“Oh god” – Henry, every few seconds this episode.
A Sandman and a Hydro-Man walk into a bar, and what follows is the deepest of shames from the void itself. We’ve got Travis Rave, a cavalcade of King Kong references, the worst Broadway musical of all time and the most confusing sentence in history.
This edition of Weird Lore Bullshit Corner covers The Amazing Spider-Man #217-218, as well as a look back at the origin of Flint Marko/William Baker/Sandman.
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Further podcast notes
This podcast episode covers The Amazing Spider-Man #217-218 (1981), which were written by Denny O’Neil and had art by John Romita Jr and Jim Mooney.
After his first appearance a few issues back, Hydro-Man returns, after rain fell into a nearby water tank.
Meanwhile, Sandman is moaning to Sadie about his recent ass-kickings (prior to his eventual turn to heroism), when Morrie turns up at the dive bar…
He’s not too happy about seeing his lady with another guy…
They end up getting in a fight over her…
And that’s when they both realise that they’re coincidentally two super-powered Spider-Man villains.
They reconcile for a brief period, in which they start looting random good to impress ol’ Sadie. Weirdly, she’s into it.
And invites them back to her apartment for a… three way? I mean, what else is going to happen here?
They end up fighting again, so Spider-Man crashes in to intervene.
That’s when he gets in this one-liner on Hydro-Man. An incredible one, I might add.
They eventually team up to take down the costumed hero, at which point he uses the strategy of kicking large wooden crates at their heads.
The battle eventually finds its way to the docks, where they both lunge at him, leaving him to jump out the way and let them crash into each other.
Leading to a collision and a crash into the stormy seas.
This issue ends on a cliffhanger as the newly-cristened Mud-Thing lumbers out of the water amidst the storm… and Spider-Man has no clue how to deal with it.
That brings us to issue 218
Spidey, ever the go-getter, tries to nab a few pics to make some dough out of this sci-fi debacle.
When he tries to attack it, he quickly realises that he doesn’t have a chance.
He later tries to sell the photos to the Daily Bugle, but Jonah isn’t having any of it – especially given how unclear these stormy silhouettes are.
The Mud-Thing heads for Sadie and Spidey intervenes – only to find that it’s not actually threatening her.
In one of the oddest parts of the comic, Matt Murdock (Daredevil) makes an appearance as the legal representative for… Mud-Thing. He argues they constitute a new individual and should be placed under the care of Sadie. It flies, somehow.
Sadie meats Travis Rave, a sleazy manager type who brings her into the world of show biz – with the Mud-Thing in tow.
Merely a week later and Sadie is on Broadway.
That’s when the unbelievably Mud-Thing is revealed to the world, with a little cape to go with it. This is where the King Kong vibes start coming in strong.
Unfortunately, Sadie plants a kiss on Travis Rave – close enough for The Mud-Thing to see, with the rage of two jilted lovers turning its eyes red and starting a rampage.
It breaks out and takes Sadie (eat your heart out, Kong). It begins to climb a skyscraper but it doesn’t take too long before it’s brought down – and not even by Spider-Man.
Helicopters release gas, which dries him out and leaves him to crumble.
Spider-Man is there to save Sadie (according to Henry, he should’ve left her to save herself) and stop some falling debris from hurting any other bystanders.
Then the NYPD just sweep him up to dumb him elsewhere. Later, the two dudes will go their own separate ways and never speak of this incident ever again.
Dump ‘im in the trash, boys!
Spider-Man points out the obvious. And while it might seem like a tactless thing to say after the apparent death of two men, it’s Travis Rave who crosses the line the furthest – talking movie deals before the sand has dried.
Thanks, Spidey.
That’s all for this week, folks. If you missed last week’s episode – be sure to check it out here.
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