Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15

Feb 1

Feb 1 Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15

Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?

IMG 2020 20 02 01 18 31 13 odc2b.png — Credits

J. Jonah Jameson and Joe Robertson look over a possible Bugle layout. JJJ wants to run another 'Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?" headline, but Robbie notes that readers are getting tired of that, and suggests the story that Peter and Ben Urich are working on. Across town, Peter photographs the Great Turhan. a self-styled Swami, who is demonstrating the Dim Mak, a death touch, on a young girl. Before he can reverse the touch, the Punisher kills him.

Peter slips away and changes into Spider-Man and chases after the Punisher. During the fight, the Punisher damages Spider-Man's web-shooters with well-aimed shots. Still, the wall-crawler comes after him. Ultimately, the Punisher gets away after stunning the wall-crawler with mercy bullets and dousing him with a non-toxic knock out gas. When Spider-Man returns to the scene, the young girl is being carted away by the police, as she continues to slowly die. Spider-Man is determined to find a way to reverse Turhan's death-touch. As Spider-Man swings away, Ben Urich goes to a nearby payphone to call in the story. Back at the daily bugle, Peter and Ben are congratulated for the excellent work. The Punisher's kill-shot of Turhan makes the front page, which doesn't sit well with Peter, who worries about what will become of the girl.

At the morgue, the coroner pricks his finger on Turhan's ring and dies. The Punisher finds the body and the poison, but Dr. Octopus attacks him and makes off with Turhan's body. Spidey drops in at Turhan's office and questions one of his assistants who reveals Turhan's ring was gimmicked with a drug he and his brother were to deliver to Pier 43. Meanwhile, the Punisher's presence at the morgue reaches the newspaper and the Daily Bugle publishes a front-page story accusing the vigilante of stealing Turhan's body.

Meanwhile, at the pier, Turhan's brother drops a canister of the poison into the river. The Punisher dispatches him and follows the canister where he discovers Doctor Octopus' hideout below the waters as the villain recovers the canister. With the poison in hand, the Doctor calls the mayor and threatens to put the poison into millions of New Yorkers unless his ransom demands are met. As he is busy on the phone, Doctor Octopus is ambushed by the Punisher. The villain easily ties up the Punisher and he pours a beaker of poison into the Punisher's face while telling the vigilante that he will be dead within the hour.

Suddenly, Spider-Man comes crashing through the wall, causing the hideout to flood. Doctor Octopus takes this as his cue to escape. Meanwhile, with the poison coursing through his body, the Punisher attacks Spider-Man in a rage. While fending off the Punisher, Spider-Man reads the notes Doctor Octopus kept on the poison. Dodging the Punisher's blows, Spider-Man concocts an antidote and pours it down the Punisher's throat, thereby restoring his sanity and curing him. After webbing up the Punisher to a pier, Spider-Man then takes it to the hospital to save the young girl poisoned by Turhan.

Meanwhile, J. Jonah Jameson has once again redesigned the front page to cover the threat made by Doctor Octopus. At that moment, the villain infiltrates the Bugle to poison the ink in the printing press, thus killing the millions of people who read the popular newspaper. Having deduced the plan of Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man arrives to stop him. The two battle it out among the printing presses, forcing Spider-Man to save J. Jonah Jameson from danger, much to the publisher's aggravation. Spider-Man eventually takes down Doctor Octopus with a single punch. At that moment, the Punisher breaks free of Spider-Man's webbing just as the police arrive. Surrounded by cops, the vigilante considers killing them, but since they are on the side of the law, surrenders and allows himself to be arrested. As he sits in the back of the squad car, the Punisher muses over how many criminals he will have access to while in prison.

Back at the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson attempts to take credit for Spider-Man's victory against Doctor Octopus. However, Joe Robertson convinces Jameson to kill the story as the public will fear that the newspaper is still poisoned and nobody will buy it. Jameson ultimately goes back to his original "Spider-Man: Menace" headline, but these still fail to sell, much to Jameson's frustration.