Unmasked By Doctor Octopus!

Betty Brant has returned to New York and taken back her secretary job at the Daily Bugle. Dr. Octopus has also returned to New York, plotting to get revenge on Spider-Man, and decides to use Betty as bait. Kidnapping Betty from the Bugle building, he tells Jameson to put a call out to Spider-Man to meet him at a nearby amusement park.

With his spider-powers seemingly gone because he's come down with a cold, Peter decides that he has no choice but to save Betty as he is, and so he accepts the challenge. When he tells Jameson (pretending that he just heard it, so his identity isn't compromised), Jameson reports the story himself.

When Spider-Man arrives to battle Dr. Octopus, all his powers have completely faded. Naturally, the powerless Spider-Man proves to be no match for Dr. Octopus. Dr. Octopus publicly unmasks Spider-Man. Octopus theorizes that Parker was simply posing as Spider-Man to save his girlfriend, because Spider-Man would put up a better fight. He flees the scene to find some other way to get the "real" Spider-Man's attention.

Everyone gives Peter grief for the danger he put himself in; however, Liz Allan finds the whole episode romantic, and her opinion of Peter changes and she realizes that she's attracted to him. The next day, Peter finds that the cold has passed and as a result, his powers are back. When Dr. Octopus releases animals from the zoo, Peter goes into action as Spider-Man. He rounds up all the animals, and gets into a fight with Dr. Octopus across the city.

Their fight takes them to an artist's loft, where they inadvertently start a fire; when the flames grow too big, Spider-Man flees and Dr. Octopus is knocked out by inhaling too much smoke. The fire is put out, and Octopus is turned over to the police. Later, Liz Allan asks Peter out on a date. Peter rejects her date, telling her that he's going on a better one with Betty Brant. He tells Liz to go out with Flash Thompson, because they deserve each other.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Flash Thompson, Liz Allan, Doctor Octopus, Dr. Bromwell

Continuity Notes

• Doctor Octopus recalls how Spider-Man rescued Betty Brant in the past. He is referring to the events of last issue.

• The unmasking of Peter Parker is revisited in a flashback in Amazing Spider-Man #87 and Sensational Spider-Man (vol 2) #28. In the latter story, it is Doctor Octopus who recalls these events after Peter Parker unmasked himself during the Civil War and is enraged over being “tricked” by his arch nemesis.

• References pertaining to the type of camera that Peter Parker uses should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.