Amazing Spider-Man #126
I’ve been reading The Essential
Spider-Man vol. 6, which reprints in black and white a complete run of
Spider-Man comics, covering most of 1971, 1972, and 1973. Included in this book
are a couple of milestone events in Spider-Man continuity: at one end of the
spectrum is the classic “Death of Gwen Stacy” storyline and
subsequent death of the Green Goblin; at the other end is the embarrassing
“Aunt May marries Doctor Octopus” storyline, which ends with a
nuclear explosion.
However, the most important issue in this collection for me is Amazing Spider-Man #126. As soon as I started reading it I recognized it as an issue I had as a small child, one that I literally read to pieces. I never really understood the context of what was going on. The issue takes place soon after Gwen Stacy’s death and at what was almost certainly the low point of Peter Parker’s life, though he was beginning to get over it. It also features one of the silliest Spider-Man villains ever, and if you’re familiar with Spider-Man villains, you know that’s a claim I can’t make lightly.
This issue is scripted by Gerry Conroy, and penciled by Ross Andru. Nothing against Andru, but his pencils pale compared to either John Romita’s, which start this collection out, or Gil Kane’s, which follow Romita’s for a short period. The cover doesn’t have a credit, but I’d say it’s much more likely to be by Romita or Kane than Andru.
The issue begins with the start of what would be a very long and drawn out joke. Two ad executives wave down Spidey and propose that he build a vehicle using their client’s new product, the Corona Engine. Spider-Man seems an odd choice to promote any product, because at this point he’s wanted by the police in connection with three deaths. Spidey rebuffs their offer, and as he swings away from the executives an arrow indicates a figure watching him.
That figure is Frank Oliver, only slightly better known under the colorful sobriquet of the Kangaroo. This bad guy’s defining attribute was that he was Australian. I mean, his defining attribute was that he was Australian, mate. He had shaggy blond hair and wore a fur vest and boots. His only remarkable ability was that he could jump really well, at least for a guy in a fur vest and boots. I think he was raised kangaroos or something. But beyond that he didn’t have any super powers, unless not feeling embarrassment counts as a super power. Still, you’ve almost got to respect anybody who would challenge Spider-Man without the benefit of super powers. Spider-Man can lift a Buick above his head. If you’re going to call yourself the Kangaroo and take him on, you’d better have at least been bitten by a radioactive kangaroo. I haven’t read the Kangaroo’s first appearance (issue #81 of the same mag), but I think it’s safe to assume that Spider-Man called him “chuckles” and beat the didgeridoo out of him.
The Kangaroo is living as a bum, so when Jonas Harrow, the mad scientist who a year earlier implanted an anvil in the head of a delusional gangster to create the villain Hammerhead, offers Frank the opportunity to gain super powers, he agrees.
Peter Parker arrives at E.S.U. and runs into Miles Warren, a biology professor. Warren browbeats Peter for not showing up to his class. It’s nice to see Peter have a problem that doesn’t involve a cackling super villain. (ATTENTION: The previous sentence was a joke. Please do not write to tell me that Warren was later revealed to be The Jackal.) Peter also encounters Flash and Mary Jane, but he blows them off.
Peter arrives back at his apartment and finds that his roommate Harry Osborne, currently grieving his father and addicted to drugs, hasn’t paid the rent. Peter then receives a phone call from his Aunt May, who is living at the Westchester estate of Otto Octavius while he’s in jail.
Meanwhile J. Jonah Jameson arranges medical treatment for his son John, who was injured in the previous issue when Spider-Man forcibly removed the rock from his neck that made him Man-Wolf.
Now that we’re all nice and up-to-date with most of the supporting cast, Spider-Man swings by the advertising agency and takes the execs up on their offer to get rent money. Then he heads towards the Baxter building to get the Fantastic Four to help him build the Spider-Mobile.
