Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #21
Read ‘em and Weep
A penthouse hotel room in New York City is the staging ground for a very special event, a super-hero poker game.[1] The last person to arrive is the Angel of the X-Men, who has a table reserved from him. Participating in the game are Doctor Strange, the Black Cat, Spider-Man, and the entire Fantastic Four. The current hand ends and Doctor Strange is the big loser, prompting everyone to have a good laugh at his expense since he’s a novice at the game.[2] This entire game has proceeds going to charity, and as each player tries to read the other, Spider-Man begins examining the other players.
The Black Cat, he observes, is a sneak thief who bluffs a lot, loving the action more than a result. The Torch on the other hand only takes it seriously if he has an important hand. While the Thing plays like a bulldozer. Although the Angel has a solid poker face, Spider-Man surmises he will have a hard time concentrating sitting next to the Black Cat. Doctor Strange is just terrible at the game. While Spider-Man himself, he figures he’s good at bluffing but that’s mostly because he is wearing a maks.
Suddenly, there is a knock at the door, and when the Invisible Woman answers they are all surprised to see the Kingpin has arrived. He assures the gathered heroes that he has come in good faith and couldn’t resist trying to participate in this annual charity poker game after hearing of its existence. To try and sweeten the pot a little, Fisk has his bodyguard present a briefcase full of money. He will distribute fifty thousand dollars to each one of them and they will play a no-limit, winner-takes-all game. If one of the heroes wins, they can donate the money to the charity of their choice. However, if Kingpin wins, he will use the money to buy a yacht which he will call the “Heroe’s Folly” and use the rest of the money to buy expensive cigars. When Mister Fantastic asks the Kingpin why he’d want to do this, Wilson explains that he intends to win to show his superiority over the superheroes that constantly interfere with his criminal operations.
Conferring with Spider-Man, whose spider-sense doesn’t detect any danger, they all decide to agree and the game soon begins. When the Kingpin tries to light his cigar, he discovers that his lighter suddenly doesn’t work, likely due to the magics of Doctor Strange who tells him that there is no smoking in the room. Strange then boldly goes all in and loses his share of the money moments later. due to another rookie mistake. However, Strange wants to continue playing and uses his magic to summon money from his own bank account. As the night progresses, Strange buys his way back in two more times and the Angel and Black Cat are out. The Human Torch and Spider-Man, meanwhile have been providing their own color commentary to the game, much to the annoyance of the Kingpin. As they get to talking, Mister Fantastic asks everyone playing what’s the weirdest things they have ever encountered. Doctor Strange recounts seeing the mating habit of fourth-dimensional fungus, while Johnny Storm brags about one of his sexual conquests with a Trill, an alien species that has 18 different genders. When it’s Spider-Man’s turn to share he finds it hard to decide between a gang of Mimes and the villain who called himself Big-Wheel.[3] Finally, Spider-Man decides that the weirdest thing was one night he broke up what he thought was a mugging but it turned out to be a gang of guys who called themselves the Masochist Marauders who got off on getting into getting injured by superheroes. After Spider-Man beat them all up, they were so grateful they even offered the web-slinger membership in their group. This story gets a good laugh out of everybody.
As the night wanes on, it eventually comes down to just Spider-Man and the Kingpin. Confident that he will win, the Kingpin tells Spider-Man that he can’t hide under his mask as he has learned the web-slinger’s body language. Unphased by this, Spider-Man raises the bet by another five hundred. So confident that he’ll win, the Kingpin goes all in and Spider-Man follows suit. When the Kingpin deduces that Spider-Man has two pairs and reveals that a full house, queens over nines. He presumes he is the winner and begins collecting all the poker chips when Spider-Man reveals that he doesn’t just have two nines, he has four, beating the Kingpin’s hand. Realizing that Spider-Man had won the game, a defeated Wilson Fisk tells everyone to leave him alone if they want to live. After the Kingpin leaves, the other plays congratulate Spider-Man for his victory. Spider-Man then asks Mister Fantastic to donate his winnings to a Cerebral Palsy research organization.[4] Spider-Man does take 20 dollars for himself, saying it’s for cab fare, but uses it to buy a bouquet of roses for Mary Jane. As he web-slings for home, Spider-Man begins laughing out loud over how he defeated the Kingpin.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Kingpin, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Angel, Doctor Strange, Wong, Black Cat
Continuity Notes
The Thing has been having floating poker games with other members of the superhero community starting in Marvel Two-in-One #51. Previous games were (at the time of this story) were seen in Fantastic Four #542 (in a flashback), Marvel Two-in-One #75, 96, Marvel Fanfare #24, Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD #24, Wolverine (vol. 2) #53, Strange Tales (vol. 3) #1, (X-Men (vol. 2) #48), Uncanny X-Men/Fantastic Four Annual 1998, Avengers: The Crossing #1, and Wolverine Annual 1999
The Black Cat asks Doctor Strange if they played poker while he was in medical school. As revealed in Strange Tales #115, Doctor Strange was a surgeon before he became master of the mystic arts.
Spider-Man has fought a gang of mimes on two different occasions in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #21 and 38. He first fought the Big-Wheel in Amazing Spider-Man #183.
Spider-Man specifically selects a cerebral palsy charity following his encounter with Joey Beal, a young man stricken with the condition, in Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #14.
Topical References
Doctor Strange states that he watches poker on ESPN. As this is a real-world television network its reference here should be considered topical.
The Kingpin states that he will by Cuban cigars which he will purchase illegally. This story was written while the United States still had a trade embargo against Cuba, which included the cigars which were a much-sought commodity. The embargos were pretty much eliminated during the Obama administration. As such, buying Cuban cigars is no longer illegal in the United States.
Spider-Man specifically references having his money sent to the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation in Kansas. As this is a real-world charity, it’s reference here should be considered topical.
