Unscheduled Stop Part 2

At the FEAST Center, Aunt May checks her watch and is disappointed that Peter is running late for their get together. That’s when one of the patrons points out that if Peter is coming from Brooklyn, he’s going to be late. Seeing the news coverage about the subway tunnel collapse, May begins to worry about Peter’s safety. That’s when reporters say that the people trapped in the tunnel were the jury in the Giacomo trail. Although May is relieved that Peter is probably safe, she feels terribly for the people trapped in the tunnel.

However, Peter is anywhere but somewhere safe as he — as Spider-Man — is trapped in the tunnel which is now flooding after a clash with the Shocker, who was hired to eliminate the jurors. Adding a sublime element to the situation, one of the jurors had apologized to Spider-Man for his son, revealing that he is the father of J. Jonah Jameson. Spider-Man puts aside this revelation as he has come up with an idea on how to get them out of the tunnel. He begins waking up the Shocker, convincing everyone —particularly a police officer whose partner was killed in the collapse — that the villain will work with them to get free as he not suicidal. When the Shocker is not quick to answer Spider-Man’s question, the wall-crawler begins to lose his temper pointing out that they are running out of air and the tunnel is filling with water. The Shocker reveals that there is an unsued maintenance tunnel that runs parallel to the subway tunnel, unfortunately the access has been buried under a pile rubble. Needing to get past this rubble, but not trusting the Shocker to do it, Spider-Man puts on one of the villain’s vibro-gauntlet. Using the gauntlet without the proper padding proves painful and Spider-Man is knocked back by the force of the gauntles blast and is buried under rubble.

Meanwhile, on the surface, J. Jonah Jameson has called a meeting with his wife Marla Madison to discuss divorce proceedings. Jonah is filing for divorce because he is angry at her for selling his shares in the Daily Bugle to Dexter Bennett while he was recovering from a heart attack in the hospital.[1] Marla explains she did what she was thought was best for her husband, but if he wants to go through with this divorce she won’t fight him. As Marla is discussing things with Jonah’s lawter, Jameson is focused on the news coverage about the subway tunnell collapse. Seeing footage of the Giacomo jurors, Jonah recognizes his father and abruptly leaves the meeting without any explanation.

By this time, the peopel trapped in the tunnel has managed to dig out Spider-Man, who is miraculiously alive. The wall-crawler’s gambit has paid off as he managed to uncover the access to the maintenance tunnel. However, they cannot wait for the water to float them up to the tunnel access and Spider-Man decides that he’ll need to lift people out as quickly as possible. Taking the elder Jameson with him, Spider-Man goes up to check the integirty of the maintenance tunnel. With the light of their only flashlight beginning to fade, Spider-Man works quickly to make a make-shift cart out of webbing and rubble to lift the rest of the jurors out of the subway tunnel. As Spider-Man strains to pull everyone up, he distracts himself from his pain to ask Jameson about why his son turned out to be such a crabby individual. The elder Jameson explains that it was his brother who raised Jonah.[2] Jay says that he left the city when Jonah was still young and has only recently returned to the city, but hasn’t told his son that he is back. It’s by this point that Spider-Man has almost gotten the other passengers up to the tunnel. One of the first people up is the Shocker, whom Jameson warns not to cause any truble as their flashlight is dying and he too will be trapped in complete darkness. The Shocker reveals that he left a toolbox with a fresh flashlight inside. When he trains the light on Spider-Man both the Shocker and Jameson are shocked to see that rats have begun swarming around the wall-crawler. As they are biting him, Spider-Man tells everyone to hurry. Once everyone is free, Spider-Man activates the vibro-gauntlet that he is still wearing to get the rats off him. He then orders the Shocker to lead the way down the tunnel so he can keep an eye on him while they make their escape.

Soon they see lights coming their way, signs that a rescue team is coming their way. That’s when the Shocker reveals that he booby-trapped his gauntlets and pressing a stud on his belt, causes the gauntlet that Spider-Man is wearing go off, collapsing the tunnel between the stranded passengers and the Shocker. With the tunnel rapidly filling with water, Spider-Man notices there is natural light coming in from an exit shaft above them. He then uses his body as make-shift ladder so people can climb out of the tunnel. Jameson remains behind to make sure everyone else gets out, but soon the water rises over his head. With the last of the stranded passengers out, Spider-Man leaps back in and rescues the elder Jameson from the water. On the surface, Spider-Man and the elder Jameson are swarmed by the media who have a ton of questions. Spider-Man insists that he isn’t the story and excuses himself when he spots J. Jonah Jameson on the scene. The wall-crawler takes the opporunity to rib Jonah over the revelation that he is a junior, but when he tries to reintroduce Jonah to his father, he discovers that the elder Jameson has disappeared. That’s when the police arrive and try to arrest the wall-crawler, pormpting Spider-Man to flee the scene. As he goes, he finds it strange that Jonah’s father wouldn’t stick around to speak with his son. Still, he considers how things turned out and decides that it was a lucky day after all.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Shocker, Jay Jameson, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Marla Madison

Continuity Notes

1. J. Jonah Jameson suffered a heart attack in Amazing Spider-Man #546. Marla, fearing for Jonah’s continued health, sold the Bugle to Bennett in the following issue.

2. This line is used to explain the story in Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #20, which tells a story from Jameson’s childhood that depicted Jonah’s father as a stern cigar chomping soldier who had the same temperment as Jonah.