6/13/12 [ASM #30]
A boring Wednesday night, and I’m starting off my notes with spider man. I've wanted to make notes on comics for a long time. I'm starting with number #30, and not sure if I'll go back.
Anyway, unto the issue at hand [literally, well it's not in my hand...but whatever].
Cover/Page 1:
The cover is really nice here, a really awesome wide shot and tons of cool details.
Title: Claws of the Cat [no, this isn't black cat's premiere, just a cat burglar...really?]. Page 1 is actually a pretty decent example of an inner cover. The space is wasted a bit, but it's the 60's so it's cool for the time.
Page 2:
We see that Ned (Betty Brant’s BF) carried the startled woman home.
-Reads wiki- Turns out Ned is later brainwashed into becoming a hobgoblin decoy and dies later in the aftermath...good for him...
Aunt May is still feeling sick, but she continues to hide this from Peter. According to the wiki, aunt may has been sick since issue #10 when she got a blood transfusion from peter.
Since it hasn’t been mentioned here, the next panel shows that May is still hanging out with Ms. Watson, who mentions her daughter Mary Jane.
Spider Man goes on patrol, swinging right past our villain...the “cat burglar.” Why is he called that? Did he get scratched by a radioactive cat? Is he seriously just a normal guy? He has a utility belt, so I guess he's kinda like Batman...according to the wiki, he later donned an actual costume [see The Prowler], and is currently in jail after Civil War. The Cat Burglar [Also called simply The Cat] even points out that Spider-man would never pay attention to a burglar like him.
Page 3:
In a interesting twist, it turns out the villain actually robbed Jonah [who is my favorite character by the way]. He calls the police and offers a $1000 reward for the Cat's capture. Fun fact, one thousand dollars then would be valued about seven or eight times more today.
Meanwhile, the Cat's gang...wait! He has a GANG of people with him now? In purple outfits? Ok...
Anyway, this gang robs a truck full of uranium that is coming from Stark Industries.
Page 4-5:
Spider-man Swings unto the scene [literally]. The gang members stick to the truck using “magnetic shoes”...where can I get some of those?! -spends five minutes looking for magnetic shoes-
Spider-man proves he doesn't need magnetic shoes, since he has his wall stick power thing.
Spidy visits Jonah to tell him that he's going to capture the Cat for the reward, Jonah just yells at him. As spidy leaves, JJJ has a strange imagination sequence where he realizes that he'll have to be the one to pay spider man and basically prove that all the editorials about him are false. Strangely, the check is made out to “Spiderman”...can he even cash that?
Page 6-10:
Jonah calls Foswell [the former crime boss turned reporter] and tells him to catch the Cat before spiderman can. Foswell pulls out his Patch disguise [from #27]. The next day, Peter leaves for work at the Bugle and bumps into Liz Allen [on and off girlfriend of Flash Thompson]. Speaking of Flash, it seems that the big bully is stalking Liz, and she asked peter for help. Pete sees a criminal on a nearby roof and knocks flash out quickly. He then jumps unto the roof, looking a bit like a Dragon Ball-Z reject. After he jumps unto the room he quickly changes to spiderman [off panel], beats up an armed guy, then jumps back down as peter parker. Is he turning into the Flash? Speaking of Flash again, he manages to send the lughead on a wild goose chase for liz. Afterward, peter calls Betty and they have a little chat. Just for reference, Betty fainted after the scorpion attacked jonah's office in ASM #29.
Another twist, Ned has proposed to Betty and peter isn't sure what to do [since he likes her too]. Betty talks about how she hates spider man [who couldn't save her brother from doc-ock] and how she would never want to be with him, peter is super shocked.
Page 11-17:
Peter storms out in anger and emotions pour out, it's a pretty shocking scene. 0-0. Peter gives up on his relationship with Betty. To cool off some steam, peter busts some more armed robbers. A member of the Cat gang drives by and says that they hired that gang to rob a bank. Hold on! So...the Cat started as ONE GUY WITH A BELT AND SOME ROPE....then he's in control of a gang of about
4 -5 guys with purple suits and magnetic shoes...and then that gang hires another gang to rob a bank? Talk about organized crime! On page 14. we see the cat burglar out of costume and he actually looks pretty cool, minus the cigarette. The cat then moves out to steal something else and try to take out spider-man. My only question is...what the hell did he do with the uranium?! Anyway, the Cat is noticed by someone in an apartment and the police, media, and spider-man arrive on the scene.
The Cat attacks with such frightening weapons as a “blinding” flashlight and a grappling hook. This is coming from the same superhero who gets bombs and guns lobbed at him on a daily basis.
Page 18-21:
oh...well it seems the Cat does actually carry some explosives and a gun, go figure! Luckily, sticking to walls makes it easy to dodge explosives. Peter's spider reflexes also help him glide away from bullets.
The police arrive for backup, but a smoke bomb helps the Cat to hide. However, since it's kinda hard to hide from a whole police squad, the cops manage to capture the cat! Peter takes some pictures of the action to sell later. Apparently, JJ doesn't need to pay the reward to the police and Foswell was completely useless. Peter turns in his pictures to the Bugle and keeps his distance from Betty.
A pretty good Issue overall, but there are tons of plot holes. I'd rate this issue a 7.5/10. High marks for the good drama and pretty cool action scenes. However, the villain and his gang really drags it down for me. Oh and also...where was this gang when the Cat was being broadcast on the news and tracked by the police!
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