Spectacular Spider-Man #193
Over the Edge
After sending Spider-Man and the Puma on a vision quest, the Black Crow flies over the city of New York to see what they will transpire. The Puma has been contracted to kill an innocent man, and Spider-Man is on the trail to stop him.
At the Parker apartment, Mary Jane sleeps fitfully, over the constant stress of living with her husband, Spider-Man.[1] She wonders if she has become just like her mother, constantly living at the whims of a husband consumed with an obsession.[2] She refuses to believe that she is her mother when suddenly she hears a creak from the skylight. She gets up to see what it is and finds a bouquet of flowers suspended from a spider-web. It has a note from Peter, apologizing for the way he snapped at her earlier. He tells her that he loves her and that he will be as home as soon as possible.
Spider-Man scours the city trying to find clues to who the Puma's target and where the hit is going to happen but finds nothing. He begins to grow frustrated and landing in an alley, he vents his frustrations by punching a wall. Suddenly, there is a gust of wind that whips up the tattered page of a newspaper. From above he hears the caw of a crow and sees the bird flying above in a swirl of mist. He then looks at the shard of newspaper and reads a front page story about Senator Maguire's scheduled talk at a human rights rally. Meanwhile, the Puma has returned to his apartment and discovers that it has been torn apart. Blaming Spider-Man for this, the Puma furiously leaps outside and goes to the hotel where the Senator is staying. As he climbs up the side of the hotel, the Puma thinks about how he was offered a large sum of money to assassinate the senator. Breaking into the room, the Puma grabs the senator. The Puma tells the government official that he is his death. That's when his security detail bursts in and orders the Puma to stand down. The Puma leaps at the guards and maims them. He then returns to his prey and mocks the senator for pleading with his life. Before the Puma can finish the job, Spider-Man pulls him away with a web-line.
Their brawl takes them crashing outside, where Spider-Man's fires a web-line and swings them back toward the building. He saves both their lives from a fatal fall even though the Puma is savagely slashing into him. On the rooftop of the hotel, the Puma reminds Spider-Man that their personal war is over and any spilled blood is the wall-crawler's own fault.[3] Hearing the Puma call him by his real name causes Spider-Man to think of all the others who know his true identity.[4] Spider-Man has had enough and throws the Puma into the fluorescent lights atop of the hotel. Spider-Man vows that his family will no longer be endangered again. He then picks up the stunned body of the Puma and prepares to throw his foe off the side of the building. With the Black Crow watching, Spider-Man suddenly remembers the vision of the web of life he saw earlier. Remembering the understanding of fate he felt, Spider-Man puts the Puma down, sparing his life. Spider-Man tells the Puma that he is not going to fight him anymore. The Puma, however, doesn't want to stop and lashes into Spider-Man. The wall-crawler doesn't fight back, taking away all the joy the Puma would have in killing him.
With that, the Black Crow swoops down and scratches the Puma across the face. This causes the Puma to forget who Spider-Man really is. As he flies away, the Black Crow says that this is a gift from the Great Spirit in return for his courage and trust. As the Puma recovers from the blow, a SWAT team appears on the roof and orders the Puma to stand down. He refuses and tries to flee. The SWAT team opens fire, riddling the Puma with bullets and causing him to fall over the edge of the building. When Spider-Man leaps toward the edge of the building to try and grab his foe, he finds no trace of the Puma. Looking up into the night sky, he sees the crow flies away. Suddenly, he sees the web of life again and realizes that some mysteries in life are worth trusting.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Puma, Black Crow
Continuity Notes
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As a result, they should be considered a common-law couple here.
Mary Jane's mother lived under the thumb of her alcoholic and abusive father who was obsessed with becoming a writer as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #259.
The Puma is referring to their last battle in The Spectacular Spider-Man #171-172.
The Puma figured out Spider-Man's identity in Amazing Spider-Man #273.
