Is That a Horse's Head in My Bed? What a Strange Coincidence. 'Tis That, and Nothing More...

If you haven't read the "Born Again" storyline from Daredevil, you're missing out.  It was Frank Miller at his finest, telling the story of a complete dismantling of an iconic hero by a powerful foe.  Poor Matt Murdock got it from everywhere.  I'm not going to spoil everything for you, but it's worth noting that Matt's house was blown to smithereens.

And Pete proves in Amazing Spider-Man  #277 that there's a reason they don't call him "The Particularly Bright Spider-Man."

Your pal is Daredevil, he fights the biggest mobster in New York, his house gets blown up, and Pete thinks this was a fluke accident.

If you're ever charged with a crime, you want Peter Parker on your jury.  That's all I'm saying.

But this was an interesting bit of introspection:

It is kind of odd that a character that goes by the name Daredevil who used to dress up like a circus acrobat became the noir hero that Miller turned into.  Anyway, I found this to be one of those "I never noticed it before, but that's right!" moments, kind of like when Johnny Storm came right out and said that the Fantastic Four were adventurers, not crime-fighters.

And now, it's time for: Well..... Touche! (tm!)

Well.... Touche! (tm!)

That, of course, was the Wraith, proving once again that it wasn't safe to be a D-list badguy in the Marvel Universe back in the late 80s.  I thought that "Scourge" was a great subplot, but it kind of culminated into a non-event, giving the big reveal in the USAgent miniseries, of all things.  Still, it was the journey, not the destination.

See you tomorrow!

The Long Overdue Tribute to the Human Fly!

Every so often, I run into a fun bit of head-scratching trivia, and today's is courtesy of our continued look at Amazing Spider-Man #276.

Observe, the escape of the Human Fly: 

This made me pause for a moment.  I was familiar with the character, but I always referred to him as simply "The Fly."  When we're talking about "The Human Fly," I think of this guy:

Remember him?  He was the "real" super-hero based on Rick Rojatt, a stuntman.  His comic wasn't nearly as bad as it should have been.  I mean, it wasn't Kingdom Come or anything, but it wasn't SuperPro, either.  Then again, I may be cutting it a break because it had the Ghost Rider and the original White Tiger making guest appearances at some point.

So I was a little confused and thought maybe they had the villain's name wrong.  But I looked back at his first appearance and, sure enough:

Yup.  To make matters even more complicated, Marvel introduced both characters within about a year of each other.  I complain about DC having too many characters that go by the name "the Flash," but they at least acknowledge there are a few guys going around with that name.  To the best of my knowledge, the two "Human Flies" never crossed paths nor did anyone ever mention the shared monicker.

In retrospect, of course, I remember that there was a Golden Age "The Fly" who was owned by another company, so Marvel probably couldn't get away with that one.  They could have re-named one of the characters, I suppose, but it was probably more trouble than it was worth.

So what happened to these guys?  Well... 

... and that was that, but at least he was given an "on-camera" death.  No Second String Pick-Off (tm!) here.

The stuntman/superhero disappeared when his title was cancelled with issue 19.  Why he had a rocket emblem on his costume was never explained.

But, in the "Truth is Stranger than Fiction" Department, it appears that there were talks at one point about making the character into a movie.  One can justifiably conclude that Hollywood has indeed officially run out of ideas.

And yes, "Spak Pum" is officially part of Sound Effect Theater (tm!).

See you Monday! 

You're in the Hospital? But What About MY Needs?

From Amazing Spider-Man #276, we have the first official installment of  a new CMNS Feature I like to call... Sound Effect Theater! (tm!):

When Spider-Man Pwams You...

You STAY Pwammed, My Friend!

This was the first official installment of... Sound Effect Theater! 

Remember where you were today, folks!  You'll be telling your grandkids about it, I'm sure.

Here was a panel that kind of tickled me:

In every group project, there's always that one person who doesn't actually do anything, but stands around in close proximity so she can say she's "helping."  And it's always the blonde.  Don't break a nail, Princess!

As we saw yesterday, poor Sha Shawn had been kidnapped by the Hobgoblin just after a violent parting with her philandering boyfriend, Flash Thompson.  Flash visits her in the hospital and... well...

Yes, the girl was the victim of domestic violence and kidnapping the previous day, but Flash screw that noise, because Flash's feelings are hurt!  Do you know people like that?  I sure do.  

Sha Shan, I'm begging you... no jury would ever convict you... just...

THERE ya go!

Our thanks on behalf of a grateful nation, Sha Shan for that Random Slap! (tm!)

When Love Fails, Disembodied Floating Heads (tm!) will Follow....

Amazing Spider-Man #275 is something of a landmark because... well, 275 is kind of a round number, so there you go.

