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Amazing Spider-Man #27

Aug 1965
Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Story Name:

Bring Back My Goblin to Me!


Synopsis

Amazing Spider-Man #27 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars
Image from Amazing Spider-Man #27

Starting right off from last issue, the Green Goblin, with an unconscious Spider-Man, has crashed the Crime-Master’s takeover meeting! Goblin orders some goons to chain up Spider-Man, as they still struggle to remove his mask. Having brought a defeated Spider-Man, the Goblin is now the criminals’ choice to lead them, as he plans to unmask Spider-Man before finishing him off for good! Patch, the stoolie from last issue, hopes that the police got his tip and that they arrive soon. Spider-Man comes to and is able knock away the goons holding him, even while chained. Spidey then flips out of the way of both Goblin’s finger blasts and Crime-Master’s gunshot, causing them to narrowly miss each other. A bunch of the goons pile on Spidey as he continues to resist when suddenly three police officers arrive to help round up the goons!

Spidey breaks free from his chains, as he dodges around the Goblin’s and Crime-Master’s attacks once again. Spidey sets his camera up on a rafter before jumping down to help the police, who are being overrun by the goons. Spidey helps them turn the tide, webbing them up, but the frantic action causes his cheap costume to start to come loose again. Fixing his costume and once again avoid attacks from the big threats, Spidey webs up the remaining crooks and attempts to web up the Green Goblin, who makes a strategic retreat. Knowing Goblin will be too fast to catch, Spidey chases after the Crime-Master instead, avoiding his shots as they make their way under the pier. The Crime-Master heads through a large pipe, spraying some nerve gas behind him, so as not to be followed. Spidey circumvents this by crafting a web helmet to conserve air and make it through the cloud. Spidey eventually escapes the tunnel and finds himself right in the middle of the city’s sewer system, with the Crime-Master having escaped in any number of directions.

Spidey checks that the police have rounded up all of the goons before heading once again to Frederick Foswell’s apartment, thinking he must be the key to all of this. While there, Spidey finds his abandoned spider-tracer and a false compartment in Foswell’s closet, which he surmises could store either a Goblin costume or a Crime-Master disguise! Spider-Man makes his way to the Bugle, while being unknowingly followed by the Crime-Master from a distance! Spidey arrives at the Bugle and warns J. Jonah Jameson that he believes Foswell is either the Green Goblin or the Crime-Master! Foswell then arrives himself, and denies being a criminal any longer. Meanwhile, on a rooftop across the street, the Crime-Master is watching over everyone, planning to take Spider-Man, Jameson, and Foswell out at once, when he is suddenly cornered by the police. From inside, the three hear a gunshot and Foswell tells them that it’s the end of the Crime-Master!

On the rooftop, the police have fatally shot the Crime-Master, who dies just as he’s about to reveal the Green Goblin’s identity! Betty Brant then enters with police in tow, there to thank Foswell for all his help. As Spider-Man and Jameson stand there confused, Foswell reveals that he figured out who the Crime-Master was, Nick “Lucky” Lewis, having known him during the time that Foswell was the Big Man! Foswell reveals that he knew that Lewis had it out for him and acted as bait for the police to catch him! Spider-Man heads out, his costume once again coming apart, as he remembers he forgot to pick up his camera from where he left it! Spider-Man returns to find that his camera is missing, before falling into the river, having sensed someone else coming. Turns out, it was just a bunch of kids, who were the ones who had his camera, as they return it to him.

As Spidey swings home, the cheap costume starts to shrink and he finally has had enough of it, changing back to Peter Parker. After developing his photos, Peter decides to sell them to another paper for a change, taking them to the Daily Globe. There, the editor, Barney Bushkin, happily buys the photos from Peter, but Peter finds him too pushy, ironically preferring Jameson! When the Daily Globe releases, Jameson ends up seeing the photos and thinks they look an awful lot like Peter’s work, deciding to try and charm him back. Back at home, Peter resigns himself to having to sew a new Spidey costume. Aunt May then comes home in a sad mood, and Peter suggests they go out to a movie together, to cheer her up, deciding his costume can wait. We then cut to Foswell disposing of his secret outfit, revealing that he was Patch, the informant, the whole time! Our issue ends with the obscured Green Goblin back at his lair, promising to get his revenge on Spider-Man, planning to strike when he least suspects it!


 

Review / Commentaries


Amazing Spider-Man #27 Review by (February 7, 2024)

Review: The Crime-Master’s reign comes to end! A whole two issues, what a tenure! In all seriousness, this was a cool issue with an interesting change of pace, in that most of the climactic action stuff happens at the beginning of the issue, being part 2 of a two-parter. A lot of the rest of the issue is kind of the wind down, including the Crime-Master’s demise. He goes out a little anti-climactically, getting shot off screen by the police, but he was never really that big a threat to begin with. I do like the twist that he was just a random mobster, rather than anyone we knew. Not all mysteries have climactic, satisfying answers, as Spidey himself notes. After suspecting Foswell the past couple issues, turns out Foswell was really working to help the police catch the Crime-Master, as Spidey is amusingly in the dark about everything for most of this story.

My big issue is that last issue the Crime-Master mentioned having proof of the Goblin’s identity in a vault somewhere. This caused the Goblin to hold back on killing him, as the Crime-Master threatened that the info would be made public if he died. Well, he died, and that part seems to have been completely forgotten about. Now he could have been bluffing about the vault, but he DID actually know the Goblin’s identity, dying before getting it out, so it would be weird if he was. And if he wasn’t, well I guess Stan and Steve just forgot about that part, as no one ever mentions it, and the Goblin doesn’t seem concerned about it. Oops. Although a lot of the cool stuff happens in the first half, the second half still has notable moments too. Peter sells his photos to another paper for the first time, and there’s a very sweet moment with Peter taking Aunt May out to a movie to cheer her up. Overall, though not as suspenseful as last issue, it was a solid ending to this little two-parter, with promises of the Goblin’s return in the future!

Comments: Death of the original Crime-Master. First appearance of Barney Bushkin and his paper, the Daily Globe. Peter sells his photos to another paper for the first time.




> Amazing Spider-Man comic book info and issue index

Elektra

This comic is in the following collection:
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Collecting AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #20-28 and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (1964) #2.

Excelsioring your collection:
Diamond Select Toys Green Goblin Deluxe Gallery Diorama Wall-Mountable PVC Figure
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Preview Pages




Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stan Goldberg
Steve Ditko (Cover Penciler)
Steve Ditko (Cover Inker)
Stan Goldberg (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Plot: . Letterer: Art Simek.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Green Goblin
Green Goblin

(Norman Osborn)
J. Jonah Jameson
J. Jonah Jameson

(JJ Jameson)
May Parker
May Parker

(Aunt May)
Spider-Man
Spider-Man

(Peter Parker)

Plus: Barney Bushkin, Crime-Master (Nick Lewis), Frederick Foswell (Big Man).