Back in Black: Part 4

Spider-Man has come to Ryker’s Island to face the Kingpin who called a hit on the wall-crawler that resulted in Peter Parker’s Aunt May getting shot. He arrives to see that the Kingpin paid to have is suit returned to him and the other prisoners released from their cells to watch.[1] The Kingpin gloats about how he has arranged for this battle to happen and that the other prisoners will watch as he beats a chump for believes in law and order. Spider-Man says nothing and when the Kingpin asks if he will fight without his mask, the wall-crawler suddenly lands a series of blows on the Kingpin in a single fluid motion without saying a single word. When the Kingpin questions where Spider-Man’s usual bravado and jokes, Spider-Man lays another series of punches, drawing blood this time. The Kingpin also ends up losing his temper and demands that Spider-Man says something.

Spider-Man decides to oblige him, by saying that his costume represents the promises he made and the lines he would never cross as Spider-Man, that he would never kill. However, as he strips off his mask and shirt, he says that it’s not Spider-Man who is going to kill him, but Peter Parker. With that, Peter charges at he Kingpin and lands another series of blows sending the massive mobster landing a few feet away from where the blows were landed. Pausing for a moment, Peter tells Fisk that there is something he never considered when he sent an assassin to shoot one of his loved ones. That regardless of all his money and influence, the Kingpin is just a normal guy while Peter has all sorts of powers. At the end of the day, the Kingpin is just a balloon waiting to be burst and he is the pin. Hearing this angers the Kingpin who charges at Peter, but Parker is able to evade his blow and lay another powerful one of his own. As the Kingpin bleeds on the floor vowing to kill Spider-Man, Peter tells Fisk to get up on his feet. When Fisk refuses, Peter lifts him up and then begins slapping him around, to the shock of the other criminals watching the fight. Then, Peter puts his wrist into the Kingpin’s mouth. He says that he will kill him by spraying his mouth and lungs full of webbing, smothering him in the process.

However, instead of doing it then and there, Peter tosses him across the room and says that he’ll come back to kill Fisk later. What he wanted to do right now was deliver a humiliating defeat in front of the other criminals of the cell block who will all talk about how Peter defeated him so easily. He will let Fisk live with the memory of this defeat until his Aunt May dies, then he will come and finish what he started. He then turns and faces the other criminals and issues them a warning that if they go after any of his family members again he will do the same to them as he has done with Wilson Fisk. Peter then tells Fisk that he’s life depends on the continued survival of his Aunt May and tells him to pray that she lives a long time, but he wouldn’t bet on it. As Spider-Man leaves, the other criminals walk back to their cells leaving the Kingpin to return to hs cell by himself.

With this order of business done with, Peter returns to the hospital to check on May, whose condition hasn’t changed. Mary Jane also warns Peter that they have blown through half their savings and they won’t have much left because this is the most expensive hospital in the city. Peter refuses to move her to a less expensive hospital and assures Mary Jane that he’ll find more money somehow.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, Kingpin

Continuity Notes

1. There’s a lot going on here. Let’s get down to it:

   • Peter Parker publicly revealed that he was Spider-Man in Civil War #2.

   • Peter renounced the Super-Human Registration Act in Amazing Spider-Man #535, making him an outlaw.

   • This resulted in the Kingpin ordering a hit on him and his family in Amazing Spider-Man #533.

   • Jake Martino, the sniper, shot Aunt May in Amazing Spider-Man #538. Peter discovered that Fisk ordered the hit in Amazing Spider-Man #540.

   • The Kingpin paid the guards to turn a blind eye for his battle with Spider-Man last issue.