Posted - July 7, 2014 | Updated : August 26, 2015

I'm not a fan of fragmented covers - they're too confusing. For this issue they should've just gone for the image at the right - the one were the thugs are ganging up on the Spider.

In spite of the cover, this is an OK issue. The "Whodunit" title angles it as some kind of murder-mystery. It is that, but very basic. What I really like about this issue is what it has to say about computers in the year 1976.

I'm sure you've heard about the Interpol criminal database in France. It's a global masterlist of criminals and every member country of the Interpol has the right to build their own system and link to the Paris database in real time. Not every Interpol member country has done this but they can if they want to. So now, 2014, we have a global criminal database available but the access to it is not yet one hundred percent. With that in mind, check out the description of the computer in Amazing Spider-Man #155:

I don't know if the Interpol computer, or the idea for the Interpol computer, was already around in 1976, but the concept is the same. Here's the actual computer - please excuse the corpse.

Actually, don't excuse the corpse. The corpse is the crux of this storyline. Spider-Man is going to use the criminal database computer in this issue to find out who killed the dead guy.

The machine comes up with three names and Spider-Man tracks them down one by one.

I find it amusing that from a high-tech information source the issue takes us to a low-tech information source - or maybe we should call it a "classic" information source. Or maybe we should just call him a stooge.

I love beautifully done location shots. This one is by Sal Buscema and it show's Joe's Bar located in the seedier part of town.

" . . . even the cockroaches can't wait to move out . . .". I love the Peter Parker wit.

Look at these panels.

Two thugs calling Peter "shorty". But Peter is no longer "shorty" or "wallflower" or "sap" or anything of the sort. He's the Spider and the bullying is over. This is part of the magic of being Spider-Man and reading Spider-Man comics. The bullying is over. But the detective impresonations aren't. Check out the Spider detective:

Beautiful Buscema panel of a spider-sense fail.

That's a packing create falling on the Spider.

I don't know the physics of how a soft and sticky web can become seemingly hard enough to cause a concussion but I appreciate the versatility of web shooters being able to do this.

Spidey should use this "hard web" characteristic more often.

Spider-Man going against thugs and other underworld types. It's a glorious "street level" issue but . . uh-oh. Writer Len Wein can't take it anymore, he has to insert some kind of super-power in the mix, so here is Tallon of the bionic hands.

The man's name is Tallon so he has metal "talons". Get it? Corny as hell. Thank you Mr. Wein. No really, thank you, if I can't get cheese from comics where will I get it?

Another great Buscema panel to balance the one where Spider-Man got hit by a crate. This time it's the Spider who does the dishing out.

Just beautiful.

The end result here is all three leads are a bust. The big lesson: Computers can fail. From 1976. It's 2014, and we know just how true this is. In this issue, Spider-Man/Peter had this childlike faith in the logical prowess of the machine, a faith that didn't work out for him. The computer is fallible is the big truth to take from this story. It's an important lesson rounding out the issue. And that's it.

And that's it? What is this some kind of white paper? This is still a Spider-Man comic. So the computer develops AI and is able to fire lasers from the it's screen!

Who-hoo! Total cheese, love it!

The constantly joking Spider-Man only makes it better.

In the end Spider-Man manages to take out what he refers to as the "IBM-becile".

Whew!

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