Back to the Kangaroo. Harrow makes the Kangaroo better, stronger, rebuilds him. Thanks to compressed air jets and bionic parts the Kangaroo can now jump hundreds of yards and punch through concrete. Kangy thanks Harow for this by sucker punching him and jumping out the window, where he immediately spots Spider-Man. Using his new powers Kangaroo nearly KO’s the wall-crawler, but Harrow built a failsafe into the bionic parts that forces him to return to the lab. Spider-Man continues to the Baxter Building and convinces Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) to build the Spider-Mobile. Before plans can get too far along the two heroes hear a police bulletin about a man with horrible fashion sense attacking a research company. Spider-Man deduces that this is the Kangaroo and swings off to intercept.
The Kangaroo, now under the control of Harrow, is at the company to break into a certain lab and steal some rare radioactive isotopes. Spider-Man tries to stop him, warning him that the isotopes are as powerful as a nuclear reactor. Despite Spidey’s best efforts the Kangaroo opens the door to the lab… and is burned to a cinder. The police burst in, but all that’s left to do is dustbuster the Kangaroo’s remains into a lead-lined urn. Outside Harrow bemoans the fact that giving someone the ability to jump really far doesn’t make them immune to radioactivity.
On the final page of the issue Mary Jane tries to visit her sometimes boyfriend Harry Osborne, but he won’t open the door. Inside we see that Harry has his father’s Green Goblin costume, which Harry took off his father’s body four issues back. Dum dum dum!
The End…
…At least until next month, when Marvel would produce another issue of Amazing Spider-Man as insane as this one. I can’t imagine how they did it. Every issue around this time juggles at least four story lines, while keeping us updated on the lives of all of Peter’s friends and coworkers, introducing one or two characters, and often killing one off. Knowing Spider-Man at this point was very dangerous. People keep dying around him like he’s Jessica Fletcher. Now I just have to pick up Essential Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1, so I can reread what is in my opinion the greatest work of Western literature, Marvel Team-Up issues #9-11, featuring Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Human Torch and the Inhumans vs. Kang the Conquerer and Zarko the Tomorrow Man. I'm sure it's just as great as I remember.
However, the most important issue in this collection for me is Amazing Spider-Man #126. As soon as I started reading it I recognized it as an issue I had as a small child, one that I literally read to pieces. I never really understood the context of what was going on. The issue takes place soon after Gwen Stacy’s death and at what was almost certainly the low point of Peter Parker’s life, though he was beginning to get over it. It also features one of the silliest Spider-Man villains ever, and if you’re familiar with Spider-Man villains, you know that’s a claim I can’t make lightly.
This issue is scripted by Gerry Conroy, and penciled by Ross Andru. Nothing against Andru, but his pencils pale compared to either John Romita’s, which start this collection out, or Gil Kane’s, which follow Romita’s for a short period. The cover doesn’t have a credit, but I’d say it’s much more likely to be by Romita or Kane than Andru.
The issue begins with the start of what would be a very long and drawn out joke. Two ad executives wave down Spidey and propose that he build a vehicle using their client’s new product, the Corona Engine. Spider-Man seems an odd choice to promote any product, because at this point he’s wanted by the police in connection with three deaths. Spidey rebuffs their offer, and as he swings away from the executives an arrow indicates a figure watching him.
That figure is Frank Oliver, only slightly better known under the colorful sobriquet of the Kangaroo. This bad guy’s defining attribute was that he was Australian. I mean, his defining attribute was that he was Australian, mate. He had shaggy blond hair and wore a fur vest and boots. His only remarkable ability was that he could jump really well, at least for a guy in a fur vest and boots. I think he was raised kangaroos or something. But beyond that he didn’t have any super powers, unless not feeling embarrassment counts as a super power. Still, you’ve almost got to respect anybody who would challenge Spider-Man without the benefit of super powers. Spider-Man can lift a Buick above his head. If you’re going to call yourself the Kangaroo and take him on, you’d better have at least been bitten by a radioactive kangaroo. I haven’t read the Kangaroo’s first appearance (issue #81 of the same mag), but I think it’s safe to assume that Spider-Man called him “chuckles” and beat the didgeridoo out of him.
The Kangaroo is living as a bum, so when Jonas Harrow, the mad scientist who a year earlier implanted an anvil in the head of a delusional gangster to create the villain Hammerhead, offers Frank the opportunity to gain super powers, he agrees.
