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A review by mschlat
Essential Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 4 by Stan Lee
3.0
Not a lot really happens in this volume: Norman Osborn realizes he is the Green Goblin and then forgets, Flash heads off to Vietnam, we have the first appearance of the Prowler, lots of villains reappear, and Peter and Gwen break up and make up.
But here's what struck me....
1) Harry Osborn grows a Fu Manchu mustache. That's right --- the Marvel non-superhero character with the single strangest hairdo grows a Fu Manchu.
2) Spider-man constantly proves his forgetfulness. On the Lizard: "Whew! Should have remembered the power of his tail!" On Electro: "I forgot how fast he can be... moving on his own blasts of current." On the Kingpin: "I forgot... how fast he can move!!" Spidey never learns.
3) We have campus protest and hippies! Well, not really, because the protests are over the Dean's refusal to convert a building to low-rent dorms, except that what's he wanted to do all the time, but didn't tell anybody. And we have protests over a character called General Su, but we never say why we might be protesting him. It's all pretty straw man, but we do get the chant "Cook an egg... cook your goose! Turn the demonstrators loose!" We also get a nearly afterschool-special serious lesson about why violent protest is wrong, wrong, wrong....
4) Stan Lee writes the following dialogue for a father and son. Son: "I can come back later if you're uptight, dad!" Father: "I've always got time for my outrageous offspring! What's on your mind, man-child?"
But here's what struck me....
1) Harry Osborn grows a Fu Manchu mustache. That's right --- the Marvel non-superhero character with the single strangest hairdo grows a Fu Manchu.
2) Spider-man constantly proves his forgetfulness. On the Lizard: "Whew! Should have remembered the power of his tail!" On Electro: "I forgot how fast he can be... moving on his own blasts of current." On the Kingpin: "I forgot... how fast he can move!!" Spidey never learns.
3) We have campus protest and hippies! Well, not really, because the protests are over the Dean's refusal to convert a building to low-rent dorms, except that what's he wanted to do all the time, but didn't tell anybody. And we have protests over a character called General Su, but we never say why we might be protesting him. It's all pretty straw man, but we do get the chant "Cook an egg... cook your goose! Turn the demonstrators loose!" We also get a nearly afterschool-special serious lesson about why violent protest is wrong, wrong, wrong....
4) Stan Lee writes the following dialogue for a father and son. Son: "I can come back later if you're uptight, dad!" Father: "I've always got time for my outrageous offspring! What's on your mind, man-child?"