Summary
JJJ, Jr. uses his own money to sponsor a TV program "in the public interest" entitled, 'Spider-Man...A Force for Good or Evil?" The teenagers from Pete's high school are watching the program in a bowling alley, and one of them remarks that JJJ, Jr. is only doing it for publicity for his magazine. Flash defends Spidey against Peter, who's saying JJJ, Jr. might be right in an attempt to throw the kids off his trail, and tells Peter to leave. Jameson offers a thousand-dollar reward for Spider-Man's identity, something that piques the interest of Dr. Doom, who's also watching the program. Doom decides that Spider-Man might be able to help him fight off the Fantastic Four and creates a device that uses an imprisoned spider to transmit a message to Spider-Man via "his own wave-length." Pete does indeed "hear" the message and travels to its source, finding Dr. Doom in an abandoned warehouse. Spidey confronts Doom, but Doom invites him to fight by his side, noting they're both outcasts. (Thinking to himself while making his pitch, Doom exposits that he'll use Spidey to get what he wants and then "destroy with without a second thought!") Spidey notes that JJJ, Jr. would "really have something to howl about" if he joined Doom, but rejects Doom's offer and instead tries to capture him. However, he discovers that Doom was actually using a Doombot, and the real Dr. Doom opens a trap door underneath Spidey. Pete manages to leap before falling into it and, in the ensuing battle with Doom, is thrown from a window into the water next to the warehouse. Doom commits to finding out Spidey's secret identity to use him as bait for the Fantastic Four and escapes the warehouse, destroying it, before Spidey can return for Round #2. Pete snaps some photos of the burning building to sell to JJJ, Jr., who buys them, but exhorts Pete to get photos of Spider-Man. During this conversation, Betty Brant defends Spidey to Jameson, saying that some readers think he's jealous of him. Pete comments (to himself) how he never realized how pretty she was, and Jameson dismisses the accusation, saying he's just trying to sell papers. Meanwhile, across town, Flash tries out his Spider-Man costume, which he plans to use to scare Peter. At his new HQ, Dr. Doom devises an instrument to track down Spidey via his Spider-Sense. It does lead Doom to Pete, who happens to be walking on the other side of a fence from Flash, who's dressed as Spider-Man. As such, Doom grabs Flash, leading his friends to wonder why he didn't scare Peter when they see Peter walking along the sidewalk normally. A few minutes later, Doom takes over all local TV stations with a message for the Fantastic Four, showing an imprisoned Spider-Man who he commits to killing if the Fantastic Four don't respond in an hour. Liz calls Pete worried, telling him that Flash disappeared after buying a Spider-Man costume to "play a joke on somebody..." and Pete puts two and two together. After considering leaving Flash at Doom's mercy, Pete heads into the night to find him. However, Aunt May refuses to let him go due to all the dangerous people on the streets, forcing Pete to remove the master fuse from their fuse box in order to force her to allow him go to buy a new one. He changes into his Spidey costume and searches for a building with the power necessary to help Doom hijack all the local TV stations. He finds Doom in an abandoned factory and, after a prolonged battle, manages to delay him until they hear the Fantastic Four's arrival. Doom realizes he can't fight the Fantastic Four and Spidey at the same time and, despite having Spidey on the ropes, flees. Pete also leaves, fearing for Aunt May, who he figures is beside herself in worry, leaving the Fantastic Four to rescue Flash. The next day, JJJ, Jr. derides Peter for failing to get "one measley photo" and the day after that Pete is treated to hearing Flash tell everyone he held off Dr. Doom.
The Review
We have a brief return to a fairly vicious Peter Parker here. First, when Flash teases him on the opening page, Pete menacingly warns Flash in his thoughts to be careful, because one day he'll go too far and never know what hits him. Just in case we misunderstand the threat, Peter ads, "There's even a limit to Spider-Man's patience!" But, things get even darker when Pete is at first willing to let Dr. Doom kill Flash Thompson, seeing it as his way to rid himself of the bully. He, of course, decides against it, but we're still seeing a Peter walking dangerously close to the Dark Side. It almost makes you wonder if JJJ, Jr. didn't have a point about him.
Actually, Flash has a number of...colorful moments in this issue, calling Pete a "panty-waist" and telling him to leave the bowling alley because it's not a "knitting parlor." He's a real gem of a guy. In fact, pretty much all the teenagers are assholes in this issue, with everyone excitedly waiting for Flash to scare Peter half to death. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on Pete after all...
Speaking of JJJ, Jr., I wonder when "NOW Magazine" eventually disappears from his resumé.
I thought the switcheroo between Flash and Spidey was really, really cleverly done. Seriously, I know these sorts of devices were used frequently in the '60s, but Lee really pulls it off beautifully. Dr. Doom could've just happened to be by the school when Flash happened to be dressed as Spider-Man. In fact, any number of writers, classic and modern, probably would've arranged for the issue to turn on that coincidence. Instead, Lee has Dr. Doom create a device that tracks Spider-Man via his Spider-Sense. It's a brilliant display of Dr. Doom's intellect and Flash Thompson's douchiness.
I also thought it was a great move to have Spidey use his webbing to convey the electrical current that Dr. Doom was using to electrocute him to Doom himself. It shows how Lee never forgot how smart Peter is, something later authors often did.
This issue marks Peter noticing how pretty Betty Brant is. Dun-dun-dun. Betty also comments how, even though she's "only" JJJ, Jr.'s secretary, she thinks Pete's "wonderful."
"Let's face it! You've struggled through one of the longest introductions you've ever read!" Seriously, Stan's narration of these early issues are almost the highlight. One more for the road: "And now, settle back and prepare to witness the gol-dangest, ding-bustedest, rip-shortin'est super-characters fight you've ever seen!"
In terms of drawbacks or nitpicks, I'm not entirely sure how Dr. Doom knew Pete had a Spider-Sense. It plays a key part in both his ability to contact Pete initially and to later track him, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't public knowledge at this point. Also, why would Liz Allen call Peter Parker about Flash disappearing? I mean, as Pete himself notes, it's not exactly like they were close...
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