Amazing Spider-Man #161
...And the Nightcrawler Came Prowling, Prowling
When reading about an old friend from his days in the circus had been gunned down by a mysterious sniper, the X-Men's Nightcrawler decides to go to Coney Island to investigate. As fate would have it, Peter Parker would also be spending the day at Coney Island on a date with Mary Jane, when the sniper strikes again. This prompts Peter to excuse himself from his date and change into Spider-Man and try and catch the sniper. He ends up running into Nightcrawler, whom he assumes is the killer, when he catches the mutant with the sniper's weapon. Their fight takes them to the amusement park, however, Nightcrawler gets away with his teleportation powers and Spider-Man is forced to flee when the police arrive.
Spider-Man goes to the Bugle to see if Joe Robertson has any leads on who the shooter might be, Joe's sources suggest that it may be the Punisher. Jameson seeing that Spider-Man is in the building, rushes back to his own office where he pulls out the strange pictures he had received the day before: Photos of Spider-Man disposing of the Spider-Clone.
As the Punisher begins his own investigation on who's been besmirching his reputation, Spider-Man continues his search for Nightcrawler. The teleporting mutant manages to get the drop on Spider-Man, grabbing his camera and exposing the film, destroying the "evidence" that he's the shooter. As the two fight across NYC's cable car system, their fight is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the Punisher, who believes that one of the two combating heroes is the one who has been framing him.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, X-Men (Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Colossus), Punisher, Punisher, Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Liz Allan, Harry Osborn
Continuity Notes
The photos of Spider-Man disposing of his clone were taken in Amazing Spider-Man #151, after it was seemingly killed in Amazing Spider-Man #149. The identity of the person who photographed these photos is revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #180.
Although the Spider-Clone appears dead here, he actually survives and resurfaces in Web of Spider-Man #114.
