Amazing Spider-Man #396
Deadmen
This story continues from The Spectacular Spider-Man #218...
Daredevil ambushes a couple of crooks in an alley, demanding to know where he can find the Owl. Although he gives the two thugs a rough beating, they don't know where the Owl can be found. After he is done, he tells Spider-Man to show himself as he is aware that the wall-crawler has been following him. Spider-Man comes down from the rooftops and tells Daredevil that he has come for a friend, calling him by his first Matt. However, Daredevil shocks him by telling the wall-crawler that he is no Matt Murdock and that Murdock is dead. He tells the wall-crawler to leave Murdock dead and buried. Spider-Man leaps in front of Daredevil and tells him that he is as well.
Meanwhile, high above the city, the Owl stands atop a radio thinking to himself, unaware that he is being observed by someone else. When the Owl begins gliding across the city, he is intercepted by the Vulture. The Vulture tells the Owl that he is late for their meeting, and calls him "brother". The Owl tells him that they are not brothers, but the Vulture insists that time will tell. Meanwhile, in Pittsburg, Mary Jane finds that she cannot sleep on her sister's couch and decides to go out to the backyard. Being in the backyard brings up memories of her childhood. She remembers a time that she and her sister Gayle were playing in the backyard while their mother knitted. This moment was interrupted when her father, came outside to berate them for making too much noise. When young Mary Jane tried to explain that they were only doing what their father told them, he scolded her. This memory causes Mary Jane to cry. That's when he is joined by her sister Gayle who asks her to talk about what she is thinking about.
Back in New York, Spider-Man continues to follow Daredevil, insisting that they talk. He has been watching Daredevil for days and isn't fooled by the media reports. He doesn't know who was buried, but he is certain that it is not Matt Murdock. Spider-Man explains that he came for Daredevil's help because he is the closest thing to a kindred spirit he has. He has come to find out how Daredevil managed to bury his past and start all over again. The Man Without Fear insists that he is not Matt Murdock, and tells the wall-crawler that even if he was Murdock, he wouldn't be able to help Spider-Man. Still, Spider-Man persists, insisting that he needs to bury Peter Parker for good. The pair almost come to blows, but Spider-Man reminds Daredevil that they both understand the needs of their double lives. This finally gets through to Daredevil who tells Spider-Man to come with him so they can pay their respects to the dead.
He takes Spider-Man to Matt Murdock's grave, where he tells Spider-Man that if he was Murdock, still insisting that he isn't, his advice to the wall-crawler would be to kill Peter Parker and forget he ever existed. After this advice, Spider-Man still lingers, prompting Daredevil to ask the web-slinger what he wants now. Spider-Man suggests that they should hang out, piquing his interest when he suggests they go hunting the Owl together. At that moment at a derelict mansion, the Owl listens to the Vulture's pitch. The Vulture is offering him the Owl the opportunity to erase his past by killing everyone who had previously known him. To demonstrate this, he lethally injects a man right in front of the Owl. The horrifies Leland demands that the Vulture give the man the antidote. That's when the Vulture explains that there isn't one, and decides to give the man a mercy by breaking his neck. This horrifies the Owl even more, and he demands to know what the Vulture is planning. His would-be ally explains that he intends to infect a large number of birds and unleash them upon the city in order to kill everyone who knows who Adrian Toomes and Leland Owlsley were. Hearing this scheme, the Owl wants nothing to do with it and flees the scene.
The Owl is eventually confronted by Daredevil and Spider-Man, who have come to bring him to justice. The Owl is not looking forward to a fight and warns the pair to not mess with him. As they listen to these threats, Spider-Man's spider-sense begins to go off. He is too late to stop one of the Vulture's infected bird dive bombs him. Although Spider-Man is only nicked, the web-slinger begins to succumb to the poison. While Daredevil goes to Spider-Man's aid, the Owl manages to escape.
This story is continued in The Spectacular Spider-Man #219...
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Daredevil, Mary Jane Watson, Gayle Byrnes, Owl, Vulture, Madeline Watson (flashback), Phillip Watson (flashback)
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man and Daredevil have been aware of each other's civilian identities since Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #107.
Matt Murdock faked his death and assumed a new identity during the "Fall From Grace" event that ran from Daredevil #319-325.
The Owl is depicted as being on one of the original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline here. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. The original towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and have since been replaced by the Freedom Tower.
Daredevil was able to fake his death with the body of his doppelganger called Hellspawn, who looked identical to him. This happened in Daredevil #325.
The Vulture refers to his "old self". The Vulture was literally an old man until he found a means to de-age himself with a Juvinator device as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #386-388.
Daredevil mentions how his "predecessor" gave the Owl a second chance. He is referring to their previous battle in Daredevil #301-303.
