Amazing Spider-Man #700.3

Sep 5

Sep 5 Amazing Spider-Man #700.3

Convalescence

At the Giacomo Scrap Metal Corp, Spider-Man is fighting Firebrand and regretting having seconds when was at dinner with Aunt May. Spider-Man under estimates his foe who cuts loose trying to burn the web-slinger alive. Luckily, Firebrand wears himself out before this can happen but Spider-Man’s body is burned beyond recognition.

That’s when a strange black ambulance shows up. The crew picks up Firebrand, hoping to get out before the police and firefighters arrive. They spot Spider-Man’s burned body and, mistaking him for another super-villain, loads him up in the ambulance as well.

Spider-Man is rushed to the Black Lodge a secret hospital for super-villains where he undergoes immediate surgery conducted by the Surgeon General, the founder of the facility. The surgery is a success and a bandaged Spider-Man wakes up in a hospital bed. His spider-sense screaming he tries to get out but he is too injured to move and falls out of bed. That’s when Nurse Darla gets him back in bed. The Surgeon General comes in after running test on the blood work they took and pleased that his unknown patient has a healing factor, making the need for skin grafts unnecessary. The Surgeon General introduces himself to Spider-Man and assures him that he is safe here. Left alone, Peter is left wonder where he is.

After six hours of rest, Peter gets into a wheelchair and looks around the facility. He finds two other patients watching news coverage of the Rhino’s recent battle with the Thing. Spider-Man is confused when the two men complain about how the media isn’t interested in the Rhino’s side of the story. That’s when another patient is wheeled in and introduced to the others as Eddie Lavell. He then checks on Spider-Man, who assures the nurse that he is doing okay. As the other patients talk to each other, Lavell complains about getting shot by Captain America. Spider-Man is still confused as to where he is. When they ask Spider-Man if he has ever had a run in with SHIELD, he tries his best to sound like a villain but thinks he is blowing it.

Luckily, the conversation is interrupted when the nurses inform everyone that the facility is going dark until 4 am in order to avoid being picked up by a SHIELD satellite sweep. That’s when Herman Shultz joins the rest of them to show off the new gear that he got from the Tinkerer.[1] It’s only then that Peter puts all the pieces together and realizes that he is in a hospital for super-villains. When the Shocker asks Spider-Man for his advice, he declines to comment saying he’s not an expect. Shultz doesn’t take offense to this mentioning how the Black Lodge has a patient respect rule in order to keep the peace among the patients. Back in his room, Peter worries that they might figure out who he is and prays that his body heals enough for him to escape before that happens.

At that moment, in the ICU, Firebrand begins waking up and begins talking to Nurse Darla. She rushes to the Surgeon General’s lab where he has been examining the strange particles he found on their new patient. When she tells him who their mystery patient is, the General has already figured out that it’s Spider-Man.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Eel, Puff Adder, Flying Tiger, Shocker, Black Lodge (Surgeon General, Nurse Darla, Sapphire), Firebrand, Rhino, Thing

Continuity Notes

Mention is made about how the Shocker survived a flooded subway tunnel. This is a reference to Amazing Spider-Man #578-579.

Cat and Mouse - A Black Cat Mystery

After a number of works of art turned up destroyed in Central Park it tipped the authorities off that they were stolen from a number of museums and replaces with convincing forgeries. The Black Cat has been hired to learn the connection of the art thefts and a millionaire named Miles Martin.

Arriving at a costume party at Martin’s estate with her employer, who is dressed like Spider-Man, the Black Cat gets to work. She manages to break into Martin’s secret art gallery where he catches her daughter, Mina Martin stealing one of her father’s pieces of art. A fan of the black Cat, Mina explains that she did this because she is angry at her fathers bigamy and the fact that she didn’t attend her mother’s funeral.

Impressed by Mina’s skills and motivations, the Black Cat helps her escape after she takes photos of the stolen art. They avoid capture and the Cat leaves with her guest, who turns out to be a police officer trying to get dirt on Martin. She hands over the photos and after he leaves she opens the trunk of her car where Mina has been hiding. Felicia then asks the young girl what she wants to be when she grows up.