Undervalued Spotlight #290

Never thought Spider-man was undervalued, but he sure seems to have quite a number of “undervalued” entries on this board.

^ To expand: Peter Parker (in costume) neglects to stop random criminal, who escapes and then later (coincidentally) burglarizes Parker’s own home, murdering Uncle Ben, who surprises him. That’s the origin: failure to exercise power while “looking out for #1” ironically hurts the guy who shirked his responsibility, as he loses his father-figure.

ASM #200 needlessly, idiotically complicates this with the contention that some gang’s “secret treasure” (or whatever the hell it is — I haven’t read this comic in 25 or 30 years) is hidden in the Parker household. So, quite conceivably — indeed, ALMOST DEFINITELY — the house would’ve been burglarized –and Uncle Ben’s life endangered — at some other point, either by the same guy or someone else, REGARDLESS of whether the brand-new “TV Sensation” Spider-Man had stopped him at the TV studio or not.

So, in effect, Peter’s (in-)action at that critical moment of his life — his very raison d’être, the guilt that prevents him from ever quitting his Spider-Man identity every time, over the years, he swears to give it up — becomes much, much less important once ASM #200 is published. TOTALLY STUPID, Marvel. (And don’t even mention to me they utterly ruined his origin in the movie Spider-Man 3)

What I’m saying is, the Parker house “now” (ret-conned, post ASM #200) is not a random scene of a particular crime, but a specific target because of money hidden inside. That profoundly lessens the dramatic significance of Peter’s choice not to stop the burglar on the night before the random* burglary that resulted in Uncle Ben’s death. *-random in AF 15, that is.

Pre-ASM #200, the Parker household was statistically no more or less likely to be burglarized than any other household: i.e., if Peter Parker, in the crucial moment of his life, had stopped the robber at the TV studio, then that same burglar wouldn’t’ve been free to attempt the burglary the next night, and the Parker family, like the vast majority of others, most probably would’ve carried on its merry way, all three members alive and burglar-free.

Any other “what ifs” that might or might not befall them WOULDN’T DERIVE FROM PETER’S CHOICE to REFRAIN from acting.

Post-ASM #200, however, Peter merely chose not to stop a burglar who — knowing the house is “hot” with hidden loot — very likely would’ve tried to rob it at some future point anyway. So in this “new” version, even IF Spidey HAD exercised his power to stop the criminal, the criminal very probably would still try to rob the house — sure, perhaps not for months or even years (e.g., after being released from his sentence for robbing the TV studio) — or he might alert some accomplice that there’s loot there, or whatever …yes, these things are only WHAT IFs: yes, maybe they’d rob the house when no one’s home; maybe Uncle Ben wouldn’t surprise him and be shot — NONE OF THAT MATTERS! The point is, a house with loot, which criminals know is there, is a TARGET. As a matter of drama, that makes Peter Parker’s failure to act AT THAT MOMENT much less significant.

Speaking of WHAT IF: they did a story in the original series of that comic: “What if Uncle Ben had lived?” The What If story everyone had been awaiting! What drastic “change” happened in this alternate reality? Did Peter do the right thing, and use his power instead of “looking out for #1”? Uh, no. It just turns out that Uncle Ben didn’t have back pain, so he stayed in bed. No change to the pivotal moment, Peter’s failure to act in the TV studio. It was just BACK PAIN. What a colossal let-down. Even as a 10 year-old I understood storytelling well enough to see that they absolutely ruined this.

P.S. Sorry for all the “shouting”. No way to use italics for emphasis on here, is there? So I had to resort to caps.

The square bound annuals went a bit further; the one after Speedball (Spidey and She-Hulk vs Abomination) was also square bound.

But as to regular runs, the only thing I can think of off the top of my head post-ASM 200 (which is Jan 1980) are the first few issues of King Conan. #1 is March 1980.

Well, perhaps I must eat my words: I stopped at Walt’s store on the weekend, where I picked up one of the What If? “Classic” TPBs, in which is reprinted an earlier issue (#19) than the one I cited above (#46). In this earlier story — by the same writer as the one I complained about — Uata asks/answers, “What If Spider-Man Had Stopped the Burglar Who Killed His Uncle?” What a surprise! — I had a number of issues of What If when I was a kid, and often sought out others in back issue bins over the years, but oddly enough I can’t ever recall even seeing this one. haven’t read it yet, but I’ll keep an open mind. (Unfortunately Ron Frenz didn’t draw #19; he did draw #46, though – so at least that one has one redeeming quality).

Mike,
Did you catch the Comic Link auction with the 7.5 AA #1 in it? I didn’t; and I’m curious what it went for. Once I saw it was today, I couldn’t watch live for fear of temptation — I’m out of ammo having picked up raw, high side of mid-grade Torch #7, All Winners #3 and (slightly lesser grade) Cap #78 earlier this week. Couldn’t pass those up!