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.

Liberals Upset After California City Names Part of ‘All American Way’ in Honor of Charlie Kirk
April 30, 2026

□ [“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.

House Votes to Fund DHS, Ending 75-Day Shutdown
April 30, 2026

□ [“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.

Republican Oklahoma State Senate Candidate Found Dead Days After Being Reported Missing
April 30, 2026

□ [“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.

UAE Pulls Out of OPEC – Lower Oil Prices Expected
April 30, 2026

Appeals Court Orders Boasberg to End His “Intrusive” Criminal Contempt Investigation of Trump Related to Alien Enemies Act
April 14, 2026

Former Democrat Mayor and Pride Leader Arrested Again in Texas on New Child Sex Crime Charges
April 16, 2026

Marjorie Taylor Greene Demands Invocation of 25th Amendment on Trump: ‘Grave Concern For His Mental Capacity’
April 16, 2026

Warner Bros. Shareholders Approve Merger With Paramount Despite Woke Hollywood Meltdown
April 25, 2026

Wisconsin High School Teacher Placed on Administrative Leave After Whining That Shooter Failed to Assassinate Trump
April 28, 2026

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.

Vermont Christian School Banned from Competitions for Standing Up for Girls Wins $566K in Damages
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.

US Indicts Mexican Governor of Sinaloa on Drug Trafficking and Weapons Charges
April 29, 2026

□ [“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.

ISWAP Gunmen Kill 29 Christians in Nigeria in One of Several Attacks This Week
April 29, 2026

□ [“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.

Two Jewish Men Stabbed in London – Iran-Linked Group Claims Responsibility for Attacks
April 29, 2026

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.

‘An Obvious Cover Up,’ as Biden Health Officials Ignored Covid-19 Shot Safety Concerns
April 29, 2026

Do you want Sydney Sweeney? Because this is how you get more Sydney Sweeney! Er, wait, what?

Illinois Woman Pleads Guilty for Funding Monkey Sexual Torture Videos – Burned Alive, Genitals Mutilated
April 28, 2026

□ [“Ukrainian Erotic Model Part of the Team of Divers That Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipeline"]

She's also a professional diver, it's just that in her younger days she showed off her body on video.  It's not clear what she actually did but the implication is that she provided an excuse for the ship to be there, making porn videos underwater.  One gets the impression these days that the more unlikely a story is, the bigger the chance that it's true.  Couldn't they just use bombs to blow it up?

Germany has been investigating the destruction of the pipeline but by the same logic, they have a reason to cover-up whatever gets found.  I still want to know why no one is interrogating Joe Biden who promised to destroy the pipeline not long before it was destroyed.  Anyway, Germany is still becoming stranger and stranger these days.

Chancellor Merz says that Ukraine must give up territory if there's ever a peace agreement with Russia but gives no details on when or how this would happen.  He doesn't specify what territory although that's at least understandable, it's really not his f*king business.  He also make a point of saying Ukraine cannot join the EU until there's a peace deal.  Problem is, Ukraine's already getting all the perks of membership with none of the drawbacks so why would they want to change now?  Would they want the EU to treat them the way it treats Hungary?

Now that Hungary had finally been defeated, Ukraine had reopened the Druzhba pipeline last week to send oil to Hungary and Slovakia.  But then Russia followed it with threatening to stop the pipeline moving into Germany.  Whether there are specific pipes for each nation or they'll just the tried-and-true method of bombs, Germany is in danger of going without fuel for quite a while as they rebuild their military by the 2039 target date.

As if this wasn't convoluted enough, Merz has also insisted that the US has been humiliated by Iran.  Who is he listening to?  Hasn't he noticed that Iran's leaders haven't been able to do much of anything for the last two months?  If there's a single nation in charge of Europe, it's probably Germany, and if this is the sort of delusion they tie themselves to, that explains a lot about the problems they face and their inability to fix things.

Indiana Democrat Busted After Campaigning While High on Cocaine
April 28, 2026

□ [“FBI Raids 22 Minnesota Child Care Centers and Businesses, Including ‘Quality Learing Center'"]

It's been a hectic few months since we heard about any of this.  I get that there are some legal requirements but it really shouldn't take this long to send in law enforcement.  They had plenty of time to grab some random kids off the street and say that's who they've been paid to care for.  They've also had the time to contact lawmakers, judges and anyone else with influence to make sure this is just something to show the public, nothing is really going to happen here.

Then Tim Walz speaks out to talk about what a great thing they're doing, like he's part of this, and how anybody committing this kind of fraud will be punished.  Even Kash Patel had to slam him for this, pointing out that all this fraud was going on while Walz was in charge.  Is he trying to save his ass by pretending to be on the good side or is he sending out a message to his Somali supporters that the rest of them are safe?

Walz is also being identified by his calls for violence against our tyrant and somehow ignoring that to thank law enforcement for their work at the WHCD.  I'm still trying to figure out how to define this but it's really looking like left leaders are adrift at sea, no idea where they're going or what to do about it.  At least in Walz' case, the feds have been looking into all the Minnesota fraud and his role in protecting it, so they might be telling him what to say in public.  They'd be looking at his connections around the state, his part in the 2024 campaign, his connections to his co-candidate and then her connections.  As much as I complain about how long this is taking for anything to come out - and nobody's actually been punished yet - it's understandable just for being so big and confusing.

