The Devil and the Details

Peter Parker is walking through the wintery streets of New York, still depressed over being dumped by Carlie Cooper.[1] His spider-sense warning him of a nearby robbery, Peter wishes his early-warning sense could have warned him of his impending break-up. Spider-Man quickly takes down the crook and webs him up, complaining how little fight was put up. When the burglar asks Spider-Man to tell his wife that he loves her, Spider-Man declines to do so. This is overheard by the Black Cat who quips that romance must be dead.

Spider-Man tries to play it cool but is excited to see her as he hasn’t seen her in a while.[2] As they swing across the rooftops, the Black Cat can easily tell that Spider-Man had just recently been dumped. However, when Spider-Man suggests that they restart their no-strings-attached relationship, the Black Cat refuses to be someone’s rebound.[3] She then takes off and as she prepares for a shower, she is annoyed to find a spider-tracer planted on her costume. That’s when the police come crashing in to put Felicia Hardy under arrest.

Meanwhile, Peter Parker arrives at Horizon Lab in a hurry as he is running late for an R&D Meeting. He runs into his co-worker, Sajani Jaffrey, who tells him the meeting was cancelled. She shows him a news story on her tablet about the robbery and how the police have arrested a suspect in the case, Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat. As it turns out, the stolen were the plans for a new cell phone that was being designed by the company. After Sajani tells him that the Black Cat was caught on camera, Peter can’t understand how the Cat could be so careless and suspects that there is something wrong. He asks Jaffrey for the link and tells her he has to go.

Spider-Man tracks down Matt Murdock and asks him to meet up with him to talk. Murdock, who is out with his assistant Kristen McDuffie, plays dumb because he is trying to convince her that he is not Daredevil.[4] They meet on the Chrysler Building a half-hour later to talk about the Black Cat situation.[5] Spider-Man is certain that the Black Cat is innocent because she was with him at the time. Daredevil agrees to help and suggests they bail Felicia, but Spider-Man knows that by this time the Cat has used her bad luck powers to escape captivity. At that very moment, the Black Cat is doing that very thing and has gotten away from the police.

Spider-Man suggests that they question the guy whose work is stolden. When they arrive outside Wasserschmidt’s apartment they find him as he is about to be executed by a bunch of black clad men with guns. When Spider-Man and Daredevil confront them, the men take the scientist and flee into the sewers. Spider-Man asks what’s wrong with Daredevil and he admits that he can’t “see” the men with his radar sense. Spider-Man realizes that the gang inflated their numbers with a holographic projector and the pair follow them into the sewers. As they follow the kidnappers the tunnel begins to collapse. Struggling to grab something, Spider-Man grabs a string of electrical wires. Unfortunately, as soon as he grabs them the rotting insulation crumbles exposing him to the live wires underneath. As Spider-Man begins getting electrocuted he looks up and see the Black Cat looking down at him from the hole in the sewer tunnel.

This story is continued in Daredevil (vol. 3) #8…

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Black Cat, Daredevil, Black Spectre, Sajani Jaffrey, Kristen McDuffie

Continuity Notes

1. Peter and Carlie dated from Amazing Spider-Man #647 to 673. She dumped him after learning he was Spider-Man.

2. Spider-Man mentions how he and the Black Cat last worked together to take down the Kingpin. That was in Amazing Spider-Man #651.

3. Spider-Man and the Black Cat had a brief fling in Amazing Spider-Man #606-607.

4. Although Matt Murdock’s identity was exposed in Daredevil (vol. 2) #32 he has tried hard to distance himself from his alter-ego.

5. Spider-Man mentions how Daredevil had recently been been possessed by the demon. This happened during the Shadowland story line. See Shadowland #1-5, Daredevil #508-511 Shadowland: After the Fall #1, and Daredevil: Reborn #1-4.

Topical References

• The technical specifications of the cellular phone stolen from Horizon Labs should be considered topical since they are now outdated.

• Outdated pop-culture references: The Kardashians