Un-Murder Incorporated

Over the past few years someone has been bumping off members of the Maggia crime family. It started with Underboss Alberto Karnelli who was gunned down at the opera. Next was Eddie Costa who was poisoned while eating out. Milo Manfredi was killed in a car bomb explosion. The next to die was Tony “Two-Step” Gallo, who was found hanging in his prison cell. Paulo Munoz met his ended his life as 200 pounds of alligator shit at the Bronx Zoo reptile house. Joe Karnelli died by the mobster staple of being bured alive in concrete. Vincenzo Karnelli died in the same fire that destroyed the strip club he owned. Four more made men ended up ground up at Ferrara’s Butcher Shop.

The most prolific death was that of Silvermane, the Maggia patriach and cyborg. He met his demise while battling with the Owl’s gang in a junkyard. stuck on the wrecking yard magnet, the elderly cyborg ordered Hammerhead to free him. Unfortunately, Hammerhead was pinned under fire and was unable to stop his boss from being dropped in the automobile crusher where he appeared to make his demise. However, the biggest blow to the Maggia crime family was when Mister Negative recently unleashed his Dragons Breath on a gathering Maggia family leaders, killing all the adult male members of the family except for Bruno Karnelli.[1]

Presently, the Maggia is also hurting because Mister Negative has been chipping away at their legitimate businesses making it harder for them to launder money. Bruno suggests they launder it through their illegal gambling operations but Carmine, his Consigliere warns that this will lead the cops or Mister Negative right to them. Bruno tells Carmine to have a little faith, but days later one of their illegal casinos is attacked by Negative’s Inner Demons. The mob enforcers on site are getting slaughtered, thanks in part to the addition of Hammerhead being part of Mister Negative’s minions.[2]

That’s when Spider-Man arrives on the scene and begins taking down the Inner Demons. Although the remaining Maggia men are grateful for the web-slinger’s interference, they know he only arrived because of the Inner Demons, as even Spider-Man considers the Maggia a joke. That’s when Hammerhead orders his minions retreat as their job was only to smash the gambling den and they have accomplished this goal. Escaping in a van, Hammerhead thanks Spider-Man for helping make their job easier.

Later, when the NYPD arrive on the scene, Carlie Cooper is among the CSI team collecting evidence. As she works, she can overhear some detectives gossiping about her and wishing she were more like her father, a good cop.[3] As she collects stolen money off the ground she notices that it smells like fish. That’s when Peter Parker arrives to take photos of the crime scene for the Front Line. He notices Carlie changed her hair and asks her out to lunch, but feels instantly guilty because he’s been having romantic get together with the Black Cat as Spider-Man.[4] As they head to a nearby diner, Carlie tells Peter that she is convinced that someone on the police force is leaking info about the Maggia to Mister Negative, which is disappointing to her so soon after they got rid of a bunch of dirty cops. When she quips that the “honeymoon is over”, Peter suddenly remembers that he was supposed to pick up his Aunt May and her new husband Jay from the airport.[5] When Peter abruptly leaves, Carlie wonders why she lets herself be Peter Parker’s doormat all the time and wonders if there a guy out there who is interested in her. As she walks away, Carlie Cooper is unaware that someone is watching her from a nearby alley.

Later, May and Jay white knuckle it in the backseat as Peter drives them to the FEAST Center in a car he borrowed from Randy Robertson.[6] May gets out and tells Peter to drive Jay back to their apartment, as she figures the two could use a little time to bond and she has a lot of catching to do with Martin Li, the man who owns FEAST.

At that moment, Mister Negative is getting a report about how Spider-Man interfered with Hammerhead’s mission. Negative is furious that they didn’t destroy the web-slinger, he slices open one of his minion’s stomach, reminding them that they cannot die. He then explains that the only way to kill a man is to strike him in the hear every time. That’s when May Parker comes waltzing into his office. Although Mister Negative changes back to Martin Li before she can see him in that form, she doesn’t buy that he was practicing a play for New Year, particularly because she recognizes Hammerhead.[7] With no other choice, Martin uses his corrupting touch on May in order to make her forget what she has seen.

That evening, at the Karnelli Estate, Carmine Karnelli tries to convince his adopted brother Bruno to consider doing something with their dirty money before they lose it all. When Bruno doesn’t take it seriously, Carmine tells some men to enter the dining room. These men turn out to be, Eddie Costa, Mil Manfredi, Tony Gallo, Paulo Munoz, as well as Alberto, Joe, and Vincenzo Karnelli. Each man has gone out of their way to fake their death’s in elaborate ways. Bruno isn’t phased by any of this, insisting that he is still in charge of the family until Silvermane also enters the room. Seeing that the Don is still alive, Bruno gets down on his knees to pay his respects but doesn’t understand it. Looking up at a camera, Carmine explains that they have employed a man that has helped mobsters go into hiding when the heat is on by faking their deaths. The man in question is Mysterio, master of illusion.[8][9]