UN Elects Iran as Vice President of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference
April 28, 2026

Virginia Democrat Understands Rural America Because He Grew Up Watching the Dukes of Hazzard
April 23, 2026

Black NYC Youth Bodyslams White Girl and Stomps on Her Head After She Rejects His Advances
April 24, 2026

DHS Counterterrorism Assistant Secretary Placed on Leave - “Sugar Daddies” Funded Her Lavish Lifestyle
April 22, 2026

Appeals Court Blocks California Law That Banned Masks For ICE Agents
April 22, 2026

Illegal Alien Punches Texas Mother in the Face, Tries to Eat Her Three-Year-Old Daughter’s Face
April 24, 2026

Trump Admin in Cuba to Rescue 10-Year-Old Utah Child Kidnapped by Trans Father for Forced Medical Transition
April 23, 2026

□ [“FBI Director James Comey Indicted – Charges Related to Trump Assassination Instagram Post"]

This was the '8647' post he made last May.  Once again, it's taken almost a year to get around to doing this?  Does it have anything to do with what happened last weekend, someone who might have been inspired by this post and was obeying Comey's orders?  Comey has already spoken out to insist he's innocent and the rest of us are in the same place we always are, thinking he's going to get away with it because why would this time be different?

□ [“DOJ Indicts Top Adviser to Anthony Fauci on Several Charges"]

This will be weird, the left seems really determined to ignore everything they imposed on us during the fake-pandemic.  Once in a while I see it referenced with justification but otherwise those in charge know how deeply they were in on it and want to hide that from the rest of us.  In this case, David Morens was passing along classified information about the virus on the internet to avoid putting it through official channels.  There's also the connections to the Chinese lab where Covid got started.

There's also reports that the Clinton Foundation is being seriously looked into.  I get the argument that the feds don't file a case unless they really have evidence but this teasing is just ridiculous.  Trump doesn't have much time left.  No matter how much you respect the guy, there's still the sense that the administration is all getting bogged down with nonsense.  The enemy already has long-term plans.

Virginia Supreme Court Denies AG Request to Pause Blocking of Democrat Gerrymander
April 28, 2026

The Human Torch was a reboot of a golden age character, remade to appeal to the teenage audience.  Lee and Kirby were not remotely teenagers at this point so YMMV on how well they did.  Johnny was given a solo series in Strange Tales but that must not have been doing very well and would be dropped in mid-1965.  A few months earlier, he was a co-star of Spider-Man #21 which did show these characters worked well together.  Of course it was only two issues after the last time they teamed up but continuity can be ignored.

This time it was continuing the romantic story with Betty and adding Johnny's girlfriend Dorrie to the mix.  She's mad that Johnny always flames on and runs away so she demands he stop doing that for 24 hours.  Then she runs into Peter in the streets, flirts with him, takes him back to her place...  All Comics Code-approved of course.  Afterwards, she gushes about it to Johnny, who gets mad and tracks Peter down while he's out with Betty.  Of course she goes away crying.  Peter wants revenge for that so Spider-Man is going to go hit on Dorrie - doesn't she read the Daily Bugle and know what he's capable of?

This is a good time for a supervillain to show up, the Torch's enemy the Beetle, who has decided to kidnap Dorrie.  There is entertaining back-and-forth between the two and the ending is the usual 'Spidey is feeling sorry for himself because his life is a mess.'  It's fun but getting a bit tedious.

#22 is even worse, the return of the Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime.  The superhero part of the story is almost completely irrelevant.  Liz throws herself at Pete again but he refuses because he has enough problems with Betty.  Betty is much nicer this issue, they've been dragged to an art exhibit by JJJ, there's a few amusing comments about modern art and then the criminals show up to rob everything.  JJJ is hurt but not permanently, Peter doesn't ditch Betty and after the story ends, JJJ has woken up and drags them back to the art exhibit.  In the last few panels, Aunt May nag Peter for coming home so late without letting her know.

#23 is much better.  It doesn't add much but it does indicate the direction the intended story is moving.  The Green Goblin returns and is finally starting on the plan he intended from his first appearance, organizing crime.  He fails and the gang he intended to take over is all arrested.  Not a great plan.

The more important parts of the story, Betty receives a letter from Ned Leeds and keeps forgetting to mention it but otherwise she and Peter get along better than they have recently.  I'm not sure there's any precedent in comics for a character we barely knew who then leaves and is still being mentioned months later.

Peter makes a point of washing his costume so sometimes it's not available for him here.  Not sure it's relevant but something similar would happen the next time the Goblin shows up.  Peter also makes a point of hiding during part of the fight scene to call Aunt May, just so she won't worry.  He tries to call her later and nobody answers, so he's the one who starts worrying.

More relevant to this issue is the return of Frederick Foswell to the Daily Bugle.  He was in #10, the first time Ditko focused on organized crime and its connection to big business.  He's out of jail now and gets his job back.  Jameson has been less relevant as an actual supervillain recently and carries on here, talking about what a nice guy he is.  He even discusses this at the club later on when Foswell calls him about the current criminal scheme.  Standing behind JJJ is none other than Norman Osborn, no name given but one look and you know who it is.

