Lizard, Lizard On The Wall ...
The cover: 4½ stars
Great, the first cover since issue #2 not to have a word balloon on it and it’s a classic. Spidey is falling, caught in his own webbing … a menacing new villain, The Lizard, is about to make mincemeat out of our hero. It’s a very powerful cover, possibly the best to date, let down only by a couple of minor concerns; the lab coat the Lizard is wearing is purple not white, as it is throughout the story … and … he looks really cute, a bit like the pet lizard I used to have that went missing … hold on a minute … could it be …?
Face-To-Face With The Lizard (21 pages)
A very important issue in the Spider-Man canon, a rip-roaring story that takes our hero outside of for the first time. The introduction of a new protagonist and supporting character that would play an important role in many future story-lines … The Lizard aka Curt Connors. Really it’s just a variation of the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale with a few little twists thrown in.
Once again some of the highlights come from the interaction with the supporting characters; Spider-Man rescuing Liz Allen … Liz falling for Spidey, Pete getting Jonah to spring for the air fares to Florida, Aunt May trying to keep Petey out of any possible danger.
An excellent mix of humour and suspense, each issue brings more and more to the development of series … probably the most accomplished instalment to date.
Trivia:
They still haven’t really decided exactly how Pete’s spider sense works; he appears to be able to sense theft in this issue.
Spidey’s webbing seems to only last about 10 minutes in this issue before it disintegrates (we probably have to assume that he was still experimenting with its strength at this point).
Once again it’s Peter Parker the scientist that wins the day (that makes it The Vulture, Doctor Octopus and now The Lizard that have been mainly defeated by Pete’s brain rather than brawn).
