Spider-Rama: Amazing Spider-Man #93

Welcome to Spider-Rama! Every weekday until the end of May, Ben and Duy will look at a Spider-Man issue from the very beginning, in chronological order, and answer questions for various categories, inspired in large part by one of our favorite podcasts, The Rewatchables by The Ringer. Our goal is to make it to Amazing Spider-Man #200. Will we make it? Grab your Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus or crank up your tablet to Marvel Unlimited, and then tune in every Wednesday to find out!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #93
Spider-Rama
by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr.

The Prowler wants to clear things up with Spider-Man, and when he sees Spidey hovering near Gwen Stacy's apartment, a misunderstanding — and subsequent fisticuffs — ensue!

POINTLESS TRIVIA

DUY: The return of the Prowler, and Romita is back on art.

BEN: Gwen leaves for London, which means according to a retcon, she’s technically pregnant with Norman Osborn’s twins.

DUY: Hahahaha! Osborn twins, I don't know what you speak of. I will just say that even if we go through the entirety of Spider-Man's reading history, I'm going to insist on completely skipping that 8-year stretch. I tried the first time. I'm not doing it again.

BEN: Is there any possible way, in your mind, that story could fit inbetween the cracks of what we’ve been reading?

DUY: I suppose if you want to look at it as she's crying now because she did something terrible, and that's why she starts kissing Peter, sure. It's a gigantic stretch that no one should ever take credit for writing.

BEN: It especially doesn’t make much sense to shoehorn it in after your original story was denied. (To clarify, JMS originally wanted Gwen to secretly have had Peter’s kids.)

DUY: You can blame the EIC for it if you want, but when Mark Waid had a story changed against his will, he took his name off of it. So...

BEN: Since we’ve touched on the subject, do you think Peter and Gwen ever had sex? I always used to believe two teenagers in love would have had to, but reading the actual comics again, I don’t know when Peter would have had the time.

DUY: I don't think they have, precisely because i can't see where they would have. "Where" meaning in terms of the time in the comics, and also "where" meaning a specific location. They were never alone in a private room.

BEN: George was always around, always.

WHAT'S AGED THE BEST?

DUY: I do really like the Prowler's costume, and how it isn't skintight. Feels ahead of its time.

BEN: Less costumes should be skintight.

DUY: Do we really have nothing else here?

BEN: Everyone in this comic behaves contradictory to their established character, there’s very little to praise.

WHAT'S AGED THE WORST?

BEN: I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have appreciated him burning your costume.

DUY: Yeah, that's a dick move.

BEN: And why wouldn’t you believe him, Hobie?

DUY: Peter Parker! If you believe that your not telling Gwen that you're Spider-Man is going to inevitably lead to you losing her, then JUST. TELL HER.

BEN: You lose her either way!

DUY: Peter Benjamin Parker, your spider-power didn't fail you. Your complete and total lack of honesty failed you.

NITPICKS

BEN: There’s a new person living in Gwen’s apartment in the span of a few hours?

DUY: Hey, NYC real estate is cutthroat.

BEN: And the guilt you feel over Uncle Ben’s death, that motivates you too, right? Right?

DUY: Even back then, there was no way this was "months ago."

BEN: Who called Mindy to tell her Hobie is in the hospital?

DUY: Peter called Mindy. How'd he get her number, will forever be a mystery.

BEN: I love Romita’s art on an aesthetic level, but as we’ve discussed before, he is the laziest storyteller. Gwen is home one minute and on an international flight the next. Somehow Hobie’s girlfriend is notified. Hobie happens to guess accurately where Spider-Man might be.

FAVORITE PANEL

BEN: Mine:

DUY: That's a nice shot:

BEN: Peter sure loves yellow and green.

DUY: I like this too. It's way more elaborate than I expected from Romita.

BEN: He must have gotten jealous of Gil.

WHO WON THE COMIC?

DUY: Peter Parker's ability to blame luck, fortune, and nature instead of his own bad decisions. That wins.

BEN: Caring more a secret identity than you do your own girlfriend.

DUY: That's it for Spider-Rama this week.

BEN: Thank you, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko—

DUY: —for telling us we aren't the only ones.

Leave us a comment below or on our Facebook page. See you tomorrow!