The Arms of Doctor Octopus!

Common thug Jimbo Ryan is responsible for the death of a secret service agent Kent Blake and has stiffed Dr. Octopus on the delivery of special plans. While Dr. Octopus goes out looking for Ryan, Spider-Man tries to bust up his gang as well. After capturing his men, but not Ryan himself, Spider-Man is confronted by an associate of Blake who demands Spider-Man's help. When Spidey isn't sure about it, he tells them that Blake's death has been ruled as a suicide and that Spidey should check out Blake's funeral before he makes a decision. Going to the funeral as Peter Parker, he learns that Blake's widow has been denied her husband's life insurance as his death has been ruled as a suicide. Realizing that he has a responsibility to capture the killer Jimbo Ryan, Peter decides to do something as Spider-Man.

That night he is visited by Blake's associate at his apartment, where he reveals that he knows that Parker is really Spider-Man. Peter agrees to infiltrate Ryan's gang as hired muscle, which gets him into conflict with Dr. Octopus, who has come to get revenge against Ryan.

Thrown aside by Octopus, and dumped into the river by Ryan's goons, Peter changes into Spider-Man and chases after Octopus. He is brought to a construction site where he battles Dr. Octopus. When Blake's associate confronts Ryan, he almost falls off the side of building to his death when Spider-Man manages to save him, however, Dr. Octopus manages to escape as a result. Spider-Man then turns Ryan over to the police where he confesses to killing Blake.

Later, when Peter goes to visit Kent's widow to learn if her insurance settlement was paid out, he is shown a picture of her late husband, and Peter is shocked to find that the man in the photograph was the same man who had been helping him try to capture Ryan.

This story is continued in Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #1....

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, Kent Blake

Continuity Notes

• Kent Blake was a member of the Secret Service during the 1950s, as seen in Kent Blake of the Secret Service #1-14. How he could be in his relative prime with a young wife and children during the modern age is unexplained at this time.

• Doctor Octopus knows Peter Parker in his civilian guise and his Aunt since Amazing Spider-Man #12 and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. Octavius learned of the Parker family dynamics while he was renting a room in Aunt May's home in Amazing Spider-Man #53-55.