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Posts: 16415
Apr 6 09 1:04 AM
Golden Age
"I still can't even make up my mind whether to like him or hate 'im!" - Johnny Storm I was surprised that this final issue in the #17-19 trilogy was a letdown. Not that I'm bothered by that - there has hardly been a mediocre ASM issue in the entire run up to this point, and #16 and #19 are merely the exceptions which prove the rule. I do think it's interesting that after the heights of "The End of Spider-Man!", Stan and Steve seemingly reward their younger readers with an issue that features a lot of Spidey fighting action. Kind of like they felt a need to hook any of the kiddies who may have discovered the mag with #18 and were in danger of not sticking with it. "Spidey Strikes Back!" doesn't feature much in the way of suspense or interior conflict or irony or any of the other non-battle aspects that make me love the series. And yet, even in the middle of such an action issue, we do still get some absolutely wonderful scenes of soap opera. Check out this page which simply features the characters standing around chatting. I really like the look of that page. Although the camera perspective hardly changes, the colors of the clothing complement each other, the background color is varied from panel to panel, and the dialogue is pleasant. It's nice to see romantic rivals be so courteous and good-natured to each other. "Pleased to meet you, Leeds!" " Same here, Parker!" And Peter is so nice to Betty: "Nothing to explain, Betty! He seems to be a nice guy! Why shouldn't you see him?" After seeing Peter very anxious about Betty's affections in earlier issues, my suspicion here is that Pete is putting a brave face on this, and I'm looking for corroboration of this in future. I like how Stan provides no thought balloons for Pete in this scene or immediately following it - the result being that the reader has to wonder whether or not Pete is really as complacent about Ned as he seems to be outwardly. It happens again during the denouement -
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