Amazing Spider-Man #235
Look Out There's a Monster Coming!
Tarantula, in his new spider-like form is on a rampage and wouldn't you know it, he blames Spider-Man for his hideous new makeover. While Spider-Man tests the limits of Tarantula's new abilities even going as far as to see if he has a spider-sense, but discovers he doesn't. Wisp wakes up, and he starts attacking the Tarantula but he's hardly affected because of his new found strength. The fight moves outside and both Wisp and Tarantula fall into the Jamaica Bay. The wall-crawler waits to see if they surface but no one comes out of the water, and he presumes they both perished.
Changing back to his civilian identity, Peter returns home to find out that his film from the pics he took are worthless because the equipment in the lab was pumping out low-level radiation, which caused the film to fog up.
At the Bugle, Robbie, Ned, and Marla have all be summoned to Jonah's office where they meet with Raymond Royton of the U.S. Department of Justice. After recounting various events that involve super beings spawned by the Brand, they get told that they'll have to kill their news story on Brand until they can find all the evidence they need. Jonah wishes there was another way to get the dirt on Brand. Outside the window, Spider-Man is listening in and thinks to himself that there is another way to get the information they need.
The wall-crawler pays a visit to James Melvin's home. Oblivious to the fact that Spider-Man has followed him inside, Melvin goes into his home to relax in his office. Soon, Melvin gets a call from one of his superiors and he updates him on what happened at the Queens Brand plant. He's sure that Wisp is no longer among the living. Of course, it's at this moment that he's proven wrong when Wisp shows up. The Wisp recounts his ties to the Brand Corporation as he used to work for them as Jackson Arvad and Melvin was his boss. Melvin kept moving up the deadlines for their project and one day while half asleep, Jackson tried to prevent a gravimetric power surge from shattering a mango-chamber. Melvin found out that the accident made Avard an immaterial ball of energy and wanted to study him like a lab rat before he died. However, Jackson managed to gain enough control of his powers to reform into the Will O' the Wisp.
Will O' the Wisp electrifies himself by grabbing a nearby lamp and asks Melvin to shake his hand as thanks for all he has done. That's when Spider-Man intervenes and tries to convince the Wisp that if he kills Melvin, he would be no better than the Brand Corporation. This angers the Wisp who engages Spider-Man in battle. The wall-crawler tries his best to stop Wisp, but his abilities make it difficult to subdue him. Before either man can win their battle, they stop when they hear the shriek of the Tarantula, who now has Melvin as his prisoner.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Tarantula, Will O’ the Wisp, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Ned Leeds, Roxxon Oil (Dr. Fenton, James Melvin, John T. Gamelin), Mamie Muggins
Continuity Notes
Peter makes mention of his Aunt May running her own boarding house. That started in Marvel Team-Up #124.
Raymond Royton goes over the extensive file the government has on the Roxxon Oil and Brand Corporations. The details he goes over are:
The Brand Corporations involvement in the battle between the Avengers and the Orka in Avengers #149.
How the Manticore's attack on Hawkeye in Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #27.
Roxxon's attempt to commandeer an island full of Vibranium that was later destroyed by Iron Man in Iron Man #120-121.
He also goes into details about Roxxon's Nth Command's attempts to infiltrate Project Pegasus, as seen in Marvel Two-In-One #42-58.
Royton also glosses over Roxxon's hiring of the Serpent Squad to capture the Serpent Crown in Marvel Two-In-One #64-66.
He also brings up the Nth Command's attempt to raid Metrobank in Marvel Two-In-One #67.
Also, he mentions Roxxon's failed Star Well project from Iron Man #143-144.
Lastly, he mentions the attempt on Nose Norton's life that occurred in Amazing Spider-Man #233.
