So why is that important? Because our next story is indeed "torn from today's headlines!" (If by "today's headlines" you mean "bears a superficial resemblance to something you might have read about sometime in the paper"):
This was a turbulent time in Amazing Spider-Man--it's just a few months after Captain Stacy died, and next month would be the infamous "Comics Code says we can't do an anti-drug story so screw 'em" story. And, when dealing with "real world" issues, what comes between death and drugs?
Terrorism!!And the creators of Spidey's trans-Atlantic fun fest?
So Stan wrote the Soapbox saying "we're doing some real world issues--deal with it" the same month Spidey takes on terrorists? Well played, Mr. Lee.Peter is in the dumps, because his girlfriend's dad is dead, she blames his alter ego for killing him (as do the police, the press, etc), and of course he has a massive case of the Parker guilts. Add to that the fact that Gwen Stacy has gone to London to stay with her English uncle for awhile, and add onto that the fact that there's no way he can afford a trip to visit/console her. No way, that is, until a certain city editor bends the rules:
No wonder newspapers are going bankrupt, with city editors giving out travel vouchers so freelancers can get international booty calls!! And since Robbie never gave Peter an actual story to pursue, one wonders what pictures he expected. Well, we can worry about that when Peter gets to England...meanwhile, check out Mary Jane's get-up:
It's supposedly for some show she's in, but really, it's 1971, so I think she just dresses like that for kicks.Now, onto the plane, and Peter Parker is very fortunate that 1971 knows nothing of the TSA:
And, of course, we get some foreshadowing by meeting some passengers who just may prove to be important later...
Ah, but once they land, the trouble starts:
And now we can reveal the REAL reason the fuselage ripped open on that Southwest jet:
Fortunately, Spidey has a degree from the sounds-effects-atology school of bomb-disarming:
But, it turns out the bomb was just a distraction, as the terrorists real goal was the 
Yes, terrorists are bad people.Spider-Man pursues the bad guys through London, but:
Well, at least he got his Spider-tracer planted. Now, Spider-Man must deal with real, authentic British police (you can tell from their authentic English dialogue!).
And our unnamed terrorists with an unnamed cause? What's their motive?
Oh, heavens, that was frightfully close to an actual issue.If the audience needed a distraction from the torn-from-the-headlines excitement, well, remember: Nobody draws gratuitous cheesecake like John Romita Sr.:
Oi!And, as Peter searches for the bad guys, we learn through a chance encounter that maybe, just maybe, Gwen Stacy wasn't the right girlfriend for a super-hero after all:
Oh, dear...Well, the wallcrawler finds the evil car, and...
But unfortunately, the delegate and his son aren't there!
Wow, that sort of sounds like a clue...
Wow, pretty intense--the kind of thing you don't see in 2011...
Oh. Never mind.Anyway, Scotland Yard won't give in to terrorists:
So it's up to Spidey to decode the clue...because terrorists always give out cryptic but easily solvable clues to where there hostages are (in fairness, this is England...maybe it's considered sporting or some such rot...).
So, Spidey defuses the bomb, rescues the peace delegate and son, captures the terrorists, and gets it all on film for the Daily Bugle!! And rescued hostages and really, really authentic British detectives wonder why everyone in America hates Spider-Man...
Now, as we wrap up our story, I know that some of you are getting ready to write in for No-Prizes. Well, you can stop, because Stan is one move ahead of you:
See? Stan's got it covered...Of course, the very same problem would have to apply if Peter turned in pictures to the Bugle, right? Robbie and JJJ would have to wonder at the ridiculous coincidence of Peter and Spidey both turning up in London together...Ah, well, you can't win them all.
But at least Gwen learned that maybe Spidey isn't a blackguard after all (with the help of her authentically English uncle):
And yet our star-crossed lovers can't get together:
Well, that's torn from the headlines, 1971 style. I know I've mocked the generic approach here-- unknown terrorists with unknown cause kidnap delegate to unknown peace conference--with no real trace of a scintilla of an actual issue discussed besides "terrorists bad."But, you know, given the environment, maybe that wasn't the worst way to approach things. If you, for example, identify the terrorists as IRA, there's really no way to do justice to the issues involved in 20 pages; and no matter what you do, you're going to get angry mail from both sides of the issue, as Stan noted in the Soapbox. And given the Comics Code in those days, well, its unclear that they would have let Marvel do that story, anyway.
So give your story a thin layer of the barest essence of relevance--which at least let's you do a somewhat broader range of stories than the same old crooks and super-villains, which even Stan must have been getting tire of by this point. No need to always go for the jugular every single time on every single issue of the day (I'm looking at you, Green Lantern/Green Arrow!).
Until, of course, next month, when even the most generic and pro-establishment story couldn't get approved, and Stan proceeded to blow up the system...
ELSEWHERE IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE:
Speaking of Marvel heroes who travel to other countries and take part in in stories torn form the headlines:
Yes, in the exact same month, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson travel to the South American nation of "Delvadia," at precisely the same time a "revolutionary" named El Condor is leading a revolt against the government.But unlike this month's Amazing Spider-Man, this issue is "ripped from today's screaming headlines!!" Much different than merely "torn from today's headlines!"
What, was Marvel just being Law & Order this month?
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