{"id":27176,"date":"2022-12-08T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T09:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=27176"},"modified":"2022-12-06T17:12:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T17:12:56","slug":"amazing-spider-man-epic-collection-volume-8-man-wolf-at-midnight-1973-1975","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/12\/08\/amazing-spider-man-epic-collection-volume-8-man-wolf-at-midnight-1973-1975\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection volume 8: Man-Wolf at Midnight 1973-1975"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Gerry Conway<\/strong> Ross Andru<\/strong>, Gil Kane<\/strong>, John Romita<\/strong>, Paul Reinman <\/strong>& various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-1-3029-3350-0 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Astounding Arachnid Amazement\u2026 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazing Spider-Man <\/strong>was a comic book that matured with – or perhaps just slightly ahead of – its fan-base. This epic compendium of chronological webspinning wonderment sees the World\u2019s Most Misunderstood Hero facing even greater and evermore complex challenges as he slowly recovers from the trauma of losing his true love and greatest enemy in the same horrific debacle\u2026<\/p>\n

Once original co-creator Stan Lee replaced himself with young author Gerry Conway, the scripts acquired a more contemporary tone (which of course often feels quite outdated from here in the 21st<\/sup> century): purportedly more in tune with the times whilst the emphatic use of soap opera subplots kept older readers glued to the series even when the bombastic battle sequences didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Moreover, as a sign of those times, a hint of cynical surrealism also began creeping in\u2026<\/p>\n

Thematically, there\u2019s a decline in old-fashioned gangsterism and a growing dependence on outlandish villains. The long-established balance of costumed super-antagonists with thugs, hoods and mob-bosses was gradually tipping and a global resurgence in supernatural stories resulted in more monsters and uncanny happenings\u2026<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the wallcrawler was still indisputably mainstream comics\u2019 voice of youth and defined being a teen for readers of the 1970s: facing incredible hardships, fantastic foes and the most pedestrian and debilitating of frustrations.<\/p>\n

For newcomers<\/strong> – or those just visiting thanks to the latest Spider-Man movies<\/em>: Smart-but-alienated Peter Parker<\/em> was bitten by a radioactive spider during a school trip. Discovering strange superhuman abilities which he augmented with his own natural chemistry, physics and engineering genius, the kid did what any lonely, geeky nerd would do with such newfound prowess: he tried to cash in for girls, fame and money.<\/p>\n

Making a costume to hide his identity in case he made a fool of himself, Parker became a minor media celebrity – and a criminally vainglorious one. To his eternal regret, when a thief fled past him one night he didn\u2019t lift a finger to stop him, only to find when he returned home that his guardian uncle Ben Parker<\/em> had been murdered.<\/p>\n

Crazed and vengeful, Peter hunted the assailant who\u2019d made his beloved Aunt May<\/em> a widow and killed the only father he had ever known. He discovered to his horror that it was the self-same felon he had neglected to stop. His irresponsibility had resulted in the death of the man who raised him, and the traumatised boy swore to forevermore use his powers to help others.<\/p>\n

Since that night, the Wondrous Wallcrawler tirelessly battled miscreants, monsters and madmen, with a fickle, ungrateful public usually baying for his blood even as he perpetually saves them.<\/p>\n

Now the high school nerd has grown up and gone to college. Because of his guilt-fuelled double-life he struggles there too – even developing a stress ulcer – but finds abiding love with cop\u2019s daughter Gwen Stacy<\/em>\u2026 until she is murdered by the Green Goblin<\/strong>. Now Parker must pick up the pieces of his life\u2026<\/p>\n

This stunning compilation reprints Amazing Spider-Man <\/strong>#124-142 and Giant-Size Super-Heroes<\/strong> #1: collectively covering cover-dates September 1973 to March 1975, affirming an era of astounding introspective drama and captivating creativity.<\/p>\n

As previously stated, at this time horror was on the rise and the trend permeated all aspects of Marvel continuity. In #124, J. Jonah Jameson<\/em>\u2019s astronaut son John<\/em> was revealed to have picked up a strange gem during a unofficial moonwalk which later transformed him into a lupine beast bearing \u2018The Mark of the Man-Wolf!\u2019 by Conway, Gil Kane & John Romita. <\/em><\/p>\n

Deranged and deadly, the hairy horror stalks his own fianc\u00e9e Kristine Saunders<\/em> as well as his scandal-obsessed, newspaper-publisher father, with a gravely-traumatised, fighting-mad Spider-Man reacting in a far more brutal manner than ever before\u2026<\/p>\n

The conclusion marked the official debut of the title\u2019s next star penciller as Ross Andru joined Conway and Romita to delineate the end of the Man-Wolf saga in \u2018Wolfhunt!\u2019: offering a particularly grisly cure for the ethereally-altered astronaut\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

In #126, a new subplot bloomed as a marketing firm hires the astounded and unbelieving arachnid to build a \u201cSpider-Mobile\u201d (thanks to a budding toy-merchandising deal Marvel was then negotiating) whilst an old and extremely inept enemy returns as \u2018The Kangaroo Bounces Back!\u2019 <\/em>(drawn by Andru and inked by Jim Mooney).<\/p>\n

