One of the most famous sequences in Spidey history is from the original “Amazing Spider-Man #33,” the conclusion of the Master Planner story. Spider-Man, buried under a hunk of machinery, gives himself a pep talk while he hoists it off himself. He’s saying something like, “Anyone can be a hero when things are going well. It’s when the going gets tough yada yada,” something like that. Problem is, I don’t have the issue or a reprint handy, and I need it for an article I’m writing. Does anyone more organized than I am (which is pretty much anybody) have the exact dialogue I’m ham-handedly summarizing? I don’t need the caption narrative; just what Spidey was saying to get himself stoked.
Thanks in advance.
PAD
• 
No problem PAD:
From ASM 33, Pages 4 and 5:
The Crack in the ceiling — it’s growing wider — getting bigger every second! I’ll never make it — I can’t —
NO! I dare not give up now! If I close my eyes — I’ll go under! Must stay awake — must clear y head! Keep trying — trying–!
I’ll DO it, Aunt May! I won’t fail you! No matter what — I won’t fail –!
ANYONE can win a fight — when the odds are easy! It’s when the going’s tough — when there seems to be no chance — THAT’S when — it count’s
Everything going black — my head — aching –! Hold on — I must HOLD ON — !
It’s MOVING! Can’t stop now! Last chance! Must keep the momentum — MORE! Just a little MORE –!
I DID it!
I’m FREE!
Here’s the dialogue you’re looking for.
(Caption) –While Spider-Man himself, having beated his multi-armed foe, is now trapped beneath tons of fallen steel– with the precious serum lying just out of reach, as the fatal seconds tick by…
I’ve failed! Just now– when it counted the most– I’ve failed!
But, I can’t give up! I must keep trying! I must!!
I’ve got to try to free myself– no matter how impossible it seems!
And lifting is the only way! The– only– way–!
-Uhhhhh- I can’t!– So Exhausted– after all that fighting–I-I feel so weak–!
(Caption) But then, the amazing teenager glimpses the life-saving serum– So near, and yet so far– So hopelessly far away!
It’s lying there– Just beyond reach– As though mocking me– taunting me–
It’s the one thing– The only thing– that may save Aunt May! And I can’t bring it to her–!
If she– doesn’t make it– it’ll be my fault! Just the way I’ll always blame myself for what happened to Uncle Ben*…!
*From the momentuous tale of spidey’s origin– Remember? — Stan.
The two people in all the world who’ve been kindest to me! I can’t fail again! It can’t happen a second time! I won’t let it– I won’t!
No matter what the odds– No matter what the cost– I’ll get that serum to Aunt May! And maybe then I’ll no longer be haunted by the memory– of Uncle Ben!
Within my body is the strength of many men…!
And now, I’ve got to call on all that strength– all the power– that I possess!
I must prove equal to the task– I must be worthy of that strength–
–or else, I don’t deserve it!
The weight– is unbearable! Every muscle– aches–!
My head– it’s spinning– everything’s beginning to –whirl around–!
The strain! It– It’s unbearable–!
The crack in the ceiling– it’s growing wider–getting bigger every second! I’ll never make it– I can’t–!
No! I dare not give up now! If I close my eyes– I’ll go under! Must stay awake– must clear my head! Keep trying–trying–!
I’ll do it, Aunt May! I won’t fail you! No matter what– I won’t fail–!
Anyone can win a fight– when the odds– are easy! It’s when the going’s tough– when there seems to be no chance– that’s when– it count’s
Everything going black– my head– aching! Hold on– I must hold on–!
It’s moving! Can’t stop now! Last chance! Must keep the momentum– more! Just a little more–!
(Caption) And then– as the agonizing ache in his limbs seems unendurable– as his superbly muscled body suffers the torment of a virtually indescribable ordeal– from out of the pain– from out of the agony– comes triumph!
I did it! I’m free!
“Must………lift…….”
SPLAT
Oh, wait, that was Peter Porker….
“Mmmmm….pork..”
Oops, that was Homer.
Excellent, guys! Thanks for the assist.
PAD
Ahhhh, Peter Porker. They were going to do a take-off on my first major Spider-Man arc. It was going to be called “The Death of Jean D. Wolf,” and the villain was going to be a gun wielding, homicidal goat named the Tin Eater. But then the whole Star line went bust and that was pretty much that.
PAD
The first comic book I ever bought (assuming Mad doesn’t count) was Peter Porker #8. I had just read a friend’s stuff and TPB’s in bookstores up until that point.
I remember it had a Jacques Cousteau take-off in it, but beyond that I’m really fuzzy on the whole matter.
JMS has just redone the squence (pretty much without the internal dialogue) in ASM #500, as Peter is “Quantum Leaping” throughout his life.
Since you brought up Peter Porker, I’m surprised that Marvel doesn’t resurrect him and have that as part of a kid-friendly line-up?
