Amazing Spider-Man #580
Fill in the Blank
Peter Parker is in a hurry to change into Spider-Man after getting a panicked phone call from his Aunt May. She was at the bank when it was suddenly robbed by the criminal calling himself the Blank. The Blank, seeing that May is on the phone, tells the old woman to call the cops if she wants as he is not afraid of the authorities. Spider-Man arrives just as the Blank is exiting the bank. The wall-crawler is shocked when the Blank is able to pull off the wall-crawler’s webbing as though he is covered with teflon. When Spider-Man punches the foe, he is horrified when the villain is knocked into the middle of a busy street. However, the passing cars have no affect on the Blank who manages to slip away in the confusion. Spider-Man looks around the area for the Blank, but quickly realizes that he has lost his foe and doubles back so he can check on his Aunt May. Changing back into Peter Parker, the web-spinner returns to the bank and is relieved to see that Aunt May is fine. Although officers on the scene are unhappy that Peter has barged in on their crime scene, they are told to stand down by FBI Agent Ray Donovan. Peter is surprised to see Donovan, since he last interacted with the police officer back during his brief stint working for the Daily Globe.[1]
Meanwhile, the Blank has retuned to his room at the Plaza Hotel to regroup after his daring robbery. He has forgotten the rush he gets from staging robberies and is amazed how he was able to go up against a heavy hitter like Spider-Man. As the Blank gloats over his victory, Peter Parker has stopped at the Coffee Bean following the incident at the bank. That’s when he gets a call from Joe Robertson who offers his condolences after hearing May was in the middle of the bank robbery. When Peter asks Joe what the Front Line has on the Blank that isn’t already on the internet, Robertson says tha the FBI is interested in capturing the crook because he is responsible for a number of bank robberies across the country. Remebering Ray Donovan, Peter Parker decides to track down Donovan before he gives a press conference. Through this connection, Peter learns that the Blank has been hitting banks that were known for their predatory lending practices turning him into something of a folk hero — not that there are any reports of him giving the stolen money to the poor. When Ray invites Peter to the briefing, Parker accepts wanting to do his part to nail the guy responsible for terrorizing his aunt.
Watching this briefing, the Blank gloats at the FBI offer what little information they have on him. They tell the press that the Blank isn’t a mutant but aren’t sure how his powers work. This causes the Blank to think how he stole his forcefield harness from a scientist and began using it to stage his robberies. His reminissance is soured when they mention his previous association with Graviton, who treated him as nothing more than a lacket and tossed him into the ocean. The Blank thinks how he was sweapt away the island of Catalina and his dunk in the ocean caused his forcefield device to fuse to his body. The merger has caused the Blank’s powers to fluccuate and his ability to turn it off harder to control with every passing day. He has tracked down doctors who can help him but the procedure to make him normal again will cost more money he has, hence the bank robberies.[2] After the press conference, Peter begins demanding answers from the FBI, forcing Donovan to pull Peter aside and tell him to cool down, assuring him that the Bureau is doing everything they can to catch the Blank.
Unsatisfied with how the FBI is handling the situation, Peter decides to go out looking for the Blank as Spider-Man. At that same moment, the Blank is robbing an armored car. When the guards attempt to release knock out gas, this attempt to stop the Blank fails as the villain has come wearing a gasmask. When the reports come in to the FBI’s moble field of operations, Spider-Man is on the roof of the van listening in and races ahead to the scene of the crime. There, the Blank tries to escape in the armored car, but Spider-MAn quickly webs up the windshield and then uses his strength to tip the vehicle over. However, catching the Blank is easier said than done as the villain is able to slip out of Spider-Man’s grasp. The wall-crawler is forced to delay his chase when the Blank knocks over a lamp post that is about to fall on a mother out on a walk with her twin children. Spider-Man uses his body to shield the toddlers from the falling lamp post but quickly catches up with the Blank in a nearby alley. There, while his camera takes shots, Spider-Man wraps up the Blank in a ball of webbing and literally rolls him out into the waiting arms of the FBI. Quickly changing back into Peter Parker, Spider-Man makes his presence known to Donvan. Explaining that he was on the scene by pure luck, Peter tells Donovan that he has some schmutz on his jacket, using this as an opportunity to recover the spider-tracer he planted on Donovan during the press conference so he could track their hunt for the Blank.
Later that day, Peter pays a visit to his Aunt May to show her the front page of the Front Line which features his photos of Spider-Man taking down the Blank. While May is happy to hear the bank robber was arrested, she hopes that Peter remained at a safe distance.[3]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, the Blank, Aunt May, Joe Robertson
Continuity Notes
In Amazing Spider-Man #193, Peter was fired by J. Jonah Jameson and so Peter went to work for the Daily Globe, the Bugle’s competition in Fantastic Four #207. Parker would work for the Globe until it was driven out of business in Amazing Spider-Man #210. Jameson re-hired Peter at the Bugle in Amazing Spider-Man #212. The Globe’s shuttering proved shortlived as the paper was seen putting out papers again in Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #45.
The Blank’s origin and his brief alliance with Graviton were detailed in West Coast Avengers #2-3. The Blank says he doesn’t know what happened to Graviton after he was disposed of, Graviton went on to be defeated in West Coast Avengers #4. At the time of this story, Graviton seemingly perished fighting Iron Man in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #23, although the villain will turn up alive again in Secret Avengers (vol. 2) #2.
Peter reminds May of her speech about Parkers having gumption. May first made this speech way back in Amazing Spider-Man #18.
