You don't need to see his identification. These are not the power converters you're looking for. You should go to Tosche Station.

I could feel the love tonight but I choose not to.
British HMS Iron Duke Is Retired, Only Five Frigates Left To Defend the Island
May 4, 2026

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
I think everyone calls him "old Ben."

He says "Son, can you get me a fast ship?
I'm not really sure how this goes
I've got credits to pay" then his hand waves away
And somehow everyone knows

La, la-la, di-dee-da
La-la, di-dee-da da-dum

Sing us a song, the jizzwailer band
Sing us a song tonight
Well we all have to deal with the empire
And look for excuses to fight

Now Han is a freighter ship pilot
As dashing as anyone can get
But he shows no respect
And his ship is a wreck
And he always seems drowning in debt

He says "this time I know it'll work for me!
This time I'll finally get paid
I can finally start taking my own orders
And be more than twelve parsecs away"

Oh, la, la-la, di-dee-da
La-la, di-dee-da da-dum

Now the Tuskans are hunting for victims
And the Jawas are looking to sell
Everyone has a task
And they all wear a mask
And feel like they're living in hell

And Greedo is searching for someone
And Chewy is trying to avoid
They all might be cut
By Jabba the Hut
But at least no one brought in a droid

[Chorus]

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
But Imperials are lurking around
There's drinks and there's crime
We're just taking up time
Watching the twin suns go down

But the band will keep playing forever
As the audience looks for a fight
Two guys stare at me
And don't like what they see
I guess more will be dying tonight

Oh, la, la-la, di-dee-da
La-la, di-dee-da da-dum

Taxpayer-Funded Texas Waterpark Announces “Muslim Only” Day – “Dress in Accordance with Islamic Values,” Serve Only Halal Meat
May 4, 2026

□ [“US Sinks Seven Iranian Small Boats Harassing Cargo Ships in the Strait of Hormuz"]

Well that was quick.  It was a nice ceasefire we had .  Then Trump announced that, since no one else was going to it, we'd protect ships in the strait and so Iran started going after them.  This does provide a nice view to the world of what US protection actually means.  I support the US as 'world policeman' but that's not to say other nations couldn't be protecting themselves.

Iran even fired missiles at the UAE, hitting a 'fuel facility.'  Now how do you get to that, being so mad at the US that you strike someone who isn't the US?  They probably qualify as an ally but not exactly a close one.  In some ways, this seems so planned that you could argue Iran is working with Trump.  They'd been able to make it through the ceasefire this far and then it was over.

It'll be interesting to know if Trump can restart the 60 days or if there are other rules in place for situations like this.  Haven't heard anybody in Congress speak out, especially Democrats.  This supports my theory that they were all informed about this so if the choice is being honest about this to their voters or ignoring it altogether, they'll pick the latter every time.

Iran is saying all ships trying to go through the strait must clear it with them first.  Trump says he's ready to wipe Iran off the face of the earth.  I didn't see a specific quote so I'm not sure how he phrased it but I'm sure you get the point.  And it's Trump so it's not like he hasn't said these things before.

Los Angeles City Councilman Wants Illegals to be Able to Vote in City Elections
May 1, 2026

Driver Plows Car Into a German Market Crowd in Leipzig – Two Dead, Several Injured
May 4, 2026

□ [“Trump Warns US Will Cut ‘Much Further’ Than 5,000 Troops in Germany"]

Another aspect of the war.  Maybe in several years, we can really look at all the different parts going on.  I still worry that Trump is more interested in negotiations than in the results.  He has decades of experience so he's very good at it but the goal should be more important.  That's just a generic comment, he's got the advantage over Europe.

Germany, and probably the rest of Europe, is trying to figure out what to do.  They really thought they could just degrade the US and nothing would change.  The PM of Poland has spoken up that NATO is disintegrating.  They're the ones who put themselves in this situation so they'd better start working on a way to fix things.  I would love to think that this is where sensible European politicians can call out for those who will fight for their countries and that means the EU is one of the enemies.

It's not clear what will be done with the troops who are taken out.  It's also a valid question what authority the POTUS has for this.  Commander-in-chief, sure, but Congress must have been part of deciding what countries to send how many troops to.  I assume there's a goal being aimed towards here, not just pissing off Europe, but it's not clear what that could be.

DOJ Investigates 36 Illinois School Districts, Pushing Trans Ideology and Gender Transitions on Kids Behind Parents’ Backs
May 4, 2026

One clue that Spider-Man was always intended to be the center of the Marvel franchise is to look at how their other new characters were designed.  The Fantastic Four was obviously the starting point.  It's generally realized that there were just another version of Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown but ignore that and just look at the team as the new stars of Marvel comics, supposedly bringing back the superhero genre.

But there were some notable differences.  Other superheroes have secret identities, this team didn't.  The whole world knew who Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben were.  Superheroes are supposed to have costumes but the FF didn't get theirs until #3.  There's usually a love interest but it was very minimal here.  Reed and Sue were not an attractive couple for a while.  Ben wouldn't meet Alicia until #8 and it would take even longer for Johnny to get his first girlfriend, Dorrie.

Then there's the lack of supervillains.  There were none.  Even Dr. Doom's first appearance, his goal was to send the FF back in time to steal from pirates.  That's not the Dr. Doom we know.  The FF fought monsters, aliens and Russians, nobody who just robbed a bank with their super powers.

The Hulk was a monster book, the difference being that the monster was the title character so he couldn't be killed or even defeated at the end of each issue.  Other than the FF, he was the only Marvel character to start off in his own title until the X-Men and Daredevil.  Everybody else started off in the anthology books.  And Hulk didn't sell so after the series was cancelled, he would be moved to one of those.

Thor was probably based on Jack Kirby's interest in mythology although it would be a while before it was really shown in the series.  He and the Hulk did have secret identities but as completely separate people.  My guess is that at least one reason was just needing to avoid the 'Superman wearing glasses' stereotype.  They also had love interests but very stereotypical, to the point where one gets the impression Lee and Kirby weren't remotely interested in this, they just felt obligated to include a female character like this.

Ant-Man was a very strange example.  Technically he was the second Marvel superhero character, his first appearance cover-dated January 1962.  Fantastic Four #1 was cover-dated November 1961 and Hulk #1 was May 1962.  But Ant-Man's second appearance wasn't until September 1962, a month after Spider-Man's first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15.

If he was such a good idea for a character, why did it take so long to bring him back?  And why did it happen the same time they're putting out this other 'bug character'?  There's no answer for this and it just seems bizarre.  Just a theory and there's still no explanation, but I wonder if publisher Martin Goodman had something to do with it.  Stan Lee always took as much credit as he could and I have no clue where I saw this, but I would swear that at least once or twice, he cited Goodman as the one who wanted Ant-Man to return.  This would explain why Kirby did it, otherwise he had no interest in Ant-Man at all.  And Stan would just be following the boss's command, if he wants Ant-Man back, so does Stan.

He didn't have a love-interest either, it would be months before the Wasp shows up.  He didn't have a secret identity either, he was an arrogant scientist who made it known that he'd found a way to shrink himself and talk to ants.  Looking at that sentence, it doesn't look something creative people would be interested in so it probably wasn't Stan and Jack pushing this.

None of them fought super villains, they fought aliens, monsters and Russians.  They really didn't have costumes either.  The Hulk was his costume, Ant-Man was just wearing his suit he had built and Thor dressed the way all his people dress.  So none of them were really following the standard superhero model.

Then there's Spider-Man who was supposed to be different from all the other superheroes.  Did he have a secret identity?  Yep.  Did he wear a costume?  Yep.  Did he have a love interest?  Not for a while but the kids at school and Aunt May filled in the story requirements.  Did he fight supervillains?  The Vulture, Doc Ock, Sandman, Doc Doom, the Lizard, Electro, Mysterio, Green Goblin and Kraven, just in the first 15 issues.

So despite what Marvel was promoting, he was actually the most stereotypical new character they had up to that point.  I still can't figure out how or why they intended him to be the center of the franchise but this looks very deliberate.  They might just have been looking for a way to appeal to teenage readers, that certainly makes sense.  But whatever it was, Jack Kirby didn't see a way to make that work so Marvel would turn to its other main artist.

Putin Announces Victory Day Truce for May 8 and 9 - Russia Will Strike Kiev if Ukraine Disrupts Celebrations
May 4, 2026

□ [“Eric Swalwell Sent Pervy Videos of Himself to Various Women Online"]

Here's someone we haven't expected to hear from again.  I don't think it's been even a month since he was one of the most popular Democrats out there.  But the tables have turned.  Now it's coming out that he's been posting sexual videos of himself in online discussions.  It's not clear how many of the women actually consented to these vids but even if the answer was 'none of them,' they sure waited a while to speak out about it.

