Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime!

Spider-Man is swinging across the city to try and get to a photo assignment after the subway stalled, making him late. As he swings past a building, he is unaware that a Dreadnaught robot is spying him from the rooftop. Landing in an alley, Spider-Man changes into Peter Parker makes it to the press conference twenty minutes late. It is an announcement by actress Julie Winston who is bringing her Las Vegas revue to New York City. As Peter has been snapping photos, one of the reporters asks Julie if she can confirm the rumors about her and another famous movie star. Julie deflects the question and continues taking other inquiries. Peter Parker snaps photos, admitting that this is easier than taking crime photos. Suddenly, the Dreadnaught comes smashing through a wall and starts making its way toward Winston. Peter manages to slip away and change into Spider-Man just in time to swing in and save her from the robot. The Dreadnaught fires its knuckle spikes, cutting through Spider-Man's web, and catches Kate as she falls out of the wall-crawler's grasp. Spider-Man tries to strike the robot, but it's electrified body stuns him and sends him reeling backward. As the Dreadnaught turns to exit, Spider-Man tags it with a spider-tracer. Once he has recovered, Spider-Man uses his tracking device to pick up the signal, missing his spider-sense which had been robbed from him by the Hobgoblin.

Elsewhere, Dum Dum Dugan is giving SHIELD director Nick Fury a ride home. When they arrive outside Fury's apartment building, they are surprised to see their old wartime friend Dino Manelli. Dino tells his old friends that he is in trouble and needs help. They go up to Fury's apartment and tells them the whole story. Dino had recently landed a singing gig at one of the few Las Vegas casinos not run by the mob. That was until Marcos Crusetti of the Maggia bought the venue. Unwilling to work for a criminal, Dino quit and Crusetti vowed to get revenge against him. While in negotiations to purchase his own hotel, Dino met singer Julie Winston. The two quickly fell in love and secretly got engaged. They were to be married after the big opening night of her New York show when she was kidnapped by the Dreadnaught. Fury is sorry to hear about the situation, but tells him that this is more of a case for the FBI. Furious, Dino storms out and slams the door behind him. When Dum Dum asks why Fury did that, Nick explains that he is going to get involved in secret, as he knows that Manelli would want to get involved, but fears he is too emotionally involved to act with a clear head. He orders Dugan to stay behind and act as his communications while he goes out to investigate on his own.

Later, Fury arrives at a rooftop across the street from the offices of lawyer Leo Dawes, the Maggia's legal representation. He attaches a mini-transmitter outside Dawes' office window so he can listen in to any conversations that can give him a lead on where they are keeping Julie. A short while later, at the Daily Bugle, Peter Parker is reamed out by J. Jonah Jameson for not getting photos of Julie Winston's kidnapping and kicks him out of his office. Outside, Peter frets over the situation, as well as the strangely massive spider-sense warnings he has received recently warning him of some massive danger. Changing into Spider-Man, Peter then begins canvassing the city hoping that he can pick up the signal on his spider-tracer. Later, at the docks, Nick Fury has tracked Julie to this location. He radios in his position to Dum Dum Dugan who wishes him luck. When Dugan terminates the connection, he is interrupted by someone who has managed to sneak up behind him. Meanwhile, Fury stakes out the boat where Julie is being kept and sneaks his way inside. As he does so, the Maggia men inside are surprised when the Dreadnaught suddenly springs to life due to its alarm sensors. As the Dreadnaught activates, it nullifies the signal on the spider-tracer, making Peter lose the signal.

By this time, the Dreadnaught has found Fury and begins attacking him. The battle alerts the Maggia guards who also begin shooting at the SHIELD director. The sounds of gunfire attract the attention of Spider-Man. He swings in and saves Nick Fury from the guards. Fury tells the wall-crawler to go and rescue Julie Winston while he deals with the Dreadnaught. Worried that Fury won't be able to handle the robot alone, Spider-Man complies to his request. Spider-Man manages to find Julie Winston but is puzzled as to why there are no guards around her. When he makes his presence known he tells Julie that he has come to rescue her. Before he can, the Dreadnaught comes smashing through the wall, having defeated Nick Fury. As Spider-Man turns to face the robot, Julie picks up a bottle and smashes it over his head, leaving him open to a blow from the Dreadnaught. When Spider-Man and Fury wake up, they find themselves tied up chairs. They quickly realize that Julie Winston has been working for the Maggia the whole time.

She explains that they had her romance Dino Maneli and staged this kidnapping to force Dino to pay a ransom that will bankrupt him, as revenge for refusing to work for Marcos Crusetti. Suddenly, one of the guards comes in with Dino as his prisoner. Dino tells Fury that he figured out that he would look for Julie alone and attempted to follow after him to help out. He realizes his mistake not only when he got caught, but also having heard the truth from Julie. That's when Marcos Crusetti enters the room and orders everyone killed, including Julie Winston. Julie protests this, as she had a deal, but Marcos explains that Dino's presence complicates things. He orders the Dreadnaught to kill her, but when it fires its knuckle spikes, Dino pushes her out of the way, getting struck by the spikes instead. It's then that Spider-Man has recovered his strength enough to break free from his bonds. As he knocks out the guards, Fury breaks free from his bonds. Removing the collar from his uniform, Fury tosses it to the wall-crawler, telling him that this will nullify the Dreadnaught. While Spider-Man tries to get close to the robot, Fury goes after Marcos Crusetti.

While Fury rounds up the last of the Maggia, Spider-Man gets the collar attached on the Dreadnaught's forehead. Fury then turns and shoots the collar with his gun, setting off the explosive inside, deactivating the Dreadnaught. With the Dreadnaught destroyed, Spider-Man's tracking device begins going off again, and the wall-crawler realizes why he couldn't track the Dreadnaught. Meanwhile, Julie Winston asks Dino why he put himself in harm's way for her, and he explains that despite the circumstances he still loved her. Fury then calls in SHIELD to secure the boat and Spider-Man is allowed to leave. Before doing so, the wall-crawler snaps some photos to get back in Jameson's good graces and swings away. While he figures that Dino Maneli will heal from his injuries, his broken heart will take much longer to heal.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Nick Fury, Dino Manelli, Dum Dum Dugan, J. Jonah Jameson, Maggia, Dreadnought

Continuity Notes

• Spider-Man's spider-sense has been dulled thanks to the Hobgoblin, requiring the hero to use his old tracking device to pinpoint his spider-tracers. These events were documented in Amazing Spider-Man #249-250. These are also the same issues where Spider-Man received jolts from his spider-sense. This was warning him of the Beyonder, as revealed in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1.

• Although they were in their prime during World War II, the members of the Howling Commandos in this story have maintained their relative youth via other means. Some facts:

  • Nick Fury's aging process has been slowed thanks to an injection with the Infinity Formula, as seen in Marvel Spotlight #31.

  • Per Original Sins #5 and S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 3) #9, Dugan was fatally wounded in 1966 and his body was put in stasis. Fury kept this a secret by having Dugan's mind pilot various Life Model Decoys under the illusion that he was kept vital due to a blood transfusion with Fury after he was treated with the Infinity Formula.

  • The reason for Dino's longevity is unspecified, the Dum Dum Dugan entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 suggests that the Howling Commandos all lived longer lives due to blood transfusions from Nick Fury.