The Kingpin's Midnight Massacre!

The Kingpin tells Spider-Man how he survived his plunge into the river after their previous battle. Spider-Man did not find him in the murky water, because the Kingpin swam to a drainage pipe, hauled himself out of the water, and collapsed. When he awoke and crawled out of the pipe to the surface, his memory was gone.

For months he wandered the streets not knowing who he was, but then Sllvermane learned what had happened to him. Silvermane sent a hired killer to try to run him down with a car. But when the car slammed head-on into the Kingpin, his muscular, bulky frame survived the impact. The assassin died in the collision.

Hospitalized for many more months, the Kingpin regained his memory, and a mere 18 hours ago he returned home to his beloved wife, Vanessa. When he told her his plan to gain revenge on Silvermane, she told him he had 24 hours to finish his criminal career or she would leave him. After divesting himself of his criminal empire, he found he had six hours left. He intends to use those six hours to finally get rid of Spider-Man.

Spider-Man suddenly leaps from the floor and slams into the master criminal. He lands several blows before the Kingpin pulls the rug out from under him. Spider-Man is hampered considerably by his broken arm, but he still manages to hold his own. The combatants pummel each other and smash one another into walls as the battle drifts into the Kingpin's private gym. The Kingpin tries to strike Spider-Man with a barbell weighing several hundred pounds, but Spider-Man easily evades the barbell and smashes the Kingpin into a shelf of gym equipment. Then he bounds out of the gym.

Meanwhile, at the Restwell Nursing Home, Ludwig Rinehart tells the burglar that Peter Parker will not be bothering them again. Now, continues Rinehart, the burglar can tell him what he was looking for in the Parker house. The burglar replies that since he plans soon to dispose of Rinehart, he will tell him. But Rinehart has plans of his own for the burglar.

Momentarily stunned after being smashed into the shelf, the Kingpin comes to before Spider-Man can find an exit from the mansion. The Kingpin pushes a button to electrify the ceiling Spider-Man is clinging to, and when Spider-Man drops to the floor, the Kingpin overtakes him and presses his attack.

At the same time, at the Daily Bugle, the door to J. Jonah Jameson's office opens and Joe Robertson strides out, briefcase in hand, wearing his hat and coat. Jameson appears totally dejected as his city editor bids him farewell. He has chased Robertson away for good, he says to himself, just as he had lost his wife, his son, and everyone else close to him. He has built a wall around himself, he continues, and he cannot bring himself to tear it down.

The Kingpin pursues Spider-Man through his mansion. Spider-Man hides in a room, and then he finds an electrified lance that is disguised as a pole lamp. Suddenly attacking the Kingpin with it, he briefly knocks him unconscious. But before Spider-Man can leave the room, the Kingpin starts to shoot at him with his obliterator cane. Spider-Man snatches the cane with his webbing and the combatants pummel each other, exchanging blow after blow.

At last, the Kingpin has Spider-Man by the throat. Groggy from the punishment, Spider-Man manages, with his webbing, to pull a shelf down onto the Kingpin's head. Then the master criminal throws the shelf at Spider-Man, breaking a hole in the floor. Spider-Man exits through it. Spider-Man finds himself in the basement of the mansion, but before he can discover a way out, the relentless master criminal is hot on his trail. Spider-Man hides in the darkness, but the Kingpin slams a support beam with all his might, which collapses part of the building onto Spider-Man and leaves him helpless. The pain from his broken arm renders Spider-Man unable to move. The Kingpin declares himself the winner of their battle and drags Spider-Man upstairs. As the Kingpin gloats, Spider-Man tries to gather what remains of his strength. The Kingpin aims his obliterator cane directly at Spider-Man, who desperately tries to keep the Kingpin boasting to give himself time to recover. Suddenly, the clock strikes twelve, and Vanessa enters. The Kingpin tells her that he needs just a moment more, but she tells him that he must decide now between continuing his life of crime or leaving it forever and starting a new life with her.

After an agonized minute, the Kingpin decides that he loves his wife more than he enjoys his success at crime and more than he hates Spider-Man. He puts his arms around her, and they walk together out of the room, leaving Spider-Man on the floor, defeated.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Glory Grant, Betty Brant, Kingpin, Dr. Reinhardt, Burglar, Vanessa Fisk

Continuity Notes

• The Kingpin explains how he cheated death during his last conflict with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #164.

• Doctor Reinhart vows to teach the Burglar who he is dealing with. Unknown to everyone, Reinhart is secret Mysterio as revealed next issue. The Reinhart identity is one he used before, circa Amazing Spider-Man #24.

• Betty tells Glory Grant about how Peter told her off. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man #195. After her marriage to Ned Leeds in Amazing Spider-Man #156, Betty eventually returned to New York after long neglect in Amazing Spider-Man #183 to try and rekindle her romance with Peter.

• Jameson's increasingly irrational behavior is a combination of grief caused by the disappearance of his son John in Amazing Spider-Man #190, something he blames Spider-Man for. However, his mental state is also being affected by a device created by Jonas Harrow, as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #206.

• Although the Kingpin vows to give up his life of crime for the sake of his wife, he is active again in Daredevil #170.