THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #175

"Big Apple Battleground!"

• Writer: Len Wein
• Artist: Ross Andru
• Inker: Mooney & DeZuniga
• Print Date: Dec, 1977

Featuring:

Plot Summary:

Recap: The Hitman has kidnapped J Jonah Jameson, and is escaping from the roof of the Daily Bugle using a portable two-man helicopter. Spidey and the Punisher are attempting to prevent the getaway!

Unfortunately, the Punisher's method of stopping the getaway involves firing a machine gun at the fleeing helicopter containing both the Hitman and his captive Jonah. Even the Hitman has to comment on the irony of the Punisher trying to prevent Jonah's abduction by nearly killing him. Spider-Man gums up the Punisher's weapon with a web-burst and also tags the Hitman's helicopter with a Spider-Tracer. As they prepare to pursue the Hitman, the building's security guards get to the rooftop. Four security guards are no match for the Punisher and Spider-Man and soon they are both swinging on webline after the Hitman. Yes, that was correct; Spider-Man fired a webline for the Punisher to swing on. The scene is even sillier when you see the visuals.

So, the Punisher is going to stop the Hitman's getaway "one way or another". I want to make a note of this particular scene and contrast it with something that happens later in the issue. I know it is difficult to write a character consistently from issue to issue or even from writer to writer. But when a single writer can't write a character consistently through the course of a single issue, I don't what to think. Seeing the Punisher open fire on a vehicle carrying a hostage was a jarring "What?" moment for me, and it really set a bad tone for the whole issue.

Spider-Man also mentions his injured shoulder. This is something he will comment on roughly 800 times in this issue, so it doesn't take a psychic to see that this is going to be an important plot point sometime later in the issue.

Spider-Man and the Punisher swinging off on weblines together looks like a bizarre version of Batman and Robin. I always wonder the weblines are attached too when they swinging UP from what appears to be the tallest building in the vicinity.

Later, at the Bugle, Joe Robertson and Glory Grant console Dr. Madison. Both Robbie Robertson and Glory Grant are confident that J.J.J. can take care of himself, and he'll come through this OK. Joe Robertson remarks that if the Hitman wanted Jonah dead, he wouldn't have gone through the hassle of kidnapping him first. At the end of their short conversation, all three are smiling at the thought that Jonah has simply been kidnapped and not killed.

This is another really odd scene back at the Daily Bugle. Dr. Madison is upset because Jonah was kidnapped. Both Glory and Robbie share their concerns as well, and by the end of the scene everyone is smiling happily. Does this seem.. I dunno.. Inappropriate somehow? Maybe they're all contemplating how much better their lives would be is Jonah didn't survive or something. I can't imagine how you'd go from "OH my god! He could be seriously hurt or killed!" to smiles and sunshine in the span of about a minute.

The Punisher and Spider-Man cruise the city in the Punisher's war wagon. Spider-Man leads them towards his Spider-Tracer while the Punisher talks about the shared history between him and the Hitman.

Back in 'Nam, The Punisher was part of a patrol that was ambushed by the Viet Cong. The Punisher's men broke for the underbrush, but when he turned to follow, an explosion knocked him to the ground. As he lay semi-conscious waiting to be captured by the Viet Cong, Lt. Burt Kenyon fired on the Viet Cong and killed or drove off the remaining attackers. In the last scene of our flashback, Lt Kenyon tells Frank Castle "Just remember that you owe me a life, soldier."

I'm sure the Hitman's comments won't come into play later in the story.

Hey, nothing to break up an otherwise bad story with an unnecessary flashback. Can someone point out to the writer that you're killing off the Hitman this issue. Linking him and the Punisher together in 'Nam is really not contributing much to this story, and trying to build a rich and vibrant history for a character who is never going to be seen again seems really pointless.

I know, the Hitman saving the Punisher's life in 'Nam is supposed to contrast with the climatic ending of this story. Honestly though, it just seems to draw attention to the mediocrity of this issue.

The Punisher's story comes to an end right as they approach spider-Man's Spider-Tracer. They pull over in a rural area to find the Spider-Tracer loose on the ground. However, the broken foliage indicates that the copter landed there and was dragged to a nearby farmhouse.

I don't know New York City geography well enough. Is it realistic to start in the city, take a short drive to end up in rural farm country. And from that farm, take a speedboat out to the Statue of Liberty?

Meanwhile at a plush psychiatric clinic on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Harry talks to his psychiatric Dr. Bart Hamilton. They are talking about why Liz Allen left Harry. When Dr. Hamilton suggests that Harry was too good for her, Harry flies into a rage. He leaps across the desk at Dr. Hamilton and knocks over the lamp. The two figures wrestle and exchange blows in the dark, and finally a shadowy figure arises and declares, "The time has come for the Green Goblin to live again!"

I think this page is the highlight of the issue. Knowing what I know, it is obvious who the figure in the shadows is. I'm not certain of the details though, so I don't know why Dr. Hamilton believes that Harry is the only one who could oppose him resurrecting the Green Goblin.

