Ned Leeds & Betty Brant talk of their wedding.

Spider-Man was in quite the pickle at the end of the previous issue. He had lost his memory in a fight with Doctor. Octopus in Amazing Spider-Man #55 and the confused Web-Slinger was sleeping on ledges and ducking the cops. To make matters worse, J. Jonah Jameson convinced Ka-Zar, jungle lord of the Savage Land, and his Sabretooth tiger Zabu to hunt down Spider-Man. The issue ended with Ka-Zar pulling the unconscious Spider-Man out of a pond. And that's where we begin here. Ka-Zar, who is basically a good guy, explains that he saved Spider-Man because, "Never has Ka-Zar fought a more valiant foe! I could not bring myself to allow you to perish!" Funny, because it seemed like Spidey spent most of the fight running away! Anyhow, the shock of hitting the water brought Spider-Man's memories back. After explaining the situation to Ka-Zar, the jungle man collects Zabu and heads out of New York with no love lost in his mind. "Civilized men - bah! Always fighting -- chasing -- trying to harm others!" he says. Ka-Zar next appears in Amazing Spider-Man #103, when Spider-Man visits the Savage Land.

With that story wrapped up so quickly (as in seven pages), we've got time to move ahead to something new. Professor Spencer Smythe, who first built a Spider-Slayer robot for Jonah back in Amazing Spider-Man #25, calls up his old partner with a surprise. He has built a new Spider-Slayer and intends to use it against Spider-Man. "It shall slay the Web-Slinger without mercy!" Smythe promises. Even Jonah is taken aback by that. "Nobody's talking about murdering him! I just want him captured!" the publishing mogul says. One of these days (as in the classic Amazing Spider-Man # 192) Jonah is going to learn that Smythe is bad news!

Peter Parker doesn't know that Aunt May collapses in the previous issue because his disappearance (because of his amnesia) worried her so. But before he can check in with her, his spider-sense begins tingling. He looks outside the window and the Spider-Slayer is walking up the wall! Thankfully, Jonah believes Spider-Man is merely burglarizing this apartment. He doesn't realize Peter - and Spider-Man! - lives here. By the way, Smythe was still using the original, humanoid Spider-Slayer with Jonah's face in the view screen at this point. He hadn't moved on to the spider-like robot, which will be seen in Amazing Spider-Man #105. Back at the Daily Bugle, Smythe takes over the controls of the Spider-Slayer from Jonah. He intends to kill Spider-Man, not just capture him. "You don't care about him being a menace to mankind! You just want to kill him...for personal revenge!" Jonah exclaims. "Don't talk to me about motives, you pious hypocrite," Smythe responds. "You've lied about him in your paper for years!" A nice angry exchange between the two. Spider-Man realizes that his blows cannot damage the heavily armored Spider-Slayer, so he figures he needs to put some distance between himself and the deadly robot. He also has a plan - which involves looking up Smythe's address in a telephone booth phone book. He lures the Spider-Slayer back to to the spider-filled lab - where it overloads and explodes. "I knew your man-shaped rattletrap was activated by spider impulses...so it wasn't hard to figure out that too many impulses might just short circuit him, like a fuse box that can't take an electric overload." Spider-Man explains.

This issue got off to a slow start with such an abrupt ending to the amnesia storyline. I liked how Spider-Man's amnesia was causing such big problems for Peter Parker (problems that won't be resolved until next issue). But the solution - dunking Spider-Man in a pond - was pretty flat. However, the Spider-Slayer story was a pretty good action romp. I always like when Peter solves problems using his mind, not just his spider-powers. Spider-Man's intelligence is one of those things that sets him apart from most other heroes and should be played up, as it is here.

Next issue: Peter makes his reappearance - and Spider-Man must deal with the mysterious Brainwasher!

Reviewed by Bruce Buchanan.

Reprinted In:
Amazing Spider-Man V2 #20
Spider-Man Essentials III