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Cover: Gil Kane & Frank Giacoia

The Amazing Spider-Man #104

Name: The Amazing Spider-Man #104
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Jan 1972 · Marvel · 0.20 USD

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“The Beauty and the Brute!”

About this Issue

Amazing Spider-Man #104 closes Roy Thomas's brief but distinctive four-issue run as the first writer other than Stan Lee to helm the flagship title, making it a small but real watershed in Spider-Man editorial history. The two-part Savage Land adventure across #103–104 is Thomas's affectionate, structurally ambitious homage to King Kong — transplanting Spider-Man entirely out of his Manhattan element and into a prehistoric wilderness alongside Ka-Zar and Kraven the Hunter, a tonal experiment that few Spider-Man stories of the era attempted. The issue also carries a quietly significant character beat: Ka-Zar effectively deduces Spider-Man's secret identity through context clues during the rescue of Gwen Stacy, adding another name to the short list of those who learned Peter Parker's secret through circumstance rather than confession. The story's concluding dedication — to the memory of fictional King Kong impresario Carl Denham — is one of the more charming, self-aware tributes to pop culture in early Bronze Age Marvel.

In "The Beauty and the Brute!", Spider-Man teams up with Ka-Zar in the wilds of the Savage Land to confront the dangerous Kraven the Hunter, whose ruthless pursuit of prey has drawn him into a deadly clash with the web-slinger. With Gil Kane’s dynamic art and Frank Giacoia’s sharp inks bringing the jungle menace to life, this 1972 adventure delivers a tense, action-packed showdown between man, monster, and hunter.

writer Roy Thomas · artist Gil Kane · inker Frank Giacoia · letterer Artie Simek · cover Gil Kane, Frank Giacoia

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (Fine) $39

CGC 9.8 · 14 in census $4,144*

CGC 9.6 · 32 in census $431

CGC 9.4 · 61 in census $351

CGC 9.2 · 78 in census $181

CGC 9.0 · 65 in census $181*

CGC 8.5 · 91 in census $141

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CGC 8.0 · 49 in census $88

CGC 7.5 · 43 in census $66

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CGC 5.5 · 17 in census $55*

CGC 5.0 · 17 in census $47

CGC 4.5 · 13 in census $46

CGC 4.0 · 5 in census $45*

CGC 3.5 · 2 in census $37*

CGC 3.0 · 5 in census $33*

CGC 2.5 · 5 in census $25*

CGC 2.0 · 3 in census $22*

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History

Roy Thomas took over Amazing Spider-Man beginning with issue #101, stepping in while Stan Lee transitioned toward his role as Marvel's publisher — making Thomas's run the first sustained stretch of the series written by someone other than its co-creator. Thomas paired with penciller Gil Kane (inked by Frank Giacoia, lettered by Artie Simek, and edited by Lee himself) to craft a Savage Land two-parter across issues #103 and #104, deliberately invoking King Kong as both structural template and explicit homage, with Thomas naming characters and dropping references to Willis O'Brien and Carl Denham throughout. Issue #104 was the final chapter of Thomas's run on the book; Stan Lee returned to write the title beginning with #105, and the series would not see another long-term writer until Gerry Conway took over at #111.

Trivia · 8 facts

Cover-dated January 1972; story title is 'The Beauty and the Brute!' — Part 2 of 2 of the Savage Land arc that began in Amazing Spider-Man #103.
Written by Roy Thomas, pencilled by Gil Kane, inked by Frank Giacoia, lettered by Artie Simek, and edited by Stan Lee.
This is the second and final appearance of Gog (the Tsiln) in this story arc — first introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #103; Gog is an extraterrestrial creature whom Kraven discovered as an infant inside a crashed alien spacecraft in the Savage Land and raised as a weapon.
Issue #104 is the concluding chapter of Roy Thomas's entire run on Amazing Spider-Man — the first sustained writing stint on the series by any writer other than Stan Lee.
Ka-Zar effectively deduces Spider-Man's secret identity during the events of this issue, through emotional context clues rather than direct revelation.
Although Kraven the Hunter and Gog both appear to die at the story's climax — Kraven driven off a cliff by Ka-Zar, Gog sunk in quicksand by Spider-Man — both characters return alive: Kraven in Amazing Spider-Man #111, and Gog in Astonishing Tales #16.
The issue closes with a closing dedication to 'the memory of Carl Denham, entrepreneur' — the fictional showman from the 1933 film King Kong — making Thomas's King Kong homage explicit in the text itself.
Reprinted in Marvel Tales #83 (1977); the two-part arc across issues #103–104 was also reprinted internationally in multiple editions including UK, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, and Scandinavian markets.