Back on the farm, the Punisher and Spider-Man reconnoiter the area. They find two PLF members in the barn fixing the Hitman's helicopter. A couple of webline later, and the two are tied up and incapacitated and ready to be interrogated by the Punisher.

"Hey, we need an extra page of filler!" "Ok, I'll draw a page of the Punisher and Spider-Man taking out a couple of nameless thugs at the farm."

And now we're under the Brooklyn Bridge following a speedboat racing along beneath it. On the speedboat we have our hostage - J. Jonah Jameson, the Hitman, and the Hitman's employer - the unnamed leader of the PLF. Apparently, the PLF is upset with Jameson's editorials, and Jameson is now to be killed in some dramatic fashion to serve as an example for others. The speedboat reaches its destination - the Statue of Liberty - where the Hitman disposes of a couple of guards with gas grenades. With the rest of the island deserted and quiet, the PLF can go through with their plan of planting high explosives through the statue and blowing it up with Jameson standing squarely on top of it.

In an effort to follow this tale, the Hitman kidnaps Jonah, flies him to a rural farm, where they both hop a speedboat, and cruise out to the Statue of Liberty. Would it not have been easier, quicker, and smoother from a story-telling standpoint to simply have the Hitman fly to the Statue of Liberty and meet the PLF there. There would have been time to draw out the climatic ending at the statue, and the reader's might've been spared the Punisher recounting his history with the Hitman.

The Statue of Liberty appears so often in Spider-Man comics that I should write up a guest star page for it.

The Hitman's mini-copter approaches the island with the Punisher and Spider-Man at the helm. Quick bursts of machine gun fire take down a couple of PLF members, and Spider-Man and Punisher storm the statue while the Hitman and PLF leader watch from the torch. The Punisher takes out the PLF members inside the statue while Spider-Man maneuvers around on the outside of the statue preventing the Hitman from getting a decent shot at him. The Hitman recognizes a bad situation, and, having already fulfilled the terms of his contract with the PLF, he opts to summon his remote-controlled mini-copter to escape. The PLF leader draws a gun in order to force the Hitman to stay, but the Hitman quickly guns him down for his troubles.

And in the Marvel Universe, NO ONE uses lethal force. The terrorists are going to blow up the Statue of Liberty with Jonah on top of it, but they still only knock out the island's guards with some sort of sleep gas grenades. The Punisher is using "mercy bullets" at Spider-Man's insistence. Even when the Hitman dies at the end of the issue, it is basically his own fault for slipping and falling. (And hell, I'm surprised Spider-Man didn't make a comment about "Lucky we put up that safety netting down there" at the end of the comic).

Whoa.. Correction, the Hitman guns down the unnamed leader of the PLF! Wow, this issue really goes hard-core! I'm surprised they managed to get the Comic Code Authority approval on it! (sarcasm)

I love how Jonah considers that he might've been wrong about Spider-Man all these years. This is a refreshing attitude from him, and I expect it to last until the beginning of the next issue.

As the Hitman tries to make his escape, Spider-Man leaps up and grabs him. Spider-Man's weight throws the copter off-balance, and Spider-Man and the Hitman crash down atop the Statue of Liberty near a tied up Jonah Jameson. By the time the web-slinger gets up, the Hitman is holding Jonah hostage again with a gun to his head. The Hitman fires off a shot and knocks Spider-Man over the edge. Seconds later, the Punisher climbs to the top of the statue. The Punisher squares off with the Hitman using Jonah as a shield. Recognizing the Hitman's desperation, the Punisher drops his weapon rather than let an innocent victim be injured. Spider-Man leaps up from behind the Hitman knocking him to the side and grabbing Jonah. The pair tumble over the edge with Spider-Man hanging on to Jonah with one arm and hanging onto the statue with his injured arm. The Hitman is shot by the Punisher and hangs from the statue on the other side. In a classic choice, the Punisher only has time to save one of them, but that's an easy decision. The Punisher rushes and grabs Spider-Man just as his fingers start to slip. Meanwhile the Hitman loses his grip and falls to the courtyard below. For him, at least, the war is finally over.

So, now for my biggest rant. So the Punisher has NO PROBLEMS firing on a flying mini-copter with a hostage on board, but at the end of the issue, he'd rather lay down his weapon than risk a hostage being harmed. Trying to reconcile that makes my head hurt.

Spider-Man's injured arm FINALLY comes into play. Hitman's "you owe me a life" comment to the Punisher back in 'Nam also FINALLY comes into play. The whole issue is just one big setup for the final scene where the Punisher has to choose between saving Spider-Man and Jonah or saving the man to whom he owes his life. And in dramatic fashion, he takes all of one panel to make the obvious choice, and the Hitman falls to his death. Never to be seen again or at least until he cuts a deal with Mephisto and retcons the last thirty years of Spider-Man comics.