#asm8

Kinda crazy that Susan marries Reed a year after this. I wonder if they'll invite Spidey to the wedding or if he's gonna crash the party like he usually does.

But you what's known for crashing the party and everyone getting excited about it...?

YEEEEAAAAHHHHH BABY!

Let's get to it - I'm itching for more mail in letters!

Damn, Bob has some OPINIONS! Hindsight's a crazy little thing, because it seems like Susan Storm was asked to be booted from the FF a lot back in the day, but now she's arguably the most favored member other than the Thing!

Well how about this! A fan reacting to a fan's previous mail-in letter!

Since I'm reacting to Marvel editorial's reaction to Phil's letter, who reacted to Marvel's reaction to Larry's letter, who reacted to Marvel's title of the comic, that makes this a reaction to the FIFTH POWER! That's TOO MUCH ENERGY!!!! AAAUUAUAUUGHGHHGHGHH!!!!

Dang, this fan really spoke the idea of Spidey's mask being used to muffle his voice and disguise his identity into existence! I wonder who they are-

HE'S REAL?!?

A few of the letters have referenced how some fans were worried that Spidey wouldn't keep his hot streak going, but this one really stuck out to me because pretty much all of the things that he mentioned came true!

JJJ not hounding Spidey in the press anymore, Spidey joining the FF, Spidey getting more powers, and getting a female counterpart!

Are comic storylines just predictable or something? Because all of these fans are pretty much predicting the future with their letters, here!

It's also hilarious seeing how Ditko isn't a fan of drawing Spidey's under-arm webbing. If only he'd come back after Romita took over and removed them! He might've enjoyed drawing Spidey for longer!

Part of the reason I love reading the Spider's Web is because I get to put myself in the shoes of readers from back when these comics first came out! Just reading these two special announcements above got me excited to check out Spidey's next issue!

That's the magic of comics and definitely the magic of Spidey!

Turns out that during Spidey's spur of the moment fight, the rest of the Fantastic Four were just... sitting on the beach?

They're in full uniform, too! And I don't see any Fantasti-car!

Is this just something these guys do? Hang out at the beach in superhero uniform?

Unfortunately, being fueled by furious teenager rage, Spidey proceeds to fight the Fantastic Four

AGAIN!

Like, JESUS, Pete - you do NOT need to be slugging it out with literally everyone who looks at you a little funny!!

After running outside to the beach, Spidey and Torch get into their scuffle, but not before Spidey busts out ANOTHER reference!

He does this a few times in the earlier comics, but whenever Spidey sings "He floats through the air with the greatest of ease," he's referencing a song called "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze".

The original song was recorded by Harry McClintock back in 1928, but since then has been re-recorded by a ton of different artist since then including Bing Crosby, Bruce Springsteen, and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Apparently, it's also Cuphead's favorite song??

It's time for another Spidey Reference Check - this episode: Frank Merriwell!

So Frank Merriwell was a fictional character from the late 1800's written by a guy named Gilbert Patten (though his pseudonym for the books was Burt L. Standish. He appeared in short stories called dime novels, radio dramas, comic strips, comic books, and a 12 chapter serialized film.

He was around from 1896 to the late 1940's, disappeared for a bit, then came back for a short book series in 1965. Maybe Spidey's mention of him sparked some renewed interest!

From the little of the strips I checked out, Frank Merriwell stories read a little old-timey (which makes sense since they were coming out during the World Wars). Maybe the term "tossing you out on your pointy ear" is a classic phrase from the 20's?

Hey, all you beautiful people!

A lot sure has happened since the last post I made - most important is probably the new trailer for Brand New Day dropping earlier this month!

It's so refreshing to see Spidey coming back to theaters in a fresh and exciting new way. Hopefully the movie lives up to the hype!

Until then, we're gonna keep swinging along through the comics! Maybe we'll get to Scorpion's first encounter to tie into the movie!

Anyways, we're finishing up ASM #8 today with... another Spidey and Torch team up.

I've said it before and I'll probably keep saying it whenever it pops up, but these guys are spending a LOT of time sharing the pages. Out of his now 15 appearances, SEVEN of them have had the Human Torch show up.

That's basically HALF!!

No wonder they hate each other - they're tired of hanging out!

I know Peter is a 16 year old kid now, but him stalking another guys girlfriend just to show her what she's missing is some freak ass behavior. James Cameron must've only read this one page before he wrote his Spider-Man script back in the 90's.

So Johnny here is driving a 1963 Corvette Stingray, and the lady below says he was driving an "XK Jag" last week. I looked up both cars and I think I'd personally prefer the Jaguar, but what do y'all think?

We end the issue with Flash unintentionally tripping and knocking out the goons who caused the Living Brain to go crazy.

Peter uses the opportunity to turn the tides on Flash and absolutely mess with the guy:

The funniest part is this is a totally plausible thing for the kids to believe, and they start questioning the shit out of Flash trying to get him to confirm his "true identity"

Man, what a shit-eating grin Peter has here - he's REVELLING in this!

And that's all for the A story! All ends well and nobody guesses Peter's identity! Huzzah!

This almost feels uncharacteristic for a Spider-Man adaptation to have nobody learn his secret identity this far in. Usually in movies, TV shows, or even other comic series, it seems like the writers can't wait to have someone find out Peter's identity!

Think about it - in SM1, Norman finds out and dies. SM2? MJ, Harry Osborn, and EVERYONE IN THAT TRAIN plus Doc Ock find out and Doc Ock dies. SM3, both Sandman and Venom find out and Venom dies. ASM1 Gwen Stacy, the Lizard, and Captain Stacy find out and both the Lizard and Captain Stacy DIE. Then in ASM2, while Electro never finds out, Harry Osborn does and kills Gwen Stacy, so SHE dies. Civil War, Iron Man finds out and eventually dies in Infinity War. In Homecoming both the Vulture and Aunt May find out. Aunt May dies a couple movies later, but the Vulture gets a fate worse than death and gets sent to the Morbius universe. Far From Home, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, the other SHIELD agents AND Mysterio find out and Mysterio doxxes Peter before HE dies. No Way Home, EVERYONE finds out about Peter being Spider-Man so that all the villains from the previous movies get brought in because they know Peter is Spider-Man (including Electro now?)

TLDR, Peter's identity as Spider-Man being kept a secret is really cool and I prefer it sticking around as long as possible instead of the beans getting spilled all the time to villains or love interests.

Next time, we'll be looking at the B story where Spidey and Torch go at it again for the 3rd time. Will they finally make up and be friends after the issue's over?

Spoiler Alert: nope!