-Man's selfless courage as he acts to save Betty and Jonah, and begins to question his initial assessment. But the webslinger is pretty ticked. Yet before things deteriorate further, the FF show up with explanations. The Torch smirks as Spidey leaves, but later Spidey pays a silent visit to Johnny's garage and gets one last bit of payback...
This story is a lot of fun, with the guest stars, the action and the humor. Actually, the whole package is a lot of fun. Taking a leaf from the classic Spider-Man Annual #1, the creators give us a feast of special feature pages following the main story. We get villain pin-ups by the likes of Sal Buscema, Gil Kane, Jim Mooney and Klaus Janson. We get "How Kurt Busiek and Pat Olliffe Recreate Untold Tales", in the spirit of "How Stan and Steve create Spider-Man" from that 1964 Annual. We get a couple more feature pages, and even a recipe for Aunt May's wheatcakes! That's a lot of four color goodness for a cover price of 1.95. And that's definitely the way to make an Annual...
Pete is in high school at this point in continuity, but Sue is, what, in her 20s? Didn't this strike anyone as a problem?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that some creative talent in the 1990s remembered that comics should be fun.
ReplyDeleteRedartz I never read this annual but thanks for the review. Your last paragraph was interesting. I liked all of that stuff back in the day. Pin-ups are something I miss. Also, I know smoking is bad but the panel with Reed with a pipe seems so right. And Pete's sweater vest with a tie is classic. Regarding William's comment - yes that is very weird and inappropriate but also seems somehow silver age goofy at the same time. It is laced with that general naïveté of that time.
ReplyDeleteOne of my all-time favorite series, and at the time it was coming out Marvel kept the price poin at 99 cents when other comics were two bucks or more.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Invisible Woman/Spider-Man - remember, he is Spider-Man no one knows he's a teen under that mask - plus how old Sue actually was at the time was pretty ambiguous. I'd say she was no more than 21, and maybe even younger. She and Reed didn't get married until 1965, and I doubt she was supposed to be 30 (Old Maid age in the 60s ;)
Thanks for the comments, all! Regarding Sue and Pete: yes, it makes one pause. But as Dr.Oyola said, Sue's age was ambiguous. I only know she was supposed to be notably younger than Reed. And specifically, Pete may have been in college at the time ( starting there in ASM 31); I'm not certain where this story falls in continuity.
ReplyDeletePat and Martinex1- yes, this book is just plain FUN. It, and the whole series actually, was very refreshing to read in the 90's, and still is today...
I love Untold Tales...Busiek did a great job of slotting the stories into existing continuity. Too bad it didn't go on longer.
ReplyDeleteMike Wilson
Nice review, Redartz. Seems like a fun story, and - indeed - a fun series. I've read many good things about it, and really wouldn't mind reading it all some time.
ReplyDeleteWhoa Redartz however do you find gems like this, especially in 1990s era comics? The 90s were a mostly barren wasteland for me personally when it came to finding good comicbooks. This one, however, looks like a real throwback in the best sense of the word. It's refreshing to see that someone tried to recreate the fun era of the Lee/Ditko days on Spider-Man.
ReplyDelete- Mike 'my glory days are long gone' from Trinidad & Tobago.
I had NO idea comics of this quality were being produced by Marvel in the 90s. I'd completely tuned out by then.
ReplyDeleteI really love the art. Granted, some of the poses are stiff and awkward, but by and large it's a fine looking book. Specifically, I loved the way Allred drew the trunks on both Namor and the FF. That's attention to detail.
Spidey's date with Sue really caught me off guard. So very funny. "Blah, blah, blah." I hear you Pete, but it's hard to blame Sue. I mean we are talking about the Monarch of the Sea and the world's most brilliant scientist. Meanwhile the gorgeous Betty Brant is just waiting.
To me, the friendship/rivalry between the Torch and Spider-Man is one of the very best aspects of the Marvel Universe. An unbeatable combination. I find it entertaining evey time. Thanks, Redartz. Great topic!
Mike and JJ- thanks for the comments! Yes, the 90's were a tough time for 'fun'comics. Seemed it was all about mutants, clones and Image. However, as this book shows, there were some great reads to be had. Kind of like today...
ReplyDeleteAlso, JJ- you're quite right, the Spidey/Torch rivalry is one of comicdom's best buddy stories. Researching this review was a pleasure, I'm always up for a "Marvel Team Up" of these two.
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ReplyDeleteBusiek's scripting is really on point here. Excellent dialogue throughout. I especially loved how he made sure Namor got some of his trademark braggadocio in. "Namor the First!" "So swears the Avenging Son!" All that was missing was "Imperius Rex!" I've mentioned here before how much I love Namor. He's just as fun as Spider-Man or the Torch, just in a different way. So grandiose. So dramatic. What a hoot. I would've been disappointed if his cameo didn't feature at least one of his famous outbursts. Busiek delivered. He knows his Marvel, and some.
ReplyDeleteedit: typos