THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #154

"The Sandman Always Strikes Twice"

• Writer: Len Wein
• Artist: Sal Buscema
• Inker: Mike Esposito
• Print Date: Mar., 1976

Featuring:

Plot Summary:

Still reeling from Dr. Bolton death a few hours ago (last issue, and he's not the only one), Spider-Man confronts three muggers assaulting a young lady in an alley. We a couple of quick punches and web-lines, he quickly disarms and defeats the muggers. Unfortunately, he's still upset over his friend that was killed and continues to pummel the last thug after the thug is unconscious, and only stops when the young blonde pleads with him to stop before he beats her assaulter to death. Shaken, Spider-Man quickly takes off and retrieves his camera commenting, "These snapshots are all J. Jonah Jameson would need to prove I'm the lunatic he claims I am."

With that cue to switch scenes, we cut across town to an armored car carrying The Sandman from the City Jail to the Federal Pen. An explosion puts a halt to the truck, and suddenly we're visited by the same Flash Gordon wanna-be's that Spider-Man defeated last issue! As the thug start to cut through the armored vehicle with a laser-torch, the Sandman frees himself, blasts the guards, and pours himself out through the air vent. Despite looking like an organized assault, the Sandman is surprised to be freed and demands to know who and why the thugs free him. His questions are cut short by the arrival of the getaway car, and grumbling, he climbs in to meet 'THE BOSS!'

Now that the major characters are introduced, we revisit a minor mystery. We see a familiar derelict wandering around the streets again (First seen in #152). Desperate for cash, he manages to trip an unsuspecting pedestrian (from a distance using unknown means - must be a clue!). As he grabs the victim's wallet, he suddenly starts shouting "Not again! He can't have found me again!" At this point, he drops the victim's wallet and flees.

Having dropped some more hints to the identity of our threadbare fugitive, we shift again to a secret location. We see the Sandman dressed up in some unfamiliar duds (a costume that the Wizard designed for him back when he was a member of the Frightful Four). Sitting in shadows, the Sandman is addressed by a smoking man who asks him to retrieve a certain item for him from a research laboratory. The Sandman responds belligerently, but quickly agrees to retrieve the item when a bank of laser cannons pops out of the wall aiming directly at him. As the boss gives the details of the plans, the Sandman thinks to himself that this will be a good opportunity to settle an old score. I wonder who he could be talking about?

A half-hour late, on the other side of town, our favorite webhead swings around still trying to find someone to take his frustration out on. Suddenly, his spider-sense kicks in as it picks up one of his spider-tracers. Seeing that he hasn't used a tracer in several days, Spider-Man's curiosity gets the better of him, and he swings off to track down the source of the signal. As he gets closer to the tracer, he approaches a research complex, and swinging in for a closer look, he spots two guys wearing the same uniform that Paine's goons wore last issue (either the work for the same boss, or bad sci-fi outfits are all the rage among thugs!). Being very stealthy he captures both of the guards as they bicker about whether to call each other "Howie" or "number 34". Spider-Man sets up his camera, and sneaks into the complex through a window. Suddenly, from off-panel, his spider-tracer is thrown at his feet. It cost him a bundle, but buying that tracer from a fence was worth it because it lured Spider-Man in - just as the Sandman planned!

The Sandman strikes first hitting Spider-Man with a giant fist "PWHAM!". Spider-Man flips to right himself and launches himself at the Sandman KRAMM'ing him directly on the chin. As the Sandman is stunned, Spider-Man quickly webs up his eyes, and then continues to bury him in a large pile of webbing. The Sandman struggles underneath the webbing until the web starts to sag and collapse in on itself as the Sandman flows between the strands. As Spider-Man looks around for where the Sandman flowed off too, he's struck by a sandstorm. Fortunately, his mask prevents him from being more than temporarily blinded, and as he continues to look around for Sandman, Sandman catches him with another giant sand fist and slams Spider-Man into some nearby machine, knocking our hero out cold.

Fortunately, the Sandman suffers from a bad case of villain-itis, and instead of finishing Spider-Man off directly was he's helpless, the Sandman straps Spider-Man to a table and aims a giant cryogenic converter at Spider-Man intending to put him on ice! As the Sandman gloats, Spider-Man starts the table rocking and manages to flip the whole table over just as Sandman hits the "ON" switch. Protected by the blast from the table, Spider-Man frees himself easily from the now frozen and brittle lab table. The Sandman gets enraged at being thwarted again and tries to thump Spider-Man with another giant sand-fist. Spider-Man easily dodges and catches the Sandman on the chin again with both feet. As the Sandman recovers again, Spider-Man charges but is thrown off balance by a large oil slick spit out from Sandman's costume. Sliding out of control, Spider-Man can't dodge another giant fist, and is flung into nearby machinery again. Luckily Spider-Man lands better than last time, and quickly springs up and knocks the Sandman back into the oil field. The Sandman slides back on his own oil slick and slips right into the beam of the cryogenic converter. Spider-Man switches off the converter, but not before the Sandman is frozen into a giant block of ice. Spider-Man gently lowers the popsicle to the ground and calls the cops before swinging off into the night.

