Amazing Spider-Man #5 (October 1963) – “Marked for Destruction by Dr. Doom” – Stan Lee/Steve Ditko
This one starts with J. Jonah Jameson ranting about Spider-Man on TV (so, nothing new). Peter Parker pretends to see some sense in Jonah’s diatribe, just to throw off suspicion about his secret identity. That earns him the scorn of his classmates (like I said, nothing new). But Dr. Doom has also seen Jameson’s show and decides to use Spider-Man as an ally against the Fantastic Four. He uses science to broadcast a call that only Spider-Man can hear, bringing him to Doom’s hideout to assuage his
curiosity. Naturally, Spidey rejects Doom’s offer and takes off, but Doom isn’t finished with him yet. He figures he can use Spider-Man as bait for the FF and quickly whips up a machine to home in on Spidey’s spider-impulses. Luckily for Peter, Flash Thompson and his cronies have decided to play a joke on him by dressing Flash up in a Spider-Man costume and scaring the shit out of him. I would’ve loved to see Peter’s reaction but we don’t get the chance, as Doom’s machine brings him to Peter’s location but he grabs Flash instead, since he’s the one in the Spidey costume. Doom broadcasts a message to the FF saying he’ll kill Spider-Man if they don’t surrender to him. Naturally, Peter knows it’s not the real Spidey Doom has and when he 
finds out it’s Flash, he (briefly) considers leaving him to his fate. But of course he can’t do that, so he tracks Doom down and we get a great fight with Spidey against all of Doom’s high-tech devices (and a even little hand-to-hand between the two). Doom’s experience gives him the edge but before he can finish Spidey off, the FF show up and Doom takes off. So does Spider-Man, leaving the FF to rescue Flash, who they know immediately isn’t the real Spider-Man. Later, Peter figures Flash will look like an asshole after being captured, but he manages to turn things around so he looks like a hero, leaving Peter more frustrated than ever.
This is another classic issue, though it doesn’t feature a classic Spidey foe. But Dr. Doom is so iconic in the Marvel Universe that everyone has to fight him at least once. Spidey does pretty well fighting a guy that’s held his own
against the Fantastic Four more than once. The coincidence of Flash dressing up as Spidey just when Doom tracked the real Spider-Man is a bit of a stretch, but it saves Peter’s secret identity (and maybe his life). I’m not sure why his spider-sense didn’t go off; maybe because Doom wasn’t a direct threat to him at the time? We see the beginnings of the Peter/Betty romance as they team up against Jameson (and it’s interesting to note that Betty has nothing against Spider-Man is these early issues, something that’ll soon change). The fight between Spidey and Doom was great, with Doom throwing everything at Spider-Man, whose powers let him avoid most of it. We get another cameo from the Fantastic Four, which is basically just free advertising for their own title.
Noticeable Things:
- Aunt May is watching Ed Sullivan on TV. If this was modernized, what show would she be watching? America’s Got Talent? She seems to like that variety format.
- Liz phones Peter to ask for his help finding Flash (which is how Peter knows who Doom has really caught), which seems a bit strange since they’re not exactly friends. Maybe she was just phoning everyone in their class out of desperation.
- There’s a flashback scene to Doom’s last defeat by the FF, which I think was in Fantastic Four #17.
Amazing Spider-Man #6 (November 1963) – “Face to Face With the Lizard” – Stan Lee/Steve Ditko
This one starts with the Lizard suddenly appearing in the Florida Everglades and scaring the shit out of everyone down there. The whole country is talking about the human-like reptile (or is that reptile-like human?) and Jameson prints headlines challenging Spider-Man to tackle the Lizard. (Which he admits to Peter is just a tactic to sell papers; Jameson doesn’t even believe the Lizard exists.) But Peter is curious and tries to get Jameson to send him to Florida, something Jameson has zero interest in doing. Peter goes to the museum to learn more about
reptiles, where he runs into Flash and Liz and foils a robbery, saving Liz in the process. Using a bit of trickery, Peter does convince Jameson to send him to Florida to photograph the Lizard, but Jameson insists on going along. Peter manages to slip away and change to Spidey so he can explore the swamps. He gets jumped by the Lizard and finds him a tougher opponent than he’d anticipated. Spidey ends up at the home of world-renowned reptile expert Dr. Curtis Connors and meets the Doc’s wife, Martha, who reveals that the Lizard is actually her husband transformed. She tells Spidey how 
Connors lost an arm in the war and invented a reptile formula to try to grow it back (like real lizards do when their tails are cut off). The formula was too powerful and turned Connors into the Lizard, but he retained enough humanity to try to make an antidote (and to leave before hurting his wife and son, Billy). Some vestige of Connors must remain in the Lizard because he tries to abduct Billy and gets pissed off when Spider-Man stops him. Martha’s voice causes him to retreat and Spidey checks Connors’s notes to finish the cure he started. The Lizard shows up at the lab to steal the original formula (which he plans to use to mutate reptiles into an unstoppable army) and leaves Spider-Man for dead. Spidey takes the cure and tracks Lizard to an old Spanish fort where he has to get past some controlled reptiles to
confront the Lizard himself. After a tough fight, Spider-Man manages to give the Lizard the cure he whipped up and it works, changing Connors back to normal. Spidey brings him home and Connors destroys his notes to end the threat of the Lizard forever (yeah, right). Peter managed to get some photos of the Lizard, but when he gives them to Jameson he says he bought them off an old Indian guide. Jameson figures they’re fake and rips them up, refusing to pay Peter any money for them. Things don’t look much better back home, when Liz decides she’s too good for Peter and Flash because she’s met Spider-Man now.
This is another great early issue that introduces a villain who’ll be around for decades to come. It’s interesting that a lot of these early villains (Lizard, 
Vulture, Sandman) have their origin stories take place before the story starts, off-camera as it were. Spidey’s noble gesture in keeping Connors’s secret doesn’t help him when it comes time to sell the photos, but it does seem like something he would do. I’m not sure why everyone wants Spidey to go after the Lizard instead of the FF or Ant-Man or whoever, but maybe it’s just the effect of Jameson’s constant rants keeping Spidey at the forefront of everyone’s minds (especially in New York). Liz’s first meeting with Spider-Man was cool and it’s funny that she’s so impressed that she now considers Peter and Flash to be unworthy.
Noticeable Things:
- I assume Liz was the one who dragged Flash to the museum, since it doesn’t seem like his kind of place. I guess Liz is more intellectual than she seems (or maybe she’s just really into dinosaurs).
- Flash admits that he sees Peter as a rival for Liz’s affections, which may explain some of his attitude towards Peter.
- Connors is said to have lost his arm in “the war”, but it’s not specified which war. He looks a bit young for World War Ii, so I’m thinking maybe Korea, which would fit with him being in his thirties in 1963.