There's the connection between big business and organized crime, just waiting for Ditko to flesh it out.  For the rest of his life, the only public statement Ditko made about his plans for the storyline was that Osborn was always going to be the Green Goblin.  This was the Goblin's third appearance in ten issues and he's only gotten this far, showing how long Ditko was stretching this out.

Healthcare Company Fires Social Media Manager for Claiming to be Sad That WHCD Shooter Missed
April 28, 2026

The question isn't "who is on first?" The real question should be "where's the scorecard? Why don't they have their names on the back of their jerseys?"

April 27, 2026 Gerry Conway, comic book writer, The Punisher, "Death of Gwen Stacey", age 73
Somali Pirates Hijack Second Cargo Ship in a Week, as Danger Returns to the Horn of Africa
April 27, 2026

□ [“Trump and Melania Welcome Charles and Camilla at the White House"]

I will admit, I'm surprised.  I'd heard Charles would be coming over, I just didn't realize it was happening this quickly.  And right after the latest assassination attempt but before the next communist strike starts later this week.  That's some timing.

I would like to think this is a big deal, something to do with the globalist elites surrendering to Trump.  That would make a nice image, they had to come over here, Trump wasn't about to go see them.  Unfortunately it's probably something less important, my guess is Charles trying to get some business taken care of before he dies.

It's not a world tour where he's just stopping by, the whole point was to come out here and I'm guessing he won't be available on July 4th.  He'll spend a few days here, then head to Bermuda for a short stay, then go home.  Nothing remotely suspicious about that.  It's not like Trump could give him some orders and he gives them to his homies in the western Atlantic.

5-3 Supreme Court Reverses Lower Court Block, Greenlights Texas Congressional Map
April 27, 2026

□ [“Democrat Rep. Virtue Tweets ‘Concern’ Over WHCD Shooting, Reminded of Her Own Rhetoric"]

This will probably the biggest result of the attempted assassination.  A lot more people are going to have their own calls for violence brought up and more people are going to start searching social media posts for the same thing.  I pulled out this news headline as an example but there are others and that's just counting Congress.  There are teachers, actors, other famous people all urging violence against someone they don't like.  A brewery owner tweets that they'll give free beers when there's a successful assassination of Trump but it won't be today, darn it.

Even some leftists face some reaction from their own.  Bruce Springsteen had to give a speech on stage and say he was glad Trump wasn't hurt.  He was probably just reading a teleprompter, no clue that Bruce actually knew what he was saying, but someone in charge had decided this needed to be done.  Obama has made a public statement too although he only mentioned the Secret Service, nothing about the guy they're paid to protect.

They'll all be insisting 'nobody ever said anything like that!' about Trump being killed.  Point out actual quotes from these people and they'll say 'I wasn't aware of them saying this.'  Point out their own statements and it'll be 'you're taking that out of context!'  Basically it'll require highly-paid lawyers to be involved to get each leftist to say 'my statements may have been misunderstood and I am profoundly sorry for them.'  And then they'll keep going like they did before.  

Nebraska Finally Commits to Ending In-State Tuition For Illegal Aliens
April 27, 2026

□ [“Wisconsin School District Cancels All May 1 Classes So Teachers Can Join ‘Day Without Immigrants’ Protests"]

Safe to assume they will be expecting their students to join them on this 'sudden day off.'  I also assume that at least some districts have a bit of sense and will tell their teachers to show up to work like they're supposed to.  You know, how are kids going to learn leftist propaganda if you aren't there?

This does show that the left really does assume they're already their own national government and we have to submit to their will.  It just seems so unnatural that there's really no clue how they got there or why.  But the kids are their property, no exceptions.  The illegal immigrants probably are too although some may bring some guidance on how to handle the property, maybe move it around to new locations.

Total guess but I don't think this Friday's strike will work out as well as the left thinks it will.  If the economy is so bad, you don't want to risk losing your job.  If Trump is such a tyrant, you've identified yourself as the enemy.  It's a bad movie if immigrants actually want to be part of this country and if they don't, they'd also be singled out as the enemy.  Considering the last year of protests have been old white people, I want to say this won't matter either.  There will probably be more teachers skipping work than in actual businesses.

Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin Turns on the Left, California Drifting Toward ‘Devastating’ Impact
April 27, 2026

Marvel had started moving into multiple-part stories several months earlier with Fantastic Four #25-26.  Spider-Man #17 is also a multi-parter although it doesn't officially say so.  Storylines are carried through the next issue or two.  It opens with Peter thinking about the Green Goblin for no reason, then immediately cutting to the Goblin obsessed with destroying Spider-Man.  No reason is given this time, not even the brief mention of his global criminal syndicate that can only happen when Spidey is gone.  Because apparently the Avengers and the Fantastic Four are irrelevant to things like that.  Gotta be smart to be a world-wide mob boss.  He changes into normal clothes and goes out walking into the streets, unnoticed by anybody.  So obviously he's not some rich famous businessman or inventor who gets lots of publicity.

