THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #116

"Suddenly... The Smasher!"

• Writer: Stan Lee
• Artist: John Romita
• Inker: Jim Mooney
• Print Date: Jan., 1973

Featuring:

Plot Summary:

Spider-Man perches on a building overlooking two workers putting up a "Richard Raleigh for Mayor" billboard. Wherever this Raleigh comes from, he's got billboards springing up all over town. Spider-Man has his own problems though. His recent battles with Doctor Octopus and Hammerhead ended with Aunt May deciding to remain in Doc Oct's Westchester estate.

There appears to be something wrong with Spider-Man's mask. His eyes are visible through the mask. It's ill-fitting with seams showing around his neck. Apparently, he lost his original mask a few issues ago and it was sold to Jonah Jameson.

As Spider-Man swings past the billboard, his spider-sense alerts him of danger. The source of the disturbance is not a mystery as a huge character bursts through the Raleigh display.

"Beat it, you punks! Nobody puts up posters for Raleigh while the Smasher's around!"

The Smasher is over ten feet tall and is bursting with muscles. As the scaffolding collapse, Spider-Man fires a webline to prevent the workers from falling to the street below. He deposits them on a ledge and crawls up to confront the Smasher. The Smasher shrugs off Spider-Man's blows, grabs the web-slinger, and tosses him towards the street below. Spider-Man's webline spare him from becoming an inkblot on the pavement below, and he heads back up to where the Smasher is ripping apart the billboard and tossing large chunks towards the street below. When Spider-Man saves the pedestrians from being crushed by the debris, Smasher uses his powerful fingers to crawl down the wall towards Spider-Man by digging hand-holds in the solid brick.

A well placed kick dislodges Smasher and sends him down to the rooftop below. While Smasher recovers, Spider-Man swings off to grab the billboard painters and deposit them on another nearby rooftop. By the time he returns, Smasher has vanished.

Not terribly disappointed, Spider-Man swings off to retrieve his mask from Jameson's office. A quick webline fired past Jonah's nose and Spider-Man is able to swing off with his original mask in hand. A quick change of clothes, and Peter Parker is ready to return to the Daily Bugle to sell off some photographs.

Peter doesn't get far down the street when Harry Osborn and Mary Jane Watson pull up. Mary Jane gives Peter a "Raleigh Rooter" campaign button. MJ insists that he and Gwen attend a Raleigh eat-in tomorrow night to support the campaign. Peter gets to Jameson's office. However, Jameson isn't interested in pictures of Hammerhead and Doctor Octopus. He's obsessed with Raleigh's campaign for mayor and wants pictures of the 'giant' that has a grudge against Raleigh. Robertson and Jameson discuss how to get the story on the underworld's attempt to sabotage Raleigh's campaign as Peter heads out.

Meanwhile, Raleigh gives a press conference to discuss the recent attack on his campaign. He talks about how the underworld has declared war on 'law and order' and insists that he will fight back and the crime lords need to take heed. Afterwards, a weasely figure comes up and tells Raleigh to lay off the law and order speeches or Raleigh might find himself giving speeches at the bottom of the river. Undeterred, Raleigh vows to crush the criminal vermin that terrorize the city.

"This Richard Raleigh swears!"

Now that we've struggled through the longest introduction on record, we rejoin our thoughtful hero the next evening as he swings towards a tense rendezvous with a girl named Gwen...

Despite dreading his confrontation with Gwen, Spider-Man's mind is on the Smasher as he wonders where his overgrown playmate could be hiding. Peter arrives at Gwen's apartment, and the confrontation is brief. Peter asks if there is anything between Gwen and Flash, and Gwen simply hugs him and tells him that her and Flash are simply friends.

Having made up, the two arrive at the Raleigh rally hosted by an east side hotel. However, they've just missed the man himself as Raleigh wrapped up his speech shortly before they arrived. They are just in time to hear the end of Jonah's speech supporting Raleigh. Peter's spider-sense warns him of danger, and looking up, he sees the roof fixture cracking and about to collapse. He excuses himself quickly and sneaks off. Ripping out a power panel, he plunges the room in darkness and heads up to the roof. Someone spots his shadowy figure crawling to the ceiling, but Peter can't stop. He webs up the rooftop trying to keep it from collapsing on the crowd below. His webbing isn't strong enough though. He's blown it.. He's failed and two hundred people - strangers, acquaintances, friends, GWEN! are going to die.

Comments:

Ugh.. I'm tired and functioning on 6 hours of sleep. We'll see how creative I can get. Probably no more than usual which really is not much at all.

So, I haven't read back further, so I didn't know that Spider-Man lost his mask. Right away on Page 1, you can tell something is wrong with the mask he is wearing. For starters, you can see his eyes. Plus, there is a white stripe around his neck. It looks like a flea collar actually. Originally, I wrote that off as sloppy artwork, but apparently, it was intentional.

