The eternal media campaign of J. Jonah Jameson is really aggressive against Spider-Man and it has remained that way over the decades. The characters created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee have maintained a relationship with a lot of friction that has never crossed the limit of violence – except for the journalist’s attempts to put an end to the wall-crawler with creations like Scorpion.
Apart from some other pranks, such as hitting the seat, ruining his cigar or closing his mouth with a web, Spider-Man has remained calm… almost always. It was in The Amazing Spider-Man #70 when the hero first got fed up with Jameson’s animosity and confronted him in a way that caused him to have a heart attack. That happened in 1969 and during the final stretch of an adventure centered on Kingpin, but it was in 1986 when the net-slinger made things clear to the editor of the Daily Bugle.
Web of Spider-Man #13 showed us “Point of View”, a short story that begins with Spider-Man swinging through New York, while we are shown newspaper clippings of a chronicle about what we are going to witness. A man named Buddy Corbertt sees the superhero in the skies with his black suit, gets scared and runs away with the misfortune of crossing the path of a truck. Peter notices the situation, try to stop the vehicle with a spider webbut he does not succeed and the impact is produced anyway.
After taking Corbertt to the hospital, a young photographer, passionate about Peter Parker’s work, sells the photos of what happened to the Daily Bugle and directly to Jameson, who is not the director at that time, but rather the owner. Robbie Robertson is the main person responsible, and he does not agree with Jonah’s bet of blaming Spider-Man, but he has no choice but to give him room to publish a very harsh edition titled “Spider-Man goes crazy! The masked vigilante attacks without provocation“. From this point, the nethead’s exasperation only increases.
And Jameson wastes no time taking photos with Corbertt while he is bedridden, pushing him to support his view of the accident and paying for the necessary medical expenses. The NBC television network does a report on the street where everything happened, so it interviews a businessman who supports the theory that Spider-Man attacked and a beggar woman who offers the real version. Allowing herself to be carried away by prejudices, the reporter decides that the testimony to be broadcast will be the first, since “no one would believe an old ragpicker“.
The situation escalates so much that Spider-Man faces a group of citizens who scold him after having thwarted a robbery and fights with them. He repays his frustration by hanging up on Mary Jane, but the tables turn when Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich puts Corbertt on the ropes to confess. And we are really talking about an ex-convict with a good rap sheet who simply got scared as soon as he saw Spider-Man and ran away. With public opinion absolutely againstthe conflict reaches its climax.
Spider-Man breaks into Jameson’s office, breaking the glass, throws a web on the door to prevent him from leaving, and corners him. “It’s over, Jonah! Now it’s my turn!“the masked man snaps after letting out a string of reminders of how Jameson didn’t leave him alone in the past. Jameson is not able to respond until the net-slinger lifts him off the ground by his shirt and assures him that he will ” break that ugly face.”
Jameson defends himself by explaining that he is simply interpreting the facts and that he reflects popular sentiment towards him. Furthermore, he accuses him of looking like a criminal and acting like the threat he believes he has always been. Spider-Man is about to cross a very dangerous line, but there is a small ellipsis in which we see how Robbie enters the office where the wall-crawler is no longer there. It is here when, for the first time since the beginning of Spider-Man’s adventures, Jonah reflects and decides to publish Corbertt’s confession to give the superhero a break. And just as he himself says, “Maybe we’re both wrong. Maybe it all depends on… point of view.”
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