This issue makes a good snap-shot of the various social structures Ditko is building here.  At school, Flash has decided to start a Spider-Man fan club.  Liz insists that Peter get to join but neither of the boys want that.  So Liz is going to figure out a way to get around them.  Turns out her dad is rich and owns the rich-people's clubhouse.  He'll let Flash's club use it but Liz requires Petey to be allowed to join.  It looks like she stalked Petey to drag him in and meets him walking Betty home.  Oh the girls get at it.

There's some dealings with the public.  At the beginning of the story, Spidey sees a crime, tries to stop it and it turns out to be a movie being filmed.  How embarrassing.  A little later he sees another criminal but before he can do anything, the Human Torch gets involved and is immediately surrounded by fans.  He starts doing autographs and even gives one to Peter for free.

The Green Goblin has decided to attend the club meeting.  JJJ decides to go and orders Betty to call Peter and they'll both be there.  Betty makes a point of not calling Peter.  Aunt May is still trying to hook up Peter with Mary Jane Watson, she's even a fan of Spider-Man so she'd love to go to this club.  But darn it, she's sick again.  Liz's father thinks this will be good promotion for the club and even Johnny Storm has showed up for the meeting, promising to stay out of the limelight.

So most of the cast are here and have various motivations.  Spidey shows up and is immediately attacked by the Goblin.  This is quite restrained since they both need to pretend to the crowd that it's fake.  Johnny knows something is wrong but still feels obligated to stay quiet.  Then he sees some insane crooks through the window on the roof - 'Spider-Man is right there, let's start robbing people now!' - and that spoils everything.  He flame on, interferes with the fight, does nothing except make the crooks run away and gives Spidey an excuse to duck out so now Johnny is fighting the Goblin.  Not sure how either of them know what's going on at this point.

Peter shows up briefly, Liz runs her hands all over him, Peter sees that Betty is watching them.  She's got a reason to dump him now.  This quick break is over, Spidey gets back into the fight but then hears someone on the phone reciting a message for Peter that his aunt just had a heart attack and is in the hospital.  So now he's got a reason to run away like a coward.  The Goblin has won, blinds the Torch briefly and escapes.

JJJ is thrilled, Flash's club has all ditched him.  These are the same people who believed Spidey was a criminal just a few issues ago, not a good look for teenagers.  Peter is now worried about May, the public hates him, he's sure Betty hates him and the Goblin is still out there.  Definitely a step above the last few issues.  The title had been monthly for a year by now and it does give the impression that Ditko had been building towards this storyline.  The next year would finish Peter's time in high school and lead to the 'Master Planner trilogy' which was effectively a sequel to this multiparter,

#18 covers people's reactions to this, various villains, other Marvel characters and good-old J. Jonah Jameson.  May's getting better but is still sick and they need money, so Spidey tries to find ways to make it without fighting crime.  He even runs away from the Sandman and is caught on camera, more bad publicity.  Even Johnny Storm wants to talk to him - "at our last meeting place" which was not the meeting we saw last issue, a footnote tells us where to find out why it's the Statue of Liberty instead - 
and Spidey never shows up.  Flash is so desperate to make Spider-Man look good that he dresses up like him, again, and gets beaten up by crooks.  Flash always comes across as creepy but this is a problem for everybody.

Betty has been avoiding Peter all issue, making herself miserable.  This is turned around by the next step in Ditko's storyline, which unfortunately he will not be there to conclude.  Betty has met some random stranger who's taken her to a movie and she's happy for the first time in ages.  Peter sees them and has had enough, it's time to quit being Spider-Man.  This lasts a page and a half, Aunt May insists she's not as helpless as she looks - or as helpless as she's always assumed Peter is - and gives a speech which somehow inspires Peter to not quit, this is what he's here for.

It was certainly a good follow-up to the previous issue, Stan even points out in a caption that the adventure hero didn't fight any actual enemy this time around.  The motivation for some of these events is a bit shaky and I really don't see much point for the way the ending was done but otherwise it was effective, focusing on the hero's problems in his life.

Because the Sandman was left running around loose - just as Doc Ock had been during Betty's origin - that needs to be taken care of in #19.  Because Johnny Storm is increasingly relevant, he needs to be included.  Marvel did try to make him a solo character although it wasn't really that successful.  Johnny can have his own adventures here or there but he really is a team-player.  And because there's still the underlying theme of big business and organized crime, the Enforcers are brought back, working for Sandman.  This is their last appearance in Ditko's run.

Spidey's back, criminals are being defeated.  JJJ's reaction is probably one of the most popular sequences in any Ditko comic.  The Human Torch has just finished some adventure in Strange Tales #127 - available on news stands everywhere! - and the Enforcers take him prisoner.  Um, why?  Sandman says the goal is to get rid of every superhero but they leave Johnny alive.  There's a really easy way to solve this problem.  But instead they put him in a glass cage.

