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by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey   Cover Date- June 1988 Price- 50p Script- Gerry Conway Art- Sal Buscema Lettering- Rick Parker Colour- Bob Sharen Editor- Jim Salicrup Editor-In-Chief- Tom DeFalco Publisher- Marvel Comics synopsisRobbie Robertson drops Peter Parker in the middle of a moral dilemma, as the weight of the sins of the Daily Bugle editor-in-chief's past prove literally backbreaking. (K) Dave Issue 139. What do you make of the cover? Kev I really like it. It makes excellent use of Tombstone as essentially a silhouette against the plain white background. Dave Yeah, it certainly works well, with the white background opposed to his, near enough, all black suit and the bodies slumped beneath him. Kev Definitely. The stack of, presumably dead, bodies ties into Robbie Robertson's suspicions that Tombstone has been responsible for dozens of murders over the years. Dave The opening panel of Spidey swinging in the rain, no pun intended, is also striking. I like how the narration quickly tells the reader, in one page, where the story was, as well as taking us right to the present. Kev That splash page is superb. It compliments the splash page of #137, but with the red & blue costume instead of the black duds. It's also a great looking New York skyline, as well as a lovely looking Spidey.
Dave Indeed. Some classic artwork. The constant rain also lends itself to the tone of the story as well. Kev I agree. The use of the rain is very oppressive. Dave I do like how Spidey knocks the gunman out with a swift uppercut. Kev I love that cheeky little uppercut too. Conway’s characterisation of Spidey is great in this interrogation scene. The light-hearted tone, the quips, that short uppercut to KO the guy, brilliant stuff. I also love the use of the Spider-Light in that scene too. The working-class Bat-Signal. Dave The Spidey-Signal is totally 80's. I like it though. Kev Yeh, I think it's great. It's hideously underused these days, in my opinion. Dave This scene of the interrogation shows us that Spidey can be effective when he needs to be. Kev Definitely. Behind that facade of shambolic charm, Peter is a pro at the old superheroing by this point. Dave He certainly is. We also get the backstory of Robbie and Tombstone here. Conway uses plenty of dialogue in this issue, what with Robbie's voiceover, to give us more of an insight into him. This is a good character based story. Kev Yep. Spidey and Peter aren't actually in this issue that much at all. He's used as a gateway to the Robbie & Tombstone story. I love the transition between timelines here, jumping from the here and now to the flashbacks from earlier. No, “Earlier” caption box or anything like that. Just confidence in the reader's ability to determine what is happening. And it’s seamless. It's superb storytelling. Dave I also like the old fade in and fade out captions used throughout the story. Kev They're used very well, yeh. You can tell that Conway is a seasoned visual medium writer. He's written a ton for TV as well. Dave He definitely gives it a TV sensibility in doing that. Kev We’re getting into the real meat of this story now, for our purposes anyway, as far as the Tombstone stuff is concerned. Dave We certainly are. He's a sadistic character is old Tombstone. Kev He really is, isn't he? He's playing with Robbie like a cat would play with a mouse. He looks super cool just backhanding Rayburn though and I love how unassuming The Arranger looks. Tombstone is so striking looking, whereas The Arranger just looks like your typical accountant. Dave The Arrangers desk is remarkably big and so is his chair. It actually sort of reminds me of Matron and N.U.R.S.E. in 'Dragon's Claws.' Plus, look at the size of his office, especially the panel where a nurse is seen coming in to tend to Rayburn’s injuries.  Judging by the authenticity of her uniform, Rayburn's not convinced by this woman's qualifications to administer drugs. Kev Ha, ha! You're right, man. That's one hell of an office. I really like when Rayburn uses his abilities on The Arranger, as well as Tombstone's reaction to it. And I love how cool, calm & collected The Arranger is otherwise. He's very together. Nothing seems to phase him. Dave Also, notice the interesting use of various colours for the background in each of these panels. Certainly a bright palette used in this issue. Something that was good about comic books back then. Kev Totally, man. The use of flatter colours for the backgrounds is a simple, but effective technique. Perhaps born out of necessity because of the less advanced reproduction techniques used back then compared to the ones used now. It also helps create that sense of air and space. Ha, ha! I sound like Sarah Beeney. Dave Plus, The Arranger has those old tinted glasses where you can't see his eyes. Which is interesting, considering that Rayburn was starting to persuade him via direct eye contact. Kev Good point. There must be more to his powers than mere hypnosis through eye contact. Dave Maybe. Then we fade in to Spidey listening to Robbie’s history with Tombstone on the tape player, which shows how brutal Tombstone was and how Robbie really was in a no way out situation either. Kev Definitely. Robbie was screwed as soon as Lonnie strong-armed him into burying that exposé in high school. The rot set in right there. Nice use of that cool blue in the “Everyone called him Tombstone.” caption box instead of the yellow. It really effects the mood of that panel. Gives it a coldness. Although, young Tombstone looks like a reject from ‘Grease.’  "I got chills, they're multiplyin'." Dave Yeah, the T-Birds wasn't it? Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, it was. Was Robbie the editor of a high school newspaper right in the midst of the civil rights movement? If he was, that’s pretty good going for a young black kid in a segregated America. Then again, this would have been a pre-gentrification Harlem in 1960, which was still a predominantly black neighbourhood at that point. Perhaps, as a result of this, his high school was also predominantly populated by black students, so the institutionalised racism maybe wasn't as prevalent at his high school. Dave Could be. But Robbie’s desire for the story kept drawing him back to Tombstone. He could not escape it. It’s a real character story for Robbie, this issue and as you say, Spidey is almost a supporting character. Kev Definitely. And arguably this issue is all the more effective for it. As is Spidey himself, in a sense. Dave That’s a really good point. Compared to the previous issue where Peter's inability to emotionally distance himself made him less capable and effective. Kev Buscema’s artwork for Robbie at the different stages of his life is excellent and that's a cracking panel with Robbie’s face lit from below by the torch. The panel of the dead informant being held up by Tombstone with one hand isn’t half bad either. Dave Yeah. Those three panels of Robbie curled up on the ground in fear, with each panel backing out further, are also very cinematic and the narration is spot on. "The fears of childhood are the fears that stay with us forever."  “Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: “‘The horror! The horror!'" Kev Yes. Definitely. They perfectly illustrate just how isolated Tombstone has left Robbie. Lying there, cowering in fear, with a dead body by his side. That's a nice touch with the dead informant’s face illuminated by Robbie’s dropped torch as well. Dave I like that one of Tombstone with the cheeky wink also. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, man. That's a great panel. I like how it's the same cheeky wink he gives Robbie back in high school. That's a nice character trait. I love little touches like that.
Dave Tombstone is kind-of like the boogeyman to Robbie, especially the way he reacts in fear and becomes paralysed with it.  He's a low-talker. Kev And later, as we shall see, is literally paralysed by him. There's a great close-up of Tombstone’s face in which he looks like Morbius. It makes him appear positively vampiric. Which he is, in a way. Certainly to Robbie. It didn't dawn on me at the time of reading it when we were young, that Lonnie Lincoln was an African American with albinism. My naive younger self just assumed he'd had his skin bleached in some comic book cliche, chemical experiment sort of situation, like the Joker or Slaughterhouse in 'Dragon's Claws.' Dave I’m just amazed that tape recorder has lasted so long in the pouring rain. I like how Spidey is sitting atop a chimney with his legs crossed. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh. Just chilling, on a rooftop, in the pissing rain, with his battery powered, waterproof tape player. Ah, the 80s. Dave The panel following that one with Robbie’s face in the middle is great.  "Always fade out in a montage. If you fade out it seems like more time has passed in a montage….." Kev It's brilliant, isn't it? It's very Hitchcockian. It's like something out of 'North By Northwest.' I can’t get enough of the touches in the background of Buscema’s New York. The water towers, the business signs, the billboards. It all makes the setting come to life for me. Dave Yeah totally. There's a real cinematic flair to that panel. You've hit upon a good point, this does have a slight Hitchcock feel, as it’s a story about terror. Hence the rain to match the mood as well. Kev The use of rain certainly accentuates the tension in Robbie’s confrontation with Tombstone. Dave That panel is great. Spidey has the most durable tape recorder ever invented, I think. That thing is still going strong. Even by this point. Kev I also love that first panel on page 22. You know, before the caption box even confirms it for you, that this is a bar the Bugle staff congregate in, what with the framed editions of the paper on the wall and all. Plus, you can tell that’s Ben Urich in the middle. Sal is so good. Conway and Buscema are a fantastic creative tag-team. I think the barman’s great too, with his fetching combover, cleaning the glasses in classic barman style.  "Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got." Dave It’s the small details that make these panels work. Kev Totally. They really do just help to bring the comic to life. Dave Again the fade out and fade in technique is in use when Robbie busts his hand punching the newspaper box. Kev Yeh, man. It's a good way of showing the passage of time. I like how The Arranger is even cool, calm & collected when Spidey comes barging into his office late at night. He doesn't even flinch. Dave Yeah, he totally is. Plus, he must have remembered where he put his other glasses, 'cause now we can see his eyes. These must be his non-tinted ones. Kev Ha, ha! He must be like myself and have spares. Dave He doesn't even get phased when Spidey is getting in his face so to speak. Like you said, still cool, calm and collected. Kev He must have ice in those veins of his. Perhaps Lonnie should’ve gone into pro-wrestling, because his bear-hug is literally a back breaker. Also, Lonnie & Jonah must go to the same barber. They both have that extreme looking flat-top. Although, so did Dragon in 'Dragon's Claws.' We See The World Through Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Key Tinted Spectacles is becoming a review series on flat-tops in comics. Dave Yeah, in fact, Tombstone and Jonah have a slight resemblance to each other. Kev They really do. Brothers from other mothers. Dave The final showdown is in Battery Park. I do like the silhouette of Tombstone in the rain, which has been as much of a relentless force throughout this issue as Tombstone has.  Pardon? I can't hear you. You're too far away. You'll have to speak up. Kev He really is depicted as almost a force of nature here, isn't he? It's such a great character design. It's just a guy in a suit really, but he's still instantly recognisable. Dave Spidey is an everyday hero, so characters like Tombstone make good foes in the everyday hero world, so to speak. Tombstone certainly wouldn't be so effective against say, The Avengers. Kev No, not at all. I've always felt that Spidey works best when he's fighting that little bit above street level, rather than in outer space. Dave I love the panel where Robbie shoots at Tombstone and the way he is lunging forward at him. It makes him look fast, as well as big, which makes him an even more dangerous threat. That panel of Tombstone breaking his back is such an iconic image as well and it always stood out to me.  "…..I'm very flattered that you found me attractive enough to lunge at me,…" Kev It's fantastic. It's so dynamic. The width of Tombstone's stance, the torque on the bear-hug, the angle of Robbie's spine and the expression on both of their faces. Robbie's in complete and utter agony contrasted with Tombstone's sadistic grin. He's taking so much pleasure in it. Crippling Robbie, but making sure not to kill him. Not at this point anyway. He's having way too much fun playing with him to end it all by simply killing him. Although, Robbie’s scream of pain sounding like a "ship’s horn" according to Spidey? That’s a bit odd. I'm not sure about that one. Dave Yeah, just looked at that earlier panel, Robbie the Hornblower? Kev Yeh, it's just a weird thing to compare it too. Dave Haha. Yeah, makes you wonder what type of voice Robbie had? Kev Exactly. Rather than shrieking in pain, he let out a fog horn? Hmmm. Dave He would come in handy for starting boat races on the river. Kev Ha, ha!  "IIYAAAAAAAAHHH." That well known sound of a "ship's horn." Dave Spidey is fashionably late for catching Tombstone. Even the eyes on Spidey's mask look shocked in that closing panel of him looking in disbelief as Robbie lies there with slightly spooky looking eyes. Kev They do actually, yeh. Sal working his magic again, giving expression to a mask that is essentially expressionless. And without it coming across as cartoony too. Now that's skill. Dave I always remember this as one of my favourite issues of Spectacular Spider-Man. It's such an iconic story. Plus, Tombstone was a fresh villain at the time. Kev Yeh, man. This is the start of this Tombstone arc really hitting its stride. It's cracking stuff. It does that trick of having both parts of Peter's life colliding, the professional part of it as Spider-Man, if you could call it a profession, and the personal, private part as Peter Parker. Dave And this is really just the start of the story. There's plenty more to follow with the menace of Tombstone. (D) & (K) Next: 'Kill Zone.'  "Jeepers creepers, where'd ya get those peepers?"
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