THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #126

"The Kangaroo Bounces Back!"

• Writer: Gerry Conway
• Artist: Ross Andru
• Inker: Jim Mooney
• Print Date: Nov., 1973

Featuring:

Plot Summary:

Most college students take the bus to campus; some kids drive. But only one teenaged scholar web-slings his way to classes in the morning, and that youth's name is "Spider-Man". On his way to classes, Spider-Man is flagged down from a nearby rooftop by Mr. Carter and Mr. Lombardo of Carter & Lombardo Agency. Their client, Corona Motors, wants Spider-Man to build a Spider-Mobile using Corona's new non polluting car engine. Spider-Man turns down the idea because "I think the idea of a Spider-Mobile is first-class dumb."

It's a pity Spidey is in such a rush to move along, If he'd taken his time, and cast a leisurely glance at the ground below him, he'd see a strangely familiar face. His name is Frank Oliver, but we know him better by the nickname which describes him for he's the man called The Kangaroo! As Frank glowers at Spider-Man from a nearby alley and rehashes his only defeat at Spider-Man's hands, he's approached by Dr. Jonas Harrow. The good doctor would like to make the Kangaroo a proposal...

Elsewhere over a certain campus, Peter Parker plans to make one of his classes. Unfortunately, nothing seems to matter with Gwen gone, and it's a miracle he hasn't been expelled for non-attendance. In the hallway, he runs into Professor Warren. Professor Warren asks Parker to attend his class sometime. Peter also meets Mary Jane and Flash. The pair invite Peter out for some coke and insist they won't take 'no' for answer. That's too bad though, because 'no' is the only answer Peter has for them.

Some hours later, as evening darkens the Manhattan sky, Peter returns back to his and Harry's apartment. He finds a note stating that rent hasn't been paid for two months, so he and Harry face eviction. As this latest bombshell explodes, Aunt May calls. She said that Mary Jane told her that Peter was acting oddly, and she wants to know if she should come back to the city from Westchester. Peter has an odd thought that Dr. Octopus' henchmen probably wouldn't let her leave (I assume this is some reference to a past issue).

As Peter and his aunt exchange conversational pleasantries, we'll take this opportunity to move a few blocks north, to a tenement loft now leased by a man once called doctor, currently known simply as Jonas Harrow, a man of rather unusual talents indeed. Jonas Harrow puts Frank Oliver under sedation with some ether and then performs a series of operations on the unconscious Mr. Oliver. First, he attaches an outward apparatus of plastic and steel. Then, the finely-connected wires, the thousand sensitive filaments, each attached to a separate nerve, a veritable network on controls and count-controls, of transmitters and receivers each reaching a different terminal, all ultimately connected to the Kangaroo's living brain.

For seven hours, Jonas Harrow labors and at length he exclaims, "Success!" The Kangaroo lives again. The Kangaroo demonstrates his enhanced abilities. Compressed air jets augment his punch project his fist right through a concrete wall. Boot jets allow him to leap well over a hundred yards in the air. As the Kangaroo celebrates his new-found abilities, Dr. Harrow starts to explain his plan. The Kangaroo has a different idea though and swats Mr. Harrow aside.

Some five hours later, as a new day begins on Madison Avenue, the advertising firm of Carter and Lombardo receives an unexpected visitor in the form of Spider-Man. Spider-Man wants to know if the deal is still open and offers to do for an advance of one-thousand dollars. He explains that some bills, like the rent, has come due. The only catch is that he'll need to build and design the car from scratch. Luckily, Spider-Man knows just where to find some automotive expertise.

But, as he swings from the agency, he's ambushed by the new high-powered Kangaroo. As the Kangaroo vows revenge, the two exchange blows on a nearby rooftop. Just as the Kangaroo gets the upper-hand, he's overcome by extreme pain in his head. A voice in his head tells him to go somewhere, and the pain drives the Kangaroo to obey. He leaps leaving a weakened Spider-Man alone on the rooftop.

Spider-Man's automotive expert turns out to be none other than the Human Torch. Spider-Man offers him a partnership in the Spider-Mobile.

Rather than dwell on Johnny Storm's look of utter amazement, let's switch to a somewhat more passive scene a mile or two east where Jonah is demanding the best treatment for his son. However, Jonah has brought him to St Michael's Hospital, which is a free clinic, and the doctor's informed him that his son will be treated like any other patient. Jonah vows that this is the last time he tries to save a little money on medicine. The only two things that matter to him now are the health of his son and capturing that costumed menace responsible for his son's condition.

Meanwhile, the Kangaroo has returned to the hideout of Dr. Harrow. Harrow gleefully informs the Kangaroo that he's put a control device in the Kangaroo's skull. Whenever the Kangaroo disobeys him, a small mental pacemaker will make his brain feel like it's on fire. Harrow explains his mysterious plan to the Kangaroo who then leaps off over the city. Bounding from building to building, the Kangaroo is on the hunt for some radioactive isotopes for Harrow. Approaching a special lab on the Hudson River, he smashes through the lab's ten foot thick walls and subdues the security staff inside.

