In a completely selfish hope that Marvel Comics' new high end collectible Wolverine Adamantium Edition may be followed by a Spider-man Web Slinging Edition I’m taking the opportunity to highlight the stories that I think are representative of what makes Peter Parker “Amazing”. I’m sticking exclusively with the mainstream Spider-man most people know of and worked hard to keep the page count as close to 720 as possible. I’m also working in publication order so that we can see the character growth and development as it happened. Last week I chose Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-man #107 – 110’s “The Death of Jean DeWolff”.
At the very same time as that, published in December 1985, came Amazing Spider-man #271 “Whatever happened to Crusher Hogan?” This story finds Peter still concerned about the Beyonder as it’s also occurring at the same time as the events in Secret Wars II. Crusher Hogan, the wrestler that Peter first fought in Amazing Fantasy #15 just before he encountered the burglar that would kill his uncle, is now a janitor in a gym as life hasn’t been very good to him in the years since that fateful meeting. He spends his time telling stories of how he trained Spider-man and created the tech and costume for him and for the most part he’s mocked and/or humored for his efforts. When he overhears his bosses discussing a young wrestler that needs to be ‘dealt with’ he tries to warn the young man in spite of his fear of personal harm after also having been threatened.
Spider-man, who happens to by close by keeping an eye on someone at the request of his Aunt May, hears the gunshots at the gym and comes to help, recognizes Crusher and admits that he has no idea what’s going on here yet feels it’s safe to assume the guys with the guns need to be subdued. After the fight, one of the gym members comments about all of Crusher’s stories that nobody ever believed, and Spider-man immediately decides that there’s nothing to be gained by taking what little pride Crusher has left, corroborates the stories and thanks Crusher again for all of his help.
The next morning, Peter is confronted by his aunt who tells him that the man he was supposed to be watching was badly beaten the night before. That thread will become a story for another day as something from his past has caught up with him. What I like about this issue is that Spider-man’s not in it very much at all. Peter and Mary Jane have some moments, a little bit of time is spent at May’s house, there’s a lot going on to remind us what a rich supporting cast Spider-man has. The personal character moment for Spider-man is when he allows everyone to believe that Crusher really did train him. He knew it was a lie that didn’t hurt anyone and allowed a man he hasn’t seen since the earliest days of his career to maintain his dignity and lift his head a little higher.
Good for you, Crusher. And good for you, Spidey!
Michael R. Murray has been buying and collecting comics for over 35 years. At one point his collection included two copies of Amazing Spider-man #1, and one copy each of Amazing Fantasy #15, Fantastic Four #2, Avengers #4, Showcase #22, and dozens more high grade and key issues. The collection has grown to include original art pages, as well as statues and busts, with the current emphasis on collecting original drawings from appropriate artists on the inside of his hard covers. His personal collection of graphic novels consists of over 2,000 hard covers and trade paperbacks. He has attended all of the Boston and New York Comic Cons and experienced Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Diego. He has championed comic books in the local schools and was very proud that both of his children read at least three years above their grade levels, due nearly exclusively to comics. He’s quick to point out that none of this makes him an expert, but that his love of comics is most enjoyable when he can share it. Follow on Twitter at mycomicstore001 or like his Facebook page.