The Amazing Spider-Man #73
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAmazing Spider-Man #73 is the birthplace of two of Spider-Man's most durable organized-crime antagonists: Silvio Manfredi, the Maggia don known as Silvermane, and his enforcer Man-Mountain Marko. Their debut deepened Spider-Man's rogues' gallery beyond costumed supervillains, giving the book a genuine mob-thriller dimension that would fuel decades of street-level storytelling across multiple Marvel titles. The issue also marks the pivot point of the celebrated 'Petrified Tablet Saga' — an eight-issue arc beginning in ASM #68 — at which the tablet MacGuffin passes from the Kingpin's orbit into the hands of the Maggia, raising the organizational sophistication of Marvel's underworld and presenting what one contemporary analyst called the closest Marvel had come to depicting a true Mafia-style crime family at that point in the industry's history. The social-commentary subtext woven through the Robbie and Randy Robertson scenes further distinguished the Lee–Romita run as one willing to engage real-world tensions within a superhero framework.
In "The Web Closes!", Spider-Man faces off against Man-Mountain Marko, Silvermane’s enforcer, in a high-stakes clash as the crime boss seeks an ancient tablet previously pursued by the Kingpin. With tension mounting and multiple forces closing in, Spidey must rely on his wits and agility to outmaneuver a growing threat. Written by Stan Lee, John Romita, and John Buscema, with art by Buscema and Jim Mooney and letters by Sam Rosen, the issue’s cover by John Romita captures the intensity of the moment.
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The issue was plotted collaboratively by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., with John Buscema brought in as layout artist — a pairing that was, by all contemporary accounts, driven by Romita's mounting workload as Marvel's all-purpose art director rather than by editorial design. Buscema handled breakdowns while Jim Mooney executed the finished pencils and inks; Romita supplied the cover and served in the credited role of 'innovator.' In a candid admission later quoted in American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1960s, Romita confessed that he and Lee had no predetermined endpoint for the Tablet Saga when it launched, and that Silvermane was not even conceived until the saga was already seven issues deep — the character was essentially invented on deadline to give the arc a climactic third act.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First appearance of Silvermane (Silvio Manfredi), aging Maggia crime boss and one of Spider-Man's longest-running criminal nemeses, created by Stan Lee and John Buscema.
- First appearance of Man-Mountain Marko (Michael Marko), Silvermane's top lieutenant and a superhuman-strength enforcer affiliated with the Maggia, created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr.
- First appearance of Caesar Cicero, the Silvermane family's legal counsel and internal rival within the Maggia hierarchy.
- Story title: 'The Web Closes!' — the first chapter of a three-issue Silvermane sub-arc (ASM #73–75) that concludes the larger Petrified Tablet Saga spanning ASM #68–77.
- Art credits: plot by John Buscema and John Romita Sr.; script by Stan Lee; layouts by John Buscema; finished art by Jim Mooney; cover by John Romita Sr.; letters by Sam Rosen.
- The issue also features a notable scene in which Robbie Robertson and his son Randy debate race and opportunity — part of Stan Lee's ongoing effort to weave social commentary into the book's supporting-cast subplots.
- The story was reprinted in Marvel Tales #54 (October 1974). The full Tablet Saga, including this issue, has been collected in the Marvel Epic Collection: The Secret of the Petrified Tablet. Silvermane has appeared across multiple animated series (1981 Spider-Man cartoon, 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and the 2017 animated series) and received a live-action portrayal by Brendan Gleeson in the 2026 Amazon Prime Video series Spider-Noir.
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Reprints
Reprinted in HIP Classics #19128 (1969), Hit Comics #128 (1969), Marvelserien #35 (1970), Secrets of the Unknown #123 (1971), L'étonnant Spider-Man #6 (1971), Marvel Tales #54 (1974), Spider-Man Comics Weekly #86 (1974), Spider-Man Comics Weekly #87 (1974), Strange #70 (1975), El Hombre Araña / El Asombroso Hombre Araña #67 (1981), Une Aventure de l'Araignée #31 (1987), Spider-Man Comics Magazine #6 (1987), Spider-Man Comics Magazine #7 (1988), L'Uomo Ragno Classic #22 (1992), Edderkoppens kamp mod Sølvmanke #[1995] (1995), The Essential Spider-Man #4 (2000), Spiderman de John Romita #30 (2001), The Essential Spider-Man #4 [Third Edition] (2011), Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man #8 (2014), Spider-Man: The Lifeline Tablet Saga #[nn] (2017), The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus #3 (2017), Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection #5 (2020), Die Spinne #74, El Tony Extraordinario Suplemento [El Fabuloso Hombre Araña] #240 + 3 more
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