The Amazing Spider-Man #214

The Amazing Spider-Man #214 was published by Marvel Comics in March 1981, emerging during a transitional period for the title. Written by Dennis O'Neil with interior art by John Romita Jr., the issue serves as a standalone story featuring an encounter between Spider-Man and the Hydro-Man. This era of the series was focused on balancing Peter Parker's evolving personal life with the high-stakes, action-oriented threats that became a staple of the bronze age of comics.

The cover art was provided by Bob Hall and Frank Giacoia, designed to highlight the immediate visual threat of Hydro-Man's watery physiology. The issue is often noted by collectors for being the first appearance of Morris Bench, the man who would become Hydro-Man, as the character was created by O'Neil to introduce a new elemental adversary into the Spider-Man rogues' gallery. Like many issues of the time, it was received as a standard but solid entry in a long-running series, prized today primarily by completionists and fans of John Romita Jr.'s early work.