Last batch of the kid-friendly Spider-Man series, before the big finale of the countdown.
Il giornalino de l’Uomo Ragno #7 (1981)
Published by: Corno
Of all the villains to bring up in a seris that is SO tame it didn’t even have Uncle Ben’s murder, they decided to adapt the Kingpin.
It’s not like the character was particularly popular: the original is a 1974 story, years before Kingpin was revamped as a Daredevil antagonist by Frank Miller.
The title of the issue translates to “The terrible Kingpin”, which is way better than the original.
By the way, he’s always been called Kingpin without any attempt of translation.
Definitely because Italy doesn’t know anything about organized crime.
Spidey Super Stories #18 (1976)
“Meet the Kingpin of Crime!”
by Jim Salicrup & Winslow Mortimer
cover by John Romita Senior
Jim Salicrup is way more known as an editor, especially of Spider-Man during the 80s.
We begin with Peter Parker on a date with Mary Jane at a museum, where she demonstrates that she’s not particularly bright in this series.
Weirdly enough Kingpin is introduced by his wife Vanessa. She’s never named in the story, though, she’s just “the wife”.
Solid plan, Kingpin, no notes.
I have no reference for how much of a price increase this is supposed to be, but it does look like a lot: 5 dollars in 1976 would be roughly 28 dollars in 2025.
No wonder they eventually introduced the retcon that Mary Jane knew about the secret identity, considering Peter did stuff like this for DECADES.
Kingpin has decided to make citizens pay for EVERYTHING and increase the prices.
Which sounded ridiculous to me as a kid, but having followed quite a bit of US media over the years… there would definitely be politicians praising this move.
Heck there would be voters doing that!
Ah yes, a topic that was sure to interest children: New York’s fiscal crisis of 1975.
I thought “New York Is Fun City” was invented by this comic! But from what I understand it WAS used in the 60s and 70s… as a joke based on a phrase used by Mayor Lindsay in a 1966 interview.
Following Kingpin’s car, Spider-Man finds out the secret behind his scheme: Vanessa’s interpretative dance fake money.
Sooo… Kingpin thought that nobody would ever find out that the millions, if not billions of dollars he needed for this operation are fake?
Sounds legit.
What is this picture supposed to prove, exactly? It just shows Kingpin holding money… that’s it.
Perhaps the so-called “money faker” is so well-known that it’s guilt by association? The money can’t look THAT fake if he was able to buy half the city with it!
It was absolutely essential to get their attention because… I’ve got nothing.
This results into, you guessed it, a big fat fight.
The translation makes Kingpin heavier, by the way: he says he’s 150 kilograms of muscle, which would make him 330 pounds.
Unsurprisingly, Spidey has little trouble defeating him.
Is this the first time we see Vanessa is not exactly a saint?
And so we end with the city returning to normal. Well, as normal as a city that did’t realize it was being paid in fake money.
Unironically a perfect Spider-Man panel.
Spidey Super Stories #18 (1976)
“The last laugh”
by Pat Thackray & Winslow Mortimer
Kingpin wasn’t a Daredevil villain yet, but you know who was already?
Jester, also known as “Nobody’s favorite Joker ripoff”.
I’ve never cared for Jester. Possibly because he’s incredibly annoying and lame in this one.
At least SOMEONE has the right reaction to him.
Jester’s “crime spree” includes robbing one bank, assaulting one cop and… no, that’s it.
This panel was pretty damn funny.
Oh so Jester has been robbing ALL the banks? Would’ve been nice to be shown him getting away with more than a single sack of money after just one robbery.
I just can’t get this guy seriously. Which I suppose would be fitting for a jester, but he’s supposed to be a supervillain!
Sesame Street and the Electric Company were produced by the same studio at the time, so we were robbed of an actual team-up between Spider-Man and Big Bird.
I also have a really hard time Jester would be a problem with Spider-Man. Between the Spider-Sense and his agility, how does he fall for this???
Oh good, he’s not just ripping off the Joker, he’s also ripping off the Toyman.
This is supposed to be his best material, folks.
Unsurprisingly, Spider-Man beats him.
Who would have thought J.J.J. would ever be paying Spider-Man!
Spider-Man should have insisted to be paid in cash.
I mean he should have known from Amazing Spider-Man #1.
