Noteworthy Issues: The Amazing Spider-Man #35 (April, 1966)

Oh no!  The Molten Man came back!  That guy who…barely got anything done before he was captured like ten minutes after he gained superpowers.

Huh.  Must be why this issue came out with a release date of April Fool’s Day.

Issue:  The Amazing Spider-Man #35, April 1966

Words and Edits: Stan Lee

And The Rest:  Steve Ditko

The Plot: The Molten Man is trying again.  Maybe he’ll stay a free man more than an hour this time.

Commentary:  The title for this story is “The Molten Man Regrets…!”  What does he regret?  He should regret quite a bit.  He may be the most pathetic of the old, original Spider-Man foes.  I mean, in his previous (and first) appearance, he gained superpowers while struggling over some liquid metal with Professor Smythe, then he went on a rampage flipping a couple cars, and before he can even come up with a plan to get a lot of money or take over the world or something, Spider-Man shows up and subdues him fairly quickly.  Heck, Spidey even points out that if the Molten Man just surrenders, it probably won’t be too bad since he didn’t really do anything, but noooooooooo, that guy had to make it tougher for himself.

What a putz.

Almost like Peter who is kinda down in the dumps because Betty, the woman he thought he would marry for some stupid reason, has moved away, possibly with Ned Leeds, after he spent issues almost literally pushing her away.

What a putz.

Anyway, the Molten Man has a plan now.  After getting out of prison for good behavior and, you know, the fact he didn’t do much, he gets himself a Scooby Doo mask and takes to robbing a jewelry store in such a way that he is sure to not get blamed.  You know, so long as Peter Parker doesn’t have the sudden thought that a crook as strong as some kind of metal was probably the recently released Molten Man, allowing Spidey to more or less follow the very conspicuous criminal with the golden coating, putting a spider-tracer on him, and then following him to his next job.  There’s a fight, but Spider-Man already has a new web formula that he can use to, once again, hogtie the Molten Man until the cops show up.

So, am I supposed to take the Molten Man seriously?

I mean, this guy can put up a decent fight with he throws punches, but Spider-Man just finds a way to tie him up and leave him for the cops.  He’s not exactly warm to the touch despite being “molten,” and that might actually make him more formidable.  Plus, he’s not the kind of guy who can hide who he is all that easily if he’s not wearing that Scooby Doo mask.  I’m not even sure he’s all that bright.  Not when the Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus can actually escape at the end  a fight to cause more problems down the road.  The Molten Man seems like the kind of guy who has trouble tying his own shoes.

What a putz.

Anyhoo, it looks like the next issue has the most Steve Ditko villain ever.  I’ll explain when I get to it.

Grade:  A-