Spider-Man Annual 1997
Dead Men Walking
Spider-Man leaps down into an alley where he finds two punks beating on a larger man. He separates the group, only to learn that the big man is actually a zombie. The zombie attacks Spider-Man, and the other two punks begin shooting at them. Spider-Man grabs the zombie and web-slings away.[1]
Later at the Daily Bugle, Glory Grant returns to the office after spending a vacation in the Caribbean. She tells Pete, Joe Robertson, and Betty Brant about a boat full of Haitian refugees that attempted to board the cruise ship on their return trip to the states. Peter shows Glory photos that he had taken of Spider-Man's fight with the zombie. A horrified look crosses her face, and she discovers that the zombie is her cousin, Ramon. Sensitive to Glory's feelings, Peter decides to not submit the photos to Jonah. Peter takes Glory to the Ravencroft Institute where Ramon is being held for observation. Dr. Ashley Kafka explains that there are several scientific methods which can be employed to provide the illusion of a death-like zombie state.
Peter walks Glory home when suddenly his spider-sense goes off. The two punks who had attacked Ramon earlier try to ambush them as well. Not wishing to be victimized, Peter loses his temper and almost blows his secret identity trying to subdue them. That's when the federal agent named Shotgun arrives and shoots one of the attackers in the chest. Not wishing anyone to die, Peter leaps at Shotgun, and prevents him from shooting the second thug. With the danger over, Shotgun shows Peter his government credentials and tells Parker that he needs to discuss a private matter with Glory. Soon, Peter meets up with his wife, Mary Jane, and tells her what happened while they are looking for a movie to watch on their date night.[2] Mary Jane tells Peter not to worry, reminding him that Glory can take care of herself. This is something that Peter reluctantly agrees with and the pair then decide to rent a copy of Night of the Living Dead.[3] Later, the zombie once known as Simon Garth climbs out of the river and begins shambling across the docks. He stumbles into the middle of a gangland execution and ends up killing both of the mobsters as well as their intended victim.
Back at Glory's place, Shotgun and Glory discover that someone has ransacked her apartment. Shotgun gives the place the once over, but becomes distracted by an amulet hanging from Glory's neck. He asks her about it, and Glory tells him that she obtained it on the last evening of her cruise vacation. She remembers that she was on the dance floor that night and is surprised to remember that Shotgun was there as well. That evening she was unable to sleep she was drawn out of her cabin by the sound of calypso music. Drawn to where the Haitian refugees where bunked, Glory was shocked to see the individuals in a strange trance-like states. That's when one of them ambushed her, saying something that they have a mutual connection to Spider-Man. With that, the strange placed the amulet around Glory's neck. The man explained that this was the Amulet of Damballah, and the Guede trapped in the amulet was seeking passage to America so it could be reunited with its physical body. The next thing she can remember is being told to return to her cabin by the captain. Glory concludes her story by telling Shotgun that she doesn't remember anything else. Shotgun explains that he was sent aboard the ship by the CIA in order to investigate the refugee ship, which he believes was carrying a new designer drug created by the Haitian army. He discovered that someone has deliberately sunk the Haitian vessel and eyewitnesses place Glory being near the ship before it was sunk. He then tells her that he has come to arrest her.
That evening, Mary Jane has fallen asleep on the couch while she and Peter were watching a movie. Peter grows more concerned over Glory and decides to change into Spider-Man and check on her. When he swings near Glory's apartment, he finds the Zombie scaling the fire escape. The two begin fighting one another. In the middle of the battle, the Zombie suddenly regurgitates a maggot-filled stream of bile all over the wall-crawler before throwing the masked hero through Glory's apartment window. Grant is upset to see the wall-crawler and demands that he leave when the Zombie suddenly comes crawling in through the window. Shotgun shoots the Zombie through the chest. Thinking the CIA agent has murdered someone, Spider-Man attacks him. During their fight, Glory begins chanting a Voodoo incantation in French as the two men continue to struggle. During the fight, the Zombie tries to climb back into Glory's apartment, only to get shot by Shotgun again. By this point, Glory has grabbed one of the CIA agent's guns and points it at Spider-Man, telling him to leave her alone. Since the Zombie has disappeared in all the confusion, the wall-crawler decides to leave, telling Shotgun to take good care of Glory. Since Glory didn't shoot him or try to escape during the battle, Shotgun decides to trust her for the time being. As such, the pair decide to work together and investigate the sunken ship and learn what caused it to sink. When Shotgun suggests that he stay the night to keep her safe, Glory tells him to not get any ideas since he will be sleeping on the couch. Later that evening, Shotgun is awoken by drums beating in the night. When he sits up he sees Glory standing before him wearing an outfit made out of animal skins. His questions are ignored as Glory begins to dance, putting Shotgun into a trance. With the man fully entranced, Glory leans down and begins to kiss her would-be protector.
