Amazing Spider-Man #563
So Spider-Man Walks Into a Bar and…
Searching for the bookie, Spider-Man walks into the Bar With No Name, a bar that serves super-villains. As one would expect, this turned into a huge brawl between Spider-Man and the villains.[1] This is until the bartender orders them all to stop, saying that he runs his bar as a neutral place of business and all beef need to be left at the door and that includes someone like Spider-Man. When everyone stands down, Spider-Man begins asking the patrons about the Bookie. Not many are willing to talk, but Hydro-Man tells him that the Bookie takes bets on fights between super-heroes and their foes. Wanting to know where the Bookie lives, he threatens to trash the bar, forcing the bartender to tell the wall-crawler where the Bookie lives. He is unhappy to learn that he has to web-sling all the way over to New Jersey in order to get his answers. However, as soon as Spider-Man leaves, the bartender places a call. Meanwhile, at the FEAST Center, Aunt May is volunteering her time to help the homeless as usual. When one of the patrons slips and hurts his leg, he is seemingly healed when FEAST’s owner, Martin Li, touches his leg.
By this time, Spider-Man has arrived at Ladue residence, where he runs into the Bookie’s father Lester. Lester pleads Spider-Man to help as his son was kidnapped by the Enforcers. At first, Spider-Man is uninterested at first, pointing out that he’s been accused of murder. However, having worked as a bookie for years he knows that Spider-Man is being framed. He figures his son might know something about it and promises if Spider-Man saves the Bookie from the Enforcers he’ll make his son talk.
At that moment, the Enforcers have brought the Bookie to Coney Island where they have tied him onto the propeller of a plane ride. They then begin taking bets from the patrons at the Bar With No Name on how long the Bookie will withstand the torture. By the time Spider-Man lugs Lester to the amusement park, the Bookie is tied up in the middle of the bumper cars and having baseballs tossed at him by the Enforcers. When the wall-crawler comes to help the Bookie, he makes short work of Fancy Dan and Montana. The Ox, on the other hand, is stuck in one of the bumper cars. However, when he finally breaks free, one of the roller coasters derails and is about to crash into him had Spider-Man not been there to catch the cars and toss them aside. Since the wall-crawler saved his life, the Ox decides to let the Bookie go, saying his debts have been cleared. That’s when they learn that this whole situation was exacerbated by Lester, who was placing bets on the fight between Spider-Man and the Enforcers.
In response, Spider-Man hangs Lester upsidedown from the farris wheel until he agrees to donate all his winnings to the FEAST Center. After, the web-slinger then asks the Bookie what he knows about the spider-tracer killings. The Bookie explains that some of the victims weren’t actually murdered. One “victim” suffered a heart attack while another drowned. Whoever is responsible has been planting the spider-tracers intentionally to frame Spider-Man. Unfortunately, the Bookie doesn’t know who was responsible for the frame job. The next day, Peter Parker calls his Aunt May while he waits in the unemployment line and confirms that Lester was good on his promise and donated his winnings to the FEAST Center.[2]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Bookie, Enforcer (Montana, Fancy Dan, Ox), Aunt May, Serpent Squad (Coachwhip, Fer-de-Lance, Puff Adder, Rattler, Rock Python), Condor, Discus, Stilletto, Doctor Nemesis, Hydro-Man, Poundcakes, Powderkeg, Ramrod, Squid, Trapster
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man is after the Bookie because he thinks he might have some connection with the spider-tracer killings that Spider-Man has been accused of since Amazing Spider-Man #548.
Peter has been unemployed since Amazing Spider-Man #561, when he was fired by Dexter Bennett for refusing to turn over photos of Bobby Carr’s new girlfriend.
