Amazing Spider-Man #438

Feb 13

Feb 13 Amazing Spider-Man #438

Seeing is Disbelieving

While on patrol, the world around Spider-Man goes insane as Manhattan suddenly gives way for a prehistoric jungle. While trying to make sense of this, the wall-crawler saves a mother and her son from a tyrannosaurus rex and a rampaging herd of triceratops. As he tries to figure out how to get this family to safety, he spots a woman who had been observing this bizarre situation run through a doorway and figures this is a way back to reality. As he swings toward the door the prehistoric jungle begins to fade away. He finds himself inside a bank and figures that what he saw was some kind of strange temporal shift. However, things get even more bizarre as one of the bank employees realizes that they were robbed and triggers the alarm, bringing up the police. Believing the wall-crawler was somehow involved they attempt to arrest him, prompting Spider-Man to escape. He decides to head to the Daily Bugle to develop the photos that he took of this strange occurrence. As he leaves, he wonders why the dinosaurs didn't set off his spider-sense like the cops did after the fact. As he leaves, he is unaware that he is being observed by Daredevil who had come to stop the robbery. He decides against catching up with the wall-crawler and finding out what happened as he is due to report to work as Matt Murdock.

Arriving at the offices of Sharpe, Nelson, and Murdock, Daredevil changes back into his civilian identity of Matt Murdock. He arrives just as Rosalind Sharpe and Foggy Nelson are sitting down with their newest client, Bert Gilmore of Gilsoft Games. Gilmore tells them that the reason his video game company has been so successful is that he makes sure that all his developers are doing their jobs as work-for-hire and makes sure that Gilsoft legally owns all of its intellectual property. Although Roslinde is eager to do whatever the client wishes, Matt insists that any papers they draw up will also advise Gilmore's employees of their right to legal counsel before the sign away their rights.

While at the Daily Bugle, publisher J. Jonah Jameson is furious that nobody has anything on the alleged dinosaur appearance downtown. That's when Peter arrives and tells Jonah that he got photos of the whole thing. However, when he develops his photos they only show panicked people and none of the dinosaurs people saw. Thinking that Peter did a terrible job, Jonah scolds him for sub-par work. Confused by the whole thing, Peter rushes out before Jonah finishes his latest rant. While at the Gilsoft offices, Matt Murdock tells the employees about the work-for-hire contacts that Bert wants them to sign. Everyone is upset except for one employee, whom Gilmore identifies as Angela Bradford, who Matt detects is not displaying any emotion at all. Asking about her, Matt learns that she is a simple office worker. Still, Matt finds her attitude suspicious and decides to follow her out of the office, leaving Foggy to deal with legal matters. Bradford is not surprised that her employer has ignored her as he runs his office like a boy's club, ignoring the female employees. However, she intends to show him her value as she had spent her time developing a portable virtual reality projector. Putting on her special projection goggles, Angela intends to prove her genius once again, hoping that Spider-Man doesn't interfere again. As she puts on the goggles, Angela transforms into her alter-ego, Synario, spotting Daredevil watching her from the rooftops as she does so.

Not far away, Spider-Man is returning to the scene of the earlier chaos and is shocked to see what appears to be a live volcano nearby. He then spots Daredevil leaping at Synario, wondering how he can ignore the more immediate danger nearby. Spotting Spider-Man, Synario uses her projector to make her look like a damsel in distress being attacked by a giant robot. Fooled by this illusion, Spider-Man leaps in and tries to stop the robot, unaware that it is really Daredevil. Unable to see Synario's illusions, Daredevil is confused as Spider-Man calls him a robot and swings away with the woman. Daredevil tries to convince Spider-Man that he is being deceived, but the wall-crawler won't listen. By this point, Bert Gilmore arrives on the scene trying to find Angela and Matt Murdock. Witnessing the battle, he spots Angela standing on the sidelines with what he thinks is a strange game controller and sees this as another means of making money. Meanwhile, Daredevil convinces Spider-Man to trust his instincts and realize that there is no danger. Noticing that his spider-sense isn't going off, the web-slinger decides to take a chance and this shatters the illusion.

Just as Spider-Man and Daredevil make peace, Gilmore steals Angela's projector, claiming that it is his since she used his company's equipment to develop it. When Spider-Man and Daredevil rush after them, Bert uses the device to create a new illusion that makes the two heroes appear to be surrounded by an army of monsters. While this distracts Spider-Man, Daredevil is not so easily fooled and uses his billy-club to trip up Gilbert as he tries to flee. With the illusion shattered, Spider-Man catches the projector with his webbing and as he tries to figure out what to do with it, both Angela and Bert argue over its ownership. Deciding to follow his gut, Spider-Man smashes the device instead. That's when the police arrive and as they are arresting the pair, Bert Gilmore vows to sue Spider-Man. As the wall-crawler swings away, Daredevil is amused by the statement, telling Gilmore to watch out as he knows that Spider-Man has access to a good lawyer.