While downtown, Peter is being shown around Jay Jameson’s penthouse apartment. He’s impressed to learn that Jay made is fortune off writing novels under a pen name, novels which Peter read in high school. That’s when May comes home and, affected by Mister Negative’s corruption, begins accusing Peter as treating Jay as another meal ticket to mooch off of after wasting his life for years on dead-end jobs.[10] Having his failures rubbed in his face upsets Peter and he leaves. When Jay tries to go after Peter, May tells him not to bother. She also tells him to get used to the new attitude, saying the honeymoon is over. Although May’s words were the product of Mister Negative’s corruption, they aren’t totally wrong. As he web-slings across the city, Peter wonders what he’s doing with his life and decides he needs to apply himself.[11]

His thoughts are interrupted when he notices police cars racing to the scene of crime below and decides to follow. In one of the squad cars is Captain Yuri Watanabe who is getting intel of a battle going on between the Maggia and Mister Negative’s Inner Demons at a meatpacking plant. The officer who called it in is Carlie Cooper who had come following a lead in her investigation. As Silvermane faires upon the Inner Demon’s, he’s shocked to see Hammerhead is among their number. Seeing that Silvermane is still alive makes Hammerhead start questioning his loyalties. Watching from another room, Carlie assures Yuri that she is in no immediate danger. That’s when she notices someone trying to sneak up behind her and she turns around to get her gun on them. However, Carlie is in for the shock of her life when this man turns out to be her father, who is alive and well.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mysterio, Carlie Cooper, Aunt May, Jay Jameson, Hammerhead, Maggia (Silvermane, Bruno Karnelli, Carmine Karnelli), Yuri Watanabe, Ray Cooper

Continuity Notes

1. Mister Negative wiped out most of the male members of the Karnelli family in Amazing Spider-Man #547.

2. Hammerhead left the Maggia and pledged loyalty to Mister Negative after his powers were given an upgrade. See Amazing Spider-Man Extra! #1.

3. A bit of backstory here on Carlie that is being brought up here:

   • First of all, Carlie’s father is mentioned here. Ray Cooper was an officer in the NYPD until his alleged death. As explained in the Many Loves of the Amazing Spider-Man #1, Carlie was adopted by the Hollisters after her father’s death because she was still a child.

   • The officers here don’t like Carlie for a few reasons. The big one was that she exposed a conspiracy among a number of NYPD officers that were planting spider-tracers on murder suspects from Amazing Spider-Man #547-588. Breaking the “blue wall of silence” between police officers is tantamount to career suicide.

   • The other reason why they are critical of Carlie is that more recently she was accused of losing evidence in a murder case. However, she was cleared of wrongdoing by Spider-Man, who revealed that the Sandman stole the weapons he initially left at the scene of the crime. See Amazing Spider-Man #615-616.

4. Spider-Man has been seeing the Black Cat again in Amazing Spider-Man #606-607. The Cat has stated multiple times that it is an open relationship, but Peter has a hard time wrapping his head around the concept because he’s a monogamous boy scout (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but geeze Christ dude, get your shit together)

5. Aunt May married Jay Jameson in Amazing Spider-Man #600, they have been honeymooning all over the world this whole time.

6. Peter mentions how he almost got his taxi license. Peter attempted to become a taxi driver when he was out of work and failed miserably as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #577.

7. May has first-hand troubles with Hammerhead in the past as he was the rival of Doctor Octopus during the period of time that Otto Octavius was attempting to court May to get access to a nuclear power plant she inherited. Long story. See Amazing Spider-Man #113-115, 130-131, and 152-159.

8. Mysterio says that he is back from the dead here. His return is somewhat complicated and not entirely explained as I write this (September 2020):

   • Mysterio died by committing suicide in Daredevil (vol. 2) #7.

   • He then reappeared as an allegedly undead spirit in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11-13.

   • However, Mysterio had resurfaced in the Ultimate Universe, operating a robotic avatar when active in that universe starting in Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3, this was revealed in Spider-Men #1-5

   • This story is suggesting that Mysterio faked his death. This is not outlandish since Mysterio was revealed to have been assisting people into faking deaths since Norman Osborn paid him to help convince the world his son Harry died circa Spectacular Spider-Man #200, as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #581-582.

   • However, much later in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #1, it is revealed that Mysterio was indeed dead and brought back to life by an entity calling itself Kindred.

9. It should also be pointed out that this isn’t Silvermane but a robot duplicate (as we’ll learn next issue) the real Silvermane did get dumped in a trash compactor. His head turns up alive again in Superior Foes of Spider-Man #3.

10. Of the different careers that May lists off the two we haven’t mentioned yet are:

    • Photographer, Peter has worked on and off as a photographer for years getting his start at the Daily Bugle in Amazing Spider-Man #2. He currently works for the Front Line.

    • Teacher: Peter taught science at Midtown High from Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #31 until Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #28.

    • He’s also, unmentioned here, had an unsuccessful career as a scientist and has failed to hold a job in the field for any given time. He turned down a job at On-Line Research in Amazing Spider-Man #302, he also worked for GARID from Spider-Man: The Final Adventure #1-4, and work a brief stint at TriCorp from Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #1-16.

11. Spider-Man recalls how he recently stopped Doctor Octopus from taking control of the city using the power of his mind. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man #600.