The year is 1990. I am eight years old.
After growing up owning a bunch of Corno books, I’ve read a few new ones but I didn’t even think about keeping a regular schedule.
Then I buy this reprint.
And I instantly become a regular reader.
Thousands of comic books later.
The year is 2020, March 15th to be exact.
With Covid-19 ravaging the country and needing to work from home, I put into motion something I’ve been thinking about for months and begin a site reviewing comic books.
Thousands of reviews later.
The year is 2025, March 15th to be exact.
Let’s go back to that reprint.
But first, a quick shout-out at the five books I owned between the ones I’ve already reviewed and the reprint we’ll see today.
I will most likely review them next year; I considered including them in the proper Countdown, but changed my mind when I realized just how huge this retrospective was going to get.
From June 1989, there was the Spider-Man issue introducing Hobgoblin.
From August 1989, there was a Spider-Man issue with a fight with the Mad Thinker’s android but that most importantly properly introduced me to Mary Jane.
From December 1989, there was the first appearance of the black costume. It’s also the first comic book I remember buying myself, instead of having my parents or my brother buy it for me.
From June to July, there were two Fantastic Four issues that introduced me to the John Byrne run, including the backstory of Frankie Raye.
I distinctly remember having those two Fantastic Four issues with me when I was gifted the reprint introducing me to Doctor Doom.
Raccolta Uomo Ragno #8 (1990)
Published by: Star Comics
Nothing special to talk about on the cover itself: it just advertises that it contains issues 24, 25 and 26 of the original Star Comics reprints. The title of the series is just “Spider-Man Collection”.
A weird quirk about the reprints, however, was that the cover had BARELY anything to do with the stories published inside! Took me a while to find it, but they used the cover of Marvel Tales volume 2 #224, which itself was a reprint of the death of Captain Stacy.
At least THIS time it’s not completely random, since the actual story does feature Doctor Octopus… kind of.
L’Uomo Ragno #24 (1989)
Published by: Star Comics
As advertised on the cover: “From this issue: every fifteen days on the newsstand”, since the book started out monthly.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #72 (1982)
by Bill Mantlo & Ed Hannigan
I’m a big fan of characters interacting with the title in some way, and this is a great cover!
You just know that if they had done this years later it would have been holographic.
Doc Ock is in the story only on a technicality, as he’s not really the main antagonist but shows up.
Ed Harrigan is un underrated penciler; if you didn’t know this was by him, you would probably think the first page was by Frank Miller.
We truly begin with Spider-Man swinging across the credits. I’ve always liked this way of depicting his speed and agility.
Weirdly enough, this is an occasion for a Moon Knight cameo! Naturally I had no idea of who he was (although they already met in 1978), but it’s a neat way to show just how overcrowded with superheroes New York can be.
We then move to a very unusual party: it’s not the Sinister Six, but just a bunch of teenagers cosplaying as supervillains.
Including the world’s greatest Doctor Octopus fan: Ollie Osnik.
Who is a spoiler rich brat, but he IS smart enough to build his own tentacles.
You might think it’s weird for him to be idolizing a supervillain… but he’s a socially awkward overweight nerd with glasses and both his first and last name begin with O, so it checks out.
Also check out the Daily Bugle’s first page, including both “Senate admits everything” without clarifying WHAT, and “play bongo and win”.
You can really feel sorry for poor Ollie.
Although they’re really laying it thick that he’s been spoiled.
The scene with him leaving home is weirdly ominous, but also ridiculous at the same time when he just happens to pass the graveyard that has both Electra and Gwen Stacy’s gravestones!
Plus the grave stone of Denny Colt (better known as The Spirit), legendary comic book writer Denny O’Neil (who was alive, so WTF?).
The scenario could be played for laughs, and it partly is, but it’s also a serious problem: with the real Doctor Octopus around, this is the worst possible moment for cosplaying as him!
Back to Spider-Man, in this period he’s living alone (in the apartment he found in Amazing Spider-Man #139)… and in typical Spider-Man fashion, he’s been robbed.
More recent Spider-Man stories would play up the bad luck angle. But this one doesn’t really dwell on the irony or the comedy, instead treating it quite realistically.
Spider-Man quickly catched up with the thieves, in part because they decided to steal his weirdest possession: the wood statue.
I love that goofy statue. Which I found out was a real thing.
Since it’s in one of the first scenes of this book, I’ve always been weirdly obsessed with that statue.
Its first appearance is in Amazing Spider-Man #163, two years after Peter moved into the apartment: the place was completely empty until his friends bought him furniture, including the statue (which doesn’t always have a consistent pose).
This was the last regular appearance of the wooden statue, meaning it lasted from 1976 to 1982… and a bit further, since it makes sporadic appearances in the background a few more times.
That’s not a lot when compared to the longevity of Spider-Man, and it BARELY showed up at all because most artists didn’t seem to want to bother with it… but to me, that statue is iconic.
