Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965) – “If This Be My Destiny” – Stan Lee/Steve Ditko
This one starts with the Master Planner’s gang pulling another high-tech robbery. Spider-Man stumbles onto the getaway and tries to stop them, but Master Planner’s efficient network of operatives allows them to get away with the loot and bring it to his underwater headquarters. The next day, Peter goes to register for university (not noticing that Aunt May is feeling quite ill), which takes up his whole day. He finally figures out how bad off Aunt May is that night and she ends up in hospital. Naturally,
it’s hard for Peter to concentrate on his studies and he’s so worried about Aunt May that he ignores flash when he tries to introduce him to two people who will be very important in his life going forward: Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn. Meanwhile, Jonah Jameson sends Foswell to find out about the thefts of scientific equipment, which Foswell does as Patch, the police informer. Betty is hedging on accepting Ned Leeds’s marriage proposal until she can talk to Peter, but he’s out looking for crimes to photograph so he can pay Aunt May’s medical bills. He runs into Patch, who directs him to the waterfront where he finds the Master Planner’s gang trying to steal cargo from a ship. He kicks their asses but they escape into the water and he doesn’t get any photos of the fight. Spider-Man is unaware that Aunt May’s tests have come back and she’s dying.
This is a pretty good issue, although it kinda feels like set-up for the next one. We still don’t know who the Master Planner is, but it sounds like he knows Spider-Man. Spidey figures out that Patch is helping the cops, but he still doesn’t know Patch is Foswell in disguise. The fights with Master 
Planner’s gang were cool and it was nice to see Spider-Man come prepared in the second fight, wearing a gas mask under his own mask because they used gas on him in the first fight. On the personal side, Aunt May is deathly ill, Betty is hesitating to marry Ned because she thinks Peter has some big secret he’s hiding, and Peter screws up his first meeting with Harry an Gwen. Harry isn’t happy (and tries to sabotage Peter’s science experiment to make him look bad), but Gwen is immediately attracted to him. In fact, the more he ignores her, the more interested she is. I guess she likes guys who play hard-to-get. We also see Professor Miles Warren for the first time (though he’s not named yet), another character who will become very important in Peter’s life.
Amazing Spider-Man #32 (January 1966) – “Man on a Rampage” – Stan Lee/Steve Ditko
This one starts with the revelation (to us, at least) that the Master Planner is none other than Dr. Octopus. I gotta say, the way they revealed it—on the first page, with no context or fanfare—feels a little underwhelming after all the build-up. Meanwhile, Peter goes to the Daily Bugle and runs into Betty, who presses him to open up to her. He acts like an asshole, mouthing off to her and pushing Ned around so Betty won’t want him anymore, but she sees through his ruse. Later, Peter finds out his aunt is dying because of some radioactive contaminants in her blood. He realizes the transfusion he gave her (in issue 10) must be
the source of the radiation and blames himself for her condition. He figures Curt Connors (who we all remember as the Lizard from issue 6) can help cure Aunt May and by a lucky coincidence, Connors has moved from Florida to New York. Spidey tracks him down and asks for help. Connors mentions a new serum called ISO-36 that might help and Spider-Man tells him to order some, making a quick side trip as Peter Parker to pawn all his lab equipment so he can pay for it. Unfortunately, Dr. Octopus wants the serum too and has his men steal it when it arrives at the airport. Spider-Man freaks out and goes around town beating the shit out of every criminal he 
can find (as well as Frederick Foswell) to get info on the Master Planner. He finally finds the entrance to their underground lair and fights his way through the gang, only to find Dr. Octopus waiting below with the precious serum. Spider-Man fights like a man possessed, knocking Dr. Octopus around and smashing up the place. But his destructive rampage brings the support structure down on top on him, trapping him under a massive pile of steel, with the serum just out of reach. The steel is too heavy to move and the ceiling starts leaking, threatening to give way and flood the whole chamber. You can’t say Stan (or Steve, who probably plotted this story) didn’t have a flair for the dramatic!
This is a great issue even if the fight with Dr. Octopus feels a bit perfunctory. It’s more about ramping up the tension over whether Spider-Man can get
the serum in time to save Aunt May. I love seeing Spidey let loose and pound the shit out of all the crooks while looking for the Master Planner’s hideout, and then do the same thing to the Master Planner’s gang when he finds them. Dr. Octopus has been stealing scientific equipment and radioactive substances to construct some kind of weapons, but Spidey stops that scheme … basically without even meaning to. It was interesting to see Spidey call Dr. Connors for help, since he probably doesn’t know Reed 
Richards or Hank Pym well enough to ask them for help yet. I’m not sure if Connors’s research on reptiles really qualifies him as a blood expert, but I suppose he would’ve studied hematology at least. I’m not sure why Peter doesn’t tell Betty about Aunt May; Betty does know her and could probably help Peter get through it, but maybe he doesn’t want to spend any more time around her since it’s obvious their relationship can’t go anywhere as long as he’s Spider-Man.