Into the Dance!

In a secret laboratory, Doctor Angst is operating on a human subject. Completing his work, he revives his patience and presents him with equipment that will allow him to become the Green Goblin once more.[1] While at the Manhattan Marriot, Greg and Ann Herd check into their hotel room. Once inside they unpack their bags and change into their costumed identities of Overdrive and Aura in the hopes of using their powers to collect the bounty on Spider-Man's head.[2] While at the headquarters of S. Crier Imports, the mercenaries known as the Dealy Boys are given weapons that they will need to carry out the job they have been hired to do, eliminate Spider-Man before anyone else.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man has been patrolling the city trying to avoid every fortune seeker and lunatic who has been trying to collect on the bounty that has been placed on his head. When a group of would-be bounty hunters surrounds him, Spider-Man quickly takes them all out. One that avoided being taken down pulls out a gun. Caught in the crosshairs, the web-slinger's spider-sense also warns him that if he jumps out of the way the stray bullet will strike two kids watching from a nearby window. Quick thinking, Spider-Man webs up the shooter's glasses and pins him to a wall. Listening to the man beg for his life, Spider-Man realizes that the Trapster's frame-up job has caused people to become afraid of him. Arriving at the Daily Bugle, Peter Parker gets more disturbed since Norman Osborn is using the paper to boost the anti-Spider-Man hysteria. He wonders what Norman has over J. Jonah Jameson that made the publisher sell half-ownership of the paper to him.[3] After meeting up with his co-worker, Billy Walters, Peter is surprised to see Flash Thompson has been hired as a researcher for Osborn. When he asks Betty Brant, Betty tells him that Norman was inspired by Flash kicking his drinking problem and gave him a job. Watching Flash being warmly greeted by Norman and invited into his office, Peter wonders what the madman has planned for his longtime friend.[4] Peter then spies Jonah for a brief moment as he peeks out of his office before retiring inside once again. Before he can think of what to do about this situation, Billy Walters pulls Peter away as they have an assignment.

The pair arrive at a raging apartment fire where firefighters are struggling to get those trapped inside out safely. Slipping away, Peter changes into Spider-Man so he can help a woman down the fire ladder. However, when he comes to her aid she becomes hysterical and pleads for the wall-crawler not to kill her. That's when his spider-sense warns him just in time to dodge a bullet shot by one of the Dealy Boys. Thankfully, the Prowler comes swinging in and carries the woman to safety, telling the wall-crawler to deal with the gun-toting maniac. As Spider-Man incapacitates the shooter he is ambushed by Overdrive and Aura. The pair try to engage with the web-spinner, but that's when the rest of the Dealy Boys arrive and begin opening fire on all three costumed figures. Realizing that things are getting too dangerous, Spider-Man decides to make a strategic defeat, unaware that one of the mercenaries has tagged him with a sonar tracker that will allow them to trace the web-slinger. Returning to his home in Queens, Peter wonders what he should do. With the bounty on his head, it is becoming too dangerous for him to go out as Spider-Man anymore. This clashes with his deep sense of responsibility, prompting Mary Jane to suggest that perhaps his responsibility is taking on a new form. However, Peter can't quit because if he does, Norman Osborn wins. Talking about it just makes Peter more frustrated and he decides to go for a walk to cool down. Left alone, Mary Jane thinks about how Peter isn't the only one affected by his double-life and is equally tired of Norman Osborn interfering in their lives because, usually, if Peter isn't the one getting hurt, it's someone else.

While at the Osborn Estate, Norman has called his sister-in-law Liz and his grandson Normie to the manor. There he asks Liz to come and live with him as he fears for their safety. Unfortunately for Osborn, Liz refuses, wondering what kind of danger Normie can be other than being in proximity of his insane grandfather and his shady dealings. As Liz and Norman argue over what is right for young Normie, the boy goes into another room to play with his toys unaware that someone is lurking in the shadows outside the window watching him play. When this intruder opens the window and enters, Normie hears it and when seeing the strange asks if this is his father.[5] Back at the Marriot, Overdrive, and Aura return to their hotel room. There Aura expresses her upset and frustration over their failure to capture Spider-Man. Greg comforts his wife, assuring her that they'll capture the web-spinner next time and all of their problems will be over with soon. Although she hugs her husband, Ann can only look at her reflection in the mirror and cry.

