Title: The Amazing Spider-Man - Spirits Of The Earth
Marvel Graphic Novel: 63
Release Date: January 1990
Highlights
- First appearance of Dark Mairi Of The Shore, Alan Sinclair, Hugh Monro Jr., Duncan Munro, and the robber Louis
- First appearance and death of Sir Hugh Munro, and Angus Munro
- First appearance of Castle Duncraig
- Beautiful artwork by Charles Vess fills each page from cover to cover - worth reading just for that alone (but see low points and oddities)
- After breaking up a petty robbery as Spider-Man, Peter high tails it to a restaurant to meet Aunt May for dinner
- Peter inform her that a Mrs. McLeod has passed away, and left her home in Scotland to Mary Jane, and that the two are taking a second honeymoon of sorts to head out there
- The letter from Mrs. McLeod explains that she hopes Mary Jane will love the property, and not give in to the developers who are trying to purchase all the surrounding land
- In Scotland, as Mary Jane plays pool against Angus Munro, Peter is regaled with a tale by Sir Hugh Munro of the faeiries and a kidnapping his grandsonson, Hugh Munro Jr.
- As Mary Jane returns to Peter's side, she mocks the ghost story of the townsmen
- Mairi enters the tavern, and informs them all that their fears of the faeries have made them all fools
- Spider-Man heads to the castle to investigate everything, and while there hears howling, which alerts him to some ghosts wandering about outside
- A ghost with a sword spots him, and floats upwards towards him, attacking
- The ghost then gets larger, and literally blows Spider-Man and the castle tower wall down
- Mary Jane is accosted by Angus in the kitchen while making tea
- Fortunately, Sir Hugh breaks it up
- The next morning, Peter heads out to visit Mairi, who tells him she will answer all of his questions
- She explains about the magic still feeding the land, despite developers trying to cover it with concrete and steel
- That night, everyone is meeting about selling their land to the developers
- Mary Jane apparently gave Sir Hugh some city spunk to speak out against the sale, but he bites his tongue at the last minute
- Despite this, Alan Sinclair speaks out about it, stating that this is his and their home, and has been for a long time
- He questions where they will all go if they sell their land
- The ghosts reappear, but disappear again in a firework explosion, drawing attention to Spider-Man on the rooftops
- The people think he's a demon, and give chase
- Mairi is able to calm the mob, and tells them she will do away with all the ghosts that evening
- When they disperse tells Spider-Man she knows who he really is, and tells both him and Mary Jane they will be needed this night
- She directs Spider-Man to the castle, and takes Mary Jane with her, stating her youthful energy will be needed to bring him back safely
- In the castle, Spider-Man tracks down a running generator, and in doing so, deduces the ghosts are just holograms that can't hurt him
- His theory is tested and proven almost instantly by a ghost which appears
- Spider-Man follows his spidey senses down a drain inside the castle, and comes across a hidden base
- He overhears some Hellfire Knights talking about how command has gotten tired of waiting for the people to willingly sell, so they'll be making a physical move against the people
- Spider-Man is spotted on camera trying to infiltrate the place, and the whole station goes on alert
- He's subdued by a sound magnification device which renders him unconscious, and when he awakens, he's imprisoned with Sir Hugh
- The prison is surrounded by an energy wall, which Spider-Man says they better not touch, only to learn that Sir Hugh already has, and his hand is all mutilated from doing so
- Angus Munro is behind it all, having learned that an ancestor, Duncan Munro was part of the Hellfire Club, and disowned by the people
- Angus found a powerful crystal buried deep in the land, and thus orchestrates everyone giving it up to take ownership of it with the Hellfire Club
- Angus informs Hugh that they have grown tired of waiting on everyone to leave of their own accord, and will kill everyone tomorrow
- Angus is also who kidnapped Hugh Munro Jr., and brings the boy out to die in front of his grandfather, but doesn't get the chance to carry his deed out
- Above ground, Mairi embraces Mary Jane, and begins to chant, awakening the Earth, which begins to crumble, sending giant rocks down on the cavernous base below
- The destruction kills the power to the cell holding Spider-Man and Hugh
- While battling the Hellfire Knights, Spider-Man dodges gunfire which strikes Hugh, as he lies dying, he gives Spider-Man his ring, telling him to give it to his grandson
- After being defeated by Spider-Man, Angus deems himself weak, and commits suicide by jumping off a cliff
- Mary Jane tells young Hugh he can live in her cottage until his castle is rebuilt
- Ghosts and land developers? This reads like an episode of Scooby-Doo
- The (mostly) great artwork can't save this story (see oddities) - It's incredibly long (over 80 pages), and boring
- Why are the long ones always the boring ones?
- The mystical elements of Mairi seem out of place and unnecessary
- With tighter editing, this story could have still gone from point A to B without the supernatural element, and been shorter too
- If not for the (mostly) great artwork, I would have given this book zero Stans
- After initially seeing the artwork, I was sad that I didn't get this book signed by Charles Vess
- After reading it, I no longer have that desire
- Vess also wrote the story
- I stayed up way past my bedtime to read this one because I knew if I put it down that I wouldn't want to come back to it
Oddities
- Mary Jane has been left a property in Scotland, but when they arrive they stay in a room they've rented from someone else in a tavern?
- Editor's Day Off: Spider-Man says to himself, "Hope there aren't any side passages off this tunnel. A guy could get lost in this place and spen the rest of his life looking for..."
- While most of the art is wonderful, some of it is off, such as this weird drawing of young Hugh Munro Jr., who is just a kid...or is he?
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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