Let’s get this out of the way first: Issue #33 has one of the greatest sequences of all time.
Trapped under tons of machinery, trapped in Doc Ock’s underwater base, Spider-Man must strain, push, and…
…That’s the money shot—one of the best known Spider-Man sequences of all time. The panel, above, is not just great art, it’s also a visual example of how Ditko’s characterization of Spider-Man has evolved from a skinny teen with uncanny strength to a muscular, adult-hero body.
Doctor Octopus was missing for a while, but this extended storyline brings him back in a major way. We recently saw Green Goblin battling for underworld supremacy, and in this story we learn that SPOILER ALERT FOR A HALF-CENTURY OLD STORY Otto Octavius is doing the same thing—under the guise of “Master Planner.” It’s a pretty big reveal.
But again, that’s not what these issues are famous for. This is:
Afterwards, he has to explain his battered and bruised body to his friends and coworkers.
Also, Peter Parker goes to college and meets classmates Gwen Stacy and Harry “My daddy is Green Goblin but nobody knows that yet” Obsorn. And from the start, Gwen is hot for Peter.
Finally, in what may have been the inspiration for Jennifer Walters’ Gamma-induced blood transfusion that turned her into She-Hulk, Peter gives his Aunt a transfusion and…
…It doesn’t go anywhere, but it had the potential to be a very cool storyline.
You’re right! Stan’s failure to follow up on Aunt May’s bloodstream developing a radioactive particle was fatally disappointing! It’s not like Stan wasn’t bright enough to figure out how to develop a great storyline out of it, while not letting the ol’ girl fall out. Just disappointing. How peculiar Gwen Stacy looked in those days, under Steve Ditko’s pen. For the past several years, Marvel has been beating Gwen’s corpse pretty hard, with all this “Spider-Gwen” bullshit, and I am sick of it. In order for heroic fiction to be compelling, good people must die, and, having died, must STAY dead! Everybody dies, but nobody STAYS dead. Of all the characters in Marvel history who have supposedly died, only three that I know of have STAYED dead: Junior Juniper ( of The Howling Commandoes ) Ben Parker, and Captain Mar-Vell. I would not be surprised if ANY of these corpses returned to life, at any time, now. Bucky Barnes’ resurrection is the most disappointing. Captain America’s upgrade from 1940’s boy sidekick to hot, svelte 1970’s Agent Thirteen was one of the most revolutionary-and exciting-progressions of character development in comic-book history. That’s all gone NOW!! C’est la vie, I guess.