DeFalco/Frenz Retrospective: Amazing Spider-Man #255


Writer: Tom DeFalco
Penciler: Ron Frenz

 

Synopsis: The Red Ghost coerces aging thief Black Fox to be his pawn. 

Comments: The opening pages faked me out when I first read them. I thought it was Spider-Man in his black costume. It's actually Black Fox who owes his creation partially to a deck of animal safari cards Tom DeFalco purchased off late night TV.  In a recent interview, Tom does not recall if anyone inspired the character of Black Fox. In the book, Comics Creators on Spider-Man, Ron was interviewed by Tom and could not recall any visual inspiration for Black Fox. 




The costume kind of looks like a shark to me when it slithers across the floor. 



No matter how well trained apes are, I still think it's a bad idea to have them as your henchmen. It's funny that the Red Ghost actually ditched the apes before in Avengers #12, but I guess they work for free. 



Black Fox gets away with this score, but guys like him always have one more score in them. 









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