Looking over plans for the Spider-Mobile, Reed's situational alarm goes off informing Spider-Man and the Torch that the Hudson Nuclear Laboratory is under attack. Telling Johnny that this is his problem, Spider-Man leaves the Torch to head out to the lab.

The Kangaroo is in the process of breaking into the room where the isotopes are stored when Spider-Man gets to the lab. Spotting Spider-Man approaching on the ceiling, the Kangaroo attacks. As Spider-Man dodges the Kangaroo's leaps, the Kangaroo smashes down the door to the isotope room. Seeing the light spilling out of the isotope room, Spidey realizes that the isotopes are emitting concentrated gamma rays strong enough to burn a man up in a matter of seconds. The Kangaroo assumes that his is one of Spider-Man's tricks , and when the police threaten to tear gas the lab, The Kangaroo knocks Spider-Man asides and charges into the storage room. True to Spider-Man's projections, the Kangaroo doesn't take more than two steps in the room before he's overcome by the concentrated gamma rays. Spider-Man slams the lead-shielded door and webs it shut when tear gas grenades come spilling down the hallway. Leaping over the charging cops, Spider-Man makes his escape. Outside is the mysterious Dr. Harrow. He realizes the Kangaroo has failed when he sees Spider-Man flee the scene. He vows to try again, and eventually win, gaining.. the power!

Epilogue: Mary Jane bangs on the Harry and Peter's apartment door. She knows Harry is inside and ignoring. She says, "You're not home, and from now on, Mister Osborn, neither am I!" as she stomps off. And inside the shadowed apartment, Harry clutches a strange and bizarre costume to his chest. Since his father died, Harry states, he is the Green Goblin now.

And what about Spidey? At that moment, he is brooding as well. It's too late to go work with Torch, too early to go home. Nothing left to do but web-swing around the city and think of Gwendy...

Comments:

Well, it's Sunday morning. I realize that I probably should've gotten this written up a week ago, but I've been sick. Besides, this is something I do for fun, and when I start working on a strict deadline, it becomes less fun and more work. Anyway, it's Sunday morning, and I'm sitting in a hotel lobby after attending my cousin's wedding. A good time was had by all last night, but my brother woke me up MUCH too early for breakfast this morning.

Plot Analysis:

All-in-all this was a fun, cheesy issue. The Kangaroo, as a concept, makes for a hysterical villain, especially with that origin of mimicking live kangaroos to develop his enhanced leaping and fighting abilities. I kind of wonder why the writers went through all the work to develop a story to enhance his abilities just to kill him off. I'm not unhappy he's dead necessarily. He makes for an entertaining villain, but ultimately one who never really generates much suspense or threat for Spider-Man. Between this story and his first appearance, he comes off as kind of a half-witted patsy who gets himself into bad situations without really realizes how much danger he's put himself into.

The issue starts out with Spider-Man running into the advertising execs. Since I've already reviewed some issues in the 140's, I know that the Spider-Mobile becomes a reality at some point soon, and it's fun to see its origin. That reminds me that I'm going to have to put together a Spider-Mobile page to start off Spider-Man's inventory at some point in the near future. I should put some thoughts into how that's going to be applied to the web site in general. Spider-Man has enough varying equipment and costumes that I could do a whole site just based off that.

Y'know.. Carter and Lombardo have distinctive enough faces that I wonder if they are based off of someone in particular. Unfortunately, my 70's pop-culture knowledge is not in-depth enough to recognize him. Actually, Mr. Carter looks like Elton John with bright blonde hair. He's got the mop-top hair and big glasses. Corona Motors has produce some magical non-polluting car engine, but of course, the physics of this are not explained. Looking back from today's perspective, I can speculate that the engine is purely electric, but that's speculation.

The Kangaroo makes his initial appearance. His internal monologue re-hashes his last appearance. He doesn't explained how he escaped from the authorities and also how he managed to avoid being deported to Australia since that's where he was when we first met him. We also meet Jonas Harrow at this point as well. Notes in this issue indicate that he made his first appearance when he worked on the gangster named Hammerhead. His motivations for working on the Kangaroo is to gain "the power" which supposedly involve some radioactive isotopes that he commands the Kangaroo to steal. It'll be interesting to see how soon this plot thread is picked up again if it is picked up at all.

Peter makes a brief appearance on campus. I'm going to check my history, but it's possible that this is the first appearance Professor Warren. At least, I haven't seen him before. I'll have to keep on eye on his, but I think, even though he has his own villain identity (see The Jackal), he might deserve a guest-star page as well. I'm not entirely certain yet though future appearance will probably determine this, but I am leaning towards it at this time. It's good to see that Gwen's death is having repercussions in Peter's life. His classes are slipping, his work is slipping, and his personal relationships are suffering. It'll be interesting to see how long Peter's evident depression continues in comic time and if they make a point of him "turning the corner" and moving on after Gwen's death. To this end, there is a couple of panels where Peter tells off Mary Jane and Flash.