This also raises another issue, members of Congress are, at least in theory, important people.  They have access to classified information so aren't they being watched over 24-7 for this kind of thing?  Or can he really just put out sensitive info on a sexchat and the government will only find out later?  Seems like a really bad way to handle this.  Which leads me to wonder how many other members of Congress do this sort of thing if nobody is paying attention to them.

Or even worse, people are paying attention to them.  If we're lucky, it's the American security forces.  Or it could be China, Russia, Epstein's successors.  But no matter who it is, they'd have a lot of opportunities for blackmail.  You'd think someone in the media could ask current members of Congress how many of people are enjoying the same sort of thing Swalwell does and if there are any plans to fix this problem.  But then we'd get into how many in the media are doing this too.  It really does get disturbing how far down the line this goes.

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger Considering a New Tax on Gym Memberships
May 4, 2026

Zohran Mamdani Allocates $500,000 for ‘Reparations’ as He Claims City is in Historic Budget Crisis
May 2, 2026

Towson University Hosts Second “Drag” Event In Slightly Over A Month
May 3, 2026

I told my cat he's racist and he just ignored me. I don't think this insult is working anymore.

She left the toilet seat down again.  Gonna need to remind her that she's the one who's oppressed.

Where is PETA?  Iran Considers Deploying ‘Kamikaze Dolphins’ on US Ships in Strait of Hormuz
May 3, 2026

In 2023, Guns'n'Roses was sued by Katarina Benzova, a photographer for the band.  The main point was that the band claimed ownership of her photography with no written consent, but also the sexual harassment by Fernando Lebeis, the band's manager.  The band has countersued and on January 29 and 30, Axl and Lebeis testified in court.  That testimony was released to the public recently.  I have barely glanced at Fernando's testimony and am only partway through Axl's but there are some interesting things to note here.

The lack of written deals is the most surprising and disturbing.  Never mind the tours and marketing, or any other deals made by the band, Axl's mansions would require too much maintenance, written contracts would be required just to keep track of all the money being spent.  This means Benzova will win regarding ownership of her photographs.  They can pay her as much as they want, if there's no signed paperwork giving them ownership, there's nothing to go on.  This is why sane companies require written contracts, saying 'we own this.'

Since they have no defense, I assume the band will give in or, more likely, offer her tons of money to get complete ownership.  I don't know how the sexual harassment part of the lawsuit will go, most likely they'll pay her off there too to shut her up, but we'll see.  But all of this is making the band look more like a cult surrounding Axl than anything else, especially since they can't be bothered to put down written documents.

I've read roughly a third of Axl's testimony and he seems almost proud of announcing how ignorant he is on basic business details.  In 1998 - I can't find a specific date but it seems to have been around then - he founded Black Frog, a company to handle managing the band.  He is listed as the CEO, the CFO, the secretary and the director.  You'd think that would provide a lot of knowledge about how the business works, or at least the business he's in charge of.  You would be wrong.

He is asked about various companies falling under the Black Frog name.  He is testifying under oath and his answers show how little he knows.  I have simplified the text for convenience but it is copy-and-pasted from the official release:

Q:  Are you the principal of Gundam Productions, LLC?
A:  I believe so.
Q:  Are you the director of Waterhead International, Incorporation?
A:  I believe so.
Q:  Are you the manager of Gundam Marketing, LLC?
A:  I believe so.
Q:  Do you own the company?
A:  As far as I know.
Q:  Are you the chief executive officer of Black Frog Touring, Inc.?
A:  Possibly.
Q:  Are you the chief financial officer of Black Frog Music?
A:  I don't know.
Q:  Are you the holder of Guns N' Roses trademark?
A:  I believe so.
Q:  Do all the entities, Gundam, Waterhead, Black Frog, Gundam Touring, do they share the same principal place of business at 5950 Canoga Avenue, Suite 510, Woodland Hills, California 91367?
A:  Can I ask a question?  Is that my accountant's? [address]

He is then shown a copy of the California Secretary of State document listing him in charge of these companies at that address.  He's not even bothered by this, he simply has no reason to pay attention to things like this.  Yet he's in charge.  Fernando is the official manager, Axl has no clue if or how Fernando is paid for this job.  He's asked who owns the Guns'n'Roses catalogue and has to guess.  Might be him and Slash and Duff, might be them with Geffen Records or Geffen may own it all.  Because ownership of the Appetite for Destruction songs isn't worth keeping track of.

I'm less than halfway through Axl's testimony but what I've read so far is just more of this.  This is the first real "interview" Axl has done in public for decades.  He did some minimal internet chats for the Chinese Democracy release - going on 18 years ago - that's the last I'm aware of.  He doesn't see any problems here and probably doesn't see why anyone else has a problem here.

That's why I mean about the resemblance to a cult, Axl has been surrounded by sycophants for nearly 40 years.  Their job is to keep him happy and ignoring reality works very well for that.  It also means they don't need to write anything down, that way no one else can read it.  And keep in mind who else handles Black Frog and how they all got this far.

As you may remember, Axl was obsessed with a girl.  He wanted to make obsessive videos about her so he hired another girl as lead actress and became obsessed with her.  It didn't last long but the new girl hired a Brazilian nanny for her little boy, Beta Lebeis.  When they broke up, Axl kept the nanny who brought her own son along, Fernando.  And that's who's ran Guns'n'Roses for over 30 years.

It's why the sexual harassment accusation is quite believable.  Fernando's spent most of his life surrounded by people who get applauded for saying "turn around, bitch, I got a use for you."  Benzova was reportedly the only female on the G'n'R tour crew, of course she'd be a target.  I assume he uses actual written contracts for his part of the business - couldn't set up an international tour without it - but all of that is kept far away from Axl and probably from his mother.  So now they're in a bit of a mess because Axl is the only one who gets attention and he looks like a worthless figurehead.

It's not clear if he has the slightest clue what his vocals sound like, he's probably told by everyone that he just gets better every day.  It's not like he's had any reason to hear anything else from his followers.  I'm pretty sure Slash and Duff have no contact with him unless they're going on stage.  They're here for the money and to protect their own legacies.  Everyone else in G'n'R history who had a reason to speak up was fired and they're all just employees of Axl's corporation.

I'm guessing they'll try marketing, that should help fool the public.  They need this and not just for legal reasons, sales for their upcoming US tour aren't good.  Yesterday I saw a short video on youtube of Axl and it's quite recent.  Dated from last month for a concert in Brazil, it's mostly just him walking around backstage, looking happy.  He's probably talking to people but no sound is included.  One or two bits on-stage during the show - Duff is in one - and I think the only spoken words are when he's calling out thanks to the crowd and especially Fernando.

G'n'R was never my favorite band but they were usually high-up on the list of favorites.  If nothing else, they're my only favorite whose career started after I was born, which is probably why I still pay so much attention to them.  But this also makes me very curious how many other rich celebrities are facing this, or will be shortly.  Fernando could loot every penny Axl has and escape, there'd be nothing to use against him.  As the cult gets old and weak, that becomes the best option.

Somali Pirates Hijack Another Oil Tanker, This Time off the Coast of Yemen
May 3, 2026

When looking into the origins of Spider-Man, Jack Kirby's role creates more questions than answers.  The official story is fairly simple.  Whatever the basic idea was, Kirby was the first one Stan Lee turned to.  He did several pages - it's unclear how many - which did not meet what Stan wanted, so he turned to Ditko who established the Spidey we know.  Ok, that makes sense.

Kirby's pages have never been seen by the public.  All we've been told is that it involved a teenage boy with a web-shooting gun who fought a mad scientist that lived in the neighborhood.  After all these decades, it just seems strange that nothing has ever been done with that.  Marvel puts out books celebrating Spidey's latest anniversary, this would certainly make a novel contribution, 'what might have been.'  Yet there's nothing.

There's also a valid question about what happened to Kirby's art.  In the mid-80s, Marvel finally gave him bake a large percentage of his finished pages.  Kirby had many accomplishments in his career, this wouldn't be a major one, but again there would be the novelty.  Even if Kirby and his estate never showed off the art, at least they would list what they received.  So far I can't find on the internet that they even did that, and there many errors with what Marvel did give back, so his version of Spider-Man would be a dead end.

Marvel did not keep the storage of artwork secured so a lot of it had been stolen over the years, with Kirby as probably the biggest victim of the crime.  Maybe that's what happened to the pages.  Still seems a bit weird though.  Did someone just grab them all or did several people check out the storage unit and decide to loot this?

