THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #181

"Flashback"

• Writer: Bill Mantlo
• Artist: Sal Buscema
• Inker: Mike Esposito
• Print Date: Jun, 1978

Featuring:

Plot Summary:

It is the anniversary of Uncle Ben death. Which anniversary? The writer's will never tell! Anyways, Spider-Man is visiting Uncle Ben's grave, after dark, in full costume. I'm sure Aunt May would've appreciated the company during the daylight hours, but apparently Peter couldn't be bothered.

Actually, it looks like Aunt May couldn't be bothered either. Uncle Ben's grave looks like no one has visited it in years. No flowers, slightly overgrown, no signs that anyone visited today. Maybe Peter is really visiting in the early morning hours before the sun rises, and Aunt May hasn't come out to the cemetery yet.

Ugh, an entire issue of flashback scenes. I'm not sure that there is any point spending a lot of time on this.

We're treated to a 4-page flashback of Spider-Man's origin. The art is pretty. You all know the general gist of the tale. I'm not going into a lot of detail with this.

Suddenly, Spider-Man's spider-sense warns him of someone approaching. He hides in the tree and we see Aunt May approaching Uncle Ben's grave. Spider-Man thinks back to all the sacrifices Aunt May made after Uncle Ben's death.

And now we have a flashback of Peter's early attempts to cash in on his Spider-Man fame including trying to join the Fantastic Four. Only his reputation was permanently smeared by a series of Bugle articles by Jonah Jameson. We also get a page of encounters Jonah rigged for Spider-Man including the creation of the Scorpion on the Human Fly, the Spider-Slayers, and even Luke Cage.

Another page of brief reviews of Spider-Man's supporting cast including Flash, Betty, Gwen (and naturally Gwen's death).

And then some more villains including the Lizard, the Big Man, the Man-Wolf, and Morbius.

Finally, after all that, Aunt May leaves and Spider-Man swings down to deliver his gift to Uncle Ben. He deposits his old microscope at the grave site and leaves. Finally, a father, walking home from the grave-yard shift, doesn't have enough money to buy his smart son a birthday present, but he stumbles upon the microscope and realizes what an excellent present that would make.