More evidence of Peter (and Harry's) grieving. The rent has slipped and Peter's tapped out of cash. Aunt May also makes a rare appearance. I don't know why she is in Westchester or why Dr. Octopus' henchmen are keeping an eye on her. Apparently something that occurred pre-issue #121.

We're treated (and I use this term loosely) to an entire page of Jonas Harrow operating on the Kangaroo. This is a more-subtle demonstration on how clueless and uncomprehending the Kangaroo is. He's met this complete stranger on the street, and he's volunteered to let said stranger operate on his out of a cheap apartment. Not something that most of us would consider, but it's apparently part of his trusting nature. After blowing off Dr. Harrow to pursue his own agenda, the Kangaroo would find out why it's not a good idea to talk to strangers.

With the rent due, Spider-Man reconsiders the advertising agency's offer. Peter is behind on two months rent in his and Harry's beautiful two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, but the $1000 advance they him is enough to cover all that. I wish my place was that nice and that cheap these days. In one sense, this whole scene is pretty funny. Spider-Man shows up at the advertising agency, and they pretty much just fork over $1000 to him without a contract, receipt, or any method of tracking Spider-Man down and enforcing their verbal agreement. Who's Andy Granitelli?

Now, the timeline doesn't seem to work out very well here. It's five hours after the Kangaroo leaves Dr. Harrow's loft. But Dr. Harrow is just now getting around to retrieving the Kangaroo via the mental 'pacemaker' he implanted in the Kangaroo's head. Why didn't he do that right away. I presume, off-panel, the good doctor had some preparations to make before sending the Kangaroo out on his mission. The writer makes a valiant attempt to make the Kangaroo seem threatening in this little two page confrontation, but the whole confrontation doesn't really read all that well. Spidey seems to be played down quite a bit, and he seems to almost let the Kangaroo get the better of him.

The Kangaroo's dialogue is a source of amusement this whole issue. Much like the writer's didn't really seem to be able to write "jive" all that well, they don't appear to have much of a handle on the Australian accent either. Mostly, the Kangaroo speaks and thinks in perfect English with a few "bloody" and "bleedin'" adjectives, and ending every other sentence with "mate". I dunno, when I read his dialogue, it really doesn't exactly sound like bloody Crocodile Dundee in my head, mate.

Good guest appearance, forcing me to update that page. Thankfully, Spidey isn't shown to be a all-around complete genius in all subject like he's written sometimes. It's evident that he doesn't have the expertise to build a car, so he goes to find someone who does -- Johnny Storm. The writer does a good job writing the pair as a couple of constantly competitive friends.

Brief appearance by Jonah Jameson and his son John. Why it was necessary to show Jonah ranting about Spider-Man for three issue is not made clear, and it really doesn't advance the story or any sub-plot at all.

Ok, so the Kangaroo returns to Dr. Harrow's, gets his mission, and launches an attack on a nuclear facility. Something that seems inherent to comic books but doesn't make sense in real life, is the constant grudge matches. Now, you've got a nuclear research facility on the Hudson River under attack, yet the Human Torch does not get involved because Spider-Man tells him "it's personal". I'm surprised they didn't call in the Fantastic Four, Avengers, and anyone else available before this threat gets out of hand.

Spider-Man arrives on the scene just in time. He and the Kangaroo fight. To be honest, this issue is the Kangaroo's story, and Spider-Man doesn't really contribute much to it except witness the Kangaroo's demise. It might've been more interesting if the writer just told the entire issue from the Kangaroo's perspective and didn't bother with Spider-Man, Peter's personal life, or anything else. Of course, back in the 70's, they followed pretty strict formulas for writing and artwork and such experiments just weren't done. Anyways, the Kangaroo disregards Spider-Man's advice, and ends up burned to a crisp by 'concentrated gamma rays'. Those mysterious ray which turn everyone green and gives the super-powers over in the Incredible Hulk just simply fry the Kangaroo like a pop-tart in this issue.

With the Kangaroo dead, Spider-Man flees the cops and the tear gas. Jonas Harrow vows to eventually gain "the power". We're finally explicit shown that Harry has gone over the deep end thinking that he is now the Green Goblin (ooh, this should be fun), and Spider-Man swings off to brood about Gwendy.

Art Review:

Again, I really don't have an opinion of the art. Perfectly bland. Like I mentioned in the write-up, the two ad executives looked familiar, but I couldn't place their faces at all. The Kangaroo really could've been design a little more distinctively as well. He looks like a blond Kraven with his "wild animal" style of dress and all.

Action Factor:

Not much action in this. A quick one-page grudge match with the Kangaroo that ends in stalemate when Dr. Harrow recalls the Kangaroo to his loft. Another small fight between the Kangaroo and Spidey that also ends in stalemate when Kangaroo enters the radiation filled lab. Despite both fights ending rather inconclusively, and despite that he's been "powered up" this issue, you never really get the sense that the Kangaroo provides much threat.

Spider-Villain lessons 101:

Tip #1:
First off, as Dr. Harrow demonstrates, expendable flunkies are an excellent way to get your evil plans done without exposing yourself to arrest and prosecution. The Kangaroo is dead, but I'm sure we'll see Dr. Harrow again very soon.