Amazing Spider-Man #549
Who’s That Girl ?!?
A group of crooks operating out of a warehouse at the Port Authority Marine Terminal in Brooklyn are responding to an intruder on a glider with gunfire. They make the mistake of thinking this is a new super-hero. However, the masked individual decapitates them all with a number of razor-sharp discs, claiming the warehouse for themselves.
The following morning, a work crew are taking down the Daily Bugle sign after the newspaper was purchased by Dexter Bennett.[1] The two workers are talking about Randall Crowne is running for mayor of New York City when suddenly someone flies past on a glider at great speeds frightening the workers and making them fall off the scaffold they are standing on.[2] Luckily, Spider-Man happens to be passing by and not only saves the two workers but also prevents the giant letter U from the Bugle sign from falling on the street below, saving countless lives. A few minutes later, Peter Parker has changed out of his costume in one of the Bugle’s supply closet. Entering the bullpen, Peter is surprised to see one of the reporters packing up his things. He tells Peter that he had just been fired by Bexter Bennett because his work on the Spider-Tracer murders is not up to the new editorial standards. This adds yet another problem that Peter Parker is not ready to deal with.
When Peter walks into a meeting among the staff and Dexter Bennett, Bennett tells them that the paper — now rebranded the New DB — needs to follow Peter Parker’s work ethic. Even though he gets Peter’s name wrong, he notices how Peter is always on the move. He tells the gathered reporters that they’ll need to hustle if they are going to get a leg up on the reporting of a new menace that has already robbed Stark Labs, stolen kevlar from the NYPD downtown, and the near-fatal accident that happened just outside their windows. When Peter says he has pictures of Spider-Man, Bennett says that the wall-crawler is old news and the New DB only covers the future, and he wants full coverage of this new menace in the city. Dexter then offers his photographers a huge bonus if they are able to get a photo of this new menace.
Later, Spider-Man is leaping across the city, as he is too broke to make new web-fluid, trying to make sense of the new menace. That’s when he spots a man attacking a woman in an alley and tries to stop him. The woman turns out to be Jackpot, who is shoved into the wall-crawler in order to cover her attacker’s escape. Spider-Man and Jackpot chase him into the subway but are too late to stop him from getting on a train. When Spider-Man leaps onto the train to try and stop the crook, he opens fire with an automatic weapon forcing him to let go. Jackpot is unhappy since this man was her only lead on the new “Grey Goblin” that has been committing crimes across the city. Spider-Man isn’t a fan of the Goblin name she has given this new menace, but she doesn’t care, telling Spider-Man that whoever they are, they are her arch-enemy. Spider-Man then suggests that she go home and leave the super-hero work to the professionals. That’s when another subway train approaches, forcing Spider-Man to scoop Jackpot up and cling onto the front of the train in order to prevent getting run over. By the time they arrived n Queens, Spider-Man starts wondering if Jackpot is actually Mary Jane, but she won’t tell him her secret identity.[3] Later that day, while hanging out with Harry Osborn, Lily Hollister, and Carlie Cooper, Peter asks Harry is Mary Jane is back in town, as he and MJ are no longer talking.[4] Both Lily and Carlie conclude that Peter and Mary Jane are fighting, while Harry says that finding out where Mary Jane is shouldn’t be hard since she’s a Hollywood celebrity now and they leave a trail. This gives Peter some inspiration on how to get a photograph of the new menace in the city.
Later that evening, Spider-Man is clinging to the side the new DB! sign, where he has a device he once created to follow the exhaust trail of the Green Goblin’s glider. Since this new menace uses a similar glider, Spider-Man figures he can follow the exhaust trail as well. With this device, Spider-Man follows the exhaust trail to a dockside warehouse in Brooklyn. Looking around, he rounds a corner and hits someone around the corner. This turns out to be Jackpot who also managed to track this menace to the same warehouse. As the two argue over who is more qualified to go after this new foe, a third superhero arrives on the scene and tells them to identify themselves.[5]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Jackpot, Menace (in shadow), Harry Osborn, Carlie Cooper, Dexter Bennett, Blue Shield (in shadow)
Continuity Notes
Dexter Bennett was sold all the shares of the Bugle by Marla Madison in Amazing Spider-Man #547 after J. Jonah Jameson suffered a heart attack in the previous issue.
The two workers mention former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was New York City’s mayor from 2002 to 2013. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
Jackpot is a red herring that is attempting to trick readers into thinking that she is Mary Jane Watson. However, in reality, she is Alana Jobson as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #35.
Peter and Mary Jane have been dating for years but broke up shortly before the events of Amazing Spider-Man #545. The reason for the break-up is explained in Amazing Spider-Man #605.
Jackpot states that she is the only one of the pair is a registered superhero. Following the events of Civil War #1-7, all superheroes are required to register with the government. Although Spider-Man initially registered in Civil War #2, he renounced his support of the Super-Human Registration Act in Amazing Spider-Man #535, making him an outlaw in the eyes of the law. The person that interrupts their argument is Blue Shield as we’ll learn next issue.
