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.