This is the latest in a series giving you the cultural context behind certain comic book characters/behaviors. You know, the sort of then-topical references that have faded into the "foggy ruins of time." To wit, twenty years from now, a college senior watching episodes of Seinfeld will likely miss a lot of the then-topical pop culture humor (like the very specific references in "The Understudy" to the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding scandal). Here is an archive of all the Foggy Ruins of Time installments so far.

Today, we take a look at a reference to Steve Reeves in an old Lee/Ditko Spider-man issue!

In 1965's Amazing Spider-Man #27, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko reference Steve Reevess...

That is a reference to Steve Reeves' success in two Italian films starring Reeves as Hercules, 1957's Hercules and 1959's Hercules Unbound...

As Omar Karindu notes in the comments, Steve Reeves' Hercules was also clearly the inspiration for Marvel's OWN Hercules, who debuted later in 1965...

If anyone else has a suggestion for a future edition of this column, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com!