But then there's another problem.  If the thief or thieves aren't already dead, they're very old.  Their family would look into what property they've left behind and someone would notice the old comics art.  They wouldn't recognize it of course but if it's listed as Marvel, they'd have a reason to see if it's worth anything.  If they don't know Jack Kirby's name, they'd find it when they start checking the internet for possible value.

The only other options I can think of are that the art was stolen by someone for nefarious purposes.  They would keep it safe for whatever their evil criminal schemes require.  This sounds ludicrous but the only other possibility is that when Kirby's Spider-Man idea was turned down, they decided it was no good and threw the art in the trash.  But then how do we have even that brief description of the story?

That's not the only problem with no explanation.  As noted, Marvel had problems with distribution in the 1950s.  First publisher Martin Goodman tried to set up his own distributor and it immediately failed.  Then he joined the large distributor, American News Company, which was busted by the Justice Department immediately after he signed up.  That doesn't remotely sound like a coincidence but I can't find any info on that.

So Goodman's final option was to use DC Comics as the distributor for Marvel.  DC would go along with that but didn't want to help a competitor too much so Marvel was limited to eight comics a month.  Since Marvel had been publishing a lot of titles up to that point, they'd already paid many artists and received finished pages to publish.  Goodman wasn't going to waste money on new art pages until they'd used the old ones so virtually everybody working for Marvel was fired, except Stan Lee.  Eventually new stories were needed so people like Kirby and Ditko were getting work again.

This is the other problem for this alternate version of Spider-Man.  If Kirby was paid for those pages, Goodman would have every reason to get them finished and printed.  Ok, it's not the Spidey they were looking for but they've still got to fill up eight books a month.  It's not like Marvel always expected to publish work of the highest class and quality.

Or, if Kirby wasn't paid for those pages, he'd have a lot more to complain about.  In the 70s and 80s when he was fighting Marvel to get his art back, he flat-out said he created Spider-Man.  This would give him every reason to add "and they didn't even pay me for it."  Yet he never did and always gave Ditko full credit for the character we know.  So it's pretty safe to assume he was paid but then we still have all these questions.

Otherwise, maybe he dashed out the 'web-gun kid' as stick figures on one piece of paper and was told it's no good so he threw it away.  That's believable, I guess, but then why turn to Ditko?  Kirby would just say call him tomorrow and he'll have another idea.  The more we look into the origins of Spider-Man, the more questions there are about the history we've been told all these years.

Muslim Migrant Stabs Two People in Barcelona, Young Woman Dead, Man Seriously Injured
May 3, 2026

□ [“Pennsylvania Democrat Senate Candidate Arrested for Threatening to Kill Trump"]

But Republicans are the violent tyrants who want to kill people.  Considering they're the side that supports gun ownership, it looks like they could take care of a lot of problems very quickly if they were just willing to follow the Democrat example.  Putting it that way, it's kind of a shame we aren't willing to do something about it now.  If violence is the only way to fix the problem, why should the left have all the fun?  Instead we're waiting for something bad to happen first.

It's still very vague and undefinable but I think there are hints that some on the left are trying to stop the disaster they're bringing on themselves.  That's probably a reason why the most-insane are pushing this even harder, they're responding to the doubters on their own side and need to start killing the enemy.  I still can't think of anything in the way of precedents for this, historical or even any fictional examples.

Politicians and their media allies are just pushing this.  A California politician posted "86 47" on a Republican facebook page.  A black woman running for Congress in Pennsylvania insists that ICE be abolished.  She's asked who would enforce the laws on immigration and it takes her a while to come up with an answer, "Congress."  A trans substitute teacher posted a list online of planned victims for a massacre at the school he/she/it taught in.

I suspect we're all seeing things like this in our personal lives, people getting shakier and shakier.  Maybe it's just a general effect on everybody, maybe it's some people we've always been wary of who are just looking worse.  Anything that's not infinite must come to an end and we are getting very close to the end of this line.  We'll probably all be surprised by what happens next.

Illegal Alien Working for Wendy’s Stabs Two Long Island Women to Death
May 3, 2026

□ [“Trump’s New Strait Plan Kicks Off Monday"]

This fight with Iran is getting even weirder.  We passed the '60 days' mark where Trump has to inform Congress of what's going on, which I had mistaken as 90 days, so he's declared the conflict over.  A ceasefire started a few weeks ago and, as far as we know, it's been followed.  The negotiations aren't going anywhere but Trump has followed the War Powers Act.

But here's the twist, since the strait is still a problem and no one else is willing to do anything, Trump has announced that the US will protect ships passing through.  That does put more pressure on Iran.  If they do anything about it, they'll be attacking us and thereby ending the ceasefire.  That gives Trump another chance to do his thing.  Notice that Congress isn't complaining about any of this.  They've all been informed of the plan but can't admit it to their own voters who would never understand any of this.

We're also being told that Iran's economy is getting even worse and they'll be out of space to hold oil any day now.  We have not heard that the populous is in revolt, not sure if that's good or bad.  Trump is still focused on getting rid of Iran's nuclear program, I'm sure there's no accurate information on how that's going.  Everything about this *seems* to be going in the right direction but there's still no solid proof.

Angry Biden Delivers Speech at the First State Dinner of Delaware Democrat Party
May 3, 2026

Re-elect Senator Palpatine! Progress is his middle name!

Large Anti-Trump ‘86 47’ Graffiti Found on Bottom of Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
May 2, 2026

Ditko's last several issues of Spider-Man are less-interesting.  There's some interesting things going on but it just seems more tedious than before.  Since Ditko never explained anything, all we can do is guess and there are a number of possibilities.  For one thing, the super villain fights take up most of each issue.  #34 is the return of Kraven, he's impersonating Spider-Man and that's the cleverest trick he has.  There's a bit more in this issue but it seems to be going downhill.  #35 is literally all about dealing with the return of the Molten Man, with only the last two issues being a stop by the Daily Bugle.  The villains in the remaining three issues mostly irrelevant.  #37 is the only issue that is clearly including important details that will be relevant later.

Early in #34, Betty dreams that Peter is Spider-Man.  Chicks are so crazy, ain't they?  She wakes up and decides that she must do something now.  This is her last appearance in Ditko's run, her decision is to quit her job and disappear.  The reader is told she's gone in #35, Peter learns in those last two pages of #36.  There's amusing bits about JJJ's inability to keep a secretary but the only other relevant scene is Ned Leeds confronting Peter and revealing he doesn't know where she went either.  They argue and JJJ gets involved but other than Peter continuing to feel sorry for himself, that really is the end of Betty's role here.

In #34, Peter tries to be a normal college student and doesn't realize that everybody hates him already.  Gwen is surrounded by guys attracted to her so of course she's interested in a guy who isn't.  Harry is still there, his last name was giving during his first appearance in #31.  His father has started appearing regularly but I'm not sure his name is given until #37 and you'd have to be extremely focused on every detail to notice any connection.  Ok, I'm talking about Marvel fans so the percentage is probably higher than I expect, but it's still not obvious.

Gwen and Peter are at a museum in #36.  The villain shows up and Peter runs away like a sissy.  She thinks there's more to him than that.  Has she not heard that he's a photographer for a big newspaper and is known to taking lot of dangerous pictures?  It's tough to imagine him being a complete unknown, even by the professors.  But it's also worth noting that at no point in Ditko's run does Gwen have any interaction with Spider-Man, not even an acknowledgement that he exists.  Peter has one thought balloon about Spidey when Gwen is around, that's as close as she gets.

Aunt May is doing better.  Peter has become more outgoing at school, not that it works well.  He's also willing to stand up to Flash, a believable sense of maturity.  They aren't in high school, he isn't going to be bullied.  Of course there's no clue why a football player is always seen around a science major but they're both in the cast of characters.  Can't break them up now.

The villain in #37 is Professor Stromm, he builds robots and was sent to jail, that's how Frederick Foswell knows him.  But now he's out of jail and is going to kill his boss, Norman Osborn.  We finally get a name and even see him with his son and JJJ.  This is a really good set-up that Norman is the Green Goblin but it's done very well with no clues.  In theory, Ditko could have changed his mind or just made up a new villain and said that was Osborn.  Or the Goblin could have just been an employee.  This is one of those neat situations where the reader doesn't get any of the clues until after the mystery is revealed, then you go back and realize how much foreshadowing there was.

#38 wasn't that relevant.  Norman is clearly involved in criminal activities, even paying goons to attack Spider-Man.  The villain, a guy named "Joe," seems to be a reference to Stan Lee and Marvel although it's very subtle, to the point where there's no real evidence.  Joe is a lousy boxer who magically gets turned to evil and is super-strong.  He's no good at being a villain either but after his defeat, Hollywood is rushing to give him a huge deal.  That just seems so out of left-field that it's easy to see this as some sort of commentary on what had happened to Marvel in the last few years.

