Face front, true believers!
This week we’re covering S1E9: ‘The Alien Costume Part Two’.
We’re one step further in the symbiote saga, but while there’s plenty of Breaking Brock to go before he officially activates troll mode, there is enough time to introduce our latest supervillain jobber. The Shocker enters the fray, an after-thought from Alistair Smythe in between takes of his latest sitcom sensation, Fisky & The Smythe.
After our talk about the ninth episode of the series, we look into the origins of Shocker in The Amazing Spider-Man #46, back when he was just a safe cracker (in more ways than one). You know it, dad.
Then, we delve into how Spider-Man loses the symbiote costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #258, and how it returns to screw with his wardrobe in Web of Spider-Man #1.
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Further podcast notes
Here’s the costume test for The Shocker from Spider-Man: Homecoming, which is probably a fake. I’m not sure though since many point to a fan film where the design is a little different from what’s seen in the photos.
Now, let’s move onto some classic issues that we referenced in the podcast.
The Shocker’s first appearance was in The Amazing Spider-Man #46 (1967), drawn by John Romita and written by Stan Lee.
It all kicks off from the very first page.
Not only can he use the vibrations as an offence, but also defence from blows.
Once the fight starts, Spidey is quickly overwhelmed and beaten by the new villain, which may surprise some who know Shocker as a C-lister.
Back at his hideout, The Shocker reminisces about how he went from a safecracker to a supervillain by way of the prison workshop.
He makes a costume that can handle the intense vibrations of his gauntlets.
Meanwhile, Peter has to prove he’s not Spider-Man using web-puppeteering when Frederick Foswell (in his alter ego Patch) follows him to an alley.
Shocker later robs the federal reserve bank, which brings Spider-Man back into the fray for a rematch.
He’s taken down after Spider-Man realises that his gauntlets are thumb-operated.
With the vibrations off, it just takes one punch to down The Shocker.
The Alien Costume
After this we moved onto even more of the origins behind the symbiote costume, starting with The Amazing Spider-Man #258 (1984), written by Tom Defalco, and with art by Ron Frenz.
This follows a cliffhanger when Mary Jane revealed that not only does she know that Peter is Spider-Man – but she’s known for years.
Just as Peter is trying to explain, Black Cat comes in through the window and ruins everything, causing a scene because she gets jealous of MJ (who is just a friend at this point).
After plenty of arguments and storm-outs, Peter falls asleep, but the symbiote has other plans for him.
It takes him out at night, though Peter remains asleep and oblivious – something which has happened repeatedly across the various Spider-Man titles.
He dreams of the black suit fighting for control over him while his old red and blue costume fights back.
This tug of war is adapted into the Animated Series’ dream sequence.
Peter wakes up, and feeling a little nervous about the suit, he heads to the Baxter Building to get a little help from Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four.
Mr. Fantastic runs some tests while the Human Torch watches, and they come to a startling conclusion.
It turns out that the costume is alive (love this panel).
Spidey can’t remove the suit, but thankfully Reed has a sonic blaster on hand to attack one of the few weaknesses of the symbiote.
They trap the symbiote and seal it away.
Johnny Storm, always the prankster, offers Pete a new suit to hide his identity on the trip home. And here we see the tremendous origin of… the amazing bag-man.
He stops a crime on the way, getting some unwanted media attention.
Meanwhile, the symbiote plots its escape from the containment tube.
The symbiote returns in The Web of Spider-Man #1 (1985). This issue is written by Louise Simonson, with cover art by Charles Vess, and the rest of the art by Greg Larocque.
It’s yet another great cover from this saga:
After breaking out, the symbiote hides in Peter’s wardrobe to be accidentally worn once more, hidden in his red and blue costume.
The symbiote takes his body over once again.
Spidey tries to get out of the apartment and to the Baxter Building, but he has a little trouble.
Along the way, he runs into a gang of high-flying crooks called the Vulturions, who he tries to tackle on his way to a nearby bell tower.
They’re perfectly low-tier villains to just get in the way at this point.
He takes the team out, leading the last towards the bell tower so he can get the symbiote off him with the loud sounds.
It does the trick.
A little too well.
The symbiote has an attachment to Peter, so goes back to save his life as the bell tower continues to ring.
At this point, it seems to die. However, we’ll later find out that this was just a disappearing act.
And as for that Spectacular Spider-Man symbiote Spidey vs the Sinister Six, here it is (in three parts):
That’s all for this week’s edition of the podcast. If you missed out on it, you can check out our last podcast right here.
That '90s Spider-Man Show 