Noteworthy Issues: The Amazing Spider-Man #52 (September, 1967)

Oh man, Spider-Man is trapped in a flooding basement with his worst enemy!

No, his other worst enemy.

No, the other one.  The one he can’t have arrested.

No, not the Kingpin.  He’s just too smooth.  You know what?  Never mind.

Issue:  The Amazing Spider-Man #52, September 1967

Writer:  Stan Lee

Artist:  John Romita Sr

The Plot:  Spidey and Jonah Jameson may die in the Kingpin’s death trap!

Commentary:  Like any good James Bond villain, the Kingpin apparently decided to set up an elaborate death trap to do away with his enemies rather than just shooting them or something.  That means locking J Jonah Jameson and an unconscious Spider-Man in a room with iron restraints and then filling the room with water.  Jameson’s only hope is that Spider-Man can wake up and free them.

If Spidey couldn’t, this would be an awfully short issue and probably the final part of this series.  That would have made Jimmy’s Spider-Man Chronology so much easier.  Maybe Jimmy can tell me where that Deadly Neighborhood Spider-Man issue I read fits into anything, but I don’t want to really ask him.  He might get all twitchy.

Fortunately, Spider-Man does wake up and use his webbing to create an air bubble for the two, and then he just waits for someone to open the door.  That was pretty foolish of the Kingpin and his goons, but that just means Fisk has to run away after Spider-Man gets back to his office.  Sure, Spidey has to threaten Jameson to get the guy to move, but that just means Jameson has more stuff to put in his newspaper.

Oh hey, speaking of, that guy in that one panel the previous issue was Robbie Robinson.  Cool.

Anyhoo, Kingpin tells Foswell to kill Jameson, and Foswell replies that he’s not about cold blooded murder which makes me wonder how exactly he ran the ganglands before.  Never mind.  Foswell dies defending Jameson, so I guess he died a hero.  Better than that awful Spider-Man whose name is on the cover.  And yes, Kingpin gets away despite his physical might since he’s still just a guy and Spider-Man is Spider-Man.

Anyway, lots of action this issue aside from the usual asides with Ned Leeds, Betty Brant, and Flash Thompson who just left for the army but is back already on leave.

Apparently, Doc Ock comes back next time.

Grade:  A-