I must be the only person in the world who is nostalgic for that statue, but if it made another appearance in modern times I would be the happiest Spider-Man reader.
Peter Parker is in one of his most down-on-his-luck periods of his entire life in this era, but I appreciate how he doesn’t wallow in despair.
Meanwhile Ollie has stolen some candy and some comic books, leading to Spider-Man mistaking him for Doctor Octopus.
Spidey has been dealing with Doctor Octopus long enough to know his classic schemes, and he’s not following them.
He certainly doesn’t expect Doctor Octopus to rob a toy store!
Which results in Octopus Junior thinking he’s killed a security guard.
Spider-Man ends up finding him, without realizing it’s not the real Doc Ock.
Kid Octopus is such a lightweight that he doesn’t even trigger the Spider-Sense!
What kind of toy store is this???
At this point Spider-Man has figured out that something is SERIOUSLY wrong about this whole thing.
In fact he soon realizes that he’s fighting a kid, and even imagines the resulting Daily Bugle headline. Ed Hannigan has been seriously channeling Steve Dikto throughout the story, but those faces seem to be straight from the earliest issues!
Turns out the guard was only unconscious, and Spider-Man pays for the damages with the extra money that he recovered from the burglars.
And so we end with Ollie having become a Spider-Man fan, ditching Doctor Octopus.
I would really like to know who had the bright idea to sell posters of Doctor Octopus within the Marvel Universe, considering he’s a notorious criminal.
Historical significance: 2/10
Ollie does return a couple of times.
First in 1985 on the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #263 as Spider-Kid. The issue is definitely more remembered for being the birth of Normie Osborn.
I also have to mention that in Amazing Spider-Man #266 (written by Peter David), he’s part of a short-lived team with Toad and Frog-Man. Because it’s one of the funniest comics I have ever read.
But in 1994 he reinvents himself as the Steel Spider: the grim & gritty & uninteresting new version of the Spider-Kid.
His most high-profile appearance is in the 2006 Thunderbolts, where he gets his left arm EATEN by Venom.
Personal significance: 6/10
I have a soft spot for Ollie, even if his more modern appearances are lackluster. But I don’t think this was the story that made me a regular reader.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
I could definitely see this kind of story in the 60s.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
Pretty straightforward and innocent, although I would have preferred a more direct parallel to Peter’s own struggles from when he was Ollie’s age. The fact that Peter completely forgets about him in future issues is really bad (but doesn’t reflect on THIS story), since he has shown he does have SOME potential to be a hero.
I have to praise again the artwork: as mentioned, Ed Hannigan is an underrated artist.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #73 (1982)
by Bill Mantlo & Al Milgrom
I’m a sucker for superhero costumes with a full field of stars… after all Star Boy has my favorite Legion costume… so it’s neat to see this happen to Spider-Man.
We begin with someone barging in Peter’s apartment and accusing him of being Spider-Man.
He even knows which specific series this is!
This guy is the psychiatrist of Debra Whitman, a supporting character that was REALLY pushed into being Peter’s next love interest.
Turns out that she’s schizophrenic. Although considering the shenanigans of her psychiatrist, I’m not sure if we should believe his diagnosis.
I should probably clarify that while the writers definitely pushed Debra as the love interest, Peter has been kind of awful towards her.
Brief tangent here: Peter has always been “too busy with his own problems”, but in retrospect he was really a dick towards Debra in previous issues.
Back to the story.
I’m no psychiatrist, but I have a feeling that if a schizophrenic is having delusions the worst thing you could do for them is confirm they are real, right?
While thinking whether to do this fake intervention, Peter gets a phone call about Boomerang going before the Grand Jury.
As we have seen when discussing his first appearance, Boomerang is often treated as a joke.
But this comic points out that if Bullseye can be a scary threat, why not Boomerang who kind of has the same ability?
In fact, this is one of the VERY few occasions when we are reminded that Boomerang falls into the same “anything is a weapon in his hands” category.
I’ve always loved this panel! Al Milgrom is not exactly celebrated as a great artist… most of his stuff ranges from awful to meh… but when he hits, he REALLY delivers.
Also like Bullseye, he has some truly RIDICULOUS feats! I can buy the pen and the gavel…
…but a PAPERCLIP!? I wouldn’t buy this even if he had super-strenght!!!
Boomerang isn’t even the main villain of the story (as if you couldn’t tell by the cover), so he’s deal with in a couple of pages.
The actual threat is discovered when Peter overhears some goons talking about freeing Boomerang, and he later follows them.
They’re agents of the Owl, who is currently staying at the Museum of Natural History because he’s into birds.
We’ve discussed in his origin story that the Owl could very easily been in the same position of Kingpin, if only he had been treated as a credible menace in the 70s.
But by the 80s, the idea that he could possibly be seen as the next Kingpin is laughable.
The driving force of this storyline will be a fight between the Owl and Doctor Octopus.
If you’re unfamilair with him, the Owl is just a guy who can kind of glide.
Even in the 60s that was underwhelming, and by the 80s he has to upgrade.
