Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #92

Background

The death of her father made Gwen turn to Sam Bullit, a candidate for District Attorney. Bullit was a hardline “law and order” politician that promised Gwen to bring in Spider-Man. He also made a deal with Jonah Jameson to hand over Spider-Man if he could get the endorsement of the Daily Bugle. Jonah agreed, which angered Robbie Robertson who thought Bullit was unfair to minorities. Meanwhile, Bullit’s goons roughed up Peter to get information about Spider-Man. He tracked them down as Spider-Man and humiliated them. Upon returning to his apartment, he found Gwen and Bullit waiting for him.

Story 'When Iceman Attacks'

In desperation to prevent them from making the connection between Peter and Spider-Man, Spidey grabbed Gwen and jumped out the window. As Gwen screamed to be let go, Spidey said he hadn’t come to see Parker, he’d come for her. He didn’t like being called a murderer and he dad’s death was an accident. Bullit, meanwhile, was overjoyed at the situation. Having so many witnesses to Gwen’s kidnapping would do wonders for his campaign.

Gwen continued to smack at Spider-Man helplessly, drawing attention from the people on the street. One of them was Bobby Drake, who was out with his girlfriend. He wanted to help but had to get rid of his date. He said it was late and he wanted his beauty sleep and hailed a taxi for her. He’d tried to get a date with her for weeks but helping to save Gwen from Spider-Man was more important. He ran into an alley and changed into Iceman before going after the webhead.

Spider-Man had taken Gwen to a rooftop to tell her what a loser her boyfriend was but was interrupted by Iceman. Spider-Man cursed his luck and began to fight the confused mutant. On the street, the police encircled the building with Bullit leading the way. He was thrilled by the turn of events, hoping to get credit for Spider-Man’s capture or death. Spidey fled the scene and Iceman brought Gwen back to the ground. This didn’t suit Bullit, who didn’t want to share credit for Gwen’s rescue. He told Iceman that next time Spider-Man had better not escape and to stay on his trail. He convinced the onlookers that Iceman worked for him, so he’d get the credit.

As the campaign went on, Bullit continued to beat the drum about law and order. He was confident that the election was his to win, when Jameson called him. The Daily Bugle was withdrawing its endorsement of him after learning a few things. Bullit rushed to the Bugle and planned to convince Jameson in any way necessary. When Bullit arrived at Jameson’s office, Jonah told him that Peter had informed them of the beating he had taken. Robbie informed Bullit that he had done some research and learned about his connections to hate groups. Bullit told Robbie that he talked too much. Jonah told him to shut up and that they were switching their endorsement to Bullit’s competitor after publishing what they’d learned.

Bullit used a racial slur against Robbie before Jonah kicked him out of his office. Robbie was glad that he had listened to Peter and Jonah claimed he had known what Bullit was about the whole time. He did warn Robbie to watch him so, as Bullit was dangerous. Later, Peter saw two of Bullit’s goon walking Robbie out of the building and into a car. He changed to Spider-Man and started to go after them when he was attacked by Iceman. Spidey tried to fight him off while still following the car. He managed to web him up before following the car to an abandoned warehouse.

Iceman freed himself and resumed chasing Spider-Man and found him at the warehouse. Watching Spidey observe the situation below made him realize that Spider-Man had been telling the truth. Iceman signaled to Spider-Man that he finally understood the situation, just as Bullit left to let his goons handle Robbie. They drew their guns and Robbie refused to beg just as they were webbed up. They beat the thugs and Robbie told them that Bullit hadn’t expected anything to go wrong, so he’d think he was safe. Some other members of the crew tried to run and warn their boss but slipped on a patch of ice. They confessed where to find him and soon the vigilantes and Robbie arrived at Bullit’s fundraiser.

He continued to tell the audience that he stood for law and order, and that he wouldn’t be intimidated by the media or superheroes. Spider-Man called out that Bullit was a liar and a crook, making everyone turn around. He, Iceman and Robbie arrived to tell about the confessions from Bullit’s goons. Bullit panicked and yelled that his boys never failed him and that he was being framed. The audience walked out as Bullit was arrested.

General Comments

This was another good read. Not much I can say. I’m guessing that people that wouldn’t enjoy this issue would call it overly political, preachy or biased. Well, that’s up to them.

It’s funny how some things never change. Bullit railed against his enemies and the media, while complaining about “liberals, or bleeding hearts, or big talking long haired do-gooders.” When I first read this story, I rolled my eyes that Bullit basically confessed to his crimes in front of a crowd of people. Surely no one with half a brain would be so careless. Current events have proved me wrong.

I wonder if there will be any reaction from Gwen about the revelations regarding her chosen candidate.

Overall Rating

I wonder if a Spidey story like this could be published today. In X-Men or Black Panther I could see it but Spider-Man is family friendly. How things change.