At that moment, at Ravencroft, Spider-Man checks in on Ramon with Doctor Kafka and try and figure out what he fought earlier. Ashley explains that he is in a zombie-like trance after being injected with a drug called tetrodotoxin. When she explains Ramon's condition, it reminds Spider-Man of when Kraven the Hunter put him in a death-like trance and buried him alive for two weeks.[4] However, this is nothing like the Zombie that Spider-Man encountered earlier. Although she doesn't believe in it, Doctor Kafka did do research on Voodoo based zombies and how her investigation uncovered a story about a coffee manufacturer who was turned into a zombie through voodoo.[5]
The following day, Glory and Shotgun take a boat out to the location where the Haitian ship sank. He becomes concerned over Glory's state of mind when she doesn't recall what happened the night before. Still, they dive into the waters to investigate the shipwreck. There in the water, they are attacked by the Zombie. After Shotgun pins the Zombie to the hull of the ship with his harpoon gun, he is shocked when Glory pins him to the ocean floor with the ship's anchor. Taking one of the syringes of drugs, Glory then injects it into the oxygen intake of Shotgun's scuba gear, causing him to blackout. Back in the United States, Spider-Man returns to Ravencroft and learns that Glory Grant attacked Doctor Kafka and kidnapped her cousin, Ramon. When Ashley says that Glory also claimed that Spider-Man killed her boyfriend, the wall-crawler assumes that she is talking about Eduardo Lobo.[6] However, Kafka says that the man she mentioned was someone named Sergei. Suddenly, Spider-Man has an idea of what is going on and asks the Doctor if she believes that someone could be possessed by a spirit of the undead.
At Cypress Hills Cemetery, Glory Grant has her cousin Ramon dig up the body of Calypso. As it turns out, Glory has been possessed by Calypso's spirit after it was trapped in the Amulet of Damballa. Once the boady has been unearthed, Calypso intends to put the amulet on her body, and resurrect herself. Before she can accomplish this, she is confronted by the Zombie, who is ever drawn to the Amulet of Damballa. Calypso then orders Ramon to fight off the Zombie. That's when they are interrupted by Spider-Man who was able to track down his foe. He explains that he was able to deduce that Calypso was buried here because Cypress Hills is a popular burial ground for Haitian immigrants as well as a hotbed of supernatural activity.[7] As the two struggle, Calypso explains how she used voodoo in order to cheat death after her physical body was mortally wounded by the Lizard.[8] However, despite the interference from both Spider-Man and the Zombie, Calypso intends to regain control of the amulet and use it to resurrect herself.
Since this will be the only way to free Glory from Calypso's control, Spider-Man agrees to help -- but sternly warns his foe is she tries to harm his friend. By this point, the Zombie has killed Ramon. The wall-crawler quickly recovers the Amulet of Damballa with his webbing and distracts the Zombie while Calypso begins her incantation. Despite his efforts, Spider-Man is knocked out by the Zombie, but before it can kill him Glory Grant -- now back in full control of her body -- commands the Zombie to stop. She then hands the amulet over to the creature and the Zombie walks away. In the aftermath of the battle, Glory explains that Calypso managed to finish the ceremony and, once back in her old body, fled the scene. Returning to Ravencroft, they discover that Doctor Kafka has recovered Shotgun and has managed to develop a cure to free him from his zombie-like state. However, Glory is upset that there was nothing she could do for Ramon, who was put in this situation by her. Spider-Man tries to console her, reminding Glory that she enslaved her cousin while under Calypso's control. When Shotgun wakes up, Glory is happy to have him back. When he assures her that everything is back to normal, Spider-Man doesn't think so and grimly worries about the return of Calypso, particularly since nobody knows what her new agenda will be.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Calypso, Zombie, Ramon Grant, Glory Grant, Shotgun, Ashley Kafka, J.Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Betty Brant, Mary Jane Watson
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man thinks he recognizes the zombie. Peter Parker last met Ramon Grant in Marvel Team-Up #30.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.
Peter and Mary Jane are depicted as looking for a movie on VHS tape. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timecale of Earth-616 as VHS tapes are considered an obsolete technology.
Spider-Man was buried alive during the Kraven's Last Hunt story arc.
Doctor Kafka is recounting the fate of Simon Garth, the man who later became the Zombie. His transformation was detailed in Menace #5/Tales of the Zombie #1.
The enmity between Glory Grant and Spider-Man began when she was forced to kill her former boyfriend Eduardo Lobo in Web of Spider-Man #55.
Cypress Hills has been the center of a lot of supernatural activities since Ghost Rider Vol 3 #1.
The Lizard disemboweled Calypso in Web of Spider-Man #109.