The next morning, Peter deals with May, watches Flash and Liz argue for more entertaining rom-com behavior.  After school he sees an Enforcer and follows him to a bunch of crooks but the main baddies escape during the fight.  He goes to the Bugle and Betty introducers her new man, Ned Leeds.  He isn't a brand-new hire, he's worked here at least for a little while, but the three of them are only just getting introduced.  Betty, how did Ned get his paychecks until now?  Ned, you work the city desk, did you ever notice the pictures of Spider-Man being used, all by this one photographer?  Peter, did you ever look anywhere else in this building other than when you were fighting supervillains or harassing the man in charge?  But Peter and Ned seem to like each other, no jealousy or threat, so now Betty has yet-another reason to worry she's losing him.

Spidey decides to get back on the Enforcers, finds a random stoolie who tells him everything.  The villains have set up a trap with the Torch still in a glass cage.  It's been well over 24 hours since he was taken prisoner, has Johnny not had to... use his bowels for anything in all that time?  And haven't the FF been looking for him?  Anyway, there's a fight scene, it's only a few pages and the villains are all taken care of.

Peter sells pix to JJJ, is not remotely bothered by Betty and Ned.  The public is reading these stories and assumes Spidey and JJJ are working together to trick the public.  The story ends with some mysterious figure spying on Peter after school the next day and reporting it to a mysterious boss.  It's a well-done set-up and it's disappointing that it becomes irrelevant so quickly in #20.

The following day, the guy is still following Peter who realizes it but can't tell who he is or who he's reporting to.  The day after that - there must not have been any need for Spider-Man - Peter goes to the Bugle to see Betty.  The guy follows him inside and goes upstairs to see JJJ whom he's been working for.  It was broke up across two issues but that's still only five pages of curiosity for the reader.

Just before the guy - Mac Gargan - showed up, JJJ had just discovered a local scientist who could create a supervillain for him to destroy Spider-Man.  JJJ has supported supervillains before but now he's adding to the roster.  Most of the issue is a long fight scene, the Scorpion is much stronger than Spider-Man but is going insane from the chemicals.  He tries to kill JJJ and is eventually defeated because he can break out of webbing but can't break out of webfluid sticking him to the ground.

This is another effective story, Jameson is the real villain, and it's one reason I think Ditko was deliberately exploring big business and media effect on the public.  JJJ caused the mess and now it's coming back to get him.  Once again the Bugle is being ripped apart by a supervillain but JJJ just uses it as an excuse to promote himself as the hero who finally stopped the Scorpion, lecturing that anyone with too much power will become a menace.  There's a very obvious 'dude, look in the mirror' reaction which I assume Ditko and Lee intended.

He was also showing long-range plans for Betty and Ned.  Ned is being sent to Europe to cover the disarmament conferences - are Captain America and Reed Richards also attending? - and Peter has a few thought balloons showing that he really was getting jealous of the time Ned spent with Betty.  When the Scorpion arrives, he does attack her but she seems normalized to this, discussing it calmly with Peter at the end of the issue.

Stan deserves credit and blame for what happened but this is one of those instances where he had to fit whatever he could into the pages he was given.  I also think he was very busy so he wasn't always sure what the story was at any given point.  Betty and Peter's relationship goes all over the place and wasn't easy to keep track of.  Peter is also clearly becoming more mature and I think it was a deliberate decision to have that cause problems for him as well as help his social life.  He's more willing to fight Flash, he's better at approaching girls, he still has to give pointless lies to Aunt May, even when it contradicts previous issues.  In this issue, he gets home covered in bruises and tells her he was playing football.  Not long ago she gave him grief for his lie about playing volleyball and this really isn't something she should be falling for, yet here it is.

But at this point the series had become even deeper that it had been a year ago.  This is an example of why these are such classics, and there is every reason to think Ditko had much longer-range plans.  Just from the first twenty issues, it remained an entertaining regular series and there was enough to build on for a long time.  Given what happens in the next year, I suspect Ditko had planned through roughly a hundred issues and it's one of comics' greatest shames that he wasn't allowed to carry it out.  And I'm still focusing as much as possible on the romance plotlines, I haven't even gotten into the business/organized crime themes.

Phone Recording Reveals L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Was Warned About Wildfires Before Trip to Ghana
April 27, 2026

Oh hell, I don't have much to write tonight.

New ‘Troubles’?  Car Bomb Explodes Outside Police Station in Northern Ireland
April 26, 2026

North Dakota State Rep Liz Conmy Killed in Plane Crash – Plane Erupts Into Fireball
April 26, 2026

□ [“60 Minutes:  Trump Recounts Moment Secret Service Rushed Him During WHCD Shooting"]

Wha...?  I have barely paid any attention to this story, giving the hysteria a chance to wear off, and this is the first thing I actually look into.  Why did he go on 60 Minutes for this?  Don't they schedule their shows weeks or months in advance?  *Maybe* it's something that goes along with taking part in the Correspondents Dinner, it just seems really strange that Trump would agree to this and that he wouldn't have already gone on tv to talk about this.

I haven't really given much thought to whether this was a real assassination attempt or not but this seems like it could go either way.  You have all the so-called "journalists" there and one of the oldest tv-news shows ready to take part.  If this was a real attempt, wouldn't that mean most/all of them were in on it?

