Set Up!

As J. Jonah Jameson looks down at the Spider-Man costume and web-shooters on his desk he is mocked for being a coward by Alistair Smythe for not having the guts to deal with Spider-Man himself.[1] He tells Jameson that he always needed someone else to do his dirty work, like his father Spencer, whose obsession with Spider-Man led to his death.[2] Getting revenge against the wall-crawler is now his obsession, however, Alistair vows that he won’t suffer the same fate as his father and he’ll see both Spider-Man and Jameson dead.[3] Jameson pleads that he has done everything Smythe has asked, but the mad scientist insists that Jameson has only done what he needs to and decides that more can be done.[4] He then gets Jameson to call his wife and son to see how they are doing. When he calls Marla she says she is fine and suggests they go out to dinner with John who is flying in from California. After he gets off the phone, Alistair says that he has one of his miniature Spider-Slayers keeping a close watch on his loved ones and they will kill on his command. Realizing that he has no choice but to do what Smythe tells him, Alistair says they have a newspaper to publish and spider blood to spill.

Meanwhile, at the apartment shared by Randy Robertson and Peter Parker, Randy tells Peter that he needs to chill out. However, Peter is concerned about where they are going to get the money to pay their electric and phone bills. Neither does Randy, but that’s why they need to go out and have fun tonight. When Peter tries to get out of going out, the phone and doorbell ring at the same time. At the door is Jill Stacy who has come to see Peter, while on the phone is Glory Grant who tells Peter that J. Jonah Jameson is asking for him. When Peter tells them that he got a job at the Bugle, Jill asks if she can come along and Peter says he needs some time alone.[5] Randy takes this opportunity to ask Jill out to lunch, an offer she reluctantly accepts.

When Peter arrives at the Daily Bugle he takes the time to talk to Glory Grant about how Randy is trying to get him to set them up on a date and how he doesn’t know what Jill Stacy wants. Glory points out that Jill is probably trying to be a good friend to Peter during his time of loss. That’s when Jameson calls Peter into his office. Jonah tells him the moratorium on Spider-Man stories is over and he then shows him the story he wants Parker to cover. He holds up a mock-up of a front-page story about a scientific examination of Spider-Man’s costume and web-shooters. Jameson explains that this is all a ruse to draw Spider-Man out of hiding so that Jameson can have him arrested, he wants Peter on the scene to photograph it, promising Parker a huge bonus for doing it. Since Jonah is acting funny, Peter asks him if he’s okay, but Jameson brushes this off and tells Parker to get to work. Peter wonders if this has anything to do with the possibility that Jameson may have looked under his mask when he rescued him from Venom earlier.[6] On his way out, he runs into Joe Robertson and tells him things are going fine living with Randy. Joe then excuses himself so he can go and argue with Jonah about the plans for the front page. On his way out, Peter mentions Randy Robertson to Glory Grant again, she tells Peter to have him call her sometime and goes to referee Jonah and Joe’s shouting match.

Running late, Peter slips into a supply closet to change into his Spider-Man costume and swing across the city.[7] He decides he has no choice but to do the job for Jameson not just because he needs the money, but because he’s afraid what DNA testing on his costume and web-shooters might do to compromise his secret identity and needs to recover them before that happens. He soon arrives at Aunt May’s for dinner and seeing the front page of the Daily Bugle she wonders, once again, what kind of person does what Spider-Man does. Peter changes the subject to how Aunt May is doing, particularly with money. May tells him not to worry about it because she’s a Parker, and with Parkers things always tend to work out.

Later, Peter arrives at the location where Jameson has the Spider-Man costume on display. Jonah tells Peter that when Spider-Man is captured he will finally be vindicated. When Peter asks what the plan is, Jonah tells him not to worry about the details. Jameson gloats about how he’ll finally capture Spider-Man and unmask him — making a point to say this time he won’t chicken out. Hearing this is a relief to Peter who was worried that Jameson found out his secret. That’s when Jameson leaves Peter to stake out the room and wait for Spider-Man to show. Sitting in the dark, Peter decides to wait before recovering his stolen gear. That’s when his spider-sense goes off alerting him to the presence of miniature Spider-Slayers and realizes what’s going on. With that, he begins stripping off his street clothes so Spider-Man can make his appearance.

While in Washington, DC, Senator Stewart Ward meets with his colleague Robert Kelly to tell him that he fully supports his presidential candidacy, particularly since Kelly intends to focus on the government’s response to mutants.[8] When Ward offers to shake Kelly’s hand he declines as he’s fighting off a cold. His assistant, Susan Strong, on the other hand, does and suggests they meet for dinner sometime. As they walk away, Ward looks at the strange red boils that suddenly appear on his hands and figures that they will be seeing each other soon.[9]

Meanwhile, Spider-Man makes a dramatic entrance into the Bugle and demands Alistair Smythe come out from hiding. Smythe obliges him by unleashing a swarm of his mini Spider-Slayers.[10] Spider-Man easily webs them up, however this isn’t the only threat. As the wall-crawler’s spider-sense begins to go haywire, Smythe comes out of the shadow with an army of previous Spider-Slayers. While Spider-Man is fighting for his life, Randy Robertson answers the doorbell and finds Glory Grant and Jill Stacy there, they invite him to join them on a night on the town and he quips that someone in Heaven must like him. Back at the Bugle, Spider-Man reminds himself that he is risking his life because he and Aunt May needs the money he’ll bring in from the photos he is taking. After destroying all the old Spider-Slayers, Alistair reveals his newest creation, a multi-armed robot that has J. Jonah Jameson grasped in one of his arms. While Spider-Man is focused on this one of the Mini-Slayers leaps on his face and jolts him into unconsciousness.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Alistair Smythe, J. Jonah Jameson, Marla Madison, John Jameson, Randy Robertson, Jill Stacy, Glory Grant, Joe Robertson, Aunt May, Stewart Ward, Robert Kelly, Spider-Slayers

Continuity Notes

1. Smythe mentions how J. Jonah Jameson recently bought Spider-Man’s costume from a street kid. Peter’s backpack containing the costume was stolen in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #18. It was stolen by a street kid who later sold it to Jameson in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #18.

2. Spencer Smythe was first hired by J. Jonah Jameson to capture Spider-Man back in Amazing Spider-Man #25. Eventually, he got radiation poisoning caused by the power sources of the various Spider-Slayer robots and died in Amazing Spider-Man #192.

3. Alistair Smythe was dragged into his father’s obsession for the first time by the Kingpin in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19.

4. Here it’s revealed that Alistair Smythe is the main reason why Jameson stopped publishing editorials and photos of Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #16.

5. Peter wants to be alone because he is still dealing with the apparent death of Mary Jane in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13. She’s still alive though, as we’ll see in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #29.

6. Peter is worried that J. Jonah Jameson looked under his mask when he was briefly knocked out during a fight with Venom in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #10. Peter’s fears are groundless as Jameson chickened out as we’ll learn later in this issue.

7. Peter is depicted here wearing a red and blue costume again when last issue he was wearing his old black-and-white costume. That’s because Peter stitched together a new red-and-blue costume for himself in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #19.

8. Robert Kelly began his presidential bid in X-Men (vol. 2) #102.

9. Stewart’s strange boils are a symptom of his being infected with a Z’Nox pathogen as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #23.

10. Smythe explains that the carapace he wore the last time they faced each other healed his broken spine. Smythe was crippled following his first clash with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19. The carapace he is speaking of is the one he wore during the Invasion of the Spider-Slayers story arc which ran from Amazing Spider-Man #368-373.