Here we see Flash's affair with Betty Brandt Leeds come to its inevitable conclusion.  Flash's relationship with Sha Shan really wasn't developed so much in Amazing Spider-Man (I think it played out more in the companion book Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man), so I was rather surprised to see it happen in these pages.  Thusly:

I've never understood the deal with autographed photographs.  I was around 18 when this was published, and I had never seen this in real life.  I mean, you'd sign the back of a school picture if you gave one to a friend, but you sure didn't act like you were Cary Effin' Grant and write your smooth dialogue on the front like that.  Maybe it was a New York thing.  You Yankees do all kinds of stuff I don't get.

Anyway, Pete is considering hanging up the webs.  Again.

NO, MARY JANE! DON'T ASK HIM TO TELL HIS ORIGIN!  HE DOES IT ALL THE...

And just as we had feared yesterday, we get the entire origin story from Amazing Fantasy #15 reprinted again.  This issue was touted as a "37 page story" and cost you an extra fifty cents, which was a pretty decent markup considering comics were only seventy-five cents back in the day, but eleven of those pages were the reprint.  So this was kind of a rip, considering how many times you've read Spidey's origin already.  I sure don't want to pay a 66% markup on a comic to read it again.  By today's standards, that would be at least a couple of bucks, and... 

Hold on.

Wheatcakes!

WHEATCAKES!

That still doesn't excuse the reprint, but you know how I feel about wheatcakes.

Anyway, Flash is a jerk and having an appropriately terrible time, complete with Disembodied Floating Heads! (tm!)

And the only way to deal with that is with a Random Sucker Punch (tm!) on an inexplicably blonde Ned Leeds:

Flash also punched his girlfriend earlier that issue.  I didn't reprint the panels because I didn't want anyone to think I found the domestic violence depicted therein funny.  Flash is a jerk.  But anybody who wants you to call him "Flash" is giving you fair warning of what you can expect.

Meanwhile, Sha Shan is having the worst day ever when she is kidnapped and insulted:

Well..... Touche! (tm!)

Why Does Aunt May Always Look So Startled? And Other Cosmic Questions...

Secret Wars II had everything I don't like about a comic: Cosmic forces engaging in sci-fi blah-blah, magic, and....

... well, I do like me some Disembodied Floating Heads! (tm!)

There are so many of 'em that poor Spidey can't even stand up straight on the cover of his own book.  That's a lot.  Either that, or he's mooning them.  Which, considering how often he's annoyed with Disembodied Floating Heads (tm!), I'd be considering doing that myself.

And there was this one little bit of Fun with Out of Context Dialogue! (tm!):

That's a victory in any guy's book, isn't it?

This was the end of the Secret Wars II cross-overs in Amazing Spider-Man.  The next issue would have all-new 

Oh, geez.

As we've seen, it's not like Spidey doesn't reflect on his origin story at least once every ten issues.  Do I have to pay to read it again?  Then again, it could be worse... I could be paying a hundred bucks to read it again!

 Come back, Beyonder!  I may have been too hasty!

See you tomorrow!

Respect Me as a Woman Whilst I Waggle My Butt in Your Face!

Today's bit of Monday merriment was brought to you courtesy of Amazing Spider-Man #273.  We're right in the middle of the oft-and-justifiably-so maligned Secret Wars II, which I just can't seem to force myself to read again.

Why?  I dunno.... because they're a CULT?!

Mary Jane Watson...

... likes to be bossed around.  Pay attention, Pete!

Now, I'm not a prude...

but is that really appropriate attire for a home improvement project?

And yes, I'm talking about Mary Jane.

Yes, I brought you this kimono from Japan so you could have an alternative to painting Peter's apartment while dressed as a prostitute.

We have fun around here, oh we do.

See you tomorrow!

Make Way for Slyde and His Fried Eggs of DOOOOM!

So, as we can see, the trend of complete irrelevance in Spider-Man history continued with Amazing Spider-Man #272 and the first appearance of Slyde...

As you might imagine, he was basically a cross between the Speed-Demon and the Eel.  When you take two bush-league bad guys and squoosh them together, what do you get?  Another bush-league bad guy.  With a stupid name.  What is it with you kids and deliberately mis-spelling things?  "Z's" and "S's" are not interchangeable.  And get off my lawn.

His awe-inspiring origin?  Thusly:

To give credit where it's due, this is the first time I've seen fried eggs used as part of an origin story.

History tells us that Slyde slid into oblivion, but there was a DC character who had the exact same power, so there's something to be said for a character who was imitated (albeit by an equally unsuccessful character, but still...).  Do you know who I'm thinking of?  Answer in the comments and impress me with your knowledge of B-List characters!

And, since it's Spider-Man, we have to have yet another installment of...

Say it with me, people!

We GET It! (tm!)

In the previous issue, there was this cameo by the Avengers, and if there was a worse line-up in Avengers history, I don't know what it was:

When 40% of your team is the Black Knight and Starfox, you've got personnel issues.

And I don't even want to know why Hercules is picking that guy's nose.  This was probably around the time I quit reading The Avengers.

See you Monday!