The Hobgoblin saga continues, but along the way we get both Leap Frog and then Thunderball. On the whole, these are detective issues–the Thunderball story is just to give us some action.
But the main reason to read these issues is the back-up story in issue #248. Most assistant editors’ month issues were silly (fun, but silly), non-canonical stories. But Amazing Spider-Man offered one of the most beloved Spider-Man stories of all time: The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man. This is the cancer boy story in which Spidey really reveals his true face to a dying child who, of course, doesn’t recognize him because, hey, who the hell knows who Peter Parker is.
It’s powerful and touching, and if you’ve never heard of it you (a) are not a real Spider-Man fan and (b) need to go find a copy. Now.
The Hobgoblin saga is the 5th best Roger Stern story of all time. And the Kid Who Collects…is one of the 100 best single-issue stories of all time, according to this objectively accurate list.