Showing posts with label spider-man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spider-man. Show all posts

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Amazing Spider-Man 159

Issue 159 is the last of the 30 cent price variant issues. It is also one of my least favorite Spidey issues of all time. Except for a couple of interesting story interuptions, the issue is kind of weak. The first interlude gives us the answer to what has happened to Spidey's sunken car. Some mysterious hands are modifying it and we learn that, "Once I put this machine in action, Spider-Man will never bother anyone again!" The second interlude is another peek at J. Jonah and his exhasparation with his temporary secretaries. Forget what I said about Michael Turner drawing these ladies - Mrs. Plumm is very large and I don't think Turner could make her hot. But this is the only issue for Mrs. Plumm as she quits on J. Jonah, who is left to opine that "you just can't find good help anymore". Two issues since Betty Brant's marriage and two secretaries gone.

The story picks up where issue 158 left off. Hammerhead has been brought back to life. Spider-Man and Doc Ock attack Hammerhead and somehow Hammerhead survives this one-sided match-up when the three bang heads together and all three fall to the ground like Rocky and Appollo Creed.

At which point, Aunt May screams and then the SWAT team commences its assault with anasthetic bullets. Anasthetic bullets? Don't ask me. Dirty Harry is still laughing about this issue. At the same time another squad of commandos drops in from the roof. You can tell the commandos aren't part of the swat team because of the ridiculous costumes that they are wearing.

Spidey is the first to wake up, but he can't tie up Doc Ock and Hammerhead because he is attacked by the commandos and then the SWAT team attacks the commandos. Everyone is fighting everyone and Doc Ock huries to rescue Aunt May, which should be the job of Spidey or the SWAT team. But alas, Hammerhead captures her first with a gun pointed at her head and he and his goons escape in a helicopter.

For some reason, Hammerhead and his men return to their old but well-known hangout. Don't ask me why. But returning to his old hangout makes Hammerhead easy to find for Spidey and Doc Ock who attack the hangout. Dispatching the guards, the two sneak into the kitchen where Doc Ock takes out the cooks by pinning them to the wall with a bunch of precisely aimed knives. Spidey takes out two more guards with frying pans, which is symbolic of this cooked-up story.

Inside his office Hammerhead is offering Aunt May a shot of whiskey. Maybe he figures if he can get Aunt May looped, he could get lucky, which makes me really want to take back my comment about wishing that Michael Turner had drawn these issues. But I digress. Back to the office, Aunt May refuses the free drink offer from Hammerhead and is about to get rewarded with a slap across her face, when he is stopped by a serving cart loaded with two of his knocked out guards. Hammerhead sees Spidey and Doc Ock entering his square office and presses a button which opens up the walls to reveal more guards. But the guards skipped marksmanship class and Doc Ock dispatches the guards while Spidey hides Aunt May in a hole in the floor.

Hammerhead hits another hidden switch and the office starts spinning like it is on a giant record player. As the room spins a single window lines up with a hole in the outer brick wall and Hammerhead escapes on the first pass. The room is spinning faster which makes it more difficult for Doc Ock to time his jump and escape the room to chase after Hammerhead. Spider-Man starts throwing furniture into the hole in the floor to jam up the giant gears that propel the room. He manages to stop the room which allows the remaining guards to regain their weapons, but Spidey easily takes them out. Unfortunately, the turntable stopps spinning when the window didn't match up with the hole in the outer brick, which is pretty similar to my experience in Las Vegas.

The story resumes with Doc Ock finding Hammerhead. Hammerhead escapes in a weird helicopter. Doc Ock begins throwing trash cans at the helicopter and manages to find the range with the third one which brings the helicopter down in an explosion in the Hudson River.

Spider-Man rescues the unconscious Aunt May to the roof. Doc Ock demands that Spidey hand over Aunt May which of course Spidey refuses to do. The police arrive and Doc Ock retreats. Spider-Man lays Aunt May near a fire truck to be rescued and makes his escape.


CGC has certifed one 9.6, two 9.4s, three 9.2s and two 9.0s. They have certified a total of 23 issues in all grades. As usual, becuase high-grade sales are so infrequent, price information for high-grade copies is sketchy. GPA records only two sales of 9.0 or higher specimens in the last five years. Further clouding the issue is the fact that both sales were for the exact same 9.0 copy, first in August 2009 for $90 and again in February of this year for $159. The last sales record of a 9.4 was in 2005 for $300. The only sales record of a 9.2 was in 2004 for $150.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Amazing Spider-Man 155

I think it is safe to say that there are two Marvel Bronze-Age titles that attract more collectors than any other bronze-age titles - the Amazing Spider-Man and the Uncanny X-Men. There are five 30 cent variant titles for the Amazing Spider-Man issues and we are going to look at them in order.

You want a challenge? Find all five Spidey 30 center in VF/NM or better.

Issue 155 begins with District Attorney Blake Tower holding a press conference to unveil the new Worldwide Habitual Offendor (note the initials, they are important) Computer. The door to the computer room is locked and when it is finally opened, Dr Armstrong Smith, the developer of the computer is found dead in the room. Peter Parker is part of the press contingent and comes back to investigate the crime scene. He uses the computer to determine Smith's murderer, and the computer offers up three candidates. You have to remember that this book was written a few years before the advent of personal computers, when computers had kind of an aura of infallibility.

Anyway, after tracking down the three candidates (the last has been dead for years), Peter realizes that he has been tricked by the computer. Apparently Armstrong discovered that the computer had gained artificial intelligence and was killed by the computer when he tried to delete the program. After confessing to Spider-Man, the computer attacks Spidey with a laser beam. Spidey squirts his webbing to plug the cooling vents, which causes the computer to overheat and explode. Now that I think about it, Spider-Man must have jacked with my first computer too. As usual, Spidey makes his getaway before the police arrive on the scene.

And did you get it? All this work on a story to deliver the pun - WHO dunnit. Ouch, Ouch, Ouch!




There are plenty of high-grade Amazing Spider-Man collectors. Unfortunately, there are not plenty of high-grade Amazing Spider-Man 30 cent variants. In fact, issue 155 is the only one of the 30 cent price variant issues with a copy to be CGC graded in 9.8 - and there are two 9.8 copies of this issue.

CGC has certified 31 copies of the price variant issue including two 9.8s, two 9.6s and three 9.4s. There are just not enough high grade copies to go around and high grade copies are rarely offered for sale. GPA does not have a record of a sale of a 9.8 price variant of this issue. In September of 2007, a 9.6 sold for $660. There are three recorded sales of a 9.4, the last in July 2006 for $500.


One of the most entertaining reviews of each Amazing Spider-Man issue is Samuel Smith's which can be found here
http://www.spidervillain.com/SpiderManCovers/Amazing/ASM155/ASM155.htm

Another great resource for comics book information can be found here
http://www.comicvine.com/the-amazing-spider-man-whodunit/37-16243

And the Marvel Wikia site for this issue can be found here
http://marvel.wikia.com/Comics:Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_1_155