And that was it.  Betty's gone, Peter is now at college, getting some vague social interaction skills, Aunt May is doing all right.  She made very few appearances in the last several issues and it's possible that the point was that Peter had outgrown the need for a mother-figure.  It's not a great ending but considering how slowly and subtly Ditko had been developing all these storylines, it really is amazing how he'd gotten this far.  Then there's all the potential he had laid down for future issues.  I don't know if he had worked out a detailed plan but he could have easily been aiming towards #100 with everything he'd put down.  Certainly the Spider-Man franchise was able to make a lot of use from his work for a long time.

But we never knew why he left.  He said Stan Lee knew why, Stan said he had no clue why.  They can't both be right.  It's easy to blame Stan but it's entirely possible Ditko was offended by something Stan knew nothing about.  Stan was busy, running the whole company and was very good at smoothing things out with employees.  For some reason, that didn't work with Ditko.

I suspect Ditko stopped talking to Stan because of argument over the credits.  One thing that doesn't get mentioned in such discussions is that laying out the page in basic pencil is certainly co-writing the story.  That's almost always done by the penciller, especially when done 'Marvel method.'  But even though they're fleshing out the story and how it's told, they're not given any credit for writing.  Because Marvel owned the property, the only argument Ditko could make was to tell the story first, then bring it in for Stan to see.

There also may be a problem with Dr. Strange.  I have read Ditko's run but only once all-the-way through and do not remember most of it.  He spent the last couple years telling one long story and left as soon as he reached the end, cover-dated the same month as Spider-Man #38.  So maybe the real problem was happening over there and we never think about it because SPIDER-MAN!!!

Because Ditko never explained anything, it's not clear what decisions he had made or when.  Surely he didn't finish these last issues, then wake up the next morning and spontaneously he was done.  Most of the last several issues are rather simple, was that because he was just putting in the minimum work?  Maybe he was trying to adjust to what the company wanted, Stan was getting tired of the romance subplot and wanted more superhero action.  Was this a creative choice, reflecting the stage Peter was at here, where everything seems repetitive and is being set up for a major change?  There's no answer to any of that.

My only guess for the future storylines was that the Green Goblin would have been resolved by #50.  He might not be in jail but he would have at least been exposed to Spidey and the reader.  By the end, Norman Osborn was clearly a businessman who was comfortable operating with criminals and murdering Professor Stromm without hesitation.  This was the organized crime/big business storyline being built.  It's not a coincidence that after Ditko left and Lee had to straighten the ship, one of the early decisions was to create someone who could fill that role, the Kingpin.

The Betty Brant storyline is trickier to figure out, just because of the number of characters involved.  This is a superhero comic book for children so it's very iffy if he would have actually gone through with marrying Ned Leeds if she was still yearning for Peter.  Either way, I think Ned was intended to become a supervillain.  Either he would learn to hate Spidey for causing his wife so much distress or she would ditch him and he'd want revenge.  This is effectively what happened to him decades later and I would love to know how much of that came from conversations with Ditko, which Marvel did have over the years.

There's no way to know if Liz Allen would have returned.  Perhaps someday but it's unknown if that would be meaningful.  Her father was rich so that would be a valid option.  Otherwise, she was the only storyline in Ditko's run which he brought to a decent conclusion.  She was Betty's rival for Peter, she eventually lost.  And then she was replaced by Gwen Stacy.

Gwen was more experienced, as a college student and former beauty-queen.  Since she never had anything to do with Spider-Man, it's impossible to guess what would have happened with her.  If and when Betty returned to win Peter over, she'd need some validation to compete against Gwen.  But Gwen would be far more willing to compete against Mary Jane.

MJ is possibly the greatest evidence that Ditko really did have a long-range story planned.  At the start of the Betty/Liz rivalry, Aunt May starts pestering Peter to meet her.  At the end of their rivalry, they get a look at MJ and realize they can't fight back.  MJ gets mentioned a few more times and then is entirely out of the story.

My guess is that she might turn to be a villain, or at least working for one.  More to the point, she would be Betty's final rival.  Just speculation but I think MJ would disappear for a few years and when she returns, Ditko intended her to be the equivalent of a super-model, similar to the Mary Jane we see thanks to John Romita.  There's no other explanation, it's not like she'd sit around for years waiting for a chance to meet Peter.  As with Norman Osborn and Aunt May's illness, Ditko clearly had this planned for years in advance.

With Aunt May, there's really no clue what his intentions were.  Maybe she'd die dramatically in the near-future, maybe she'd stick around for years, just getting older and sicker.  Similar to Flash Thompson who had a few moments but never really got past the one-dimensional bully he started out as.  Ditko, with or without Lee, didn't have all this planned right from the start so it's not clear how many of these characters he came up with specific storylines for, when he developed them or how they would end.

This is especially the case with J. Jonah Jameson, possibly the best character in superhero comics at that point.  He was just so versatile, he could moan about business or superheroes.  He could support villains or be attacked by them.  He might just be passing on plot-relevant information or be the butt of a joke.  We know he has a son, we eventually learn he's part of a club for rich people, but other than that all we know is about the Daily Bugle, which is its own relevance as a media business.  There's no way to know if JJJ had an active storyline or if he was just convenient any time he was used.

This series was definitely a high-point for the comics medium and superhero genre at its peak.  There's a reason so many people have been so focused on it for so long.  I've obviously given it a lot of thought for a while now and haven't had a problem with it.  I'm mostly out of superheroes but even as I flip through the fight scenes, there's more than a little affection for how exciting this can get.  I still think Spidey was always intended to be the center of the Marvel Universe and cannot figure out how, but just looking at these comics, they had a lot to work with.

DOJ Targets Blue State for Giving Illegals Financial Assistance While Neglecting U.S. Citizens
May 2, 2026

□ [“New Mexico Police Question Epstein’s Zorro Ranch Staff About Former Prince Andrew’s Visits"]

We're getting close to seven years since Epstein's last arrest and death and they're just now getting around to questioning the staff?  Why would the staff still be around?  For that matter, if any of them have died, what secret information are you going to get out of them then?  There's just no way to take any of this seriously, meaning there's really no chance anything will be done about this.  Or anyone involved.

That said, I have noticed a slight change in the commentary.  Coverage has gone down, even on the left, just because there's nothing to obsess about.  It's strange that they're not paying attention to the documents that were released, but neither is the right.  No clue what's going on there but that may be why this change is relevant.

The New Mexico ranch is getting attention when it would be easily ignored, just as it's been all these years.  There's also the fact that Charles came to the US to talk to Trump, it's quite possible that this was about what his brother and other celebrities were up to.  The EU is still being hit by elites who are suddenly in trouble for their Epstein connections, it's possible that another step has been made towards progress.  Which means only a zillion or two steps to go before anything relevant is released to the public.  Noam Chomsky and Woody Allen enjoyed themselves at this ranch, how come nobody asks them?

Pope Leo Appoints Former Illegal Alien and Rabid Progressive as West Virginia Bishop
May 2, 2026

□ [“AOC is Asked 'Are We Going to Have a Female President First or a Gay President?'”]

As the article describes it, she answers that we might have already had a gay POTUS and snickers like she knows a secret she's hiding from the rest of us.  How mature.  There's been a number of recent suggestions that Obama is actually gay, which is totally believable.  Maybe Bill Clinton but he just comes off more like someone who would have sex with anything regardless of age, gender or species.

This might be related to the notion that Michelle is actually trans.  I still don't believe that but the rumors would at least line up with a marriage of convenience, not because either one of them wants sex with the other.  What comes to mind for me is more about Obama's Muslim past.

Muslims are allowed to do bad things with the infidel.  I'm not certain it specifically includes gay sex - haven't looked into that for some reason - but that would also be believable.  It's also said that males in Muslim tribes are just more inclined to behave like that, which children or because they just don't know any better.  If he was ever trying to show that he was down with Muslims, he might be expected to prove it and that might have been caught on camera.

I think the most relevant point is that Obama is the first one everybody thinks of.  Would anybody really care if suddenly records come out saying Grover Cleveland was actually gay and just got married to hide it?  With Obama, there's suddenly a reasonable explanation of why black celebrity males are suddenly so willing to be gay.  It might even be worth looking into which Muslim groups have made use of this with elites in the US or Europe.

Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant Calls for Trump’s Assassination on Social Media Posts
May 2, 2026

□ [“Seattle Mayor Abruptly Pull Her From Live Interview Before She Can Answer a Simple Question"]

The question is specifically about if more surveillance cameras would help stop crime.  The reporter says she has spoken out about this before and asking if she's changed her mind.  I don't know what she's ever said or how this is relevant but her handler did and pulled her away as she began to answer.

