Review: The Spider VS. The Empire State

A Long Forgotten Allegory from 1938 That's Weirdly Prescient - And A Pulpy Good Time

Before Siegel and Shuster’s Kryptonian took to the skies and introduced heroes with god-like powers, there was another kind of crimefighter. Like the comic book characters everyone knows now, these once-popular, now largely forgotten, men (it was always men) had secret identities that put them at odds with the criminals and the authorities alike. Their supernatural powers were limited to psychic abilities, through their physical and mental abilities were close to that. Among them was Richard Wentworth, aka: The Spider, a rich man who returned from WWI with a taste for dispatching justice.

That’s it. No tragic backstory. No reason for him donning a nightmarish disguise and giving up a normal life to fight crime. Wentworth becomes The Spider because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.

Under the house name Grant Stockbridge many authors penned his adventures, but most were written by Norvell Page. In throes of the Great Depression, there was a growing sense that the republican form of government wasn’t adequate to solving the nation’s problems. Some suggested a dictator might be just what we needed. At the same time, Americans were wondering how someone as evil as Hitler could rise to power in Germany, while in their own backyard Louisiana governor Huey Long was setting up his own fiefdom. Page was aghast. 

So in 1938 he wrote a trilogy of novels, collected in The Spider vs The Empire State, where he imagines in Wentworth’s New York the rise and inevitable outcome of an American dictator. The books first hit my radar when I heard that Christopher Nolan may have used them as inspiration for The Dark Knight Rises, but what I found is that it’s eerily prescient of our last three years.

The Story

A new political party, “The Party of Justice,” swept the last election. While the branding is good, Richard Wentworth knows that it’s just a façade for organized crime. He perceives that the new governor is just a puppet and quickly finds out that a shadow figure known only as The Master is pulling the strings. The Master, seen only as a figure in a white hood, communicates through what’s basically a video screen. But since this is 1938 it’s a mirror, a projector, and a record player. 

One of the first things The Master does is empty the prisons and enlist the inmates as his Black Police (which could only happen in Russia, right?), who collect taxes like mobsters take protection money. As The Spider (it’s always italicized in the book, so why not here?) Wentworth starts a resistance movement with the help of his fiancee Nita van Sloan, manservant Ram Singh, and police commissioner Stanley Kirkpatrick. Soon, like Robin Hood, they have a small band of guerilla fighters in various mountain camps throughout the state.

While they manage to blacken The Master’s eye and take some ground, unmasking him eludes them. For his next trick, The Master unleashes a plague (I promise, I’m not making this up!) to discourage any who oppose him. Wentworth goes to Washington and breaks into the White House(!) to ask the president for help, and even runs for governor in the next election. But it’s stolen from him and a warrant is put out for his arrest. Naturally, the federal government is unable to get involved because this is what the people voted for in a fair and honest election. 

As things continue to deteriorate in New York, what with the public executions, internment camps, mandatory social credit system, and so forth, The Master decides a distraction is required. At this point he could have wrecked a train full of toxic chemicals in Ohio and I wouldn’t have been surprised, but instead he bombs a dam in neighboring Pennsylvania to the same effect. 

The whole story is breathlessly told, with lots of unconventional punctuation and adverbs filling the gaps between gunfights, chases, escapes, and Shakespearian pre-battle rallies. Though Page’s intent may have been to send a message, he never lets the allegory supersede the spectacle. I just wish there was an audiobook available so more people could experience it.

The Characters

Richard Wentworth/The Spider is the proto-Batman. Rich, intelligent, physically durable but not indestructible, he even has a scary costume and a utility belt (though just for things like ammo, screwdrivers, and flashlights). Unlike Batman, he guns down hundreds of people and brands their corpses with the mark of The Spider, but only evildoers, never the National Guard or honest cops just doing their job. The way Page writes him, Wentworth is prone to be sick with worry when his friends are in danger, and can be moved to tears by loyalty. Conversely, he’s no sap and will put the mission first, even if it means his loved ones suffering is prolonged.

Nita van Sloan adores Wentworth and is completely devoted to him though she knows that they can never marry. To do so would put both their lives at risk if his secret identity were ever revealed. But she also knows how to take care of his home (when it’s time to run, pack the guns and money first), and can handle a machine gun. 

Though not featured heavily in these stories, Ram Singh is Wentworth’s loyal Sikh bodyguard. Yes, this is definitely a story from another time. Deal with it.

Police commissioner Stanley Kirkpatrick has been hunting The Spider for years, willfully blind to the fact that it’s his friend and ally Wentworth. At first he tries to maintain his official position, but when that becomes impossible he joins the resistance.

The World

It’s New York in 1938, so horses are still as common as cars, motorcycles, and open cockpit planes. There’s nothing particularly sci-fi about any of it, as The Spider mostly relies on disguises and his twin automatics to dish out justice against his human foes.

The Politics

It shouldn’t have to be said that this is about as “America! F-Yeah!” as Norvell Page could get at the time. Guns are essential. Liberty is everything. There’s an amazing scene where The Spider leads a town into the fray and they spontaneously burst into “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” 

Content Warning

The body count is astronomical and some mild profanity slips through, there’s torture and the aforementioned plague. While some of the other house writers for The Spider were quite mean-spirited, killing puppies for effect, there’s none of that here.

Who is it for?

Originally written for adolescent boys, now it’s probably most appealing to pulp enthusiasts. You can’t take it too seriously, with its leaps of logic and slam-bang action, but if you think you’re even a little ADHD, this is for you. If you wish Batman was a little more Braveheart in the Great Depression, I think you’re gonna have a good time.

Why read it?

Ironic present day parallels aside, The Spider vs The Empire State is a fun romp.