Amazing Spider-Man #623-624 (2010): 1st Simple Simon

ASpM took a two-issue break from the Gauntlet tie-ins so that Spidey could get laid and Morbius could kill his long-term girlfriend, but now we’re back. This time: Vulture. Only this isn’t the original–it’s the new, red one. Rather than being an old man looking for relevance, he’s a hyper-serious, ultra violent scavenger. He’s not as much fun to read about. But at least we get an opening sequence with the original Electro busting him out of jail. After that, at Sasha Kravinoff’s behind-the-scenes behest, Vulture goes after J. Jonah Jameson and Spidey saves the publisher. It’s a frame-up, where Vulture accuses Jonah of having been responsible for his mutation into a half-bird scavenger, and Peter Parker produces the evidence to clear JJJ’s name. There’s also a brief sequence of Spider-Man capturing minor villain Simple Simon. The villain’s first appearance provides some much-needed comic relief in an otherwise very serious couple issues. But don’t get too excited. He won’t be famous enough to make the Gauntlet II event that inevitably will be out in 10 years, as Marvel always recycles major stories.