The Amazing Spider-Man #158
Amazing Spider-Man #158 delivers the pivotal turning point in the three-part 'Ghost That Haunted Octopus!' arc: the moment Doctor Octopus's own particle accelerator inadvertently resurrects Hammerhead from his spectral state and restores him to full physical form, ending one of the Bronze Age's stranger villain subplots and setting the stage for the three-way brawl that follows in issue #159. The issue also marks a quietly notable first in Spider-Man's toolkit — Peter constructing an improvised web hang-glider mid-freefall, a creative problem-solving flourish that showed writer Len Wein and artist Ross Andru stretching the hero's resourcefulness. As the middle chapter of a tightly plotted arc that paid off two years of dangling continuity from ASM #131, it exemplifies the dense, soap-opera serialization that defined Marvel's mid-1970s style. It also exists as part of Marvel's 1976 thirty-cent regional price-test program, making the variant printing a small piece of publishing history in its own right.
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The issue was written by Len Wein, who was simultaneously serving as Marvel's Editor-in-Chief at the time, with pencil breakdowns by Ross Andru and finished figure inks by Mike Esposito, with Dave Hunt handling background inks. It continues the storyline Wein and Andru had been building since ASM #156, directly resolving threads Gerry Conway had planted in ASM #130–131 (1974). The cover was for years misattributed in reference indexes to Gil Kane and John Romita, but researcher Nick Caputo corrected the credits in 2012 to Ross Andru and Frank Giacoia. Marv Wolfman — Wein's successor as EIC — received a tongue-in-cheek in-issue credit as 'lab technician,' a collegial inside joke common in Marvel's bullpen era.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Title: 'Hammerhead Is Out!' — Part 2 of the 3-part arc 'The Ghost That Haunted Octopus!' spanning Amazing Spider-Man #156–159.
- Central story event: Doctor Octopus's particle accelerator, intended to destroy Hammerhead's ghost, instead restores Hammerhead to his physical, corporeal body — ending his spectral existence that dated back to the nuclear explosion in ASM #131 (April 1974).
- First recorded use of a web hang-glider by Spider-Man: Peter constructs one mid-freefall to steer himself safely back to Manhattan, a new improvised application of his webbing.
- Creative team: Script by Len Wein; pencil breakdowns by Ross Andru; figure inks by Mike Esposito; background inks by Dave Hunt; cover by Ross Andru and Frank Giacoia (cover credits were historically misattributed to Gil Kane and John Romita and corrected in 2012).
- Published July 1976 (on-sale April 13, 1976); Len Wein served as both writer and Editor-in-Chief; Marv Wolfman received an in-issue joke credit as 'lab technician.'
- Supporting cast appearances (cameo level): Mary Jane Watson, Glory Grant, Robbie Robertson, and J. Jonah Jameson all appear as Peter navigates his civilian life while searching for the kidnapped Aunt May.
- A 30-cent cover-price variant of this issue was produced as part of Marvel's 1976 regional market pricing test, which ran across select U.S. markets from April through August 1976.
- Reprinted in Marvel Tales #135 (January 1982).
Cast · 9 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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Hammerhead tricks Doctor Octopus into freeing him from his disembodied state.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
