Dustin Gebel
Welcome to Throwback Thursday, where Comic Watch celebrates great comics from the past you might have forgotten about!
Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #147
Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #147 – written by Gerry Conway with art by Sal Buscema, letters from Rick Parker, and colors by Bob Sharen & John Wilcox – is a tie-in issue to the overarching Inferno storyline from the X-titles of the time. Focusing on the Hobgoblin after being defeated by Spider-Man and Harry Osborne in the Green Goblin costume, the bulk of the issue features Spider-Man and his supporting cast battling the demonic beings created from day-to-day items. Mary Jane battles the demons at her Egyptian-themed photoshoot, taking charge as cowardly ad execs give up, while J Johan Jameson, Ben Urich, and Spider-Man team up to fight the creatures besieging the Daily Bugle.
Conway’s script is a fun, fast-moving beast, juggling four plotlines with ease, offering more bang for the reader’s buck than most monthly titles. It’s a testament to the school of Spider-Man reading that the script makes various plot points and ongoing stories clear, both from the menagerie of Spider titles and the overarching Inferno storyline. Like most older comics, the dialogue can be slightly repetitive in its attempt to honor Stan Lee’s notion that every comic is someone’s first. This is evident in Hobgoblin and Harry’s monologues as they fly through the demon-infested city. The writing sings when Conway can break away from the recapping, with MJ’s quips rivaling Spidey’s banter with Jonah.
Both the MJ sequence and the fight in the Bugle are great ways to give a flair of character to the rotating cast and deliver more personality to MJ in a few pages than in the last few years. Conway knows less is more, and the jumping between stories ensures none of the plots drag, covering a lot of ground with maximum spectacle. The fights also serve as a great thematic foundation, creating a setting that is actively attacking the cast, from the Empire State Building to the wind and East River.
Buscema’s art is classic for a reason, and this story is just one example of the artist’s skill in rendering both the wall-crawler and the overwhelming demons in the city. Hobgoblin’s design is never more terrifying than in this era, with his mask and expressions giving a vicious scowl that feels in line with the Inferno plot. The art has a ruthless element that sells not only the demented nature of this Hobgoblin but the outright viciousness of the demonic-infused city. From the book’s opening page, Buschema makes sure to show the twisted, ever-shifting design of the Empire State Building. It looms in the background of panels until Hobgoblin is ready to try and sell his soul to N’Astirh, the demon attacking the city.
The panel compositions in this issue are also excellent, with Buschema’s use of vertical panels playing with perspective and motion. These feel like early predecessors to vertical, Webtoon-style panels, and here in the issue, they work to sell the gravity and heft of Spider-Man falling down the Bugle. By putting multiple across the page, they create a speeding moment of plummeting and then the harsh collision with goblin-infused gargoyles. They’re also employed to show the towering figure of the distorted Empire Building. Buscema uses a low angle to show N’Astirh standing above the flying Hobgoblin, surrounded by a mouth of fags creating a hole in the side of the building. That angle paired with the vertical panel subtly indicates just how far out of his league Hobgoblin is, and ensures there are no questions as N’Astirh proceeds to flick him away like a bug.
Those vertical panels also reappear back in the Bugle plotline after Peter and Johan defeat the goblins. Buscema uses them in tandem with Conway’s monologue about typical worries for the staffers, showing the New Yorkers taking their frustrations out on the demons. Again, this sequence gives a pacing that speeds through the action, creating a strong focus on the staffers and their acts. After they win the fight, Buschema uses those panels one more time to show a mini-arc in the portrayal of Johan’s expression. Instead of adding to the action, this infuses a layer of emotion that reveals Johan’s shellshock. Earlier, Conway uses his captions to indicate Jonah’s stress levels, but he gets out of the way of Buscema’s art to indicate the level of tension present.
As the Dark Web spins out of the current Amazing Spider-Man title, Spectacular Spider-Man #147 is a great snapshot into the webslinger’s previous adventure with Limbo and goblins. Conway and Buscema tell a fun, breezy story of New Yorkers not taking any crap from a literal monster of a city, and sets the stage for the Hobgoblin’s twisted reinvention. The issue has some inventive panel work that feels relevant in the age of scrolling comics. This is an issue that can be read without any context and still provides a comprehensive look into a bygone era of Spider-Man. It also makes for a fun double feature with the recent issues of Amazing Spider-Man and Dark Web.