At that same moment, Peter Paker is paying a visit to Joe and Martha Robertson. Peter pleads with Joe to come back to the Daily Bugle because the place is changing without him around to counterbalance Norman Osborn's influence.[6] However, Joe refuses to consider the idea, saying that the change of the Bugle was threatening to swallow him whole. That's when Martha points out that Joe's job was destroying him and their marriage, and that's why Joe has quit and is not coming back. Thinking about his own wife, Peter considers Martha's words and realizes that he can relate to what she is saying.

Taking the subway back home, Peter considers Martha's words and wonders if Mary Jane is right and that he should quit being Spider-Man. As he leaves the subway station his spider-sense warns him the Dealy Boys have tracked him down. Slipping away before he can be identified, Peter changes into Spider-Man and lures the Dealy Boys into a nearby park.

There he webs up a number of flag poles to trap the Dealy Boys. As he does so, police begin rushing to the scene to arrest everyone involved. Just as Spider-Man finishes with the mercenaries, Overdrive and Aura return to try and collect on the bounty. When the police order everyone to surrender, Overdrive tries to convince the officers that he has everything under control. Things turn tragic when one of the Dealy Boys gets his arm free and tries to shoot Aura as she is about to trap Spider-Man in her force field. She hears the shot too late and when she raises her forcefield to protect herself, she traps the bullet inside with her. The bullet bounces around in the forcefield seriously wounding Aura in the process. As everyone stands around in shock, Spider-Man scoops the injured woman up and rushes her to a nearby hospital. When Peter finally returns home he finds Mary Jane crying on the couch. When he asks her what's wrong, Mary Jane tells him how Normie Osborn was kidnapped. Turning on the evening news, Peter watches incredibly as someone masquerading as the Green Goblin was captured on film kidnapping the boy.[7] As Norman Osborn pleads to the kidnapper to return his grandson, he also takes it as an opportunity to confirm his claims that he was never the Green Goblin.[8] As he listens to this, Peter changes back into Spider-Man to go looking for the kidnapped boy. As he does so, Mary Jane tells Peter that she wished his web-shooters shot actual bullets.

This story continues in Amazing Spider-Man #432...

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Norman Osborn, Mary Jane Watson, Liz Osborn, Normie Osborn, Override, Aura, Doctor Angst, Green Goblin, J. Jonah Jameson, Billy Walters, Betty Brant, Flash Thompson, Prowler, Joe Robertson, Martha Robertson

Continuity Notes

1. This story leaves the identity of this Green Goblin a mystery. The true identity of this Goblin is revealed in Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol 2 #19. The comment about it being the Green Goblin "again" is a misdirection as this is merely a construct and not any past Goblin.

2. The narrative of this story incorrectly states that Overdrive and Aura were last seen in The Spectacular Scarlet Spider #1. Although that was their first appearance they were actually last seen in Web of Scarlet Spider #2. The bounty they seek to collect was put on Spider-Man's head after he was tricked into attacking Norman Osborn in The Spectacular Spider-Man #250 and increased after Spider-Man was framed for murdering Joey Z in Spider-Man #88.

3. The Daily Bugle was suffering financial problems since Amazing Spider-Man #417 until Norman Osborn forced Jonah to sell half-ownership to him in The Spectacular Spider-Man #249.

4. Flash had been struggling with a drinking problem from The Spectacular Spider-Man #242-250.

5. The possibility that this new Green Goblin is Harry Osborn, Normie's father is another misdirection here. At the time of this story, everyone thinks that Harry Osborn is dead following the events of The Spectacular Spider-Man #200. However, unknown to everyone at the time, Harry survived as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #581. He will resurface again in Amazing Spider-Man #545.

6. At the time of this story, Joe Robertson quit the Bugle in Amazing Spider-Man #431.

7. This story states that Normie Osborn is five years old. He was born in Amazing Spider-Man #263. Per the Sliding Timescsale of Earth-616 it has been roughly five years between that story and this one. As such this assessment of his age here is accurate.

8. Following his alleged death in Amazing Spider-Man #121, Norman Osborn's past was investigated by Ben Urich who later publicly revealed that Norman was the original Green Goblin in his book published in Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil #1. When Norman publicly revealed he was still alive in The Spectacular Spider-Man #250 he had been working to trick people into thinking this was not correct.