Finally getting back to the Roger Stern Omnibus commentary. This time, I dive into PPSS 54: “To Save the Smuggler”
Page 1: A shootout on the street causes Spidey to make a passing reference to Police Surgeon (a TV show way before my time … I had to look it up to see what it was).
Page 2: Spidey rips one of those annoying temporary steel plate things from the road … something I wanna do every time I drive over one of the damn things.
Page 3: A bad guy says, “Why don’t we just ice him now?” I wish bad guys still talked like that. It would be awesome.
Page 4: A bystander that’s a little too close to gunfire says, “Oh, my golly.” I’m glad people no longer talk like that.
Page 9: A reference to what’s going on currently in Amazing Spidey. It’d be cool to see stuff like that again.
Page 13: Spidey takes the time to web a guy’s mouth to keep him from talking. Turns out later the guy is a mute. An awesome gag by Stern.
Page 14: Spidey turns a guy’s head to a 90 degree angle when he punches him. How he’s still alive, I’ll never know.
Last page: Just when it looks like the story will end with the usual bad Parker luck, Spidey turns the situation around. A neat way to turn the formula on its ear.
Superheroes in Prose Volume 11: The Princess of Atlantis on sale soon