Amazing Spider-Man #96

[iamrman]

Writer: Stan Lee

Pencils: Gil Kane

Inks: John Romita, Sr.

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Norman Osborn is feeling funny.

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“Freaked out cat?” Oh, no. This is turning into a Bob Haney comic! Run for your lives!

Norman continues to feel out of it after the show. Performance art makes me feel the same.

Comments

[blues32]

Ah, we're getting to the issue that directly challenged the comic book code, if I'm not mistaken.

[tcampbell1000]

I wonder about the use of the word "lover" in these old Stan Lee comics, like the way Mary Jane addresses Harry here. I strongly doubt Lee meant to imply anything salacious by it. If you read with a fevered imagination, it's just barely conceivable that MJ and Harry could have knocked boots off-panel*--but "lover" is a term MJ uses to refer to Peter too, IIRC, and there's no way that they were getting it on before their airport kiss.

And to my knowledge, nobody's implied that Mary Jane and Harry went any further than dates on the town and some public kissing. Plus, Lee also said that he usually had no problem staying within the Comics Code's guidelines because he tended to think in somewhat tame terms anyway.

But then why use the term? Did this term have a looser definition in the 1960s, the way people use "honey" or "sweetheart" now? Or was MJ meant to be enough of a flirt that she'd use such a term "in advance" and let the boys fantasize about making it a reality? Her other favorite pet name, "tiger," has a similar implication, and she used that one when she met Peter. Just before the airport kiss, MJ would laugh and tell Peter, "I call you 'tiger' 'cause you're not!"

Mostly I just wonder if young women in the Sixties really were calling their boyfriends "lover" as a cute nickname and nothing else. Songs of the era used the term a lot-- "Hey Lover" and "Dream Lover" are the two most obvious examples--but I always assumed the term carried sexual significance in those. And I can't imagine someone using it today without that significance, unless it's part of a phrase like "film lover." I find it fascinating how words like this can change over time, sometimes becoming more weighted with meaning--and sometimes less.

*Hey, at least it's a more believable hookup than Gwen and Norman.

[thanekos]

" I know where it's at. " - Norman Osborn

[scorntx]

All the drama with Gwen has left Peter's brain so scrambled he can't tell what to do when a gal expresses interest in him.

(not cool of MJ to be doing that while she's going out with Harry.
Distinctly uncool.)

"I've a hunch MJ is bad for him. If they keep it up, they might end up in a long-term relationship! Or worse, married, financially secure, with emotionally stable kids!"

... okay, right now MJ doesn't come across as too great, flighty at best, but somehow she still seems like she can't be any worse a potential romantic partner than "No Middle Gears" Gwen.
She's certainly less prone to pyrotechnics.
(Or Peter could just consider not dating for a while. Seems like it'd save him a lot of hassle.
... oh, wait. The 60s. A young man not dating must have something wrong with him.
And the drama must flow.)