□ [“Two Days Ago, Jimmy Kimmel Gave Mock WHCD Speech 'Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow'”]

Partially they just do this out of death-worship but come on, China and Iran want him dead too and they can pay to get help.  As you might expect, the left is unanimous that this was all a fake.  They didn't get what they wanted so it doesn't count, just like no one has ever really tried communism before.  They're not going to restrain themselves from publicly demanding his death, quite the opposite.  You could say that's what they live for, it's what they're trying to promote on all the media outlets.

I'll look into other news articles and see what I think about whether or not this was a genuine assassination attempt or a fake but either way, the leftist mentality is there.  A convincing argument could be made that this was a fake, or at least a 'controlled experiment' to set up someone like this who would try and fail, showing all the sane people how the left reacts to things like this.

FARCS Guerilla Group Kills at Least 19 People in Colombia Ahead of Next Month’s Elections
April 26, 2026

□ [“WHCD Shooter:  Cole Allen, a 30-Year-Old Former ‘Teacher of the Month’ from California"]

Of course there's no way to trust what we learn on the internet.  Last night it was reported that he was dead.  Unless he came back...?  I'm scared, hold me.

Otherwise his social media has been checked, it's just standard leftist ranting.  He doesn't teach children, that we know of, apparently he works for a private education, I don't get how it works but it sound like the sort of thing we'd get in the internet age.  So it seems like typical leftism, although he was able to get weapons and travel all the way over from California to check out a room in the hotel the event was taking place in.  So far I've found no record of any of his allies or contacts, other than a family member he sent a "manifesto" to a few minutes before heading out.

There seems to be a lot of complaints about how the Secret Service handled this event.  As much as anything, that's what makes this look like a fake, or at least what we're being told isn't what really happened.  They had a similar problem in July 2024, leaving one convenient spot for a shooter to make use of and were lucky enough to get one.  I don't think there's any way the SS could be doing this accidentally but there's no clue as to why it's deliberate.

So at this point, I suspect the real purpose for this is to see how everyone reacts.  Whatever actually happened or anybody's motivation is basically secondary, it's just another step where sane people see the left and realize that they're not going to stop.  This is what they do, it's who they self-identify as.

Harvard Students Call Grading Reform Racist
April 26, 2026

Love Triangle

#13 starts with everybody watching Spider-Man commit crimes.  Everybody believes what they read in the papers, except Betty because he once saved her life.  Even Liz sees it in the papers so it must be true.  Nobody calls the other superheroes to handle this.  Peter's ready to believe it although it also means he needs mental help.  He even lashes at Betty for suggesting he do something safer.

It turns out to be Mysterio and is not a good story but it does have some implications about illusion and identity.  JJJ has dealt with supervillains before but I think this is the first time he actively supports one, getting Mysterio a parade on 5th Avenue.  This will become a habit for him.

Liz has gotten a new haircut for Peter which he isn't interested in.  Flash makes a point of complimenting her on it, like he's actually dealt with women before.  Peter has figured out how to beat Mysterio so he needs to leave Betty, who has noticed him with a "pretty blonde."  When was this?  Peter doesn't see Liz outside of school when Betty's at work.  And Flash was always right about Spidey.

#14 continues the theme of illusion and business.  It's another story that isn't very good and the first appearance of the Green Goblin, who is totally out-of-character from what we'll see later.  I will cover that on its own.  Betty is still jealous of the blonde and even knows Liz by name.  I think the was the first time her last name, Allan, has been given.

The Green Goblin is working with the Enforcers, from #10, the ones who told Betty she still owes money.  There is no indication that this was meaningful but the clearest thing about Ditko's future plans was that he put events together in the same issue to be relevant later.  This issue also has an unusual change, during the fight scene the story breaks away to show us what's going on with Aunt May, Liz and Flash, JJJ and Betty at the moment.  Then we return to the fight and the Incredible Hulk shows up.

I will cover this later with the Goblin but *something* about this was a reference to the overall franchise.  The green monster is always out there as a threat, the story includes shady Hollywood business and the whole point is to set up a villain whose identity the audience doesn't know.  The Goblin makes a point of unmasking while his face is hidden from us.  He does say his goal is to defeat Spider-Man and then start a worldwide crime syndicate which makes less and less sense the more you think about it.

#15 introduces Kraven the Hunter, an ally of the Chameleon from #1.  Kraven is some international star so everybody shows up to see his arrival and this is where Liz and Betty meet for the first time.  They don't like each other.  Liz introduces the name "Petey" which I will probably use a lot because it amuses me.  This rivalry is more entertaining than dealing with Kraven although that's fine for what it is.  But there's another change.

Aunt May has decided it's time for Peter do learn what girls are good for so she's hooked him up with her dear friend Emma Watson's niece.  Those grand-nieces and nephews got to come from somewhere.  After the fight scenes - and Jameson again supporting the villain - Betty apologizes for her behavior and asks Peter out but he can't, he has to meet that latest girl.  But the other girl has a headache so it won't happen.  Peter runs to call Betty, she's still mad.  Ok, he'll call Liz.  She's out with Flash.  So Petey's left feeling sorry for himself.  This happens regularly and is certainly a fun end for the story.

#16 is more work on the Marvel franchise, featuring Daredevil as co-star.  It starts with Aunt May really really wanting Peter to try Mary Jane and fall in love.  Well maybe if you get the good sh*t but this stuff is tea.  You know, tea for Teens.  Look, just forget I said anything.