I wonder if more people are getting the impression that Democrat leaders (or the uniparty as a whole) really are just installed and manipulated by someone else for things like this.  They say what they're told to say and nothing else.  This is especially relevant in blue cities and states as more comes out about how much voter fraud they have.  People are already starting to realize that they might not be winning so many elections if the votes were counted fairly, which is why the left always opposes that.

□ [“'May Day' Agitator Cannot Answer Why Exactly He's Protesting"]

There were protests yesterday.  The left is saying they were huge, totally popular, whatever.  Haven't heard anything else about them, nobody was on strike at my workplace yesterday.  I'm sure teachers brought their students, giving them an excuse to skip school but how many were really into it?  This agitator shows that they don't really know what they're doing.

There have been some hints that even some higher-level Democrats are getting sick of the *woke* nonsense, especially from people who skip work and their absence isn't noticed.  This made me think of another potential problem Democrats are facing.  How many of their own party is tired of this, to the point that they'll vote Republican this fall or just won't vote at all.  Add that to getting rid of voter fraud and redistricting fraud, it looks like Republicans are digging some deep trenches for the chance to hold off lunatic Democrats screaming about Trump the nazi who deserves to be assassinated.

WHCD Shooter Cole Allen Placed on Suicide Precautions in DC Jail
May 2, 2026

If you can read this, where were you ten minutes ago when it really mattered?

Well, my daddy left home when I was born
Didn't leave ma much other than scorn
And a laser sword for a crazy desert spook
Now, I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me "Luke."

He must've thought that it was quite a joke
And it got lots of laughs from a lot of folks
Seems I spent my whole life going nuke
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
Some fella'd laugh and I'd bust his head
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Luke"

I grew up quick and I grew up mean
My fists got hard and my wits got keen
Moving from sector to sector to hide my shame
I made me a vow to the moon and stars
I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill the man who gave me that awful name

It was Bespin, oh around mid-July
I'd hit the clouds and my throat was dry
Thought I'd stop and not act like a kook
At an old saloon on the carbon block
At a table to play sabacc
The scruffy-looking nerf-herder who named me "Luke."

I knew that wampa was my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture my mother had
Knew him by that scar on his cheek and his evil eye
He was big and bent and gray and old
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said "My name is Luke!  You make me puke!
"Now you gonna die!"

That's what I told him.
I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down but to my surprise
He took out a sword and cut of a piece of my hand
I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and gouging like we'd both grown up in sand

I tell you, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when
He kicked like a bantha and bit like the sarlaac pit
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss
And he went for his gun and I pulled mine first
He stood there lookin' at me and I knew he'd quit

He said, "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along
So I give you that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's that name that helped to make you strong

"Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me and you got the right
To kill me now, and it wouldn't be a fluke
But you ought to thank me, before I die
For the gravel in your guts and the spit in your eye
Because I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Luke"

Yeah, what could I do?  What could I do?
I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
I called him my pa and he called me a son
And I knew I'd learned a lot from that rebuke
I think about him, now and then
Every time I try and every time I win
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him...
Jar-Jar!

Saint-Cyriaque Church Consumed by Flames in Another Arson Attack on Christianity
May 1, 2026

□ [“Trump Teases Upcoming Release on UFO Files:  Things ‘You Wouldn’t Believe’"]

He said he'd release the Epstein files on "day one" and look how that worked out.  I'm tempted to look back through my coverage of Trump and see if he's ever hyped something like this and it actually turned out interesting and relevant.  Nothing is coming to mind.  He certainly couldn't hype how he was going to hit Venezuela and I don't recall offhand how much the public was readied for what happened.  For that matter, look at how Venezuela has been ignored for the last four months.

There's no timeline for when the release will happen, I will give him credit that this probably means sooner rather than later.  If he actually puts out anything relevant, I'd guess it'll be in the next week or so, maybe even sooner.  There's also a good chance that it's not going to be relevant, few people will give it any attention and it's not going to be anything dramatic like meeting aliens or proof of space ships arriving in the near-future.

My guess is it'll be mostly pictures and details about events that can't really be explained.  Unidentified aircraft in places where there's not supposed to be any, strange lights or symbols with unknown origins, stuff like that.  50-year old photos of some odd creature in the distance and an article about two different people investigating it, 'I thought that as you!'  What was it?

I think there is something out there but I'm very skeptical that it's actual aliens as we know the concept.  I don't think there are any, at least none that would be relevant to earthlings.  No one is getting in a spaceship to travel trillions of miles to meet us.  I suspect whatever has been seen is closer to ghosts or spirits, basically impossible to measure in any meaningful way.  But Trump needs to stop doing this hype.  He won't of course, he's Trump, but it just doesn't look good.

Tennessee Ditches ‘Pride’ Month for ‘Nuclear Family Month’
May 1, 2026

□ [“Trump Threatens To Reduce US Troops in Germany, Italy and Spain - 5,000 Troops Already Leaving Germany"]

I'm not totally in favor of this idea because I support the US as 'world policeman' but I'm certainly fine with showing these countries what they've set themselves up for.  FAFO exists for a reason.  Germany has only 13 years left to actually build a competent military, Italy and Spain probably have even less chance of making that happen.  Neither does the rest of NATO for that matter.

□ [“Trump Slaps 25% Tariff on European Union Cars, Says Bloc Not Complying with Trade Deal"]

Haven't heard much about tariffs for a year or so.  That's because most nations ran to start negotiating new deals with us, that would be the deal Trump is complaining about here.  I'm not a car-expert so I can't even name any European cars other than the expensive flashy ones, do they make anything else that Americans buy?  There's also Volkswagens, that's something.  But otherwise this sounds like a way to make the companies charge more money from their rich customers who might have something to say.

□ [“U.S. National Debt Surpasses Over 100% of GDP — No Reduction in Sight"]

Not an immediate crisis but that's the thing, they don't require much time to happen.  It's not like we've seen this coming for a long time.  I assume that this has been part of the plan for the last year and a half although it's not clear how Trump and a Republican-run Congress haven't been able to cut spending to stay below this.  Or maybe they could, they just chose not to.  I'm certainly not an economist so I don't have a clue how long we have but that's also part of Trump's deals with Europe and everyone else.  They're in the same mess.

Drivers of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and Other Premier Luxury Cars Receive Food Stamps
May 1, 2026

□ [“Star Wars:  Heir to the Empire | Full Movie | No A.I.]

If that's not A.I. then what the hell is it?  It's not remotely real and is much less believable than actual A.I. videos.  I don't mean that as a complaint, I would rather see a returned to standard cartooning.  It does cause problems here because the sets and characters look too fake to be believable yet to simplified to make use of animation's potential.  I've only watched the first scene and Thrawn's office looks very empty.  The scenes from the space battle look cartoony in a bad way.  Even the first Star Wars worked for drama and effect, while the space-battles in Return of the Jedi were so well done that Lucas didn't bother adding cgi to the 1997 re-release.

But I've been expecting this.  If there's anything Star Wars fans would love to see, it's a movie version of the Timothy Zahn trilogy which is really where the franchise was reborn.  Even I know those books well enough to see how close this is and am more than a little tempted to just watch the thing.  Thinking about it, I probably won't see it in one sitting but I probably will, piece by piece, just to see if it works.

I still have to wonder if there is some very distant part of Disney pushing this, trying to figure out what to do with the franchise now.  Even this has its good and bad side, this is the best possible material to use.  We see that in comics where you just can't turn eighty years of crap into a fun movie so once you've used up the best stuff, it's just downhill.  The fandom was willing to be obsessed with tons of details about characters that weren't in the original three movies but the rest of us aren't.  With anyone else, just change the name and a few details and there's no reason to put a "Star Wars" logo on it.

There's also another problem, what if someone decides this movie wasn't done the right way so they do their own adaptation of the Zahn trilogy.  Very few people will waste time comparing the two versions, much less anything else that comes out.  This is the franchise equivalent of Koch's Snowflake, an equilateral triangle inside a circle.  To each side of the triangle, another triangle is added, half the size of the original.  The same thing is done to each smaller triangle, again and again.  The shape becomes very complicated, yet it never extends outside of the circle, which represents the amount of attention the audience will give this franchise.  That's what the franchises are facing, especially if they start using A.I. to create more material.

