Amazing Spider-Man #231-232 (1982)


Another A+ Romita/Stern story.  On the heels of the best Juggernaut story of all time—and one of the best comic book tales ever written—we see a dark, hulking figure emerging from a construction site.  Is Juggernaut free from his cement prison?

Nope.  It’s Mr. Hyde.  He tracks down his former partner, Cobra, who owes him money from past capers.

The rest of the story is basically Hyde trying to kill Cobra, and Spider-Man trying to stop him but also not let Cobra escape.

Much like in his battle against Juggernaut, Spidey is very out-powered here (Hyde has fought Thor one-on-one, after all), and on top of that, Roger Stern has him sprain his ankle.  Because Stern understood that comic book fans like to root for the underdog.  And it’s funny as hell.

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Also this book continues its tradition of celebrating the mundane.

Other heroes have big, dramatic scenes where they put on their armor or costume.  Spider-Man gets dressed like the rest of us.  And his new costumes feature…

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…The return of underarm webbing!

In addition, the Deb-knows-Pete’s-secret subplot continues to percolate.

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