Crawling Back: Amazing Spider-Man #25 Review (The Smythe Saga, Part 2)
Driven by Steve Ditko's creativity, this issue feels refreshingly dissimilar to other Lee/Ditko Spider-Man productions
—by Nathan on August 22, 2024—
In my most recent "Spider-view" post, I analyzed the second "chapter" in the then-ongoing saga of Peter Parker's parents, colloquially referred to as the "Saga of Peter Parker's Parents" (an epic not nearly acclaimed as other Marvel "Sagas," such as those with "Dark Phoenix" or "Elektra" in the name). In that narrative, Spidey faced the murderous machines of Alistair Smythe, a man dubbing himself the "Ultimate Spider-Slayer!" After a previous bout with ol' Web-Head left Alistair paralyzed, the brilliant (you may even say insane) inventor made another attempt on Spidey's life before outfitting himself with armaments intending to murder our hero. Like the previous efforts of his father and his own attempts, Alistair failed to purge this world of his arch-enemy.
The "Spider-Slayer" concept runs deep, though the enmity between the Smythes and the Spider they try to slay isn't as volatile as the conflict between Spidey and the Green Goblin or Doc Ock (Spencer, as far as I'm aware, never threw any of Spidey's girlfriends off a bridge, nor did Alistair take over Peter's mind…though he did try to hijack Peter's mind shortly after Doc Ock had subsumed Peter's subconscious, but I digress). Still, those brilliant bad guys poke their pesky pates up from the rubble with every defeat, swearing revenge against the dreaded Wall-Crawler. At least, Spencer did until he died, leaving his son to grasp his legacy with both hands as tightly as, I assume, he wishes to wrap them around a certain superhero's throat.
It used to be simple, this battle of Spider-Man versus Spider-Machine. You see, it all began a long time ago with a man named J. Jonah Jameson…
"Captured by J. Jonah Jameson"
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Steve Ditko
Inker: Steve Ditko
Colorist: Stan Goldberg
Letterer: Sam Rosen
Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #25
Issue Publication Date: June 1965
This "Smythe Saga," much like the "Osborn Prelude," is an attribution of my own design, an easy-to-remember and easy-to-label descriptor which binds several posts together, especially ones which I would probably review randomly otherwise. Plus, it's a way for me to purposefully review older Spidey comics for "Crawling Back." Ideally, I'd someday review every ASM issue to date, but that's a very ambitious, incredibly distant, fantastically hypothetical goal. For now, I'll work through what issues I can, four-color page by four-color page.
On the splash page to ASM #25, "Sturdy Stevey Ditko" is credited as the one who "dreamed up the plot of this tantalizing tale," which quickly aligns with my perspective of Ditko shortly after the issue begins: we're given a very unique production here, a very different narrative than a typical issue of ASM featuring bouts between Spidey and his classic rogues gallery. The "Spider-Slayer" displayed by Spencer Smythe in this issue is a very different beast than the Vulture or the Sandman. Comic commentary these days seems more appreciative of the narrative legwork Ditko put into his Spider-Man stories with Lee, whether through developing unique villains or intentionally laying the groundwork for the "Green Goblin is Norman Osborn" reveal. Without the splash blurb, you may infer this could be a Steve Ditko concept, particularly as it largely avoids the standard "superhero vs. supervillain" skirmish, but the note is a nice touch on Marvel's part, offering the man suitable credit, which seems to have been somewhat of a rarity at the time.
Visually, Ditko creates a somewhat clunky-looking creature whose design obfuscates its deadliness. The first Spider-Slayer looks like a mechanical Teddy Graham, specifically one with its arms at its sides. It lacks the lasers, fangs, claws, and wings of future Slayers, and despite Smythe's insistence that it comes "equipped with every type of fighting device I could think of," this prototype relies heavily on lifting a trick from Doc Ock to engage Spidey. Spindly tentacles work to draw our costumed champion into its clutches time and again. It has wheels and can extend its legs like a dime-store Stilt Man (though that may be redundant), but the Slayer has very few offensive capabilities. Which is just as well: Jameson never mentions destroying Spider-Man, merely defeating and humiliating him.
