Well, the Jackal is still hanging around in his goblin suit. I mean, he looks like more of a goblin than some of the costumed goblins Spidey messes with.
Maybe he’ll do something impressive this time!
Issue: The Amazing Spider-Man #147, August 1975
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Ross Andru
Alternate Bus Driver: Jimmy Impossible
The Plot: The Jackal springs a trap for Spidey! Again!
Commentary: So, I’ve been bagging on the Jackal lately, but here, he makes his move! Yes, the next issue blurb promises to finally unmask the guy, but again, I am writing this up decades after the fact. I know who that jackass is. And the guy who’s helping him is Tarantula? A guy who fashioned another pair of spiked shoes in prison and none of the guards noticed? Wow, they pay a lot of attention there.
Oh, and Ned Leeds calls Peter to say he got some test results on Gwen, tests that prove…she’s a clone!
Dun dun DUN!
How about how the Jackal disguises himself as a bus driver as part of a trap for Spidey, but somehow, he wears the Jackal mask under the bus driver mask and the giant Jackal ears don’t distort the bus driver mask?
Oh, wait, I know where it went wrong: the Jackal picks up the Tarantula outside the prison and says the Tarantula just made the big time because he’s teamed with the Jackal!
Since when was the Jackal big time? He’s mostly bugging Spider-Man, and he’s more annoying than anything else. He just shows up places, taunts Spidey, and then disappears again. What a weiner!
Oh sure, he and Tarantula used a stolen bus and the mesmerized Gwen clone to knock Spidey out, tie him up with chains, and then kick him off the same bridge Gwen died on, and that looks like the end of Spider-Man, but he opened this issue hanging from a helicopter after a Man-Thing team-up that took place in a different title. But man, there are tests for clones now. They must be more common than we thought.
Grade: B+
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