Spider-Man #47
Old Habits
Jason Macendale has traveled to Russia in order to translate the secrets of Kraven the Hunter's journal. His travels have brought him to the Ural Mountains in the search of Kraven's son who has returned to their home country to reclaim some family property. After weeks of searching the mountains, Jason Macendale finds himself surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves, which works out for him as he has been without food himself for a number of days.
Back in the United States, Demogobolin has been incarcerated at Ryker's Island following his recent battle with Spider-Man. Although the guards are uneasy with his presence, the demon sits reflectively in his cell. He begins to think about where he strayed off his righteous path after he was bonded to and separated from the Hobgoblin.[1] He thinks he went wrong when he agreed to join Carnage during his rampage through New York.[2] However, he looks at his incarceration as a blessing as now he can eliminate all the criminals that are locked up with him. Two hours later, Demogobolin's rampage through Ryker's has drawn the attention of Spider-Man. While the authorities are happy to let the wall-crawler in to deal with this threat, Spider-Man is unhappy that his rival, Lance Bannon, is getting photos of the story for the Daily Bugle.
Back in Russian, Macendale finds the old Kravenoff estate, but before heading inside, he buries his gear in the snow outside. There he finds someone waiting for him, a manservant named Gregori. When Jason explains that he has something that Vladimir Kravinoff would be interested in. Gregori correctly deduces that Jason has Sergei Kravenoff's journal, however, Macendale refuses to discuss his discovery with anyone by Vladimir. Inside, Jason is ambushed by Vladimir who demands that the mercenary hand over his father's journal. However, Jason was smart enough to anticipate a move like this. As such, he has only brought half the journal and only agrees to give Vladimir the other half after he helps him get what he wants. Vladimir agrees to have a talk and orders Gregori to prepare a room for their guest. While at Ryker's Island, Spider-Man sneaks into the facility to search for Demogoblin, even though he doesn't feel any sympathy for the criminals inside. Spider-Man finds his foe in the central cell block where the demon is offering the criminals locked up to willingly sacrifice themselves. When Spider-Man is about to stop him, the wall-crawler is ambushed by the criminal known as Gauntlet. At first, the web-slinger doesn't recognize him, but then remembers that Gauntlet -- aka Alfredo Morelli -- was the man who briefly posed as Richard Fisk.[3] Although the two fight it out momentarily, until they are ambushed by one of Demogoblin's pumpkin bombs.
Meanwhile, in Russia, Vladimir and Jason talk about exchanging Karven's journal. Vladimir offers Macendale as much money as he wants in exchange for the journal. However, Jason explains that he doesn't want money, he wants the power that Vladimir's father had. Vladimir is angered by this, as he believes that he is the only one who should receive his father's legacy. He tries to throw a spear at Macendale but misses. The two find themselves at an impasse until Gregori talks to his master. Hearing what his servant has to say, Vladimir changes his mind and agrees that they should make an arrangement after all. Back at Ryker's, Demogobolin has Gauntlet by the throat and offers Spider-Man the chance to kill his foe. However, Spider-Man insists that nobody needs to die, saying that they are not in a position to judge who lives or dies. While in Russia, Vladimir has used the information from the journal to set up a means of creating a process that hardwires his father's formula into one's DNA, making it a permanent change. Although he speaks from a position of authority, in reality, neither he nor Gregori knows if the process will prove to be fatal and are using Macendale as a test subject. Jason hears them whispering and suspects a double cross, and gloats to himself that he had just prepared for such a contingency.
At Ryker's, Demogobolin continues to tempt Spider-Man into taking the life of Gauntlet, saying that his death will stop the villain from coming back to harm his friends and family. Although Spider-Man finds this tempting, he refuses to stoop to Demogoblin's level and assaults his foe. Overpowered, Demogoblin decides to flee the scene and smashes through the roof. With debris threatening to crush everyone in the cell block, Spider-Man braces it with his webbing. With the authorities taking control of the facility, Spider-Man warns Gauntlet to stay out of his face in the future. While back in Russia, the experiment on Jason Macendale begins. As nodules begin to painfully grow out of his skin, Macendale figures he is going to die here but he knows he will not die alone. Outside, his Goblin Glider slowly rises out of the snow.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Hobgoblin, Vladimir Kravinoff, Demogoblin, Gauntlet, Lance Bannon, Gregor
Continuity Notes
Demogoblin and Hobgoblin were bonded together during the Inferno event.
Demogoblin was a member of Carnage's "family" during the Maximum Carnage event.
Alfredo Morelli underwent plastic surgery to resemble Richard Fisk as part of scheme to stop his father, Wilson Fisk the Kingpin. However, once inside the organization, Alfredo took over the Kingpin's empire instead as seen in Web of Spider-Man #84-88. This ruse was ultimately exposed in Web of Spider-Man #100. He mentions how he lost an eye, that happened in Web of Spider-Man #97.