Spider-Man would love nothing more than these two to eliminate each other, but since their war could spill into the rest of New York he ends up fighting both of their goon squads.
I appreciate the effort of giving the two teams of henchmen their very distinct looks!
The Octopus ones are a throwback to earlier stories, but I think the Owl henchmen might be a new thing.
The reason for the cover is that Spidey decides to move the fight to the planetarium, which makes this otherwise forgettable fight quite visually memorable.
The reason why Doctor Octopus is one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes: sometimes he does very smart things like THIS.
Despite the fact that the Owl is… well the Owl, plus he’s still recoving from injuries on his legs… Spider-Man manages to lose him.
Not Spider-Man’s greatest day.
So of course he decides to help Debra after all.
Historical significance: 5/10
This begins Debra Whitman’s final storyline; she was a presence in the Spider-Man books for a while, but didn’t really leave a huge impression. It also begins the Owl and Doc Ock fight that will have repercussions, but those are mostly from the following issues.
Personal significance: 6/10
Since I had the whole saga, I tend to conflate all chapters together. In retrospect, this particular issue doesn’t have a lot of the stuff that impressed me.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
That is one tough paperclip!!!
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
A perfectly average Spider-Man story, with Al Milgrom delivering better artwork than his usual.
Uncanny X-Men #142 (1981)
by Chris Claremont & John Byrne
The X-Men were the backup feature when Star Comics started publishing Spider-Man.
They would move to their own regular series by the time this reprint was being published.
Probably one of the reasons why I didn’t become an X-Man fan is that I didn’t buy almost any of their issues; not out of choise, I don’t even remember seeing their book on the newsstand.
To make matters worse, my first exposure was the ENDING of the historic “Days of Future Past” storyline… which, while a masterpiece, is not the best place to start.
Unlike Corno, Star Comics typically didn’t butcher stories by splitting them into separate issues.
They only did that very early in their runs, which included this book that starts the issue at page 4… meaning I lost the recap of the previous parts and jumped straight into an action scene.
Thankfully I wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with the new X-Men since as mentioned I did own a couple of books and the Claremont team was in them.
Even if I missed the official recap, Kitty Pryde does an in-depth recap of her own.
Is it just me, or is Byrne drawing her eyes as if she was straight out of a manga?
Unlike in the movie, where Kitty Pryde can SOMEHOW move another person’s mind into the past, in the original version it’s Rachel Summers (future daughter of Cyclops and Marvel Girl) that will send Kitty’s mind into the past.
Notice how even back then Marvel was attempting to keep their time travel rules somewhat consistent, even if the concept of “if you try to change history you just create a new timeline” was in its infancy.
Honestly the time travel aspect was kind of lost on me at the time. I just focused on one of the most awesome superhero fights I had ever seen!
This is also the first hint of the loooooooong subplot that will reveal Mystique was Nightcrawler’s mother. Although that definitely wasn’t the plan all along, as discussed.
Meanwhile in the future (uh?), we see the future X-Men sneak into the Sentinel base leading to what is definitely THE imagery of this storyline.
It’s so ubiquitous that you would think it was a pivotal moment, but not really.
Lesser known is the fact that this scene is part of a dispute between Byrne and Claremont.
Byrne was adamant (pun intended) in the idea that Wolverine’s skeleton was fully made of Adamantium and that the claws were mechanical in nature, whereas Clarement wanted the skeleton to just be coated with Adamantium and that the claws were part of his body.
Supposedly Byrne drew this scene this way to show that his idea was the definitive one, and I’ll grant him the claws… but even if the bones are just coated with Adamantium, wouldn’t they still be left untouched by the blast?
Lesser known is that both Storm and Colossus also die in this scene.
In the end, Kitty Pryde changes history by preventing Destiny from assassinating Senator Kelly, and this SOMEHOW causes the past and future Kitty to switch places again.
Sounds legit.
It’s a good thing we won’t obsessively revisit the Bad Future over and over and over again for decades in a desperate attempt to recapture the magic of the original story and squeeze every last drop of creativity out of the concept.
That would just be silly.
Although, considering the whole idea was that stopping the assassination of Senator Kelly by mutants would stop people from hating mutants… after witnessing a high profile assassination attempt from mutants… the fact that this results in the government increasing the funds of the Sentinel program proves something I’ve thought for ages.
The X-Men are kind of idiots.
Historical significance: 10/10
For better or worse… and I would argue mostly for worse… the X-Men just cannot stop going back to this storyline.
Personal significance: 2/10
I often forget that I even read Claremont’s X-Men this early on. Coming in at the end of a storyline certainly didn’t help.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
I have my problems with how much X-Men fans idolize this storyline, and I think that later in his career Claremont is an overrate writer… but this is still a masterpiece.
I don’t think I can add anything to what’s already been said about Days Of Future Past.
There is SO MUCH to talk about the other two Spider-Man books in the reprint that I’m going to split this thing into three separate reviews.