Short of cash and desperate, Spidey ropes in best frenemy Johnny<\/em> (Human Torch<\/strong>) Storm<\/em> to help assemble the anticipated automobile, but is totally unprepared for his Australian attacker since bouncing bounder has endured a rapid and ultimately unwelcome power upgrade from a rogue – and extremely deranged – doctor named Jonas Harrow<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in the apartment Peter still shares with Harry Osborn<\/em> (son of the Green Goblin), his flatmate finally succumbs to the mental illness that has been sucking him down since the death of dear old Dad\u2026<\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s frivolous party-loving friend Mary Jane Watson<\/em> comes under the spotlight in #127 as \u2018The Dark Wings of Death!\u2019 – inked by Frank Giacoia & Dave Hunt – finds her targeted by a strangely familiar monster who believes she witnessed his last kill. <\/em>The mystery concludes in \u2018The Vulture Hangs High!\u2019 <\/em>wherein an incredible truth about the avian atavist is revealed. Moreover, portents of future catastrophe manifest as Parker\u2019s biology tutor Professor Miles Warren<\/em> warns that the scholarship student\u2019s grades are slipping and his position is far from secure\u2026<\/p>\n

Conway, Andru, Giacoia & Hunt crafted a true landmark in comics history in Amazing Spider-Man<\/strong> #129 with \u2018The Punisher Strikes Twice!\u2019:<\/em> introducing not only the renegade gunslinger but also nefarious manic mastermind The Jackal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Although one of the industry\u2019s biggest hits from the late 1980s onwards, compulsive vengeance-taker Frank Castle<\/em> was always an unlikely and uncomfortable star for comic books. His methods are always excessively violent and usually permanent. It\u2019s intriguing to note that unlike most heroes who debuted as villains (Black Widow<\/strong>, Hawkeye<\/strong> and Wolverine<\/strong> immediately come to mind) The Punisher<\/strong> actually became more<\/em> immoral, anti-social and murderous, not less: the buying public simply shifted its communal perspective as the Punisher never toned down or cleaned up his act\u2026<\/p>\n

He was created by Conway, Romita Sr. and Andru; an understandably sanitised and muted response to popular prose anti-heroes like Don Pendleton\u2019s Mack Bolan: the Executioner<\/strong>: the cutting edge of a bloody tide of fictive Viet Nam vets who all turned their training and talents to wiping out organised crime in the early 1970s.<\/p>\n

In this short, sharp shocker the man with the skull on his chest is duped by his manipulative partner into hunting Spider-Man. Still a suspect in the death of Norman Osborn<\/em>, the hero is easy to frame for the murder of the Punisher\u2019s personal armourer and gunmaker\u2026<\/p>\n

A long-running mystery over Aunt May\u2019s connection to Doctor Otto Octavius<\/em> is at last addressed in #130 as \u2018Betrayed!\u2019 <\/em>finds up-&-coming gang boss Hammerhead<\/em> prodded and provoked by the Jackal, just as arch-rival Doctor Octopus<\/em> resurfaces.<\/p>\n

Distracted by his now-completed Spider-Mobile, the webslinger is slow to react \u2026until he finally discovers why May Parker is so important to the villain, but by then she\u2019s in the process of becoming Mrs. Otto Octavius\u2026<\/p>\n

Spider-Man is just about to bust up the wedding in \u2018My Uncle\u2026 My Enemy?\u2019 <\/em>when Hammerhead beats him to it. As the three-way war escalates, the truth comes out. May has inexplicably inherited a desolate Canadian island which just happens to be teeming with uranium deposit, and its own Fast Breeder Atomic Reactor, which both Ock and Hammerhead want to secure as the means to becoming an independent nuclear power. When the rival rogues furiously clash, it\u2019s all Peter can do to get May out before the entire place becomes an atomic inferno\u2026<\/p>\n

Illustrated by John Romita Sr., Paul Reinman & Tony Mortellaro, fresh moody mystery welcomes the weary Spider-Man back to New York after saving Aunt May<\/em> from becoming a collateral casualty of atomic armageddon as he stumbles into \u2018The Master Plan of the Molten Man!\u2019 I<\/em>t begins when old school flame Liz Allen<\/em> resurfaces needing help. Peter has no idea she is secretly trying to help her criminal stepbrother\u2026<\/p>\n

As a super-strong metal-skinned bandit Mark Raxton<\/em> was only a minor inconvenience to the wallcrawler, but now his chemically induced condition has worsened and he is swiftly turning into an incandescent human fireball. However, by the time \u2018The Molten Man Breaks Out!\u2019 <\/em>in #133 – illustrated by new regular creative team Andru and inkers Giacoia & Hunt – there\u2019s nothing the hero can do but fight until one of them is dead\u2026<\/p>\n

