Spectacular Spider-Man #41
Meteor Madness!
Having missed a deadline for one of his papers, Spider-Man swings to the campus of Empire State University. In order to get his paper in, he sneaks into the administration building and into the office of Professor Slattery, who is marking papers. Taking caution so as not to be seen, Spider-Man manages to lower his paper onto the pile. As he is exiting the building, Spider-Man hears sirens and follows campus security to the ESU coliseum where an exhibition devoted to microwave energy is on display. When campus security attempts to stop the man who broke in they are easily tossed back outside. Inside the building, Spider-Man's old foe the Meteor Man has come to look for components that he believes that he can use to boost his power. Before he can loot the facility, he is attacked by Spider-Man. Although the wall-crawler had the element of surprise, the Meteor Man manages to smash the hero with a microwave transmitter.
News of the battle spreads across the ESU campus, interrupting a guest lecture being given by biochemist Bill Foster. While everyone runs for cover, Bill slips away so he can change into his alter-ego, Giant-Man. When Giant-Man arrives at the scene, Spider-Man is failing to convince Meteor Man to surrender and get help. The Meteor Man tosses Spider-Man into Giant-Man, knocking them both down. Giant-Man recovers first and tries to attack the Meteor Man, but he underestimates his strength and is tossed outside. Meteor Man then makes his escape in with his hot-air balloon. However, before he gets away, Spider-Man manages to tag him with a spider-tracer. With the battle over, Spider-Man and Giant-Man exchange pleasantries, the pair agree to work together to capture the Meteor Man. They discover blueprints for some kind of transmitter the Meteor Man is attempting to build. With a crowd gathering outside, the two masked heroes leap over the crowd so they can begin their search.
Meanwhile, the Meteor Man returns to his lab in Hell's Kitchen where he has already gathered a number of meteors. He recounts how he, Norton Fester, was affected by the gasses from a meteor he found gave him his powers. However, this led to a series of defeats of Spider-Man and heroes like the Defenders. Fester puts this all behind him as he believes his luck is about to change. By this point, Spider-Man has locked onto his tracer and leads Giant-Man to the Meteor Man's hideout. They arrive to late to stop Meteor Man from building the microwave transmitter to siphon power from his meteor collection to increase his power. As the two heroes try and stop their foe, the energies from the meteors cause the Meteor Man to begin to grow in size. Spider-Man tries to destroy the machine, but its energies are too powerful. He goes outside to help Giant-Man, who has been overpowered by a gigantic Meteor Man. Spider-Man breaks Giant-Man free and saves his life. However, he fails to stop the Meteor Man from siphoning too much power from the meteors. With his microwave transmitter overloading, he tries to escape by flying away only to explode. Although the battle is over and Fester was a madman, Giant-Man remarks that nobody should die like that.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Giant-Man, Looter
Continuity Notes
A number of the Meteor Man's exploits are referenced in this story:
His origins and first battle against Spider-Man as the Looter which happened in Amazing Spider-Man #36.
Spider-Man mentions his last encounter with the Meteor Man, that was in Marvel Team-Up #34.
Lastly, Meter Man recounts his more recent battle against the Defenders in Defenders #63-64.
Giant-Man corrects Spider-Man when he refers to him as Black Goliath, his previous codename. He changed it to Giant-Man in Marvel Two-In-One #54.
Giant-Man's thoughts are focused on the fact that he is dying of radiation poisoning. He was inflicted with this illness by being exposed to radiation from Atom-Smasher in Black Goliath #2. Eventually, Giant-Man is cured in Marvel Two-In-One #85.