Kathy Hochul to Zohran Mamdani:  Not a Tax Revenue Problem, You Have a Spending Problem
May 1, 2026

Now that Peter has graduated high school, Ditko spends the next several issues developing the equivalent effect on Spidey.  He starts #29 with the Scorpion escaping jail to get revenge, specifically aiming for JJJ who put him in this condition.  At the Bugle, Foswell is investigating the Cat Burglar and says there's not much else going on, the "lull before the storm."  Peter sees Betty looking happier than she has in ages and it's because Ned Leeds has returned.

Jameson is the first target which Spidey is almost too late to figure out.  Most of the issue is a battle sequence, recapping their first fight in #20.  There's some attention to JJJ for needing to hide how he's responsible for this.  Betty is naturally terrified but at least Ned is here to protect her, which Peter is disappointed to learn at the end of the story.  Aunt May looks totally fine, then nearly faints on the last page.  But this must be hidden from Peter because she's about telling the truth.

#30 follows up on this, focusing on the Cat Burglar.  He's just a generic burglar but this is where Lee and Ditko's problems become the most obvious.  There's also a series of crimes going on in the city.  This was actually setting up the next issue but Stan didn't know that, so his dialogue has them discussing how they work for the Cat Burglar.

As much support as Ditko deserves, there's a point where you need to tell the people you work with what you're doing.  He turned these pages in as pencils, then received them back with Stan's dialogue added and did the inking.  The problem is right in front of him and he's the only one who can fix it.  At least include notes on the page so Stan clearly knows what he's looking at.

The story isn't specifically about the identity of the villain but it's similar.  During the fight, the Cat Burglar managed to get away from Spidey.  He didn't get far but the police have already arrived so it's obvious they'll find him, which they do.  It's not that different from previous issues where he unmasked the villain and admitted he had no idea who this guy was.

JJJ gets attention, the story opens with him being robbed by the Cat Burglar.  The second time in two issues he's the target of the villain and responds with massive self-publicity.  Also notable is that Peter runs into Liz Allen on the street.  The street is strangely empty and thinking about it, Ditko often did that in New York City.  Anyway, she mentions that she got a job and is now a normal working-girl - what about her rich father? - and says she's being stalked by Flash Thompson so Peter does the nice thing and handles that.

This is also about moving Betty to the next step of her storyline.  Ned has proposed to her and she rushes to tell Peter.  She insists she wants a normal man, so he storms out angrily.  They are now officially broken up although neither of them really accept that.  For Betty, it's about the secrets Peter is hiding.  She keeps trying to call him and he refuses to answer.  He also refuses to talk to her at the end of the story, shown that Spider-Man is keeping them apart.  And Aunt May is still getting sicker.

This brings us to the "Master Planner" trilogy which is generally considered the high-point of Ditko's run.  This is probably reinforced by the fact that the cover-dates are December 1965-February 1966.  For Marvel, this was immediately followed over in Fantastic Four when they faced Galactus March-May 1966.  When fans talk about the "Marvel Age," this is the sort of thing they're referring to.

Those mysterious criminals in the previous issue actually work for the Master Planner.  They steal scientific equipment and return it to his giant base underwater.  This must be in New York Harbor - it's very close to the shoreline - how the f*ck do you build a giant base like that with nobody noticing?  #32 will reveal that the Master Planner is actually Doctor Octopus.  It's not clear who he's hiding his identity from in this hidden base nobody knows about.  It must work pretty well, the opening scene has Spidey fighting some of them, crashes their helicopter into the water, they have vanished and he doesn't consider that maybe they swam away.

Peter goes through amusing hassles with college registration, he's already seen Flash Thompson, then as he's getting ready for bed, it becomes obvious that Aunt May is sick.  She passes out and needs to go to the hospital.  And that's how Peter starts school.  We are now introduced to Harry Osborn, about whom we learn nothing, and Gwen Stacy, who was a high school cheerleader and beauty queen.  Flash is willing to introduce them to Peter, showing that he's grown up at least a little bit, but Peter is paying no attention to anyone, thinking only about Aunt May.  Good first impression there.

His first class has Flash and Gwen sitting right next to him, Gwen is already interested in someone who isn't throwing themselves at her.  Gwen and Harry are both in the next class, chemistry - really? - where she tries talking to him and gets little attention.  They play a prank on him, Peter gets blamed for not paying attention, now everybody at college is learning to hate him too.  Ok, he's got problems, but he really does deserve this.  He rushes to the hospital, May asks how school is going, he says his classmates are a "swell bunch."

The bills add up, Spidey can't find any crime to take pictures of and now Peter isn't getting any sleep so he continues to ignore everybody.  Eventually Frederick Foswell, in his secret identity, finds out that the Master Planner's goons are stealing some equipment and notifies Spidey who is able to stop it.  Gwen still keeps trying to throw herself at Peter who ignores her.  Betty has refused to answer Ned's proposal because she wants to talk to Peter first.  Ned is fine with being the 'back-up.'  As #32 starts, he tries to talk to Peter about this who bashes him into a wall.  Maturity can be a hard thing to reach sometimes.

This is the last part of Peter's role in the story until the end.  May's doctors have found that her illness was caused by radioactive particles in her blood, which Peter gave her back in #10.  Yet another sign that Ditko really did have this planned, even building on it for the drama that yet-again Peter causes the death of a loved one.  Or Spider-Man does, depending on how you look at it.

Another old story gets brought back, Peter remembers Doc Connors from #6, who is somehow the only person who can do anything about this.  Can't Reed Richards help?  Even Dr. Strange, who's also a medical doctor?  Anyway, Peter makes numerous long-distance calls, only to find that Connors has moved back to NYC.  He steals Aunt May's blood sample and rushes to Connors' laboratory, which must have a very public address.  He interrupts whatever Connors is working on but Connors is so grateful for the help he got that it doesn't matter, he dumps everything to work on this for Spidey.

Connors read somewhere about some expensive serum which will cure May, Peter spends all his money on it, Spidey helps Connors prepare, then the Master Planner's goons steal it on arrival.  Spidey is now angry enough to chase after criminals, beating up anyone who might help, which eventually leads him to the Master Planner's base.  But Doc Ock is waiting for him.  But Ock has absolutely no chance of beating him in this state and runs away like a sissy.

The base is collapsing.  Spidey is left stuck under heavy machinery, the serum in front of him, as the roof breaks and water starts leaking through.  This is one of the most noted scenes in comics for a reason so I won't criticize it, other than to add that it really is a lengthy version of the standard superhero victory, that *this time* he's strong enough to handle it, unlike all the previous times.  That's a small complaint though.  If you've read this far, even if you have no clue who Ditko or Lee are, you're vested enough in Spidey's adventures that the results are very engaging.

Doc Ock has escaped but his goons are captured, Connors can finish the serum.  Spidey takes some effort to finish this mission, pictures, reporting to the police and Foswell.  May does start healing and Peter finally has it out with Betty that this is what he does.  She doesn't want to handle the danger and worries.  It's quite effective and the story ends with Peter happily leaving the hospital with news that May is getting better.  Even the ending is very good, the doctor closing the curtains and thinking people should be more like normal people, such as Peter, and not Spider-Man.

For all intents and purposes, this is where Betty's story ends.  She'll only appear in one more issue of Ditko's run, the beginning of #34.  I'm sure he intended it to go a different way than the results but Stan Lee had to start making more decisions and didn't want that, so this does effectively work as the end of the storyline, at least for most readers.  I will continue to speculate where I think Ditko was going but we never got to see that.

Democrat Texas Judge Rules State Agency Must Greenlight 400-Acre Islamic City Near Dallas
May 1, 2026

If you can read this, you are not a Disney IP. Well, that may have been true a couple years ago...

Popular ‘Polk County Santa’ Busted in Florida Child Sex Sting, $200 to Have Sex with 13-Year-Old
April 30, 2026

The Green Goblin returns, trying to take charge of crime gangs, in the two-part #26-27.  He's working with someone called the Crime-master.  They are being investigated by Frederick Foswell who has his own secret-identity as a petty thug named "Patch."  He's working with the police and, along with Spider-Man, they take the Crime-master down.

Spidey follows the minor plotline of having no costume.  He buys a cheap version at a costume shop but it's too stretchy and he needs to keep webbing it back into place.  This keeps him from being unmasked later in the story when he's been taken captive by the Goblin and the gangs although you'd think a knife would work just fine.  He's investigating Foswell and stops by the Daily Bugle where he has a sensible talk with JJJ who says the robot scientist took that other costume.

Betty's angry about Peter dating Liz and Mary Jane, that's about all she has to do in this issue.  At school, Flash bullies Peter to the point where he attacks.  Liz gets involved and makes it clear she's sick of both of them.  The principal is watching and blames Peter for everything.  As you might expect, Peter accepts all the blame.  Not sure it's realistic but at least it's a character moment, Flash goes in to tell the principal he's the one who started the fight.

