Noteworthy Issues: The Amazing Spider-Man #27 (August, 1965)

How does Spider-Man get away from a room full of mobsters, the Crime-Master, and the Green Goblin?

Well, maybe the same way he always does.

Issue:  The Amazing Spider-Man #27, August 1965

Dialogue: Stan Lee

Plot and Art:  Steve Ditko

The Plot:  Spidey needs to escape a lot of criminals.

Commentary:  So, how useful is Spider-Man in this issue?

See, he’s surrounded by those suit-wearing mobsters again, the kind that seems to be in endless supply in his version of New York City since there is always a warehouse or an office building full of the guys who always get arrested when the cops show up.  Heck, three or four cops show up to help Spidey fistfight these guys despite the fact that even with Spidey, they are greatly outnumbered.  However, I’ve seen Spider-Man take out these endless goons before.

Heck, the Crime-Master doesn’t really have any powers.  The arguably only really dangerous guy in the room is the Goblin, and and he and Crime-Master almost take each other out at they take shots at Spider-Man.

However, the issue is only about halfway over by then.  The cops appreciate Spider-Man, but he didn’t call the tip in.  Some one-eyed dude named Patch did.  He’s an informant.  He’s also, revealed at the end of the issue, to be Frederick Foswell.  See, I knew he wasn’t the Crime-Master.  The cops took Crime-Master out in a rather permanent way on a rooftop across from Jameson’s office where the guy was hoping to take out a whole lot of his enemies.

That…that’s kinda dark.

Anyway, Crime-Master turned out to be a guy Spider-Man had never even heard of, supposedly also Ditko’s plans for the Green Goblin that Stan Lee didn’t care for.  I’ll say something about that later.

But through all that, the whole thing here is Spider-Man doesn’t really save the day.  I’ve seen this a couple of times.  He didn’t capture the crooks or take out the Crime-Master.  The cops did.  He’s on the outs with both Betty and Liz Allen presumably, and he even lost his camera at one point, having to get it back from some kids.  One kid has my favorite line in the issue where he confides with his friend that he’s actually a Human Torch fan.  Meanwhile, the Green Goblin got away again, and Jameson even got a good scoop on what happened thanks to Foswell.  Peter is left doing what he should have done in the first place and starting to sew together another costume.

Oh well, at least all the webbing he used to keep the cheap knock-off in place prevented his unmasking.

Grade:  A-