Every great hero needs a great adversary to match wits and strengths with; Spider-Man found his in the Green Goblin. After the Goblin’s first appearance in issue #14, Stan Lee didn’t wait very long at all to bring the Green one back to face the web slinger, and when he did, he did it in style. The cover, by Steve Ditko, is one of the most exciting in the entire run of the title. With Spider-Man swinging in from the left to do battle and the Goblin descending from the right to attack Spider-Man, the only thing that can really save them from themselves is if the Human Torch shows up out of nowhere and comes between them. While the three heroes are clearly the center of attention, Ditko creates a great sense of panic by including the civilians running from the battle along the bottom of the cover. Some of them seem to be reveling in the combat, but several are clearly worried about the outcome. Take special note of the panic in the face of J. Jonah Jameson. No doubt that his newspaper will be quickly publishing a harrowing account of his own bravery in the face of such danger. Once again, Steve Ditko delivers a classic Silver Age Marvel cover. The pages are off-white to white. The book is CGC-certified 8.0 (VF).