Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #1 (1976)
“Twice Stings the Tarantula”
Writer: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Sal Buscema
Wha? Spider-Man #1? That‘s kind of a low-hanging fruit, right?! Indeed, with all the modern spin-offs, mini-series, specials, re-boots and re-starts, it seems Marvel has produced something that could be considered a “Spider-Man #1” every other year. Yet there was a time when there was only ONE “Spider-Man #1”– the original “Amazing Spider-Man #1” from 1963.
Throughout Marvel’s history, Spider-Man was been their most popular character. Growing up, he was undoubtedly MY personal favorite, and a big reason I got into superhero comics. He’s such a likable hero, has a gigantic rogues gallery, and has been to almost every corner of the Marvel Universe and met everybody (heck, if you remember the old version of this Crappy Website, Spidey even met the Transformers). For awhile, circa 1984, I’d wake up and watch the 1967 Spidey cartoon (“IN COLOR”) on the local station, everyday, before school. On Saturday mornings, I’d switch to NBC and watch “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends”. On Sunday mornings, the other local channel would air the 1980 (solo) “Spider-Man” cartoon. My “black costume Spider-Man Secret Wars” figure was the only figure of the line I owned, and he’d often team-up with my G.I. Joe figures, after school. At night, I’d read my Spidey comics. Whenever I’d go to comic shops, I’d try to find an old issue of “Amazing Spider-Man” to add to my collection. If super-heroes were real, there’s no doubt that Spidey would be the one I wanted to meet. I felt like he was my buddy. I wanted to hang out with him and crack jokes on a rooftop somewhere.
Spidey was to Marvel what Superman or Batman was to DC. However, by the 1970’s, Superman and Batman had more than one ongoing monthly title, each. They had “Action Comics” and “Detective Comics”, respectively, plus their own titular books. Superman had “Jimmy Olsen”, “Lois Lane” and his appearances as Superboy in “Legion of Super Heroes”. Then toss in their appearances in “World’s Finest”, “Justice League”, “Brave & the Bold”, along with the random guest appearances, and you could see how DC was cashing in on their popularity.
Marvel was still the upstart in the 60’s, so they held off on a second Spidey title. Sorta’. In 1972, they started “Marvel Team-Up”, which featured Spidey hanging with a guest star, every issue. There were the occasional “non-Spidey” issues (including THE most random pairing of Thor and the Human Torch), but for the most part it was Spidey sharing the spotlight. You couldn’t call it a second Spidey title, however, because there was never any character development (Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, etc. barely appeared) and the stories were formulaic and rarely continued past one issue. “Marvel Tales” was also running, but it was straight-up reprints of old issues of “Amazing Spider-Man” (believe it or not, in the the old days, some fans wouldn’t search for the original issues, as they were fine with the reprints).
Then in 1976, Marvel finally bit the bullet and officially started a long-awaited SECOND Spidey title. It was a mouthful: “Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man”. A name which always confuzzled me and other collectors: namely, WHERE do you put it in, in terms of alphabetical order? “P” or “S”? Since 1963, if you were into technicalities, you’d been filing your Spidey books under “A” for “Amazing Spider-Man”. Of course, most ignored the adjective and put it under “S”. Okay, so once this NEW title comes along, do you then split your “S” ordering in “Spider-Man, Amazing” and “Spider-Man, Spectacular.” Fair enough, but how about the “Peter Parker” in the title? Does that move it “P” or do you file it under “Spider-Man, Peter Parker: the Spectacular”? Or do you follow the Library of Congress Classification System and put the surname before the first name, so it’d be “Spider-Man: Parker, Peter, the Spectacular”? And whattabout Scarecrow’s brain?!
Everybody organizes their comics differently… but I personally hated the full title and just called it “Spectacular Spider-Man”. The title eventually ended up being called just that, circa issue 130 or so…. but in short, it’s still a debate that most Spidey fans would love to discuss with you.
And yes, YOU just had a one-sided discussion with ME about this organizational conundrum. Sorry ‘bout that.
So yeah, anyways: Spidey was/is popular. Collectible comics weren’t quite a thing in 1976, but producing a new, ongoing, Spidey title seemed like printing money.
To kick this off, Spidey is facing one of the more recent addition to his villain roster: the Tarantula. For awhile, “Taranty”, as Spidey calls him, was sort of an opposite number, like an “evil Spider-Man”. The character’s origin is that he was “his country’s Captain America”. His country being the fictional South American nation of Delvadia. He had appeared a few times in “Amazing”, but here he’s out to kidnap the vice chancellor of Empire State University, Edward Lansky.