Comments:

Well, another weekend, and another issue. The Sandman page is already complete, and looks good I might add. I'm not feeling nearly as bad after I read last issue, and I've got Gravity Kills' latest album on. Good time as any to start the review.

Plot Analysis:

As bad as last issue was, the one thing that would've made it worst if they just started this issue without mentioning Dr. Bolton untimely demise or dealing with Peter's emotions after it. However, this is the third death that Peter's had to face in recent issues (Prof. Warren, the Spider-Clone, and Dr. Bolton), and the strain is starting to show. I thought this was well played with Peter taking his emotions out of a convenient thug and nearly killing him.

Seeing the Sandman was a definite plus for this issue as well. With his nearly unlimited potential, he's generally a fun villain to see. However, in this issue he's treated more of a flunky and thug by the mysterious "boss". It's nice of him to show a little initiative though in luring Spider-Man for his revenge while he's doing his other job. My other disappointment regarding him is that we really don't see him played up to his potential. He basically sticks to trying to clobber Spider-Man with giant fists and then using gimmicks like his costume's oil slick and the cryogenic ray to aid him. I mean, he's no Mensa member as it is, but maybe showing him to be a little bigger threat than he was portrayed here would've been nice.

After the extreme lack of action last issue, it was also nice to see almost cover-to-cover action this issue. We start out with Spider-Man venting on the muggers, Sandman being freed from incarceration, and then after a single page each of our mysterious derelict and Sandman in his new duds, we jumped to the main event only halfway through the issue.

The battle between Spider-Man and Sandman is decent but not inspired. Spider-Man tags Sandy with a couple of good shots which really shouldn't happen when he's coming at him head-on. Sandman doesn't use his abilities very creatively instead sticking to brute force to try to pound Spidey to pulp.

The cryogenic ray was a great campy addition. The inescapable death trap. Watching the villain gloat just long enough for the hero to free himself. Good stuff. Puts me in the mood to go watch some old James Bond films.

And, finally, a good ending to the fight. Sandman has been shown to be just a bit too powerful to overwhelm physically and Spidey has always used a combination of wits and luck to defeat him in the past. This issue is no exception with Spider-Man catching Sandman off guard and throwing him in the path of the freeze ray. Done in by his own deathtrap. Classic.

Art Review:

Ok, we got more of the cheesy sci-fi outfits on "the boss's" thugs. I mean, it definitely helps identify them as related to the same thugs from last issue. Of course, it also helps Spider-Man identify them too. I have to wonder though if there really is that much need for "brand recognition" in the criminal underworld? Especially if you are trying to be all secretive and low-key.

Other than that, the art was decent. The Sandman is definitely a visual criminal almost more than any other foe Spider-Man fights. It would've been nice to see him depicted a little more creatively instead of just swinging giant fists around. He doesn't fight like a being composed of sand in this issue. He fights like some guy with giant fists. You'd think, at this point, he would've adjusted to his new state of being and used himself a little more creatively. Maybe not though.

Action Factor:

Cover-to-Cover action. No other way to put it. Spider-Man nearly killing a thug. Sandman freeing himself from an armored transport all leading up to a big factory fight. I've mentioned it before, but Sandman could've been used better and a little more creatively. I mean, sure, he's not the most creative villain around, but using his giant fist and getting tagged strikes me more like the writer is being lazy rather than the writer is playing Sandman in character.

Spider-Villain lessons 101:

Tip #1:
When you've got a superpower with almost UNLIMITED potential that you've barely scratched the surface of, why would you BOTHER trying to augment using a goofy (and stupid-looking) outfit???? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Tip #2:
Ok, you have the hero unconscious and at your mercy. What do you do? KILL HIM BEFORE HE WAKES UP! What do you not do? Put him in a deathtrap, wait until he awakes, and spend several minutes gloating until he figures out a way to escape. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Tip #3:
Finally, after your 'brilliant and inescapable' death ray has missed its target (which it will inevitably do), take a second to hit the "OFF" switch so your great plan doesn't come back to bite you in the ass.