Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #425
Background
Recently hired and recharged by the Rose, Electro is back in the tights and out to fry every one's (well, at least my) favorite wondrous wall crawler.
Story 'The Chump, The Challenge And The Champion!'
Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #425
| Editor: | Ralph Macchio |
| Writer: | Tom DeFalco |
| Pencils: | Steve Skroce |
| Inker: | Bud LaRosa |
| Cover Art: | Steve Skroce |
This ish features the catastrophic showdown between Spider-Man and Electro. Nate Grey shows up for no apparent reason other than to attract some more buyers. Electro tries to make his mark on the world (literally, by almost turning New York into a smouldering crater), but ultimately does himself in by falling into the river.
General Comments
I was briefly considering writing this review in a double-sized format to match the issue, before realizing that I would be hard-pressed to fill up my regular few paragraphs. There is simply nothing in this story. A promising storyline has ended in a Spidey/Electro duke-out which would have been better handled as a regular issue back in the seventies.
In an attempt to bring Max Dillon into nineties' fashion, Tom and Steve chose to leave Electro's hideous mask out of the picture. As a result, Skroce's horrid rendition of Max's face pollutes the issue, reminding us just how awful Skroce's pencilling can be. I found myself flipping back to the folding cover (which I find otherwise useless) to see what the characters actually look like.
There are a few high points, if you can pick them out from the crud. Phil Urich (one of my personal favorite underrated Spider-characters) pops in for half a page, Doc Ock's return is foreshadowed (yippee!), and Spidey's insulated costume (how on earth did he make that so fast?) is actually kinda cool. Apart from these glimmers of light, DeFalco and Skroce just don't have the talent to pull off a good anniversary ish.
Overall Rating 
Two measly little webs.