The Stop Button

I’ve probably read the Spider-Man story from Amazing Fantasy #15 ten or fifteen times, but nothing else. It’s such a famous story, I’ll bet one could recount it panel-by-panel with some effort. I did manage to find something new this time, something I hadn’t thought about before. Lee doesn’t do anything to make Peter Parker particularly likable. Sure, he’s bullied, but he’s not a martyr. Instead, the tragedy is what makes him so compelling.

The rest of the issue is odd little one-offs. First is a religious story. It’s a waste of time.

The second is a mummy thing, with the best Dikto art in the book. It’s got a cool surprise ending and it moves nicely, but it’s really all about the art. The expressions on the protagonist’s face, for example, stellar.

The third is a “Martians among us” story; good, but way too short.

CREDITS

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p style=”font-size:11px;”>Spider-Man!; letterer, Artie Simek. The Bell-Ringer!. Man in the Mummy Case!. There Are Martians among Us!. Writer and editor, Stan Lee; artist, Steve Ditko; publisher, Marvel Comics.