JJJ has been boasting about the investigation at the club, which includes the still-unnamed Norman Osborn.  I never read mysteries so I don't now if this is an attempt to do one but that just strikes me as what's going on here.  Finally Spidey's in the office with JJJ when Foswell comes in to explain everything, the Crime-master is being killed by police across the street.  He was actually some petty criminal Foswell knew back when he was the Big Man.  He dies just before he can tell us the Green Goblin's identity.

The only other noteworthy part of the story is that Peter decides to sell his pix somewhere else.  We meet Barney Bushkin at the Daily Globe, an entertainingly annoying guy who hassles Peter to the point where he won't be back.  It gives us more to think about the media outlets in Marvel NYC but Peter's been selling Spider-Man pictures for quite a while now, how does Bushkin have no clue who he is?  Norman Osborn recognized who did the pictures.

#28 is the first time it really comes across that most of Ditko's remaining issues will be a bit of personal stuff with Peter at the beginning and ending, then a long fight against whoever the villain is.  It's graduation day at school, Liz wants nothing to do with Petey or Flash.  Peter dashes off to the robot-building scientist who kept his old costume and finds a chance to swap that with the crappy cheap version he bought in the store.

Like all scientists, this guy has an evil violent assistant who comes in to steal the new chemical they invented but it gets splashed on him, so now there's the Molten Man.  He doesn't go to the hospital or anything like that, crime is the only option, but the scientist told Peter where his assistant lived so most of the rest of the issue is a fight scene.

The last few pages are the graduation ceremony.  JJJ gives the speech and everybody enjoys it as much as you might expect.  Liz tells Peter it's time to grow up so that's what she's doing, bye, and leaves with her father, the club owner from #17.  Peter and Flash got scholarships so we'll see them together at college.  And Aunt May enjoyed talking to JJJ as much as she liked being with Dr. Octopus in the first annual.  Sounds like she might be getting over her dead husband.

Annual #2 is a team-up with Dr. Strange and as a story, there's nothing worth speaking of.  The visuals are crazy and Spidey certainly fits in very well in this wacky magical world.  I assume the main reason for this story was to promote Dr. Strange and to this day, I cannot figure out how or why Ditko created this mystical character.  I have only read his run once although I've looked through it multiple times and it just seems so out-of-character for the Ditko we know.  But of course almost nobody really knew him.

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□ [“Son of Norwegian Diplomats Inherited $10M From Jeffrey Epstein’s Will, Commits Suicide"]

A few days ago, his parents started being investigated as why, exactly, Epstein left their son so much money.  There's probably a connection.  Strange how there's been so little attention to Epstein for a while.  The left still mentions Epstein relentlessly but only for connections to Trump.  A bunch of other names came out weeks ago and nobody's provided a convenient list or even mentioned them.  That is very weird, that everybody has moved on.

We don't hear much about any of his properties, Manhattan, Palm Beach, the island or New Mexico.  It's recently come out that there were a lot of guns at the New Mexico ranch but they were stolen in 2018.  Nobody reported it.  Ok, but how is this a story?  How many were still there when (if) the place was finally searched?

It's also being suggested that the temple on the island is based on a mosque, with some connection to the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam.  I'm not even going to bother speculating on that because a lot more is known than is being shared to the public.  The investigations in Europe may become relevant but they aren't very helpful either.  It's possible that one reason most people, including myself, have stopped thinking about this stuff is because it just leads to blaming Trump for not releasing everything.  I did enough of that last year.

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□ [“Democrat Congressman Suggests that War Secretary Pete Hegseth Should Be Executed"]

Don't know how many I'll bother to cite but there's a number of stories about Democrat politicians coming out to act bonkers and making open statements like this.  They are advocating death and behaving insanely more than they did a week ago, which was more than a month ago, which was more than last year and that was setting records for being wacko back then.

□ [“Jasmine Crockett ‘I Am One of the 535 Most Powerful People,’ Whines Whining About ‘Disrespect,’ Regular Americans Need to Know Their Place"]

This is coming off like a nationwide equivalent to a party where one of the guests is way too drunk and everybody is just watching as he loses it.  If it's your buddy doing this, you might be reluctantly getting involved to get him to shut up but that's not going to work.  Hopefully it's just the left and their media allies, leaving the rest of us able to see who *isn't* part of this.  We're still at the point where we're hoping he'll calm down or his pals will get him out but that's probably not going to happen this time.

I'm still shocked that it was possible but I really think the Trump administration planned for this.  They've always been trying to push the left in this direction so that they have no other options.  I'm still not going to be optimistic but I get the impression that this is about letting the left drown in their own delusions so whatever's left will be a lot easier to deal with.

We might see what the progress on this is tomorrow.  It's supposed to be a major strike of workers.  It did get some promotion but I've heard even less and less of that.  Maybe there will be protests and they realize it's just the same as always.  Or maybe they'll realize that nobody even notices they're gone tomorrow.  This is who they set up as a resistance movement and that's who they have in charge.  Was it really worth it?

Schools are going to try to ship their kids out to these protests.  That might work.  Or the kids might be bored.  Maybe they'll skip out because it's not like teachers on strike have any authority for this.  The kids of today might be getting a valid lesson of what the wrong way to go is.  I'm not enough of an optimist to believe that but it could happen, especially when they start seeing how little this event means to anyone else.

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□ [“Belgium Slams the Door on Green Energy Insanity – Restarts Full Nuclear Fleet"]

I don't know if they're specifically referring to Al Gore's new fear of global warming cooling but it's probably for the same reason.  Europe's been having energy problems for years which isn't helped by their declaration of war on Russia, who provides fossil fuels for a lot of Europe.  Face it, after getting through a couple winters like this, the old people have a lot of incentive to start saying 'back in my day...'

It's not clear if this is just Belgium or if it's for the EU as a whole but Belgium is the heart of the EU so the results will show soon enough.  This just comes off as a straightforward decision on what to do to maintain power.  The people really need less reason to overthrow the tyrants so not making them freeze every year will probably help.  Simple as that, restart nuclear power.  It's understandable, the arab immigrants probably aren't used to this kind of weather.

If Al Gore's willing to comply, the rest of the left will too.  So that's not a problem.  But it takes several years to build a nuclear power plant and there's still the EU to deal with.  The whole point is to regulate everything.  Even if it was theoretically possible to quietly build something productive that helps society, this is Belgium, they don't do that.  This is why the decision is so clearly about giving the masses one less reason to revolt.

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He doesn't like your post. I don't like it either. You'd best watch yourself, we're spammers. I've gotten downvotes on twelve platforms.

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April 29, 2026

□ [“Supreme Court 6-3 Declares Louisiana’s New Congressional Map ‘Unconstitutional Racial Gerrymander’"]

Now this is something I think was being planned.  No idea how the administration did it because the law is confusing but they worked it through all the courts up through the Supremes.  Again, I have no clue how far this could go but to the extent it's possible, I suspect they discussed every part of this case before carrying it out.

I was under the impression that every state had been gerrymandered to the max by this point, that just seemed like the sort of thing unelected bureaucrats could get politicians to go along with.  But we've heard multiple states going for it this year.  I'm sure it'll be looked into what extent each state can pick its own rules and what extent they must obey federal regulations on the matter.  In this case, Louisiana really wants its blacks-only districts, which is against the law.

I've already seen liberal complaints that this somehow lowers the value of black votes.  Um, their vote is worth the same as anyone else's, ymmv on how much any of that is worth.  Yet again, it's always the same skin color who will fall for this.  Obviously the real blame can only go on liberals who run our schools and teach this garbage.

The reason this decisions seems to be such a big deal is because the parties in charge want to guarantee their pet voters stay in the right place.  Don't know if it's true or not but the rumor is that everybody had worked out how to make gerrymandering work even better for them - yes, this contradicts my previous statement that I thought it had already been done as much as possible - but nobody was willing to go through with it because that would get everybody else to do it too.  And now it's looking like red states can get rid off all their Democrats in Congress, and there's a lot more red states.

Add that to the changes from getting rid of illegal immigrant votes and voter fraud, this could mean a huge difference.  I'm going to be negative as much as possible, there's no way to set it all up by November, or even November 2028.  The legal challenges will keep any change from being made unless it helps Democrats.  And even if it all goes through as planned, Democrats still have ways to steal the election [that, um, they somehow forgot about a year and a half ago.]  This could break the leftist party permanently and I really don't want to tie myself to the belief that it's ready to happen.  Hopefully that way I can be proven wrong very soon.