Lansky is making a public speech about preventing budget cuts and preserving education for all. Spidey’s watching the speech, from above, to snag pictures for the Daily Bugle, when the Tarantula and his 2 henchmen suddenly appear to kidnap Lanksy. Spidey swings into action, but is a little hesitant because Flash Thompson and Mary Jane Watson are in the crowd. Tarantula’s kidnapping is successful, as he fends off Spidey with a nasty kick to the ribs.
Spidey returns home to lick his wounds, and we get some brief Peter Parker slice-of-life panels, as he chats with his neighbor Gloria Grant, plus the returning Flash and Mary Jane. For the record, MJ was dating Flash at this time, as she had recently broken up with Peter.
Things jump to the office of New York’s “Mayor”, as a hidden mastermind has instructed Tarantula to assassinate the politician. The “Mayor” isn’t identified by name, but his physical appearance suggests that he was intended to be Abraham Beame, who was in office from 1974 to 1977, dealing with the city’s financial troubles of the time. In fact, New York’s (real life) budget problems are alluded to , several times, in this story (this was when President Gerald Ford famously told NYC that they were “on their own”).
Another scuffle between dueling arachnids breaks out, but this time Spidey seems to have the upper hand. In the climax, Tarantula and Spidey fall through a window and Tarantula does the old villain cliche of grabbing the Mayor and giving the hero a choice: “capture me, or save your precious mayor”. Of course, you know what Spidey will pick, so Tatantula gets away. Mayor Beame is uneasy about the whole thing, as the story ends and Spidey swings away.
This story was essentially a two-round fight between Spider-Man and Tarantula, ending in a 1-1 draw. Hence the title: “TWICE Stings the Tarantula”. Foreshadowing in the title? Whoa. MIND: BLOWN!
The action wasn’t anything unusual, though, as it was generic punchy/kicky stuff, even with the cliched window crash at the end. It was also a little weird that Tarantula kicked Spidey in the chest, but didn’t have his trademark poison-tip toes didn’t come into play. It’s even mentioned in the dialogue, early in this issue. Nonetheless, Spidey is a little reluctant to go into battle with Tarantula, noting that he was a tough opponent in their other meetings.
I always thought that Tarantula looked cool and was given something of a raw deal when he was mutated into a monster and died in the late 80’s. I’ve mentioned before that I’m always a sucker for the “opposite number” of a super-hero. That is, a guy who has essentially the same powers or gimmick as the hero, but is EVIL. Red Guardian/Captain America, Professor Zoom/Flash, Titanium Man/Iron Man, even Superman/Bizarro. I think Tarantula’s presence on the cover was why I sought out this book, back in my Spider collecting days.
We should also note that it’s little questionable how Tarantula’s word balloons include phrase like “you peeg” and “I will keel you”. Woof.
Oh, and the shadowy mastermind? Not exactly a spoiler, but in issue #3 it turned out to Edward Lansky himself, as the villain Lightmaster. Yeah. LIGHTMASTER.
‘Cuz when I think of heavy-hitter Spidey villains to launch a series around, I immediately think of…. Lightmaster. Whatever. I should go easy, because at least they were trying something new. There’s only so many times you can have a usual suspect like Doc Ock, Mysterio, Kingpin, or even one of the many Green Goblins behind things. I’m wondering how fans in 1976 felt about Lightmaster. If it was: “wow, a new villain to add to Spidey’s list” or if it was “meh”? Since 70’s Spider-Man also brought us villains like Stegron, the Ringer, and Will-o-the-Wisp, I’m leaning towards “meh”.
Overall, not a memorable debut for the title. “Spectacular” soon became the “B-book” behind the “A-book” of “Amazing Spider-Man”. An editorial inside this issue from writer Gerry Conway announces that both books will be equal, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. That’s not to say that “Spectacular” was a waste, though. Circa 1982 (issue 75) or so, it really delved into the whole Spider-Man/Black Cat relationship– including one of the most heartbreaking scenes in Spidey’s history as he finally reveals his secret identity to the Cat and her response is: “is this a joke?” Ouch. The semi-famous “Sin-Eater” story arc also happened, circa 1986.
(And while I’m down here, I always like to point out that “Spectacular” also featured the Black Cat wiping the floor with…. SABRETOOTH… circa issue 120).
Well, it’s not like Spider-Man wouldn’t have another chance to impress with a FIRST ISSUE. Maybe someday I’ll get around to recapping “Web of Spider-Man #1” from 1985… or “Web of Spider-Man #1” from 2006. Or the rebooted “Spectacular Spider-Man” from 1996, or “Sensational Spider-Man” from 1996… or “Amazing Spider-Man #1” from 1999…or 2015…or “Spider-Man: Marvel Knights #1” from 2003, or “Spider-Man #1” from 1990….
Summary: Spider-Man and Tarantula rassle. Hey look, it’s the Mayor and NYC is in a budget crisis.
Cover Price: 30 cents
Rating: 45 cents