Spidey Super Stories #19 (1976)
written by Jim Salicrup & Larry Lieber
pencils by Winslow Mortimer
cover by John Romita Senior
Once again the issue I had skips the Doctor Doom story! I woulder if reading him here would have ruined my opinion of the character.
We will definitely revisit the Doctor Doom of Spidey Super Stories. That’s not exactly the most nuanced version ever.
Instead we focus on Silver Surfer! The fact that I had this story before the story where Doom takes his powers should have made me familiar with the character, but I distinctly remember initially thinking that the one in the Fantastic Four story was Iceman.
Silver Surfer saves Earth from a meteor, only to fall to Earth.
We then cut to a kid who is way too much into Spider-Man. According to his mother at least.
The kid notices Spider-Man going to rescue Silver Surfer from the river, and for some reason HE knows Surfer is a hero.
And that’s how the story ended for me, because the finale wasn’t in that issue.
I’m reading the ending more than 35 years later!
100% worth the wait, no notes.
This results in a big misunderstanding fight, because comics.
Unsurprisingly, Silver Surfer is waaaaaaay out of Spidey’s league.
Meanwhile the kid has been trying to get on the surfboard, which I am JUST realizing has “Silver Surfer” written on it in all the panels where you can clearly see it, and not just on the initial splash page.
Since Silver Surfer saves the kid, Spider-Man realizes he’s not a bad guy.
And that is why Spider-Man has never ever fought another superhero for no reason.
If the story sounds familiar to you, that’s probably because it’s a simplified retelling of Silver Surfer #14 from 1970, by Stan Lee & John Buscema.
Let’s look at the similarities, starting with the meteor being way more impressive. Also there’s two of them.
You also have the kid. He’s white in the original version, and the one upset with him is his father; but more importantly, he’s NOT watching Spider-Man on TV.
The fact that he’s watching Captain America makes more sense in-universe.
The run-in with Spider-Man makes less sense than the retelling, believe it or not.
First because Spidey catches the board unwillingly: Silver Surfer ran into him!
But also Surfer is uncharacteristically aggressive for little reason. And why would he be worried about being “more vulnerable” if he flies lower? He’s basically invincible in this period!
This series has some INCREDIBLE artwork, but I simply cannot stand Silver Surfer’s attitude.
The fight between them gets so absurd that even the Army is called. Because Spider-Man would clearly last more than two minutes against Silver Surfer, right?
What I can’t stand about this characterization of Silver Surfer is that he goes on and on about how humans solve everything through force and violence…
…and then he does this.
But Silver Surfer proves he’s a good guy because he makes himself vulnerable rescuing the kid trying to ride the board.
Because he’s vulnerable to REGULAR guns now???
Uhm… far from me from interrupting your regularly schedule self-flagellation, Spidey, but it’s NOT THE SAME THING. You tried to warn him about flying too low and he fought back instead of either moving or explaining he’s a safe flier!
Yeah, sure, that’s how it works.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Spidey Super Stories retelling is the better story.
Historical significance: 0/10
Personal significance: 2/10
I barely remember this one. Definitely did nothing to make me appreciate Kingpin and Silver Surfer… but it MIGHT be responsible for my intense distaste for Jester.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
Only in the Silver Age would Kingpin’s and Jester’s plans work like that.
Does it stand the test of time?
Kingpin: 3/10
This COULD work as satire or social commentary if it was allowed any sort of depth.
Jester: 0/10
You’re joking, right?
Silver Surfer: 6/10
Shockingly solid. Despite being a massive Stan Lee fan, and the fact that Silver Surfer was one of his regular series… it’s the one interpretation of the character that I can’t stand.
Stories included in the original but skipped in the translation include Pirate Cyclops Eye Patch.
He’s also from the TV show, but I can’t find a video of his sketch.
The only way I would ever forgive the Marvel editors for what they did to Spidey after 2007 is if Eye Patch made them do it.
“I looked at a pirate and ruined my painting” is an underrated classic.
And that’s it for the comics I owned before I even learned how to read!
There WAS another one, technically speaking… a black & white reprint of Frankenstein stories done by Marvel… but I no longer have that copy so I couldn’t check the differences, plus it wouldn’t have a real connection to the rest of the Marvel Universe.
Before I became a regular reader I did have a couple of Spider-Man and Fantastic Four books… which I might cover next year… but instead we’ll conclude the countdown with the book that made me a lifelong reader.