Peter Parker arrives at E.S.U. and runs into Miles Warren, a biology professor. Warren browbeats Peter for not showing up to his class. It’s nice to see Peter have a problem that doesn’t involve a cackling super villain. (ATTENTION: The previous sentence was a joke. Please do not write to tell me that Warren was later revealed to be The Jackal.) Peter also encounters Flash and Mary Jane, but he blows them off.
Peter arrives back at his apartment and finds that his roommate Harry Osborne, currently grieving his father and addicted to drugs, hasn’t paid the rent. Peter then receives a phone call from his Aunt May, who is living at the Westchester estate of Otto Octavius while he’s in jail.
Meanwhile J. Jonah Jameson arranges medical treatment for his son John, who was injured in the previous issue when Spider-Man forcibly removed the rock from his neck that made him Man-Wolf.
Now that we’re all nice and up-to-date with most of the supporting cast, Spider-Man swings by the advertising agency and takes the execs up on their offer to get rent money. Then he heads towards the Baxter building to get the Fantastic Four to help him build the Spider-Mobile.
Back to the Kangaroo. Harrow makes the Kangaroo better, stronger, rebuilds him. Thanks to compressed air jets and bionic parts the Kangaroo can now jump hundreds of yards and punch through concrete. Kangy thanks Harow for this by sucker punching him and jumping out the window, where he immediately spots Spider-Man. Using his new powers Kangaroo nearly KO’s the wall-crawler, but Harrow built a failsafe into the bionic parts that forces him to return to the lab. Spider-Man continues to the Baxter Building and convinces Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) to build the Spider-Mobile. Before plans can get too far along the two heroes hear a police bulletin about a man with horrible fashion sense attacking a research company. Spider-Man deduces that this is the Kangaroo and swings off to intercept.
The Kangaroo, now under the control of Harrow, is at the company to break into a certain lab and steal some rare radioactive isotopes. Spider-Man tries to stop him, warning him that the isotopes are as powerful as a nuclear reactor. Despite Spidey’s best efforts the Kangaroo opens the door to the lab… and is burned to a cinder. The police burst in, but all that’s left to do is dustbuster the Kangaroo’s remains into a lead-lined urn. Outside Harrow bemoans the fact that giving someone the ability to jump really far doesn’t make them immune to radioactivity.
On the final page of the issue Mary Jane tries to visit her sometimes boyfriend Harry Osborne, but he won’t open the door. Inside we see that Harry has his father’s Green Goblin costume, which Harry took off his father’s body four issues back. Dum dum dum!
The End…
…At least until next month, when Marvel would produce another issue of Amazing Spider-Man as insane as this one. I can’t imagine how they did it. Every issue around this time juggles at least four story lines, while keeping us updated on the lives of all of Peter’s friends and coworkers, introducing one or two characters, and often killing one off. Knowing Spider-Man at this point was very dangerous. People keep dying around him like he’s Jessica Fletcher. Now I just have to pick up Essential Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1, so I can reread what is in my opinion the greatest work of Western literature, Marvel Team-Up issues #9-11, featuring Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Human Torch and the Inhumans vs. Kang the Conquerer and Zarko the Tomorrow Man. I'm sure it's just as great as I remember.
Posted: Sun - August 8, 2004 at
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My name is Scott Hamilton and I live in St. Petersburg, Florida. My e-mail is Scott (at) stomptokyo.com.
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B-Movie Message Board - Message board for Stomp Tokyo.
Blue Glow - Chris Holland's weblog, mostly about TV.
Reel Shame - About the book I co-wrote.
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FilmBuffStuff - Stomp Tokyo's shopping blog.
Prawn Bites - Ask him about kung fu movies.
Tachyon-City - Nathan of Cold Fusion Video Reveiw's blog.
Yes, I Know - Freex of The Bad Movie Report's blog.
Background Radiati0n - The inane ramblings of a Brit living in the USA.
Make Friends the Joe Bannerman Way - "Maria Ford Forever", indeed.
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