Anyway, the villains are the Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime.  They have previously appeared in The Hulk, so again you can use other character's supporting cast and villains.  They want to trick people to come to their circus and be robbed so they promote that Spidey will appear here because...?  Everyone loves Spider-Man?  My affection for these Ditko stories isn't diminishing but it's getting tough to take a lot of this seriously.

So Peter sees the ad and decides he has to go to the circus but then Betty comes in and asks him to come over for dinner because she discovered a recipe for spaghetti but Peter somehow drops the circus ticket so Betty goes away crying that he's rejected her again for some other girl.  Ok, I changed my mind, this is the harshest, most realistic comic book in history.  Or anything else.  Look in the mirror and what you'll see is unbelievable fantasy compared to this story.

It probably came out a bit earlier but for convenience sake I'll cover Annual 1 here.  It isn't much of a story.  It features the Sinister Six, most of the villains from the previous issues getting together, thinking the can handle Spider-Man together.  Yet again, this reflects the point of the franchise, putting different corporate IPs together, especially as most of the Marvel characters make an appearance, with an ad telling us which book to find them in.

There's a mostly-pointless subplot of Peter believing he's lost his powers.  This ends the first time he faces one of the Six but he had skipped school and his mood worries Aunt May so maybe he's having a problem with Betty.  She goes to see Betty at the Bugle and they get kidnapped by the villains.  Betty must have forgotten her brother because she's not that bothered being held prisoner by the Doctor.  Aunt May is quite easily charmed by Otto.  Betty is happy when Spider-Man shows up to rescue them, May is not.  How long's her husband been dead at this point?

There's an amusing subplot with JJJ being forced to obey the Six, which just makes things worse for his newspaper, but at least he's not cheering them on this time.  Aunt May finally realizes what just happened and is horrified, she missed the Beverly Hillbillies.  This is why VCRs and streaming were invented.  All in all, this was more company product, if you enjoyed previous installments, you'll probably enjoy this one too.

The origin of Betty

The first eight issues of Spider-Man were almost entirely stand-alone.  The stories had very little which would be used for future storylines, other than the characters themselves.  The villains would return with J. Jonah Jameson as arguably the main enemy.  At this point I think Ditko was working on two ongoing storylines.  One of them, the analysis of organized crime and its connection to big business, may not have been a deliberate plot, it may have just been a convenient way to come up with new ideas for each issue.

The other storyline, I think was totally deliberate and if Ditko had been allowed to continue working on this title, it could easily have lasted a hundred issues.  This was the love story with Betty Brant.  Ditko was clearly making that the priority and although Stan Lee liked writing romance comics, he would fight against that to put more focus on the superhero parts of the story.  Stan has a point, the audience is little boys who are not yet become interested in girls, and unfortunately Ditko's motivations will never be known.

Issues #9-12 were effectively a multi-part story, setting Betty up for her role as lead female.  As it starts, her connection with Peter has already grown deep although it's very subtle to the reader.  Aunt May is sick and when Peter arrives to the hospital, Betty is already there.  Stop and think for a second what that says about the relationship.  'My co-worker's aunt is sick so I'm going to visit her in the hospital' is not remotely believable.  Ok, she and Peter have had discussions, he would have mentioned he was raised by his aunt and uncle, that still doesn't get to a point where 'of course I'll go see her when she's sick.'  And think about it from Aunt May's perspective, 'who are you?'  'I'm your nephew's girlfriend.'  You trying to give this lady a heart attack?

So with no information other than one comment from May about how nice it was for Betty to visit, it is clear that they have been introduced and already like each other.  Betty also knows that Peter is hiding secrets from the world.  With the need to pay medical bills, Peter even fakes pictures of fighting Electro to get money from JJJ.  When May goes in for surgery, Betty appears again to comfort him silently.  After the surgery, she informs him about updates from Electro and is worried about the danger Peter gets into taking these pictures.  They both know they're hiding secrets from each other.

They end #9 with an argument that actually deepens their relationship.  Betty's angry that Peter gets into danger.  Peter says he likes her but he's gonna do what he's gotta do.  She's seen bad things before to people she care about.  He storms out but feels bad, then she runs up to apologize and they walk off together into a very empty NYC street.  The captions tell us this could be "love."  They also tell us that Spidey is "the superhero who could be - you!" which doesn't really sound good when you think about but was obviously a good selling point to the audience.

Although most of the issue was fighting Electro as well as the fraud with JJJ, Betty was clearly the central point of the story with becoming close to Peter.  Some changes started being made to her with this issue, specifically her comments about her past.  She said she had just dropped out of high school last year.  And got a job as personal secretary for the publisher of a great metropolitan newspaper, um, no further questions.  What I meant was, and I'm guessing this was Stan Lee's decision, a Peter/Betty romance would be quite inappropriate given their age difference so that needed to be fixed.  I also assume that's the main reason for her new hairstyle in a couple issues, just to make her look younger.

