Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #248 (Story 1)

Background

Spider-Man thought was on the trail of the Hobgoblin but he's been actually been pursuing Thunderball, a foe who is far above his weight class in the super powers department.

Story 'And He Strikes Like A Thunderball'

Thunderball hurls his wrecking ball at Spider-Man, the later who quickly leaps out of the way. Knowing he's outmatched, Spidey calls for backup after making sure Thunderball's battered thugs are alive.

Walking through the Long Island woods, Thunderball says that now that he has his wrecking bar, he's powerful enough to be "a one-man wrecking crew!" Spidey darts out, and relieves Thunderball of his wrecking bar, but even without it, he's still more than a match for the web-head. Spidey uses the wrecking bar to knock Thunderball to his knees, but only because he made him lose his balance. Annoyed, Thunderball throws his wrecking ball at Spidey, who webs onto it, only to be carried along with it for the ride. Spidey thinks it would be wise to let go of the wrecking ball before being carried away with it any further. Upon letting go, the wrecking ball returns to Thunderball.

The fight moves to the freeway and in order to get Thunderball away from all the traffic, Spidey draws him to an electrical power plant. The police arrive and move in, opening fire on Thunderball, but he easily deflects their bullets with his ball-and-chain. Spidey thinks to himself that no one but Thor would be able to handle Thunderball and since Spidey's own strength isn't even close to his, he devises a plan to put him down.

Spidey tosses Thunderball's wrecking bar to him. Thunderball notes that the bar is webbed up with cable and connected to the substation transformers. He hurls the ball at Spidey once more. Spidey ducks, grabs a cable, connects it to his webbing along with the wrecking ball and lets it sail back to Thunderball, which triggers a huge explosion. When the dust settles, Thunderball is KO ed.

After the fight, Spidey is approached by some TV news reporters and a crowed of angry drivers who are irked because the fight with Thunderball has caused one of the biggest traffic jams in the the history of Long Island. Knowing he's not going to get any thanks, Spidey hops into the back of a pick up truck and heads home.

General Comments

Action packed! That would be the best way to sum up this story. Much better than part one and the conclusion is only 11 pages.

Spidey has been pitted against a number of foes that are much stronger than he is in Roger Stern's Run on Amazing Spider-Man. Despite the odds, Spidey always seems to find a way to win, and these make for some of the best stories you can read in Spider-Man. ASM #248 is largely remembered for the backup story, The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, and it is well worth the praise and attention it gets. Personally, I really dug Spidey's fight with Thunderball. The story illustrates just why Spidey is one of the best super heroes, proving once again that his greatest weapon may be his big brain.

Overall Rating

Spidey faces the stronger man and still manages to be the last man standing. Four webs.