Comics : Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #55

This story is part of a Lookback Series: Al Observes

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In Detail...

"Doc Ock Wins!"

	Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #55  Arc: Part 3 of "Doc Ock Wins"
	Editor:  Stan Lee Writer:  Stan Lee Pencils:  John Romita, Sr. Inker:  Mickey Demeo Cover:  John Romita, Sr.	Staff Only Images Review Edit
	Dec 1967 : SMURF 055.500 : SM Title : Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1)  Reprinted In: Marvel Tales #40  Reprinted In: Essential Spider-Man #3  Reprinted In: Spider-Man vs. Doctor Octopus (TPB)
Characters: Watson, Anna, Aunt May Parker, Doctor Octopus, Gwen Stacy, J. Jonah Jameson, John Jameson (Man-Wolf), Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Ned Leeds (Hobgoblin III), Joseph

This issue begins with the classic cover of Spidey and Ock's tentacles reflected in the good Doctor's goggles. It is a visual recently emulated on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #427 (October 1997). Trust me, this story is much better than that one.

Since the end of last issue, Spider-Man has criss-crossed the city, relying on his spider-sense to track Doc Ock. At the start of this issue, he has stumbled on one of the Master Planner hideouts. He rips away the corrugated tin roof and fires webbing in at the masked goons inside. The fight begins, with Spidey demanding to know where Octavius is. As the wall-crawler easily takes care of the men, a gloating voice intones, "Am I to understand you're looking for me?" It is Octopus but not in the flesh. He is doing his crowing from long distance, appearing on a video screen. "There's no place where you can stay hidden from me!", Spidey says and Otto sneers at him for thinking he is hiding. Instead, he claims, he is gearing up for the "crime of the century" and Spidey is merely "an incidental detail that I can attend to anytime I wish". Octopus signs off. An enraged Spider-Man tears the entire hideout apart.

"Too keyed-up to go home yet", Spidey decides to check out the underwater hideout that Ock used when he called himself the Master Planner. But that too is a wash-out. Pete decides to pack it in. But, before going home, he decides to check in on Aunt May.

In a downtown building, a meeting is underway, led by Colonel John Jameson, regarding the protection of the "nullifier weapon". John is in charge of security and he tells the group that the device will be moved to Tony Stark's factory for safekeeping while final modifications are made on it. (Heck, it's sitting right in the room with these guys. How safe can it be?) He tells the others that he does not believe that Spider-Man is in cahoots with Dr. Octopus. He then outlines the route that the convoy will take in transporting the nullifier. Unfortunately, for John, one of the men at the meeting is a spy for Doc Ock. All this "secret" information will be conveyed to the doctor.

At the Forest Hills home, Anna Watson has cut short her vacation upon learning of May's illness. She is sitting by the bedside as Peter enters with a box of candy for his Aunt. May is worried about the damage to the house but when Peter pins the blame on Dr. Octopus, May says, "Oh no Peter! He couldn't help himself! That horrible Spider-Man frightened him!" Mary Jane shows up. She wants "Petey-o to show me that groovy broken wall". In the demolished room, MJ comes out with, "Like wow! Just dig that craaaazy keyhole, Tiger!", so it only serves her right that Gwen shows up in the house (letting herself in, apparently) checking to see if there is anything she can do to help. "Someone must have just stuck a pin in their little MJ doll", MJ says.

Meanwhile, Otto is contacted by his meeting-room spy who gives him the whole lowdown on the nullifier route. He is already on the move, hiding in the back of a truck disguised as "Power Maintenance". The time has come for him to "execute the crime of the century".

That night, the convoy (composed of government cars surrounding an army truck) gets underway. They do not get far before encountering a "Power Maintenance" truck blocking the road. Apparently, its crew is working under the street. (A manhole is uncovered and encircled by a makeshift fence.) All of the cars stop to check it out. In the truck, an armed soldier starts to step outside to see what's causing the delay. He doesn't see that the truck is stopped right by another manhole and the cover is being lifted by a mechanical tentacle.

Suddenly, Dr. Octopus comes out of the manhole and everything seems to happen at once. He throws smoke grenades to blind the guards, then uses his metal arms to smash the door locks on all the cars, effectively trapping the occupants within. Inside, John Jameson uses the car phone to call for back-up and to seal off the area but he is too late. Ock has already loaded the nullifier into his power truck and taken off. He knows that a huge manhunt will be instituted and plans to be in the one place where no one will look for him... "the nearby munitions factory of... Tony Stark!" (Huh?)

