Spider-Man: "To Die A Hero!"

Amazing Spider-Man #52

By Stan Lee, John Romita Sr, Mickey Demeo*

Background: Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson are prisoners of the Kingpin, New York's rising crime overlord.

So, What Happens? Jameson and an unconscious Spider-Man are taken to a cellar and cuffed to metal slabs while the room is filled with water. Spidey awakens just in time, manages to break free and creates a cocoon with his web to entrap enough oxygen for them to survive a little while longer. When the water recedes and the Kingpin's goons enter to dispose of the bodies, Spider-Man breaks free and quickly gets rid of them. He then frees a shocked Jameson, who's convinced that Spidey acted only to save his own skin and doesn't show any gratitude. Spidey and Jonah separate so that the hero can get rid of more guards and take the fight to the Kingpin, but Jonah runs into a pipe and is knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, Foswell and Kingpin get in a fight when the former complains about Jameson's alleged death, only to be interrupted by Spider-Man's entrance. Whilst Foswell runs out to look for Jonah, Spidey battles Kingpin and gradually gets the upper hand, forcing the criminal to flee before the police arrive. In the cellar, Jonah awakens and is chased by the Kingpin's gunmen, but Foswell rescues him and protects him with his body, taking a bullet for him because Jameson had been the only one to believe in him and give him a second chance. Moments later Spidey arrives and takes the gunmen out, but it's too late for Foswell who dies a hero next to a shocked Jonah. 

Spider-Man: "In The Clutches Of... The Kingpin!"

Amazing Spider-Man #51

By Stan Lee, John Romita Sr, Mickey Demeo*

Background: Spider-Man quit for a short time, allowing the rise of the Kingpin as the city's new crime boss. Wanting a piece of the pie, Foswell tried to wrestle power from him but is now his prisoner.

So, What Happens? The Kingpin is about to launch a massive crime spree, but first orders some of his men to kidnap Jameson, whose editorials are getting close to the truth that a new player is uniting and controlling the underworld. Still convinced that Spidey has quit, other mobsters go out to collect protection money, but the hero is back in town and doesn't need long to clean the floor with them, hearing the name of the Kingpin in the process. Meanwhile, Kingpin and Foswell start to reach an agreement when they get interrupted by the few mobsters who had escaped Spidey, angry for the return of the wall-crawler. Their leader tries to rebel against Kingpin, but despite his bulk the big man is far stronger than he looks and quickly subdues him, impressing even Foswell. Elsewhere, Peter learns that Foswell is missing and has a fight with another group of mobsters, this time sticking a tracer on one of them as they run away. At the Bugle, Jameson gets kidnapped, blindfolded and brought to the Kingpin, but refuses to turn a blind eye on his criminal activities. Kingpin has Foswell ask him again, making sure that Jameson hears his name so that he can keep him under control, but Jonah, despite being disappointed at Foswell's return to crime, keeps refusing. The mobsters Spidey had defeated arrive, followed by the superhero himself thanks to the Spider-Tracer. Spider-Man sees the kidnapped Jameson and jumps in, quickly trapping the Kingpin's men with his web before taking the fight to the crime lord. However, the bulk of the Kingpin deceives him long enough for the criminal to use a small gas device hidden in his tie-pin. Taken by surprise, Spider-Man blacks out.

Spider-Man: "Spider-Man No More!"

Amazing Spider-Man #50 (1967)

By Stan Lee, John Romita Sr, Mickey Demeo*

So, What Happens? Spidey stops a robbery, but the Bugle's smear campaign means most people still don't trust him, and this is starting to affect Peter. Things get worse when aunt May suffers another attack of illness because she was too worried about Peter, and on top of that his grades are declining and he can't spend time with Gwen like he'd want to. He even had to refuse a job offer from Norman Osborn to keep his nights free. When Jameson appears on TV branding Spider-Man a menace once more and offering a thousand dollars to capture him, it's the final drop. Peter becomes convinced that he only became a superhero for the adventure of it and decides to quit, leaving his discarded costume in a trash can. Next morning a kid finds the costume and takes it to Jameson, who imagines that something must have happened to Spidey and immediately writes about it on the Bugle. Soon the entire city knows Spider-Man is no more, to the joy of some and dismay of others. Peter enjoys his new freedom more and more, but unbeknown to him a new crime boss calling himself the Kingpin is emerging, taking advantage of the situation to organize the underworld and join the various gangs together. The only one to notice is Fredrick Foswell in his Patch identity, and he decides to go back to crime and lead the gangs. Meanwhile, Peter finds out Jameson is keeping the Spider-Man costume in his office and becomes aware of the crime spree, initially managing to ignore it until something happens right in front of him. When a few crooks are about to kill an elderly watchmen, Peter is forced to intervene, putting them to sleep and running away before anyone can have a good look at him. The event and the face of the watchmen remind him of his own uncle Ben, and of the real reasons why he became a crime-fighter after getting his spider powers. Deciding once more he can't let any innocent come to harm because Spider-Man failed to act, Peter accepts his destiny, goes to Jameson's empty office and takes his costume back, triumphally announcing his return to the dismayed publisher a few minutes later. Meanwhile, Foswell meets the Kingpin and tries to wrestle control of the gangs from him, but the new crime lord isn't about to step aside and quickly has Foswell captured.

Poll Of The Month: Favourite Classic Marvel Artist

After a trial run, let's introduce the Age of Marvel Comics blog's Poll of the Month. And what better way to start than with six legendary classic artists? Competing in the poll on the right side of the blog's home page (right in between the "popular posts" and "featured post") for the title or best classic Marvel artist are: