Amazing Spider-Man #408
Impossible, Be My Dream!
Media Blizzard continues from Sensational Spider-Man #1...
Tossed out of the Mystervision building, Spider-Man attempts to break his fall with his web-shooters only to discover that they are jammed. With no other choice, the wall-crawler triest o break his fall by ricochetting off the sides of building in on order to slow his momentum. Ultimately, he slams into the side of a building too hard and knocks himself out. Thankfully, he manages to cling to the wall to prevent himself from falling to his death. This is observed by a drone piloted by Mysterio from inside Mystervision. He is delighted to capture this all on film. Further, he has managed to affix receivers for his digital imagery transmission chip so he can make the wall-crawler see anything he can imagine. Not wanting to bore his audiences, Mysterio decides to cut to Ryker's Island....
There, the criminal known as Armada is behind transferred from the NYPD to some Guardsmen from the Vault... Or so it seems. As soon the police officers leave Armada in the custody of the "Guardsmen" they turn out to be two of Armada's robots that disguised themselves with holograms. After getting his bonds removed, Armada puts on his costume and breaks free from the prison. As he flies toward Manhattan, Armada looks forward to tracking down and destroying Spider-Man. Back in the city, Shakim Panzos and his friend Jamie, members of the Blades street gang, are on the run from their rivals the Jagged Skulls. Outnumbered, the pair decides that the best course of action is to split up. High above, Spider-Man comes to and discovers that his gambit paid off, but he dislocated his shoulder as a result. That's when he overhears members of the Jagged Skulls cornering Shakim and leaps down to his aid. That's when Mysterio begins manipulating Spider-Man's vision, making the gang members look like monsters. Suspecting that these are constructs created my Mysterio, Spider-Man lays into them. From the control room at Mysteryvision, Mysterio gloats, knowing that this will keep television viewers glued to their screens and under his control. He then contacts Armada and informs him of the location of Spider-Man, but intends to ramp up the drama before allowing his minion to slay the web-slinger.
By this point, Spider-Man has defeated the gang members, but Shakim is less than happy to have the wall-crawler coming to his rescue. Spider-Man isn't interested in dealing with the drama and points out that Shakim will be on his own when the members of the Jagged Skulls wake up. Realizing that Spider-Man has a point, Shakim decides to tag along with the wall-crawler. Soon after they are gone, the recovering gangsters are met with other members of the gang who are told that the Blades have back-up from Spider-Man. This is not well received, as their leader is unhappy to hear that the masked hero is interfering in their turf war. That's when they are joined by Armada who offers his assistance in destroying Spider-Man. Not far away, Spider-Man struggles through the heavy snow and blowing winds. He wishes that he had put some kind of insulation into his costume. To get his mind off his pain and discomfort, Spider-Man asks Shakim why he joined up with a street gang. The youth tells him that in his part of the city that you need to join up with a gang in order to survive. Learning that Panzos wanted to become a lawyer, the wall-crawler says the young man still has time to go back to school and get an education. Their conversation is interrupted when Shakim spots Mysterio's drones. Suddenly, they are ambushed by members of the Jagged Skulls. Caught completely off guard, Spider-Man wonders what is wrong with his spider-sense. Moreover, he is still seeing the gang members as monsters.
Realizing that his perceptions are being manipulated, Spider-Man thinks that the drone might have something to do with it, and destroys it. However, this doesn't solve the problem. He is then ambushed by Armada. As Spider-Man fights against Armada's robots, Shakim watches from the relative safety of a nearby alley. He is joined by Jamie who points out that all the Jagged Skulls have been knocked out by Spider-Man and they can score a reputation by killing them all while they are down. By this point, Spider-Man is jolted by a laser from one of Armada's robots. Seeing the wall-crawler in trouble, Shakim tells Jamie that they should help him. Jamie isn't interested in helping Spider-Man so Shakim knocks him out and takes his gun and shoots at Armada. The bullets bounce harmlessly off Armada's armor. As he turns to gloat, this distraction is enough for Spider-Man to break free and ambush Armada. Overpowering his foe, Spider-Man then rips off Armada's chest plate, removing the power source of his armor. In the aftermath of the battle, Shakim points out that Spider-Man's eyepieces are cracked. This makes the wall-crawler figure out how Mysterio was making him see things and pulls off the special lenses that were put over his mask.
This cuts off the feed in Mysterio's control room, causing the master illusionist to curse the wall-crawler. Still, he has more tricks up his sleeve that will bring about the end of the wall-crawler. Back outside, Shakim realizes that being in a gang is not the right move and decides to leave that life behind and follow his dreams to become a lawyer. When Spider-Man asks Shakim how he'll survive on his own, the youth tells the web-slinger that he will find a way. Spider-Man is certain he will, but decides to get him a helping hand. He webs up Jamie and when the gang member wakes up he tells the gang member to send a message to both the Jagged Skulls sand Burning Blades: That Shakim Panzos is off limits. Jamie agrees to send the message. With this task done, Spider-Man swings finally manage to unclog his web-shooters and swings off in order to deal with Mysterio once and for all.
... Media Blizzard concludes in Spider-Man #65.
Recurring Caracters
Spider-Man, Mysterio, Armada
Continuity Notes
Armada makes a number of pop-culture references that should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as they were considered current when this story was published in 1996.
