I was a big fan of both St Swithin's Day and Jack Staff, so bought this up. Paul's treatise on comics and serial fiction, I completely agree with. Trouble is....he pretty much did what he's complaining about. Nothing really happened with Mudman. There's not much back story. No real origin. It's pretty much a filler issue. Compare that Amazing Fantasy 15, where we meet Parker, get a good insight into his family life, he gains his powers, Uncle Ben dies, Spider-Man gets his raison-d'etre, plus his costume and defeats his first villain. That's a first issue.
Still, looking forward to reading more as Jack Staff was terrific.