Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man # 120
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Penciller: Keith Giffen
Inker: Vince Colletta
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Cover Date: November 1986
Rating: 
Now that it’s officially November and Thanksgiving is about three weeks away, I’ll take these few weeks to look at some rather unique but off-beat Spider-Man stories, and this week I’ll look at Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man # 120.
The story starts off with Spider-Man swinging in to stop a soon-to-be brutal fight between an elderly man and a local street gang but is absolutely shocked when a police officer tells him that the gang lives in the same neighborhood, it turns out that the old man, who’s name is Dominic Castellano who explains to Peter Parker and Daily Bugle reporter Blaine Browne (Who’s writing a story to go with the pictures that Peter took as Spider-Man) that he and the rest of the tenants are doing their best stop the landlord from converting the apartment building into a luxury condo since no one had the money to buy in, so the landlord hired the local street gang to drive out the rest of the tenants. Still, things turn from bad to worse as Spidey finds Dominic, dead on the sidewalk (It was meant to look like an accident) so he decides to give the gangs their comeuppance when they try to set the building on fire.
PPTSSM was primarily known as the go-to title for stories that took real-life problems and molded them into something that would give the readers something to think about so this one is no different; I like how Bill Mantlo amped up the social justice concept that really enhances the drama and suspense but also shows us these are the kind of stories that Spider-Man excels in. I mean, I love seeing him go up against his gallery of villains for any superpowered maniac but it’s the street-level elements/social commentary that truly bring out the best in the wall-crawler and Mantlo (who was once the writer of PPTSSM back in the mid-1970s) makes the best of it. Keith Giffen’s artwork shines throughout the issue as his work takes the dark and bleak factors that Mantlo was going for in his script and gives it a moody feel that works perfectly (Although I wish he wasn’t inked by Vince Colletta)
This story was great for a fill-in (Turns out then-Spider-Editor Jim Owsley (Christopher Priest) was under pressure to fire Peter David, who was the regular writer of PPTSSM at the time) so there were times this title was home to many fill-ins but this one, with its “Stand up for the little guy” aspect and urban setting, feels like it should have been in an issue of “Marvel Fanfare” but nonetheless, is another reason why Spider-Man in the 1980s was just …….dare I say it?!….. Spectacular!
Well, that’s it for me this week. I’ll be back with another unique Spider-Man story to look at. Thanks for sticking around and I will see you all next time.
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