Fatal Desire!

Emerging from the waters next to his warehouse hideout, Tombstone clutches the mask of Spider-Man and proclaims that the masked hero is dead. The Black Cat refuses to believe it and leaps past Tombstone and his men to dive into the waters. Tombstone tells his men to let her go as he needs to bring the mask back to the crime council to secure his spot within the group. When one of his men ask if they should bring Spider-Man's body, Tombstone tells them that the council can fish his body out of the East River if they want it so bad. Meanwhile, down blow, the Black Cat searches for Spider-Man's body in the dark waters of the East River. Suddenly, the wall-crawler grabs her by the arm and pulls both up to the surface. Peter explains that Tombstone had knocked him out and left him to drown. Thankfully, he came too soon enough to prevent himself from drowning. Needing to get home, but not wanting to leave his face exposed, Peter takes the Black Cat's mask since her identity isn't secret. He tells Felicia to go be with her boyfriend, Flash Thompson, as he recovers in the hospital and leave Tombstone to him.[1]

When Peter Parker returns home, his wife Mary Jane has some good news.[2] She has just got off the phone with her agent, who just informed her that one of his other clients has to move to California and needs someone to move into her brownstone on the Upper East Side of the city. At first, Peter makes excuses for turning it down, including the cost and having to commute to school. However, Mary Jane convinces Peter to make the sacrifices. He then tells her that the Black Cat has been using her underworld connections to track down Tombstone, but he managed to slip a spider-tracer on her to intervene if she goes after him again. Meanwhile, Tombstone goes to the crime council to prove to them that Spider-Man is now dead. As he shows them the wall-crawler's mask, they are unaware that the Black Cat is listening from outside the window. Despite this, Nick Kaska refuses to allow Tombstone to join the council. Furious, Tombstone smashes their meeting table with a single blow of his fist. He then grabs Kaska by the throat and tosses him out the window. Although the Black Cat is too late to catch him, the sudden arrival of Spider-Man saves the mobster's life.

Felicia is furious that Spider-Man followed her. In order to stop her from fighting Tombstone, Spider-Man webs her up to a nearby chimney and leaps into the building. As Spider-Man is busy fighting the mobsters and Tombstone, the Black Cat manages to cut herself loose from the wall-crawler's webbing. She then leaps into the building in order to get a crack at Tombstone herself. Unable to evade Tombstone's attack due to gunfire from his gang, Spider-Man webs their guns. When the web-head finally strikes a blow to Tombstone's face, it hurts Spider-Man more than his foe. Tombstone then charges, forcing himself and Spider-Man out of the broken window hoping to kill the wall-crawler in his fall. However, Spider-Man manages to twist them around so that Tombstone strikes the ground first. Although Spider-Man is stunned, Tombstone is no worse for wear. Tombstone manages to get a few blows in, but Spider-Man leaps onto a nearby wall. Wrapping his fist in webbing, the web-slinger then begins laying into his foe to the point where Tombstone's nose begins bleeding. At first, Tombstone appears unphased, but this is merely a delay in the beating he got from the web-slinger and he eventually blacks out.

With their leader defeated, Tombstone's gang surrenders and they are all taken away from the authorities. In the aftermath, the Black Cat is furious that Spider-Man used her in order to get to Tombstone. Before she leaves she warns him not to push what few friends, as they may not be around when he really needs them.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Black Cat, Mary Jane Watson, Tombstone

Continuity Notes

1. Flash Thompson was seriously injured by Tombstone in last issue.

2. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage was erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.

Despair

J. Jonah Jameson is walking along the Manhattan waterfront when he is ambushed by a mugger. Jonah doesn't offer any resistance and willingly gives up his valuables, but asks the mugger to answer some questions. His first question is if the young thief reads the Daily Bugle. This causes the mugger to burst out laughing because he considers the Daily Bugle a joke. This angers Jonah to the point where he ignores the potential danger and knocks out the mugger with a single punch. This is yet another person who has regarded his newspaper as a laughing stock, but refuses to believe it.

A few hours later, Jameson has ended up getting drunk in a dive bar. At closing time, the bartender tells the publisher that it is time to go. Jonah asks the barkeep the same question and gets a lukewarm response. When Jameson questions his expertise but learns that the bartender actually spent four years in journalism school. He says while he doesn't have an opinion, his old journalism professor would be rolling in his grave. He points out that newspapers these days are not about the facts, but more about editorial speculation. A characterization that fits the Daily Bugle to a tee.

When the bartender turns around to face Jonah, the newspaper man is gone. Jonah walks to the docks once again. There he decides that he has been living a lie and no matter what, he is going to put an end to his humiliation.

Recurring Characters

J. Jonah Jameson