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□ [“Al Gore invokes disaster film, warns of ice age within 25 years"]

While still insisting that he was basically right twenty years ago when he promised global warming would destroy everything in five or ten years, Gore is now promoting the dangers of global cooling.  He really doesn't notice the contradiction.  I'm beginning to think this really is a deliberate plan by our elites to reverse themselves without any consequences from their supporters.  Al was born rich and famous, his dad had already been in Congress for years and would stay there until six years before Al Jr. got elected.  When was the last time he had anybody around who disagreed with him or challenged him on anything?

This earth-worship started off as 'global cooling,' a few years before I was there to be taught about this stuff.  Then it became 'global warming' because that's the same thing.  I was in school by then so that's the term I've always used.  Then it became 'climate change' because too many people noticed the contradiction and it was just easier to stay climate should always stay the same forever.  No one's going to question that.  But now they want to get back to 'global cooling.'  25 years and it's all over!!!  For real this time!

Gore is 78 so he's probably looking for a 'last hurrah.'  I had assumed he'd gone silent because his 'global warming' claims turned out to be so wrong, he was just going to quietly enjoy his wealth.  But here he is again.  I doubt he'll get as much attention this time.  Old rich white man, everything the left attacks.  He knows how worthless they are but can't really go public about it.  I'm still surprised that he's even trying this again.

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□ [“Tim Walz Calls ICE ‘Armed Lawless Gangs’ Conducting ‘Campaign of Organized Brutality’"]

He really has no clue what he's saying.  Otherwise as a governor he would know what law enforcement actually is and would be smart enough to established government organizations are not lawless gangs.  Anybody could apply this to Minnesota government organizations as well.  Just slip those words into his teleprompter and he'd recite it without hesitation.

A bigger point is that he is advocating more violence.  Specifically against the government but it will also apply to anyone who disagrees.  I haven't covered much of it but everyone is watching the left double-down on this urge for violent 'population reduction.'  They see no way it could work against them, especially when they're in charge.  That's probably also why they want to disarm everyone.

I still haven't decided if I believe last weekend's attempted assassination of Trump was real but I think this was the real goal either way.  If it really happened just as we're told, the left will need to encourage even more people to try because eventually someone will succeed.  If it was all a set-up, or even a 'controlled danger,' this was probably the reason behind it, showing everyone how the left will respond.  Anybody who already had a reason to ditch the left can now clearly see what they're going for and the left themselves will just advertise how insane they are.

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I'm not sure if Steve Ditko was really exploring any concepts related to identity or if it was just part of the job, creating superhero comics.  Since most superheroes have secret-identities, you have to work to avoid dealing with it, making the stories even less realistic.  Maybe he had a plan, maybe it was just a useful subject to get ideas from but the next few issues of Spider-Man would include some of this.

In #24, a villain (who eventually turns out to be Mysterio) has set up an elaborate set of illusions designed to make Spidey think he's going crazy.  Dressed as a psychiatrist, he then goes to the Daily Bugle for free promotion of this idea.  Jameson agrees without any hesitation, this guy is famous in Europe.  Probably has a hot girlfriend in Canada too.  But it obviously works, Peter believes what he reads in the papers and assumes he's gone insane.

The villain's plot doesn't work very well but the story is actually quite fun.  There isn't much in the way of superhero fighting, Mysterio isn't really up for that.  Frederick Foswell is being built up as a mysterious reporter, reporting that the psychiatrist was a fake.  Humiliated yet again, JJJ decides to have it out with the psychiatrist, barging in just as Spidey was ready to reveal his secret identity.  Flash Thompson has been trying hard to hassle Peter to keep him away from Liz.  When that doesn't work, he luckily sees Jonah storming by and starts harassing him about his coverage of Spidey, so he's there when the final victory happens.  He's thrilled, his hero insulted him to his face.  Flash rarely gets to be more than a one-dimensional bully but he had his moments.

As the main example of big business, JJJ is very useful in most stories.  Here he's run out of horrible things to say about Spider-Man so he just sends reporters out to ask the public what they think.  That works to fill up the pages and sell more copies, as well as giving us a glimpse of what people have to say.  Foswell also gets developed as someone up to something.  The opening scene of the story has Spidey beating up some crooks so he can get pictures, but then sees Foswell right there so he couldn't get away with selling them.  We're not given any details but he's relevant to exposing Mysterio so he clearly has skills as a reporter.  But something is still off about him.

Betty doesn't get a lot of attention in this issue.  She still hasn't mentioned the letters she gets from Ned Leeds, now one conveniently falls into Peter's hands.  Now they have it out, he snaps and storms off.  The next day, Liz asks him to help her study for exams and he agrees.  The story ends with her dragging him back to her place.  For studying.  Yep, that's what the kids are doing these days.

#25 is my personal favorite issue of Ditko's run, just because of the way it builds up to give everybody something relevant as well as a few relevant developments in the ongoing storylines.  It should be noted that this is the first time Ditko gets credit for the plot, meaning that he had probably stopped talking to Stan Lee at this point.  Ditko dropped the pages off at Marvel and I'm not sure they had any contact again for the rest of their lives.

I don't get how that worked for either side.  Stan's the boss, the editor and writes the dialogue.  When Ditko gets his penciled pages back, he's inking the dialogue Stan wrote, even if it contradicts the story he was telling.  Stan always insisted that he had no clue why Ditko did this and we have no way to know if he's telling the truth or not.  Anyway, back to the story.

Peter's trying to make a new spare costume.  At the Bugle the next day, he sees Jonah with the still-unnamed Norman Osborn.  He's able to sell some pix by ragging on Spidey, which Betty isn't happy to hear about.  Then another scientist shows up with a big robot that's totally going to beat Spider-Man.  JJJ wants nothing to do with it but in an excellent sequence of characterization, Peter talks him into it while Betty is trying to make him shut up and JJJ finally goes along.

So they test the robot, Peter is assigned to be the target and realizes very quickly that the robot can beat him.  The next day at school, Flash is still trying to keep him away from Liz.  Peter's worried about the robot and runs away as soon as school ends.  Flash and the gang see it and try to chase him down.  Jameson is running the robot with an image that looks spooky and hilarious.  So now the robot is chasing the gang who are chasing Peter down the street.  Luckily he escapes to fight the robot, now the kids have to figure out what to do next.

The robot takes up most of the story but is the least relevant part.  It captures Spidey but it's been several issues since he's used his scientific skills so he figures out how to reprogram it and escape.  He leaves his costume, filled with webbing, so JJJ and the scientist arrive thinking they finally have Spider-Man captured and realize it's a fake.  Nobody thinks to check the costume for fingerprints.

Flash is still a bully but he gets a bit more personality here.  And unless he's getting it specifically from discussions with Ditko back when they were still talking, all the credit goes to Stan Lee.  Liz feels obligated to go along with Flash and the gang and has a thought balloon that it might make him less jealous of Petey.  Meanwhile Flash is thinking "the more she defends him, the more I hate him."  A deep glimpse into these characters and their relationships, all caught in two short thought balloons.

Since Peter wasn't helpful, Betty tries to find her own way to interfere with JJJ's plans.  She attempts to sabotage his control of the robot but is easily caught.  He tells her she's off-work for the rest of the day, without pay of course.  Angry, she tries to call Peter but the line is busy, so she decided to storm over there and deal with him directly.  Flash, Liz and the gang are ready to stalk Peter's house, so Liz is willing to go inside and see if he's there.  She and Betty run into each other and aren't happy to see each other.

This is the proof that Ditko clearly had long-range plans for Peter's love life.  Of course he's not there but Aunt May invites them in.  Oh, and someone else who's come by to see Peter, Mary Jane Watson.  Just like the Green Goblin's identity, MJ's face is hidden from the reader but Betty and Liz are shocked, that's who they're competing with?  They didn't sign up for this, they're both out.  There will be more of them and it will be relevant but as far as Ditko's run is concerned, this is where the love triangle ends.

The other set-up for future events in this story is the ending.  After MJ left, Aunt May went to clean Peter's bedroom for some reason and found the Spidey costume he was working on at the beginning of the story.  Of course she doesn't believe he's Spider-Man - seriously?  How could she miss it at this point? - but now he's lost both costumes so Spider-Man is out of action for the time being.

This issue was just flowing over with future story potential.  Mary Jane was first mentioned in the issue where Betty and Liz first met, now she takes a step forward just as these two girls near the end of their rivalry.  I'm sure few readers even noticed the future Norman Osborne had started appearing regularly.  Frederick Foswell isn't even in this issue so we're no closer to finding out what he's up to.  Even the gimmick about Spidey's costumes becomes relevant later.  This is why Ditko's run was considered so epic and it was clearly only a fraction of what he was prepared to do.

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