The press shows up at the scene. J. Jonah Jameson badgers his son, trying to get an admission that Spider-Man was also involved in the heist. When that doesn't work, he conjectures that "Ock is really Spider-Man in disguise". Robbie Robertson won't let that one pass. He tells Ned Leeds to "write the story as is... don't let the boss's bias throw you a curve".

And where is Spidey this fine evening? Why, he is webbing by when he sees the crime scene. He puts two and two together and realizes that Ock has stolen the nullifier. He also deduces that Ock is going to "the most important factory in the east" because Otto "always does the last thing you'd expect! Instead of hiding, he'll want to flaunt his power!" (Sounds sort of weird to me but you can't argue with the results.)

At Stark's factory, two guards observe the approach of an unscheduled service truck. Inside, Ock has made modifications to the nullifier so that he can use it as a hand-held weapon. His driver henchmen (who I didn't mention before... sorry) pushes a button that lifts Doc through a hatch in the truck's roof. "By merely directing a silent beam at them", says Otto, "of the weakest intensity, I can prevent any and all devices from operating. It will be as effective against pistols and telephones as against the most sophisticated long-range missile". And, sure enough, one guard's gun jams while the other can't get the phone to work. Otto then widens the beam to "immobilize every machine within the entire factory". Being a card-carrying world-conquering super-villain, he can't resist crying out, "I'm supreme! Supreme!" and where would we be without the mandatory shout of "The world is mine!!"

Seconds later, Spider-Man arrives on the scene. He sees, in an instant, that he can expect no help from anyone in the factory since Ock has "trapped everyone inside by jamming the electric doors" with the nullifier. So, Spidey attacks from behind and manages to tie two tentacles together in a knot before Otto knows quite what is happening. The two tumble off the truck. From inside, Ock's henchmen asks if he should use the nullifier on the web-slinger but Octavius vetoes that idea. He wants to defeat Spider-Man himself.

He starts by using the two untied tentacles to boost himself into the air, which allows him to give a two-footed kick to the wall-crawler. With Spidey sprawling on the ground, Ock frees his two tied arms. He plunges them into the ground on either side of Spidey's neck... pinning him. The webhead pulls on the arms and frees himself once more. He then flips Octopus away, and goes on the offensive with his webbing. But Otto parries each shot with his metal arms, then gets a good metal punch in on Spidey's jaw. The webster falls to the ground once again but manages to grab two of Ock's tentacles at the same time. This is too much for Otto. "He's still too powerful for me to take chances with!", he thinks. So, with his two other tentacles, he snags the nullifier off the truck and aims it at Spidey. "I don't know what effect this will have against you, Spider-Man", he says, "But won't it be interesting to find out?" Otto figures that, at the least, it will knock out Spidey's web-shooters but he gets a better result than that. With a feeling "like a thousand needles jabbing at my brain", Spidey reels. Ock turns the power on the nullifier way up. And Spidey collapses... "almost unconscious".

As the Doc is speculating as to why the nullifier had a greater effect on Spidey than on others ("It must have something to do with his own super-power!" and Stan tells us that "the nullifier has affected the amazing radioactivity in Spidey's blood"), our hero slowly starts to stand up. But, instead of continuing the battle, he holds his head and mutters, "Who am I? Why am I here? This costume! What is it? Why am I wearing it?" Octopus quickly realizes that "He's not faking it", that Spidey has truly lost his memory. This gives Otto an idea. "No need to worry, my friend", he tells the confused wall-crawler, "You merely had a little accident! It happened while you were helping me commit the crime of the century! The reason for your costume is... you're an arch-criminal in the service of Dr. Octopus!" and Spidey replies, "I can't remember! But, I must believe you! I've no other choice!"

On the letters page, Charles Vogel of Florissant, Missouri asks, "Whatever happened to buttons? In issue #52 both good ol' JJJ and Fred Foswell are seen without buttons on their shirts. How do they keep them closed? At first, I figured that Jonah had flexed his muscles but that was a little hard to believe. Then I finally figured it out. JJJ and Foswell must have the same forgetful tailor." And Stanley Harrington of Bowden, Georgia suggests, "Those who are interested in preserving their mags can do this - if you have two or more, put glue on the back edge of one, then place the other under it, wait a few more minutes, and then glue the two or more in a folder. Number and name it and place it on your book shelf." Yikes! Still think this is a good idea, Stanley?

By Al Sjoerdsma (E-Mail)