Polite Dissent

the early ’90s, Marvel Comics published a series of four loosely connected public service comic books in Canada. Rarely one to turn down a chance to make a buck, these books were republished in the US a short time later with a $1.50 price tag. Today I’m going to take a look at the first of these titles: The Amazing Spider-Man: Skating on Thin Ice. The Script is by Dwayne McDuffie with interior art by Alex Saviuk and Christopher Ivy.

First, look at the cover. That is vintage McFarlane: An uncomfortably posed Spider-Man and webs hanging everywhere! The cover also makes it clear that this book is about a variety of evils: cigarettes, drugs, beer, and apparently test tubes. Todd’s also nice enough to let us know that the comic takes place in Canada by having one of the kids wear an Oiler’s jersey (nevermind that the story takes place in Winnipeg, not Edmonton).

As the story begins, Spidey busts in on Electro. Because he’s a villain, Electro fights unfairly and manages to defeat the “Arach-Knight.” Using those clever detective skills that he has, Spider-Man finds one of Electro’s shipping invoices that just happens to mention the destination of Winnipeg. Peter Parker than convinces Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson to send him as a reporter/photographer to Winnipeg to cover a science fair (because apparently there are no science fairs in America, and Daily Bugle readers demand to know the results of Canadian science fairs).

Peter arrives in Winnipeg and travels to the hockey rink to interview one of the science fair competitors who also plays on the local junior hockey team. There, he encounters one of the oldest cliches in comics, the WBM (Wise Black Man) [UPDATE: see note below], who explains that Alan, the team’s star player, has been slacking off lately (sound familiar?)

Spider-Man follows the team members after practice is over and discovers Alan accepting beer, drugs, and cigarettes (but no test tubes) from a gang of local toughs. Spidey swings by and grabs Alan; he shows him the seamy and dangerous side of drugs. Naturally, Spider-Man runs afoul of Electro again, but with Alan’s help (a well-aimed slap shot, of course), Spidey triumphs. Electro’s mysterious lackey escapes though, and Spider-Man decides to stay a bit longer in Canada to track him down.

NOTE: Dwayne McDuffie points out that the character is not a cliche at all, but instead is Herb Carnegie, a famous black hockey player (see his Wikipedia entry here).
He is correct and the character is clearly identified as Carnegie in the story…and I missed it entirely (that’s him smiling from the back in the panel at the end). Mea Culpa