Peter Parker: Spider-Man #26
Police Story
When asked about Spider-Man, a beat cop with 25 years of experience says he has encountered the wall-crawler a few times during his career and that if you asked 50 different officers you’d get 50 different opinions on the wall-crawler.
Inside the police station, Detective Pratton has little positive to say about the web-spinner. Pointing out the hard-working professionals all around him that have a six-week homicide backlog with very little to show for it. He says he and his officers have better things to do with their time trying to bust killers than having to deal with costumed superheroes like Spider-Man. He relates to a story from the other day, saying that officers were in a gunfight with Joey Damiani’s gang when Spider-Man interfered. He saved lives and left the gang members webbed up to a lamppost. While it appears to be pretty cut and dry, when they separated the crooks for questioning, Joey Damiani said he and his boys were buying cigarettes when they were attacked by Spider-Man and they were only protecting themselves. Not only that but the witnesses all agree with the mobsters because they are intimidated by the crooks. Concluding his story, Pratton explains that Spider-Man complicates matters allowing crooks to sue the city for violation of their civil rights and then end up walking free.[1]
Next the assistant District Attorney is asked her opinions on Spider-Man, and she admits that she doesn’t know how she feels about the web-head. She recalls about year ago when she first started her position the district attorney’s office made it their mission to bring Spider-Man to justice no matter the cost. An idea was soon formulated and the District Attorney’s office constructive a spotlight which they used to signal Spider-Man hoping the vigilante would take the bait. Detectives and police sharpshooters spent hours in the rain and cold for hours and Spider-Man never showed up. When the ADA was leaving for the day she was confronted by Spider-Man in the parking garage who tells her that he isn’t stupid. Instead of arresting him, she asked the wall-crawler about the recent robbery at the federal bank the month before. Spider-Man explains that the real crook was the Rhino, saying the police showed up late and saw Spider-Man holding the money bags and assumed he was the thief. That’s when the ADA suggested that Spider-Man go legit like the Fantastic Four or the Avengers, Spider-Man rejected this idea flat out, joking about how he’d get nailed for unpaid taxes, and as he leaves he explains that he is a freelancer. Admittedly the ADA found Spider-Man charming and would later ignore requests from the mayor’s office to go after Spider-Man.[2]
Commissioner McDonald thinks Spider-Man is a liability. He shows the interviewer a map of Manhattan that shows all of Spider-Man’s activities that the police are investigating. He says that he has made it his mission to bring Spider-Man to justice because he killed McDonald’s best friend. McDonald explains that he graduated from the police academy with George Stacy and the pair eventually made detective at the same time. Stacy was a great detective, one of the best the city ever saw until the tragic day he was on the scene of a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus. During the battle, debris from a broken chimney was sent crashing to the street below. Seeing a child under the falling debris, George pushed the kid out of the day, getting hit by the tons of bricks.[3] When McDonald arrived on the scene it was just in time to see Spider-Man carry George’s body away. When they found George on a nearby rooftop later, he was dead. To this day the commissioner blames Spider-Man because he removed George from the scene, preventing him from getting the medical attention that could have saved his life.
While down in forensics, one of the scientists considers Spider-Man amazing after she was able to preserve a sample of the wall-crawler’s webbing for examination. After getting a chemical analysis of the webbing she has determined that whoever created it by a genus. However, her memos recommending that officers investigate chemical laboratory workers, doctors, and chemistry students have gone ignored. She explains that this is just the way things go in forensics. In the locker room, a rookie named officer Phillips tells the interview about his recent encounter with Spider-Man. He and his partner were called out to a disturbance and happened upon a battle between Spider-Man and the Sandman. During the battle, a tossed car landed in front of them and spooked by it, Phillips unloaded his gun into the car. This is hilarious to his fellow officers who make jokes at his expense.[4]
Back outside, the veteran beat cop tells his own Spider-Man story, saying it was a year ago when he and his partner were called to a disturbance on the Brooklyn Bridge. As he and his partner were busy getting the crowd under control they discovered that Spider-Man was in the middle of a battle with the Green Goblin on top of the bridge. During the battle, a young woman was knocked off the bridge and the officer witnessed as Spider-Man used a web-line to seemingly save her life. Telling his partner to call for an ambulance, the officer went to check on the girl when she was lowered to the ground and discovered that she was actually dead. That’s when Spider-Man swooped in telling the offices to back off. When his partner pulled his gun, the officer ordered him to stand-down. He could see that Spider-Man was trying to save the girl and failed and that he was taking it badly. After watching Spider-Man mourn the dead girl, he had to interrupt to tell the web-slinger that an ambulance had arrived. He remembers what the wall-crawler told him, that the woman didn’t need an ambulance because she was dead and it was all Spider-Man’s fault.[5] Back at the station, he learned that the dead girl was actually the Gwen Stacy, the daughter of George Stacy something that angered officers. He also remembers how awful Gwen’s boyfriend, Peter, looked when he was called in for some routine questions. Seeing how upset Peter was, the officer stopped Parker on his way out and told him that, for what it was worth, Spider-Man wasn’t responsible for the death of his girlfriend and that he did his best to save her. Hearing this, Peter began to cry and thanks the officer for telling him that.[5] As he concludes his story, the veteran beat-cop is joined by his partner who is surprised that he is still telling the same old story and once again tells him that he needs to let it go. With that the senior officer tells the interviewer that regardless of what his fellow officers think about Spider-Man, he’s just glad the web-slinger is on their side.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man
Continuity Notes
According to the Marvel Chronology Project Spider-Man’s clash with the Joey Damiani gang occurred between his appearances in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #26. and Spider-Man/Marrow #1 (For future references all the chronology placements listed here are from the MCP)
Spider-Man’s confrontation with the ADA occurred between Sensational Spider-Man #31 and Amazing Spider-Man #438. The ADA states that this incident happened “a few years ago”, this should be considered a topical reference as it denotes the passage of years between publications as opposed to time within the Marvel Universe. Per the Sliding Timescale it has only been about a year.
George Stacy’s death was originally chronicled in Amazing Spider-Man #90.
Officer Phillip’s encounter with Spider-Man and Sandman happened during the events of Peter Parker: Spider-Man #22.
These events happen during the death of Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man #121-122.