#10 was the first issue of the 'big business/organized crime' storyline which I'll get into later.  This issue also shows the extended multi-issue storylines being planted.  Aunt May is getting better but she needs a blood transfusion and Peter is required to handle it.  No one checks that they even share the same blood type but Peter is jabbed and May is doing better.  She will get sick twice more during Ditko's run and the second time, it is a direct result of this transfusion.  It's a long-term consequence which leads to what generally-considered the highpoint of Ditko's run, the "Master Planner" trilogy.

Meanwhile Betty is leaving work for the day and a gang of thugs are waiting for her outside the Bugle, the Enforcers.  She's already repaid the loan shark but the interest has gone up because of this issue's villain, the Big Man.  Peter arrives in time to save her, almost revealing his superpowers in the attempt.  Betty is more terrified for him than anything else and runs away.

He tries to call her later that night, she reluctantly answers and says she'll explain everything tomorrow, then decides to run away permanently.  The rest of the story is about the Big Man, except for one panel telling us Betty has quit her job and is hiding in Pennsylvania, scared of everything.  We still don't know any details, other than owing money to gangsters.

In #11, Doctor Octopus is released from jail.  Spidey knows he'll be a bad guy and invents his 'spider tracers' to track where he goes.  He is surprised to see Betty driving the car for Ock.  The spider tracer becomes pointless when a map of Philadelphia falls out of the car somehow - yes, it really does that - Spidey knows where to go anyway.

Betty's brother also works for a gangster, that's how they got into this mess.  Doc is abusing both of them and breaking the other gangster out of jail.  Peter tracks Betty down and she's not remotely surprised that a teenage boy did that for her, all the way to Philadelphia.  Nothing creepy about that.  They both act like they're ready to tell each other all the secrets.

But that falls apart when everyone gets together on a boat, the fight scene starts and the gangster accidentally kills Betty's brother.  Initially she blames Spider-Man but later admits it wasn't his fault.  Still, she never wants to see him again, so Peter knows he can never tell that secret.  The way the last page is written and drawn, it looks like she's permanently gone from the series.  Instead she returns to the Bugle on page one of the next issue.

I still have to credit the fight scene in this issue.  They take up most of each issue but remain engaging this one, even just flipping through the pages, more stuff just keeps happening panel-by-panel.  It all builds up to the point where Spidey and Ock have made it to another boat and are both trying to finish this.  But neither can do it, the boat crashes and Ock has escaped.  It wasn't a brand-new concept, Dr. Doom never went to jail either, but I still have to wonder how this was approved by the Comics Code, especially with a murder happening here.

#12, JJJ can't keep a secretary but Betty has returned, all smiles and a new haircut.  Chicks, amiright?  Doc Ock is still on the loose and needs to handle that, so he breaks into the Bugle and kidnaps Betty.  In one of the stupidest scenes ever found in any comic book, Ock tells JJJ to put a note in the paper, telling Spider-Man to come see him and get info on finding Ock and Betty.  He tells JJJ where they will be.  Despite being right there, also threatened by Ock, Peter waits until JJJ has printed this new edition of the Bugle and then shows up to ask JJJ what's going on.  Peter is also getting sick, because that's also a thing.

Eventually Spidey shows up to get the information he already has to save the woman he loves, he goes to the fairgrounds where Ock and Betty are waiting.  He's much sicker so he's easy to beat.  Jameson and the cops have already showed up to watch this, so everybody sees Ock unmask Spidey and storm off looking for the *real* Spider-Man.  Betty is not remotely angry that Peter put himself in such a dangerous situation, just as she's fine watching Spidey fight Ock later on, despite what she said last issue.

Then the police lie to Aunt May and said Peter had fainted in the street because he was sick.  Ok, then a few panels later they came back the next morning to inform her of the truth.  *Now* she's mad about this and Peter - who's now perfectly well because it was only a 24-hour virus - lies to her and says he's going out to burn the costume.  Who is supposed to believe this stuff?

Topping this all off is that now, having seen the school nerd pretend to be a superhero and get beaten up by a supervillain, Liz Allen does a complete 180 and is now totally hot for Peter.  Because of course she is!  In at least four panels this issue, her hands are all over Peter's upper-body as she asks him out on dates.  Teenage boys usually like that, especially from girls they've had a crush on for years.  I quite enjoy Liz' contribution to the next year and her rivalry with Betty but this was not a good set-up for that.

And yet it still works.  I've been reading this comic for over 40 years and I'm not sure I'd ever noticed any of the obviously-stupid parts of this story, much less so many of them.  #12 still works fine on its own, as well as its connection to the last three issues.  Betty had already been set up as the love interest, this storyline set it in cement.

At times she will be inconsistent and I think that's mostly from the dialogue.  Stan was in the middle of a lot of different stories and admitted to not having a great memory so he might have had problems trying to remember where he'd left off the previous issue.  Doesn't have to be that accurate, it's only a comic book.

I've always thought Ditko's inspiration for the Betty/Peter storyline came from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead.  The lead female character is desperate to avoid admitting her love for the lead male character, even going through a couple marriages trying to avoid it.  This wouldn't work in a Comics Code-approved comic book for children but the theme is similar.  Eventually Betty would be desperate to get married.  Meanwhile Peter would have to deal with other girls, the equivalent of Veronica.