Spider-Man is reading a "Vote Richard Raleigh for Mayor" billboard. Again, I haven't read the issues prior to this, but I'm guessing is three-issue storyline is the first (and last) time we've heard about Richard Raleigh. I'd be shocked if there was any foreshadowing of this story in the past few issues. Pure speculation at this point, but probably a safe wager.

Speaking of foreshadowing, Spider-Man thinks to himself that there must be a fortune behind Raleigh at the rate that billboards are going up. I'm sure that comment will have some significance in the issues to come.

Well, we've got one splash page of intro and then the action starts. Spider-Man spider-sense warns him just before we're introduced to the latest classic villain - The Smasher! I'm trying to figure out who thought this was a great idea for a character concept:

"You know what we need? We need a villain. A big strong villain. Someone that is 10-feet tall, muscle-bound, and can toss our hero around like a ragdoll. We need him to be a HUGE physical guy, but not too bright. We'll have him speak in broken English to get across that he's not real bright..."

"Hey, what if we gave him green skin?"

"Ok.. Don't be stupid. This is going to be the coolest villain EVER! We'll call him.. The Smasher!"

My cynicism tells me that someone got a big Christmas bonus for coming up with the Smasher.

Ok, so the Smasher is big, dumb, and apparently out to sabotage the Raleigh campaign. Even at this point, it seems pretty obvious he didn't come up with this idea on his own, but there is a likely mastermind behind this plot.

Great, and if the villain doesn't sell you on the quality of this issue, the dialogue would. I mean.. When have you ever heard a hero use the line: "No one that big can be so fast!" I mean, surely this is the first time, in Spider-Man comics, that this line was ever used.. in 1973... And only because this issue was printed in January.

The battle quickly turns against our hero as he under-estimates his big opponent. I'm not sure HOW he manages to under-estimate a 10-foot tall, 2-ton, monstrosity that speaks like the Hulk, but that's the sort of genius that separates the comic writers from the rest of the world. Spider-Man nearly becomes an inkspot on the pavement below, and has to save pedestrians from being crushed by large chunks of rubble torn off the building the Smasher is standing on. The battle is short-lived however. Spider-Man is forced to rescue the billboard workers from falling off a ledge, and while distracted, the Smasher vanishes. He must've blended in with the crowds below and walked away or something.

Something to notice in Spider-Man comics. Robert Robertson is never wrong. So when he's says that there something about Raleigh that he doesn't trust, you can believe that Raleigh is not to be trusted.

The whole "Jameson has Spider-Man's mask hung up like a trophy" subplot is resolved in the span about 4 panels as Spider-Man fires a webline into Jameson's office and absconds with the mask.

Back on the street, Peter runs into the happy couple MJ and Harry Osborn. They give Peter a "Raleigh Rooter" campaign badge, and convince him to bring Gwen out to a big rally the next even. (I can't believe the term "Raleigh Rally" didn't appear at some point during this conversation.) Really, this little interlude just establishes that MJ and Harry are Raleigh supporters, and sets up Peter to attend the rally with Gwen later in the issue.

When Peter's at the Bugle, JJJ get a tip about the Smasher's grudge against Raleigh. He proclaims that the underworld must be out to side-track Raleigh's law and order campaign and tells Robertson that they need to report the whole story. It should be good publicity for Raleigh to have the Bugle, and other papers, reporting about how Raleigh has the criminal underworld scared.

In fact, the story switches to a Raleigh interview being broadcast live. He swears that the he would not bow to fear or threats and he would not bow down to them nor back out on his promises to the public. After the interview, a local "thug" tells Raleigh that "me and the boys" want him to lay off the speeches of his or he might find himself campaigning at the bottom of the river. Since this scene is simply between Raleigh and this organized crime representative, it is probably safe to assume that Raleigh really does have organized crime worried. Raleigh stands firm though and swears that that he'll crush all criminals like the vermin they are.

Apparently, there's a subplot about Peter thinking that Gwen and Flash have something going on. I don't know what prompted it, but their relationship problems are resolved in about three panels. In real life, speaking from experience, relationship problems never end! Peter and Gwen show up to the rally late. They missed Raleigh speech but are just in time to hear JJJ extended speech. Peter comments that most of the crowd is young people and makes a comment along the lines that it is a nice feeling know there is still room to grow in this country. All.. the innocent and naivety of 1973!

Peter's spider-sense goes off and he realizes that the ceiling is about cave in. Life's are at stakes, and there isn't a moment to lose! So, quick! Turn off the lights to protect your secret identity?

I wonder is someone has ever done a good "Hero pauses just a little too long to protect secret identity causing someone to be seriously injured or killed" story?

Suspenseful ending: His webbing isn't strong enough! The roof is about to collapse and kill everyone! Tune in next time..