Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus have been battling one another on comic pages, in cartoons, and on the big screen for decades. From their first battle in Amazing Spider-Man #3 (by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko) to their confrontation in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, the two seem to forever be locked in mortal combat. But once, 40 years ago, Spidey was able to defeat Doc Ock because the villain had to go to the dentist.
Over the years comic book heroes have been used in Public Service Announcements to promote safety, teach lessons, or push an ideology. In 1982, AIM Toothpaste (a Lever Brothers Company) and the American Dental Association partnered with Marvel Comics Group to release a comic book entitled The Amazing Spider-Man: Crisis at Cape Canaveral (with art by John Romita Sr) in order to advocate good dental hygiene, then they sandwiched it within one of Spidey's adventures.
Spider-Man Was Used as a Dental PSA
The comic book was a free giveaway at dental institutions across the nation. Despite the cover boasting that it was a 60-cent value, this wasn't the first time this happened. Two years previous, AIM had released a similar adventure with Spider-Man battling the Green Goblin. The apparent success of that endeavor was enough to spawn this sequel, of sorts, and AIM and the ADA went all-in on tooth care. The overall plot was fairly simple; An upcoming rocket launch at Cape Canaveral would send a new, powerful weather satellite into space. Doctor Octopus wanted the device for his own nefarious purposes. Peter Parker was on the scene taking pictures, and spots the nefarious Doctor then follows him. Instead of a Battle Royale between the two, Doc Ock goes to a nearby dentist named Dr. Allen.
A confused Peter fakes a toothache to get into a room, so he can eavesdrop. It turns out that the supervillain was suffering from actual tooth pain and the dentist proceeds to reprimand him for eating way too many sweets and not brushing or flossing regularly. There's also something bizarre that shows up on his X-rays, but Doc Ock storms out before more can be said. Intrigued, Peter chases after but is stopped by the dentist. The wallcrawler actually sits through teeth cleaning to keep his cover. At this point the reader learns that Aunt May instilled our wholesome hero with good snacking habits, always preferring cheeses and vegetables as treats. His teeth are in great shape due to regular visits has above-average tooth care.
Spider-Man Saved The Day with Good Hygiene
After this, this story wraps up rather quickly, with Spider-Man confronting Doctor Octopus during the launch of the rocket. A fight results in Doc Ock losing a tooth (bad dental hygiene strikes again) which coincidentally contains a micro-device he was going to use to harness the weather satellite. As Doctor Octopus is taken away in cuffs, Spider-Man reminisces on how good oral care saved the day. The comic itself was full of anti-tooth decay fun and games. It included the Dreadful Dungeons of Tooth Decay Board Game and Spider-Man taught readers how to brush their teeth properly.
Then there was a coupon and a way to sign up for the AIM Kids Club. In all honesty, the artwork of John Romita clearly holds up, and while the story is a bit silly, it wasn't a bad read for the price, if you were a kid. "Crisis at Cape Canaveral" is very much an interesting window to 40 years ago when advertisers and associations had to use whatever media was available to get a PSA message out to kids. It's unfortunate this series did not continue, as a subsequent issue with Spider-Man scolding Venom for bad tooth care could have been brilliant.