Peter Porker was cute. I would have rather seen him be brought back than that dámņëd Spider-Clone, but we won’t go there. If anything, the clone thing seemed like something that would appear first in Porker rather than the Spidey books for 2.5 years. At least, JMS got people to forget the clone debacle (for the most part).
I would’ve loved to seen “The Death of Jean D. Wolf.” Spider-Ham rawks!!
One more thing, PAD, the dialogue you’re looking for is reprinted in the Marvel coffee table book written by Peter Sanderson. Maybe you have that in your personal library. Just an FYI.
“Come on, Peter. It’s not over. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
The Germans? Hmmm, I seemed to have slipped into an alternate reality. Maybe… I have… new-found abilities in this reality!!! Let’s see… super-speed and elasto-skin would be cool.
Porker Roasts!!! I mean Rules!!!
…Kids today…
It’s interesting to read just the dialogue from that scene. It doesn’t seem like anything special. It says a lot about the combination of words with art (which Stan Lee and his various artists were so good at) that that scene was so memorable, and has been imitated so many times over the years.
Without a good writer, no one cares, without a good penciller no one cares.
CJA
JMS has just redone the squence (pretty much without the internal dialogue) in ASM #500
He did what seemed to me like a homage to it not along ago in a Doc Ock story too. Spider-Man was trapped under a collasped building and spent not two pages, but much of the issue trying to get out and save Aunt May and MJ. Another example of today’s slow-motion storytelling.
I don’t remember the issue, it was my friend’s, not mine.
RE: Robb P’s addenum- that was issue #45… and yeah, when I read it, it smacked of ASM #33 (the first #33, that is) to me.
The Germans? Hmmm, I seemed to have slipped into an alternate reality. Maybe… I have… new-found abilities in this reality!!! Let’s see… super-speed and elasto-skin would be cool.
Heh…looks like somebody didn’t know they were on “double secret probation”.
“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor” is probably the greatest litmus for movie geeks this side of “Why is there a Watermelon there?”
So which movies do they come from? And what were the reply?
“That was the Japanese, you plonker…”, springs to mind.
And what do you consider the litmus test for, say, Buffy fans?
*sigh* Trivia/film geek time:
“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!”
“Let him go, he’s rolling”
Animal House.
“What’s that watermelon doing there?”
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai across the Eighth Dimension
Yea, but the true geek knows the follow up line to the watermellon line.
On a tangent to this. One of the reasons my father liked Buckaroo Banzai was that the labs were messy. He said he couldn’t think of another science fiction film were the labs looked like labs. I can remember that there was a tennis ball wedged between two lab table in one of his labs so that the tables were a certain distance apart for one of his laser/len design experiments.
Kathleen
Howdy,
“I’ll tell you later.”
And I posit that the Super-Uber True Geek not only knows the follow-up line, but the REAL reason (or at least some of the suggestions) for why the watermelon was there.
— Ed
Okay…I’m a real geek. The reason that the watermelon sequence was included (as I recall) is that the director of the film was fighting with the producer. For some reason, a conflict about the dailies came up. The director, wanting to see if the producer was actually looking at the dailies, put the watermelon sequence in with no explanation. Nothing leading up to it, and no follow-up later. The producer, it turned out, did NOT look at the dailies.
If you’re wondering why the watermelon was there in terms of story, it was another Banzai Institute experiment. They were trying to create watermelons that could be airdropped over starving countries. Which sounds more than a little insane, but that’s Dr. Banzai for you. His reasons are his own.
**”Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!”
“Let him go, he’s rolling”
Animal House.**
Actually, to be a stickler, it was “Forget it, he’s rolling”.
Not that, you know, anyone’s keeping score or anything. 🙂
**Actually, to be a stickler, it was “Forget it, he’s rolling”.
Not that, you know, anyone’s keeping score or anything.**
Two points for Mike Imboden.
PAD
While we’re on the topic of Spidey… PAD, what did you think of issue 500?
What was that about Buffy?? I’m a Buffy fanatic. 😉
Er…I feel like I should apologize to PAD for the Banzai talk. Didn’t mean to start the tangent like that.
If I was gonna purposely steer people off into a tangent, I’d bring up http://www.nanowrimo.org. Because it’s just that cool an idea.
@Dee: What do you consider the true litmus test of a Buffy fan?
What do you consider the true litmus test of a Buffy fan?
Season Seven.
What do you consider the true litmus test of a Buffy fan?
“I’ve made a space for the cheese slices.”
I don’t know what comic books your earlier guys are reading, but in my Spidey comic, the thought balloons said, “Oy, my achin’ back.” “Geez, this is heavy!” “Where’s effin’ Superman when you need him?!” “Man, I think I’m gettin’ a hernia!” “Who needs Bane when you got this on your back!” “Master Planner? Master A-hole!” Then he throws the metal off and says, “There, that’s better!”