Amazing Spider-Man #584

Character Assassination Part 1

With the mayoral election two days away, the media is making speculations as to how each candidate will turn out. On the Two-in-One news program, political commentators note that Randall Crowne is staking his campeign on taking a tough stance on the so-called spider-tracer killings while the issue is being considered an albatross around the neck of Bill Hollister and his campeign.[1]

The upcoming election is the subject of conversation between Boomerang and his partner in crime, the Shocker. Boomerang is surprised to hear that the Shocker doesn’t plan on voting because he is a super-villain. As Boomerang argues over the importance of voting to democracy, they arrive at the Bookie’s office to collect on a bet.[2] That’s when they discover that someone has turned over the Bookie’s office and murdered him.[3] After an anonymous call to 911, the police arrive on the scene to investigate. Detectives Brett Mahoney and Stacy Dolan are the detectives sent to examine the scene. During their investigation they discover that someone planted a spider-tracer on the Bookie’s body.[4] At that same moment, the hosts of Two-in-One are continuing to speculate on the coming election. Stressing how Randall Crowne has been gaining popularity, mainly due to his past endorsement of the Thunderbolts attempts to capture Spider-Man, they suggest that the only was Bill Hollister could win the election is if he manages to arrest Spider-Man before election night.[5]

Soon, Spider-Man finds himself being chased by the police helicopter that is firing at him with live rounds. Attempting to evade capture, Spider-Man is clipped in the shoulder by a bullet and goes crashing through an office window. Two police officers soon catch up to Spider-Man but lose him when the wall-crawler races into an elevator.[6] As Spider-Man makes his escape, Carlie Cooper visits his colleague Julien Beck to collect the spider-tracer tracker he’s been working on for the past few months. Turning it on, Carlie is shocked to see where it is picking up the spider-tracers and is shocked to see where the first location it is picking up. Meanwhile, Spider-Man is in the middle of a fight with the Menace and is loosing badly. When the wall-crawler is at Menace’s mercy, the villain unmasks revealing that he is actually Harry Osborn. Spider-Man then wakes up and realizes that it was all a dream and he is still in the elevator shaft he passed out in while fleeing the police.

Elsewhere, J. Jonah Jameson is spending time at the gym with Joe Robertson. To ease the stress of not covering the first mayoral election in years, Jonah has taken to boxing a punching bag.[7] Jonah tells Joe that things aren’t normal anymore, given the separation with his wife and how the Daily Bugle is been turned into a trashy tabloid.[8] That’s when Joe notices Jonah has been punching a picture of Spider-Man and points out that some things never change. While at the offices of the DB, Dexter Bennett is paying close attention to the election numbers and has a front page prepared for each potential victory. Bennett is not the only one paying attention to the polls, with both Randall Crowne and Bill Hollister paying close attention to the numbers. In the case of Hollister, the district attorney has grown concerned about the polling data and wonders where his daughter is. At that moment, Lily Hollister is being escorted up to the torch of the Statue of Liberty by her boyfriend Harry Osborn. Once they get up to the observation deck, Harry is pleased to see that the barges have arrived in the harbor on time. Just as Lily is asking what they are for, the barges begin lighting off fireworks as Harry gets down on one knee and proposes to Lily.

At that same moment, in Alphabet City, Vin Gonzales finally leaves the apartment he shares with Peter Parker, allowing Spider-Man to enter so he can shower and patch himself up after his run in with the police.[9] That’s when Carlie Cooper arrives, following the signal on her tracking device. After confirming that it is Peter in the shower and Vin isn’t home, Carlie begins looking around to confirm if the tracking device is working properly. The signal leads her to Vin’s room where she discovers a bag full of spider-tracers hidden under his bed.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Shocker, Boomerang, Harry Osborn, Lily Hollister, Carlie Cooper, Vin Gonzales, Stacy Dolan, Brett Mahoney, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Dexter Bennett, Bill Hollister, Randall Crowne, Samara Saffian, Michael Levin, Bookie (corpse)

Continuity Notes

1. The spider-tracer killings first started in Amazing Spider-Man #547. Randall Crowne made it one of his talking points back in Amazing Spider-Man #571, vowing that if he was elected he would do everything in his power to bring the killer to justice.

2. The Shocker and Boomerang placed a bet on a battle between Captain America and Batroc. This could be the battle that took place in Captain America (vol. 5) #43-45. It’s the cloesest battle between the two that could chronologically fit, unless they’re talking about a battle that has not been depicted.

3. The Bookie was murdered by the alleged spider-tracer killer for deducing their identity. That happened last issue.

4. The officers state that the Bookie kept his notes on an encrypted Blackberry cell phone. Blackberry phones were quite popular in the early 2000s being prominantly used by those in business and government. However, with the advances in smart phone technology the Blackberry was soon overshadowed by Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s phones. As I write this, Blackberry only sells phones in Indonesia (of all places) and focuses primarily on software these days. It’s reference here should be considered a topical reference.

5. Randall Crowne endorsed the Thunderbolts attempt to arrest Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #568-573. I shouldn’t have to tell you that the Thunderbolts flubbed that job spectacularly.

6. The officers chastize one of the office workers for not stopping Spider-Man he quips that it’s not his job to stop crooks. This mirrors the day Spider-Man refused to stop the crook who killed his beloved Uncle Ben in Amazing Fantasy #15. Sadly, this did not lead to a series of comics about a fat office worker. Please accept this animated gif of Tobey Maguire crying as a consolation prize, it’s been so long since we referenced Uncle Ben’s death.

7. Jameson says that this is the first election he hasn’t covered since mayor John Lindsay. Lindsay was mayor of New York City from 1966 to 1973. This reference should be considered topical.

8. After Jonah suffered a heart attack in Amazing Spider-Man #546, his wife Marla sold the Daily Bugle to Dexter Bennett the following issue. Jonah was furious and began divorce proceedings in Amazing Spider-Man #582.

9. Spider-Man states that he is going to go see Night Nurse after his shower. Night Nurse, aka Linda Carter, is a nurse who treats superheroes of their injuries so they stay off the record. She started patching up superheroes in Daredevil (vol. 2) #58.