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Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #85

on-sale: Mar 19, 1970
Stan Lee | John Buscema

Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #85 cover

Story Name:

The Secret of the Schemer!


Synopsis

Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #85 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

With his wife Vanessa having been seemingly captured by the Schemer last issue, the Kingpin sets off to find her. He quickly finds her in the subbasement, which she claims to have receded to in order to avoid all the fighting. Meanwhile, the Schemer frantically drives off in his special car. He’s deeply affected by Vanessa’s reaction to him, so much so that he ends up crashing the car. With his car too damaged to drive, he aims to acquire new parts from a nearby warehouse. Elsewhere, Peter Parker stresses about not catching the Schemer, when he’s paid a visit by Gwen and Captain Stacy. Captain Stacy is curious as to how Peter seems to be the only one to get quality photos of Spider-Man. Realizing he’s getting too close, Peter slips away, pretending he has photos currently developing in his darkroom, only to return as Spider-Man through the window. He claims that he and Peter have a deal to split the money Peter makes from the photos, and he’s come to collect! Gwen stands up to him, and Spidey leaves, while making sure they spot him watching them head out.

With his drastic ploy a success, Spidey heads out once more to look for the Schemer. Back with the Kingpin, he too wonders how the Bugle was able to get photos of his battle with Spider-Man, when he spots something that enrages him! He confronts Vanessa, showing her one of the paper’s photos that shows her helping the Schemer to escape! She tries to reassure him that she hasn’t betrayed him, but he finds it hard to believe. Meanwhile, Spidey finds the Schemer’s broken down car and follows the nearby footprints to find the Schemer himself in a nearby warehouse. Spidey confronts the Schemer and finds his opponent outfitted with several concealed weapons. The Schemer eventually surprises Spidey with a smoke bomb and tries to make a break for it. We then cut back to Gwen and Captain Stacy, who had decided to return to Peter’s apartment, only to find it empty, thinking that Spider-Man may have captured Peter!

Back with Spidey, he diffuses the smoke and catches the Schemer after he’s knocked out of the window. Spidey quickly swings him over to the address given on the reward poster but immediately feels like something isn’t quite right. His suspicions are confirmed when all the exits are blocked off and the Kingpin reveals himself as the one who set the reward. Kingpin drops a steel cable net on Spidey and confronts the Schemer about his connection to his wife. The Schemer recounts the story of a young man who discovered what his father really did for a living. This young man faked his death and decided to don a new disguise in order to take down his father’s criminal enterprise. The Kingpin doesn’t believe him until the Schemer removes his mask, revealing himself to indeed be Richard Fisk! This shocks the Kingpin into a near catatonic state, giving Spidey the opportunity to escape his bonds. Spidey leaves the broken family, feeling this has been ample punishment, unsure whether he’ll cross paths with the Kingpin again!


Characters
Good (or All)
CAPSTACY
GSTACY
SPIDERMAN

Enemies
KINGPIN
Plus: Schemer (Richard Fisk), Vanessa Fisk.

> Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) comic book info and issue index



This comic is in the following collection:
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Collecting AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #68-85 and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (1964) #5.
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Main/1st Story Full Credits

John Buscema
Jim Mooney
Unknown
John Romita (Cover Penciler)
John Romita (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Layouts: John Romita. Letterer: Sam Rosen.



Review / Commentaries


Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #85 Review by (May 14, 2025)

Review: The Schemer’s identity is revealed in the conclusion to this little story arc! After a few hints the last few issues, he’s revealed to be none other than the Kingpin’s son, Richard Fisk! The Kingpin does not take this well, essentially being shocked into a catatonic state, which could explain why it takes a bit longer for him to show up again. This confirmation marks the first of Richard Fisk’s costumed identities, but it won’t be the last (or most famous). Peter also enacts a crazy ploy to divert Captain Stacy’s suspicions about his identity, showing up as Spidey and claiming that and he has a deal with Peter to split the money Peter makes from his photos. This ploy seems to work, although a big moment with Captain Stacy a few issues from now will throw this into question. It at least fools Gwen, who to her credit actually stands up to Spidey, which is pretty brave considering she doesn’t know she’s in no danger. There’s also a weird little tidbit when Schemer hits Spidey with a smoke grenade. Spidey claims that smoke grenades tend to dull his spider-sense, which generally isn’t the case unless it’s something like Mysterio’s modified smoke. It doesn’t even really give him that much trouble in this issue, so I’ll chalk it up to a weird Stan inclusion.

Comments: The Schemer is confirmed to be Richard Fisk, marking this the first of his costumed identities.





Thor

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