First off, I miss covers like the one above. They were so much fun.
Every issue of the Lee/Ditko run is a gem.
This one is the first appearance of Sandman. And guess how he got his powers?
Of course, radiation. Stan Lee’s answer to everything!
Sandman shows up at Peter Parker’s high school.
This has to be the first (and only?) time that a villain committed crime to get a diploma!
Look at the action sequence and the expressions on the faces. It was that kind of detail work that made Steve Ditko so much better than everyone else.
Stan and Steve also really gave meaningful thought to Sandman’s power set and how he could use it dynamically.
They also thought through his weaknesses, as Spider-Man wins as much based on his brains as his brawn…
This also is probably the first and only time a villain is beaten by a vacuum cleaner!
And, of course, we get hijinks against J. Jonah Jameson.
Peter Parker keeps trying to earn money with his high school job, so he falsifies some pictures.
I love that. He throws sand around and expects J. Jonah Jameson to be happy about it. And doesn’t he have journalistic ethics?
Note that in the above billboard, Jonah is writing for The Daily Bugle. Last issue, he was the editor of “Now Magazine.” I don’t think we’ll ever hear of that magazine again.
But after all that, Peter still gets mocked.
Poor Pete.
