The Boomerang Returns

Still in San Diego, Peter Parker wakes up in his hotel room with a revelation: Boomerang wasn't hired to murder Louis Baxter, but his rival in the North American Cup, Artie Crippen. Jumping out of bed, he thinks about how he came to San Diego as part of his book tour where he met Baxter during a television interview. Later that evening, someone attempted to blow up Baxter's yacht, leading to a clash with Spider-Man's old foe Boomerang. Then the following day, Boomerang attacked a yacht club where Peter was having lunch with Louis Baxter. This was just as Crippen accused Baxter of trying to prevent him from racing. At first, it looked like Boomerang was targeting Louis, but ultimately it was Artie who was killed. Unfortunately for the wall-crawler, he failed to capture Boomerang.Spider-Man then goes to the San Lieber Marina to search Baxter's yacht. Snooping around the hull, he finds a strange trap door. However, before he can find out what it's for he is ambushed by Boomerang. As Spider-Man tries to dodge his foe's boomerang, it unleashes a gas that knocks out the wall-crawler. Standing over the masked hero, Boomerang gloats at finally being able to end the life of his foe.

Meanwhile, back in New York City, Ben Urich is at a scene of a grisly murder at the Central Park Zoo. He interviews Lieutenant Frank Farrow regarding the killing. Ben recognizes the deceased as Teddy Tones, one of the Kingpin's couriers. Ben learns, to his horror, that Tones' blood was used to write a message on the wall of one of the cages. It is a warning to the Kingpin, telling him that "wolves bite back". While at Bedford Towers, Mary Jane is running late for a modeling gig and rushes out the door to catch her limo. Outside, she runs into a young girl and quickly realizes that it is her cousin Kristy. Surprised to see her young cousin, she is unimpressed to learn that Kristy's parents sent her to New York, apparently neglecting to send a letter informing her. Later, at the Federal Court Building, Joe Robertson has just made his first court appearance. He is joined by his son Randy, J. Jonah Jameson, and his lawyer Cynthia Bernhammer. Randy is upset that the government is persecuting him for his testimony on the Tombstone murders. Although Bernhammer promises to do everything she can to defend Joe, he refuses her help, telling them that he intends to plead guilty and accept his punishment. This comes as a total shock to everyone.

Back in San Diego, Spider-Man wakes up to find himself chained up on a speedboat piloted by Boomerang. The villain commends the wall-crawler on figuring out how he was hired to murder Artie Crippen. Having loaded the boat with plastique explosives, Boomerang intends to send it charging into the middle of the North American Cup yacht race creating an accident that will give Louis Baxter an unfair advantage. Spider-Man struggles to get free, but the chains have been wrapped around him in such a way that trying to break free chokes him. With his victory over the wall-crawler seemingly in sight, Boomerang takes off to watch from afar. As Boomerang watches the race from the sky, Louis Baxter is furious that Artie Chippen's ship is still catching up, without their captain. Meanwhile, Spider-Man begins breaking free, but time is running out. Beginning to fear that the opposing ship will pass him, Louis Baxter activates a hidden smoke machine he hidden on his vessel. At that moment, Spider-Man manages to kick the steering wheel of the speedboat, changing its heading to collide with Baxter's yacht. Seeing this, Boomerang swoops down to stop the wall-crawler as the hero still struggles to break free from the rest of the chains.

The hero finally manages to break free, narrowly avoiding Boomerang's razorangs. Not far away, under the cover of artificial fog, Louis Baxter uses hidden turbojets to try to get further ahead. Meanwhile, Spider-Man dives under the water and clings onto the boat in the hopes of luring Boomerang in closer. The villain falls for the ruse, and Spider-Man manages to snag a web-line on him. This forces the villain to pull away, taking Spider-Man with him, and sending the speedboat flying toward Louis' yacht. Seeing the speedboat heading his way, Baxter abandons ship. The explosion distracts Boomerang enough for Spider-Man to yank himself and his enemy into the water with enough force to knock Boomerang out. He then recoveres Louis Baxter who is furious at being denied the North American Cup. With both men in his grasp, Spider-Man waits for a rescue helicopter to reach them so he can turn Baxter and Boomerang over to the authorities.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Joe Robertson, J. Jonah Jameson, Boomerang, Kristy Watson, Ben Urich, Frank Farrow, Randy Robertson, Cynthia Bernhammer, Louis Baxter III

Continuity Notes

1. The murder of Artie Crippen happened last issue.

2. The original twin towers are depicted as being at the site of the World Trade Center. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

3. The Lobo Brothers who have sought vengeance against the Kingpin since his assistant, the Arranger, sent the Punisher on a failed attempt to assassinate them in Spectacular Spider-Man #143.

4. Kristy is lying, her parents were off on a trip, leaving her alone. Feeling neglected she decided to visit her cousin on her own. This is revealed in Web of Spider-Man #58.

5. Joe Robertson witnessed Tombstone committing an act of murder about 20 years ago but kept it secret until recently. This was all revealed in Spectacular Spider-Man #139.