I: Feature Story: "Bring Back My Goblin To Me!"

Pages: 20

Script: Stan Lee
Plot: Stan Lee
Pencils: Steve Ditko
Inks: Steve Ditko
Letters: Sam Rosen

First Appearance: Barney Bushkin; NYPD cops: Joe, Sam & Dave

Villain: Crime-Master/Nick "Lucky" Lewis, Green Goblin

Guest Appearance: Patch/Frederick Foswell; Joe, Sam & Dave; Betty Brant, Aunt May, Barney Bushkin

Marvel Milestones: First appearance of Daily Globe newspaper, revelation of Crime-Master's secret identity

Synopsis: (continued from ASM #26)

The Green Goblin challenges the Crime-Master's authority in front of all the assembled underworld figures. Having the unconscious body of Spider-Man under his control has convinced the gangsters that maybe their allegiance should switch from the Crime-Master to the Goblin. From the crowd, a nervous stoolie named Patch watches them try to take Spider-Man's mask off, but since he has glued it shut with his webbing they are unable to do so. Spidey becomes conscious again and leaps into action, and though he is in chains, he uses his super-agility to leap out of the way of gunfire and kick and scrape his way through hordes of gangsters before finally shedding himself of the chains. Barreling into the warehouse is a threesome of NYPD gangbusters, led by the bareknuckled Sam and Dave, who start knocking heads with the best of them. This gives Spider-Man some breathing room to plan his own attack. Between the NYPD blue and Spider-Man, all the gangsters are subdued; meanwhile the Green Goblin and the Crime-Master have made a getaway.

Spidey takes off after the Crime-Master and locates him underneath the docks, where in the dark, the villainous thug takes shots at him with his pistol. He eventually takes off into the city's sewer system, where he loses Spider-Man behind a curtain of nerve gas he has fired from his weapons arsenal. Having lost the trail of both the Crime-Master and the Goblin, and knowing the police have the gangsters at the pier rounded up, Spidey heads back to the apartment of Frederick Foswell to further play detective. He finds that Foswell has evacuated his apartment and taken everything with him, but what Spidey doesn't know is that he's being tailed by the Crime-Master!

Spider-Man waltzes into JJJ's office to challenge him on Foswell. Spidey states his claim that he thinks Foswell is crooked, while Jameson strongly disagrees. While Foswell professes his innocence, the Crime-Master has set up outside Jameson's office window to assassinate all three men (so, it appears after all that Foswell is NOT the Crime-Master!) However, good police work has led to the Crime-Master being cornered on the rooftop, and he is gunned down before he can get a clean shot off at anyone. His identity is revealed as the mobster Nick "Lucky" Lewis, who Foswell said he had been tracking down using his underworld contacts, which made him a target. Spider-Man makes up with Foswell, who has no hard feelings, and then takes off from JJJ's office in his second-hand costume, which insists on falling apart.

He goes to look for his camera at the city docks where he took pictures of his fight with the crime bosses, but it's been taken by some neighborhood kids who have the gift of seeing Spidey embarrass himself by tripping on a plank into the river. Going home after a bad day, his costume constantly wants to slip off of his body. Finally fed up with it, he changes back into street clothes and goes home. Thinking about what he should do with his pictures, Peter wonders if he shouldn't take them to another newspaper publisher who might appreciate him more. He takes the pics of Spidey's battle at the docks to the Daily Globe, where editor Barney Bushkin is delighted with the pictures, but is too inquisitive into Peter's talents at taking pictures, and Peter takes off for the hills running!

And while J. Jonah Jameson regales his friends at the Men's Club with stories of his "modesty" and goodwill (all the while admitting to himself he'd give whatever it took for more photos from Peter Parker), Peter searches high and low for his costume which Aunt May absconded with. Not able to find it, he starts to sew another one, which is the last thing he wanted to do. Later, he decides to take his Aunt May out for a movie. At the Bugle offices, Foswell reveals his secret identity as Patch, the stoolie informant who helped the police break down the underworld. Finally, in a fury due to his losses at the hands of the city's webbed protector, the Green Goblin vows to one day destroy him.

--synopsis by Gormuu

Issues Reprinted
Spider-Man from
Amazing Spider-Man #20-30 and Annual #2

Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.