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John Romita cover & art; 1st app of Gibbon (Martin Blank); Kraven cameo; Last original Stan Lee story in title until #400; COMIC BOOK IMPACT rating of 6 (CBI)
Cover pencils by John Romita, inks by Frank Giacoia. First appearance of the Gibbon in "The Birth of the Gibbon," script by Stan Lee, pencils by John Romita, inks by John Romita and Tony Mortellaro; Inspired by Spider-Man's example, misfit Marty Blank dons an ape costume and plans to fight crime as the Gibbon, but Spider-Man mocks him, leaving him vulnerable to someone who plans to take advantage of the situation. Reprinted in Marvel Tales #89. Letter to the editor from David Michelinie, who would later write Spider-Man himself.


Artists Information

Frank Giacoia (July 6, 1924 – February 4, 1988) was an American comics artist known primarily as an inker. He sometimes worked under the name Frank Ray, Giacoia made the rounds to almost every Golden Age publisher, notably working on Flash and Batman stories, he also worked at Timely during this period. In the Silver Age Frank worked on many Jack Kirby pages, particularly in Captain America, and he also notably inked the first appearance of the Punisher in AMS #129.

John Romita was one of the driving forces behind Marvel's Silver Age, he took up the reins on Spider-Man following the departure of Steve Ditko with issue #38. Romita's run on Spider-Man would be long and significant, introducing characters including Mary Jane Watson, the Kingpin and many others. He would be a major contributor to the entire Marvel line throughout the 1970s including designing the look of The Punisher.