Slightly adrift of publishing chronology, next comes a classic monster action yarn from Giant-Size Super-Heroes<\/strong> #1. With the monster boom in full swing, Marvel during this period flooded newsstands with horror-themed heroes and antiheroes and cannily teamed two of the Amazing Arachnid\u2019s eeriest enemies in a double-length epic as \u2018Man-Wolf at Midnight!\u2019 – by <\/em>Conway, Kane & Mike Esposito – finds John Jameson<\/em> again gripped by murderous moon-madness. This time, however, the tormented former astronaut has been enthralled by Living Vampire Morbius<\/strong> and used to help that bloodsucker secure a possible cure for his own appalling condition in \u2018When Strikes the Vampire!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

That dynamic dust-up led directly into a flurry of over-sized Giant-Size Spider-Man<\/strong> editions, but as none of them are included in this volume we return to Amazing Spider-Man<\/strong> #134 (July 1974) wherein the webspinner again crosses paths with The Punisher<\/em> after a South American bandit – trained to be his oppressive regime\u2019s Captain America<\/strong> before going freelance – attempts to pirate, pillage and ransom a Manhattan tour boat in \u2018Danger is a Man Named\u2026 Tarantula!\u2019 <\/em>(Conway, Andru, Giacoia & Hunt).<\/p>\n

Once again unwilling allies, the ethically-estranged duo dutifully dismantle the villain\u2019s larcenous schemes leading to a \u2018Shoot-Out in Central Park!\u2019 <\/em>but the real danger is building elsewhere as Parker\u2019s roommate Harry Osborn accepts at last the infamous inheritance of his devilish, recently departed dad\u2026<\/p>\n

The compelling, long-brewing clash of former friends kicks off with completely crazy Harry attempting to blow up Peter and Mary Jane <\/em>in \u2018The Green Goblin Lives Again!\u2019\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Privy to his best friend\u2019s secrets, the maniac then targets all Parker\u2019s loved ones, precipitating a desperate, deadly duel as \u2018The Green Goblin Strikes!\u2019 <\/em>resulting in doom, destruction, shocking revelations and another tragedy for Peter to feel forever responsible for\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Madness Means\u2026 the Mindworm!\u2019 <\/em>finds a still-reeling Parker evicted from his apartment and relocating downmarket to Queens, just in time to encounter a macabre psychic parasite feeding off the denizens of the district.<\/p>\n

Issue #139 then introduces a bludgeoning brute with a grudge against J. Jonah Jameson<\/em> on the \u2018Day of the Grizzly!\u2019 <\/em>When Spidey intervenes, he is soundly thrashed and handed over to the costumed crazy\u2019s silent partner the Jackal<\/em> who melodramatically reveals he knows the hero\u2019s true identity\u2026<\/p>\n

Even though Peter escapes his diabolical trap in \u2018And One Will Fall!\u2019 <\/em>the major maniac flees and remains at large\u2026<\/p>\n

A long-running comedy thread ends as the ridiculous Spider-Mobile <\/em>ends up in the river, but the wallcrawler barely has time to care as an apparently dead enemy returns in #141\u2019s \u2018The Man\u2019s Name Appears to be\u2026 Mysterio!\u2019 <\/em>Despite aggressively escalating psychological assaults and our hero questioning his own sanity, the mystery is smartly resolved in \u2018Dead Man\u2019s Bluff!\u2019<\/em>, wrapping up this transitional period in the life of Peter Parker and setting the scene for another shocking epic, life-changing encounter next time\u2026<\/p>\n

These narrative delights are supplemented by Romita\u2019s cover, frontispiece, contents page and back cover from the 1974 debut tabloid edition Marvel Treasury Edition<\/strong> #1: The Spectacular Spider-Man <\/strong>as well as a faux Daily Bugle feature by Conway & Marie Severin; plus House ads; Kane page and cover layouts; the original Punisher design sketch by Romita and original art covers and interior pages by Kane, Romita &Andru.<\/p>\n

Also on show are the Romita-rendered entry from Mighty Marvel Calendar for 1975<\/strong>, and a text & photo feature on the first live action Spider-Man film.<\/p>\n

Blending cultural veracity with superb art, and making a dramatic virtue of the awkwardness, confusion and imputed powerlessness most of the readership experienced daily always resulted in an irresistibly intoxicating read, especially when delivered in addictive soap-styled instalments, but none of that would be relevant if Spider-Man\u2019s stories weren\u2019t so compellingly entertaining.<\/p>\n

This action-packed collection relives many momentous periods in the wallcrawler\u2019s astounding life and is one every Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights fanatic must see\u2026
\n\u00a9 2022 MARVEL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gerry Conway Ross Andru, Gil Kane, John Romita, Paul Reinman & various (MARVEL) ISBN: 978-1-3029-3350-0 (TPB\/Digital edition) Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Astounding Arachnid Amazement\u2026 9\/10 Amazing Spider-Man was a comic book that matured with – or perhaps just slightly ahead of – its fan-base. This epic compendium of chronological webspinning wonderment sees the World\u2019s … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection volume 8: Man-Wolf at Midnight 1973-1975”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[54,79,277,136,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantastic-four","category-marvel-superheroes","category-morbius","category-punisher","category-spider-man"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-74k","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27176"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27180,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27176\/revisions\/27180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}