Occasionally, I'll see a list online ranking Spidey's "greatest enemies," and Jameson will frequently pop up somewhere on the list. I'll generally shake my head at it, mentally commenting that while Jameson has certainly been antagonistic towards Spidey since his inception, the news tycoon isn't really evil. And then I read an issue where he commandeers a robot through New York for the express purpose of capturing Spidey, and I start to think differently. With his smug grin plastered on the Slayer's face, with his incessant mocking, I'm convinced this goes beyond antagonistic…and this is, of course, not the first time Jameson has funneled his hard-earned finances into the coffers of a scientist claiming their creation can defeat Spider-Man. The Scorpion, anyone?
Lee's dialogue doesn’t portray Jameson as downright evil–if anything, the publisher relishes the potential humiliation the situation will provide his web-headed enemy–but there's a grimness which Ditko layers the plot. We can see the "businessman funds the work of a mad scientist" as a goofy gimmick for the issue, but part of me wonders if deeper layers exist that Lee's script skirt around or ignore. Jameson is absolutely ruthless here, and though Lee's dialogue does hint at Jameson's self-absorbed personality, I'd like to believe Ditko is reaching for a more disturbing megalomania he just can't portray given the Comics Code’s limitations. Jameson suffers no retribution for the panic his little stunt causes other than frustration when he fails. Heck, the first time someone sees his face on the robot, they wonder if it's advertising something–can we speculate the next edition of the Daily Bugle sold a bit better because of Jonah's "publicity stunt"? The hilarity of Jameson temporarily becoming the very thing he discredits Spidey for being would have been amusing for Lee and Ditko to indicate.
You know who does openly try to make money off the robot? Our very own Peter Parker. Upon seeing the robot, Peter suggests that Jameson uses Smythe's invention to hunt Spidey, hoping he can get some pictures of the fight. To Betty Brant's disdain, Peter is insistent, believing he can give the Slayer more than a run for his money. A great scene early on sees the Slayer "accidentally" entangle Peter in its coils, not only foreshadowing a later moment where Spidey is caught by the Slayer but obliterating Peter's doubts about the Slayer being a formidable foe: he can't break free, he notes, and thus begins to worry. A little bit of a comeuppance for our teenage hero, who hasn't quite learned from the last time his arrogance led to consequences.
Betty Brant plays a fairly significant role in the issue, as does the rest of Peter's supporting cast. More "pro-Spidey" than she was in previous issues (specifically, she notes, because of the time Spidey saved her and Aunt May from Doc Ock), Betty berates Peter for encouraging Jameson, and once the robot is in the wild, actively attempts to sabotage Jameson's control. Oddly, Lee and Ditko have her get sidetracked when she leaves to find Peter to get his help: showing up at Aunt May's house the same time a jealous Liz Allan pops by, Betty is startled by the sudden appearance of another contender for Peter's affections: a faceless young woman who "looks like a screen star" named Mary Jane Watson. From this point, Betty and Liz don't stand a chance…but it's frustrating how quickly Betty's attitude turns from genuinely wanting to help Peter to locking horns with Liz.
A bunch of fellow high schoolers, led by Flash Thompson, give poor Peter some guff as well, adding a layer of tension to the problems our protagonist already faces. As in other issues, Lee and Ditko nicely stagger Peter's troubles as Spider-Man with the problems he faces as a nerdy high school student; he's not even aware that, as he wrassles with the Spider-Slayer, his Aunt May is attempting to set him up with MJ, much to the consternation of the two other young women trying to win his heart! Enemies to the right of him, enemies to the left of him…what's a Spider-Man to do?
So the familiar finds its nest to roost in–JJJ is antagonistic as always, Flash is boneheaded and angry, Betty is emotionally torn up regarding a possible relationship with the Daily Bugle's freelance photographer. Lee and Ditko pepper with the issue with those same old lovable tropes and themes. Ditko, the creative force behind the issue, tries to maneuver the narrative in unique directions–we're not given a costumed criminal but a man behind a screen as the primary antagonist, driven ever-forward by his hatred for the Web-Head, a villain in all but moniker only. Betty is allowed some agency on her own end before she finds herself spiraling into "Does he/does he not?" territory again. And Peter is hoisted on his own petard, his arrogance leading him to near capture and defeat at the hands of two men without any superpowers.
And the worst part? I don't think he even sells a single photograph.