Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1 (September 1995)

In the mid-1990s, Marvel attempted a little experiment. At the time, their comic books cost $1.50 a pop. Marvel wanted to get new readers into their comics, so they started a line of titles that cost only 99 cents. One of those titles was Untold Tales of Spider-Man.

Untold Tales of Spider-Man was a series that...well, told new adventures of Spider-Man, but set in the past. These tales would be set in between the original Lee-Ditko stories from the early days of Spider-Man's career. Appropriately enough, Kurt Busiek, with his knowledge of Marvel history and canon, would be the man tasked with recounting these lost adventures. this series lasted from 1995 to 1997, 26 issues (plus a -1 issue), and two Annuals. But the cancellation would not quite end these "Untold Tales". In 1999, a one-shot story was published: Untold Tales of Spider-Man: Strange Encounters. The series would be given a proper ending in a story told in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #37 (2010).

Kurt Busiek and artist Pat Olliffe were the creative team behind most of the series, but others would contribute work to the series, mainly Roger Stern (who wrote Spidey's adventures in the 80s), and Ron Frenz. With that out of the way, let's look at Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1!

The cover is a Pat Olliffe and Al Vey piece. It depicts Spider-Man bursting out of a book. I think it's honestly a bit plain. I get what it's trying to do here, though. It shows our man Spidey front and center. This is his book, and we're about to learn about some past adventures we didn't know about until now.

"To Serve and Protect?" 
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Penciler: Pat Olliffe
Inker: Al Vey
Colorist: Steve Mattsson
Letterers: Richard Starkings, Comicraft
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story begins with Spider-Man battling a new supervillain on the block.

🎵"We're having a hot time in the old time toniiiight..."🎵

The gentleman's name is Scorcher. And he's out to swipe some new experimental electronics. Spider-Man manages to dodge the Scorcher's flame bursts, only to end up leaping off a building. Remember, this is still early in the Webhead's superhero career. Spidey manages to shoot a webline to a flagpole, but Scorcher blasts it. Luckily, Peter is able to come up with a Plan B: Create a web mattress to break his fall.

"Fifity bucks to whoever kicks Spidey in the nards!" 

That was a close one!

Spidey finds himself attacked by the civilians watching the battle, no doubt thanks to J. Jonah Jameson's smear campaign. Despite this, Spider-Man makes his way to the roof, only to find the Scorcher has escaped. He uses his webs to put out the fires and recovers his camera. Peter thinks about how much harder his life seems to have become since he first gained his powers. Aunt May has money problems, he's an outcast in school, Jameson is making people hate his superhero persona...this kid has a lot on his shoulders.

Peter is brought out of his reverie by Betty Brant, who has his check for him. The check for getting the photos of the battle with Scorcher. Peter tries to ask Betty out, but is interrupted by Jameson, ranting about Spider-Man being in cahoots with the criminals he fights. He cites the police having warrants on him as proof. The thing is, the only reason those warrants exist is because of the events of Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963). They put out the warrants thanks to Jameson using the press to bully them into it. Basically, they wanted to shut him up.

Peter recalls that in actuality, most of the cops actually see Spider-Man as a big help to them. Peter than gets an idea.

He swings over to the police station. You see, Peter realizes that people aren't actually scared of Spider-Man, they're scared of the image that Jameson has given them of Spider-Man. He's got people thinking that the Webhead is a crazed menace. So, he sets out to find a way to change his image. He can't really hire a public relations firm, so he tries another option.

This prequel to Supercop is weeeeeird..

I wonder if this is where Earth-616 diverged from Earth-19119. In that universe, Spider-Man was a policeman. The policeman he meets, a Captain George Stacy, points out that to do this, Peter would have to go through the police academy...

No, not that one! I'm talking a regular police academy. Not just that, but Spider-Man would have to reveal his secret identity. The thing is, he can't really do that. He's already faced some dangerous supervillains at this point, so unmasking means they could go after his loved ones. Not to mention his Aunt May might not be able to handle it. A dejected Spider-Man leaves. This gets Stacy to ask for not just the police's files on the Wall-Crawler, but also the files on the Benjamin Parker murder. 

Peter returns to Aunt May with his check, and she is thrilled. She can pay the mortgage bill, and also can afford some of her heart medicine.

Peter hears on the radio about the Scorcher taking refuge in a chemical warehouse and goes to check it out. He figures if he can bring the Scorcher in, it'll convince George Stacy to make an exception and let Peter join the police force. Spider-Man makes his way to said warehouse.

🎵 "Here I come to save the daaaaay..." 🎵

Once there, he notes a hole in the police cordon. Fearing that Scorcher will notice and escape, the Webhead engages Scorcher and his men.

It's here a problem pops up. The warehouse is an enclosed space. There's not only less room for Spider-Man to do his thing, but the enclosed space is also making it hard for him to dodge Scorcher's heat and flames. Spidey also has to deal with the Scorcher's men, who don't have to worry about the heat and fire because they are clad in fireproof suits. 

"Watch the hands!"

Spidey is able to deal with the men, but the heat and smoke is negatively affecting his ability to deal with Scorcher himself. Scorcher is feeling proud of himself. After all, the cops will be more worried about evacuating the area and dealing with the burning building as fast as possible. After all, this is a warehouse full of chemicals. If the fire reaches them...kablooie.

In desperation, Spidey webs up a water tower, and using the last of his strength, brings it down over the warehouse. It seems Spider-Man has saved the day. 

"I wasn't THAT thirsty!"

But the cops are not too happy Spidey caught him.

You see, the police wanted Scorcher to escape. It turns out that the flame-spewing villain was working for someone else, and they hoped the Scorcher's escaping would lead them to the real mastermind behind the thefts. And Spidey screwed it up. Whoops.

All Spidey can do is apologize and swing off. The other cops are furious, but George Stacy is more forgiving. He sees Spider-Man as someone who is trying to help out, despite his rep. And he thinks that requires further investigation...

It does lead one to wonder why Peter didn't just ask the police about the hole in the cordon. But since there were warrants on Spidey at the time in the story, I can imagine that Peter didn't want to complicate things. Later, Peter is at home recovering. He's evidently caught a cold, and Aunt May has sent Dr. Bromfield to check on him. And the bill for that is going to eat up the money May needed for her heart meds. Yeah, if I were Peter at this point, I would start demanding a bigger check from Jameson. It's not surprising to me, and definitely not out of character for him, to be a cheap skinflint when it comes to paying photographers. Peter may be freelance, but he's got an old aunt to help feed. The story ends with Peter not giving up, vowing to one day, make things right. 

I enjoyed this issue. Kurt Busiek really does capture the feeling of early Stan Lee-era Spidey with a bit of a modern touch. Another thing that I love is how he manages to weave this story in between the original early Lee-Ditko stories, and even beyond Ditko's time on the book. Mainly, George Stacy's investigation of Spider-Man. It will eventually lead to his discovering Peter's identity, which he kept secret until he died in Amazing Spider-Man #90 (November 1970). Pat Olliffe's art is nice, as well. His portrayal of young Peter does have a slightly Ditko-ish vibe to me, especially in his civilian identity. 

I will admit, some aspects of the comic do amuse me, like Aunt May being so frail and overprotective, and Peter wearing 60s fashions in a comic made in the 90s. But it does keep with the vibe of the old Lee-Ditko stories, so it's forgivable. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2021 trade paperback Untold Tales of Spider-Man: The Complete Collection Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!