The Amazing Spider-Man #51
Amazing Spider-Man #51 is a double-barreled Silver Age milestone: it delivers the Kingpin's second appearance — and his first cover appearance — cementing Wilson Fisk's imposing visual identity in the minds of readers just one issue after his debut, while simultaneously introducing Joe 'Robbie' Robertson to the Daily Bugle cast. Robertson's arrival was historically significant well beyond the Spider-Man title: as one of the first Black characters in mainstream superhero comics to occupy a serious, recurring supporting role rather than a token or comedic one, he represented a quiet but meaningful step toward diversity in the medium. The issue also closes the chapter on Frederick Foswell, a Lee-Ditko-era holdover, marking a deliberate generational turnover in Spider-Man's supporting world as the Lee-Romita era fully hit its stride.
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Issue #51 arrived as Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. were kicking off their second full year as the title's creative team, having taken over from Steve Ditko beginning with issue #39 in August 1966. The book was produced under the 'Marvel Method,' with Lee providing the plot framework and Romita handling the visual storytelling; Romita has confirmed in interviews that it was his own decision to make Robertson a Black man when Lee simply requested a new Daily Bugle editor, and that he privately developed an entire backstory for the character that Lee never used. Mike Esposito inked the issue under the house pseudonym 'Mickey Demeo,' a common practice he used to conceal his Marvel moonlighting from his primary employer, DC Comics.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Second appearance of the Kingpin (Wilson Fisk), introduced one issue earlier in ASM #50 (July 1967) by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr.
- First cover appearance of the Kingpin — Romita's composition showing a defeated, kneeling Spider-Man surrounded by Fisk and his thugs established the character's visual dominance for decades.
- First appearance of Joe 'Robbie' Robertson (Daily Bugle city editor), one of the first Black characters in mainstream superhero comics to serve as a recurring, substantive supporting character rather than comic relief.
- Robertson appears in only a single, unnamed panel in this issue; he would be named and expanded in subsequent issues.
- Death of Frederick Foswell (the Big Man), a villain introduced in the Steve Ditko era (ASM #10), who is killed by the Kingpin's henchmen — marking the symbolic close of a Ditko-era subplot.
- First direct confrontation between Spider-Man and the Kingpin; the Kingpin defeats Spider-Man using knockout gas concealed in his tie pin, ending the issue on a cliffhanger.
- Written and edited by Stan Lee; penciled and covered by John Romita Sr.; inked by Mike Esposito (credited as 'Mickey Demeo'); lettered by Sam Rosen; published August 10, 1967.
- Reprinted in Marvel Tales #36 (August 1972).
Cast · 12 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Spider-Man is back and starts interfering with Kingpin's criminal activities. Kingpin recruits shady reporter Foswell and kidnaps J. Jonah Jameson. Spider-Man intervenes, but is exposed to gas which renders him helpless at the Kingpin's feet.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
