Evil-Doers, Beware... The Sign of the Spider!

 

As often as it came to be used in stories, it still took some time before the name of the miniaturized belt-light which announced the presence of Spider-Man at a crime scene would be settled on, or even if it would have a name. In its debut, even Spider-Man didn't bother calling it anything:

Which isn't really noteworthy, since it likely never occurs to anyone who carries a flashlight to name it. "Rats, the power's out! Where did I leave George? Honey, have you seen George?" But as the fledgling Amazing Spider-Man title progressed, the mask insignia used by the light, which appeared to take its cue from the emblem used by artist Steve Ditko to accompany each story title, began to gain recognition by those who saw it--and it seemed like different handles for it were being tried out by writer Stan Lee as well as the character himself.

(Did any of you spot the calling card that Spidey left in the early days? They seemed to be fleeting, didn't they?)

But shortly after the device appeared in the first Spider-Man Annual from 1964, where it didn't even rate a description, it looks like we have a winner--thanks to a random, off-panel audience member.

Hmm--a "spider-signal"... a "utility belt"... Now where have I...? (Let's just call the similarities a coincidence and leave it at that, shall we?)

From that point, the Spider-Signal begins to gather steam, as Ditko would use it frequently depending on the circumstances.

(No, I don't know how the spider beam/spider-signal/whatever shuts off just as Peter Parker leaves the scene. Probably another coincidence.)

Interestingly, it turned out that, like some of the Joes we've already seen, members of law enforcement came to appreciate the spider-signal, since its appearance often coincided with snagged culprits caught in the act and made their job a little easier.

Criminal reaction, however, was a mixed bag, though for the most part it's fair to say that they weren't too receptive to it and, well, scrambled when reacting to its portent.

(Iguanas, it seems, have a particularly nasty reaction to it. )

As we can see, the spider-signal could do its part to sell comics, with Ditko's design continuing to get a lot of cover mileage over the years.

Like Mr. Hyde, the Red Ghost also pulled double-duty with the Spider-Signal, sort of:

It might have been interesting to see a signal emblem take the form of Spider-Man's new dark suit--maybe even using the image from issue #255's cover. Though when you think about it, while it may seem odd that the mask signal used by that suit continued to be that of the original costume, a spider-signal that beamed a black image would have to be designed in outline form to be useful in the dead of night.

Like our gun-toting friend earlier who couldn't escape either the spider-signal or Spider-Man, villains have been hard-pressed to avoid the retribution of their webbed pursuer. Take our friend Jigsaw, for example, whose confidence in his weapon crumbled like the man who wielded it.

Nor did the Molten Man get far. (Of course he's not exactly built for running.)

And then there was Spidey's face-off with the same burglar who killed his uncle Ben, a persistent criminal whose time finally ran out.

Finally, given time it was inevitable that villains would start using their own signal, eh?

(Heh heh, kidding!)

BONUS!
Marvel at last gives the signal its due in descriptive form (if cursory), as witnessed by some lowlifes in a closing page of Spidey Super Stories from 1975.  Also: How about that Fleet trading card from 1994?