Peter David and David Michelinie's early 1980s Spider-Man work

[Mister Mets]

Ditto. Geiger is an unsung talent. But yeah, still miss 616 Ned Leeds' Hobgoblin. Never was able to get into Kingsley's version, though...

Funnily enough, I just read a Hulk story by Geiger. He's not an artist I had noticed before, but he's got a nice Bolland/ Totlebon style.

Wait, was Black Cat sleeping with the Foreigner in order to set him up? I read a lot of these issues but I must’ve memory-holed that. Probably wouldn’t fly today.

My impression was she slept with him to set him up, and because she wanted to. But yeah, that wouldn't fly.

[Mister Mets]

Second to last entry.



Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21
Peter and Mary Jane are getting married, so Spider-Man’s more active than ever in order for Peter to get more photos to sell. He tackles Electro, and gets a surprise celebration at the Daily Bugle, while MJ gets calls from the mysterious Bruce- a gentleman friend who would rather she didn’t marry anyone. Peter’s conflicted about the wedding, while thinking about what happened to Gwen, and MJ’s not sure if she’s ready to settle down. Peter takes MJ for a swing around New York City, before going to his bachelor party with Harry & Flash. Spider-Man dreams of supervillains interrupting his wedding, while MJ goes for a 3AM drive with Bruce. But eventually the young couple decide to go for it, exchanging their vows in front of MJ’s Uncle Spencer, a justice of the peace.

I have a complicated history with this comic book I suppose, given all the writing I’ve done about how Joe Quesada was probably right that marrying off Peter and MJ was the wrong call. And there is much to complain about in the execution. The preparations are completely divorced (bad pun, I know) from anything like the actual contemporary of organizing a wedding. Peter and MJ tell Aunt May and Aunt Anna about it with at most weeks to go. This is the only comic book set during the engagement.
There are quite a few good scenes. Jim Shooter recognized that this issue would be picked up by people who don’t always read Spider-Man comics, so he made sure that it would be quite accessible with recaps of the origin and tragedies in Peter’s life. And because it’s set during an important milestone, that kind of reflection feels organic. There are small moments that really land, like Spider-Man’s rush of activity becoming a news story which makes Peter’s photos more valuable. The characters are thoughtful. Peter’s joy feels earned, as does the response of those around him. Paul Ryan’s a solid artist, but handles superhero stuff and wedding shenanigans with a sense of fun.,
I get that wedding stories sometimes have really compressed schedules especially in a serial where there isn’t a lot of time to set up major developments. Milestones in Spider-Man comics often happen quickly. There wasn’t a lot of set-up to his high school graduation or entry to ESU back in the day, though Amazing Spider-Man #28 isn’t on any best of lists as this one. I’ll give this an A-minus grade in that a lot of it lands, but there is a major flaw in compressing it all into the space of a few weeks. The way I’d make sense of it is to imagine it as happening over the course of a few months, assuming that whoever told the story got some of the details wrong, like order of events or references to time.
A-

It does seem clear that Bruce is not meant to be Bruce Wayne, but more of an A-list actor as I’ve seen speculated. There were some theories that it might be Bruce Willis, who had just become a household name after Moonlighting, although this was before he became a movie star with Die Hard.


Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #7

Puma’s uncle believes he owes a debt to Peter Parker for helping him against the Beyonder back in Secret Wars 2, so the Puma decides to offer Peter a job, at a time when Peter’s feeling self-conscious about getting married to a fashion model who hangs out with a lot of rich and successful types (who all seem underwhelmed by him.) This takes some of the fun away from a honeymoon near Marseilles. Puma asks Spider-Man’s help to get stolen jewels for a client, which requires breaking into St Victor’s Basilica and fighting some ninjas, as well as an imposter priest. The mission doesn’t go well for Spidey, as he thinks Puma’s humoring him rather than taking him seriously. In the end, he comes to an understanding with Puma that allows him to keep his self-respect, although not the upper class paycheck.
It would be interesting to see a What If? comic based on Peter taking Puma’s job. That could legitimately be life-changing.
Generally, this is a story that works. Part of it is that Owsley recognizes that Spider-Man isn’t perfect. Peter Parker has a temper and a chip on his shoulder, even if he’ll eventually do the mature thing. The clash between Peter and Puma builds on their history and character, and I like MJ’s role as the mediator. This is pretty much an epilogue to an era of Spider-Man, tying up loose ends with the Puma before new creative teams take over as Todd Macfarlane joins Amazing Spider-Man, and Gerry Conway takes over the satellite books.
B+