Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man #1
Women Love Him, Men Want to be Him
After busting General Wolfram, Mac Gargan admits to himself that he is enjoying the perks of being a hero now that he is opeartin as Norman Osborn’s version of Spider-Man.[1] However, after hauling Wolfram up onto the rooftops, “Spider-Man” decides to devest the villain of his stolen loot and when he protests allows his symbiote to feed upon him.
At the offices of the DB!, Dexter Bennett loves what Spider-Man is doing now. Unaware that this Spider-Man is a different person, Bennett’s sudden reversal from accusing the wall-crawler of murder recently.[2] Betty Brant isn’t interested in covering Bennett’s latest obsession and goes to city hall to cover a press conference at city hall. Bennett asks the other reporters to find out everything they can about Spider-Man, particularly anything about his sex life. At that moment, Venom is at a strip club spending the money he stole from Wolfram. He asks about a stripper named Destiny, whom he killed for learning her wasn’t the real Spider-Man, and is pleased to hear that nobody has seen her for days and nobody is looking for her either. The investigation make him think about how he used to be a private investigator who was hired to figure out who Spider-Man really was. This led to him willingly being transformed into the Scorpion and getting sent to prison after being defeated by Spider-Man.[3] While he ended up being a career criminal thereafter, J. Jonah Jameson — the man who bankrolled him — went on to become mayor.[4] Gargan made some changes of his own, bonding to the Venom symbiote.[5] Now that everyone thinks he’s Spider-Man now, Mac figures its time to settle accounts with Jameson.
At his press conference, J. Jonah Jameson is denying that crime has gone up 7% since he took office. Jonah is furious to learn that someone leaked the city’s crime statistics to the press. As he returns to his office, Jonah orders his staff to find out who was responsible for the leak. He also crosses paths with both Betty Brant and a doctor named Shep Gunderson. Jonah pauses just long enough to tell Brant that she has a job with him if she ever decides to leave the DB! He tried to dismiss Gunderson but is reminded that he has an appointment with the scientist. Shep wants to share his idea for a super-villain rehabilitation program he has come up with. Jameson refuses to hear anymore, telling him that he’s got to stop crime before it starts and leaves.
Meanwhile, Mac has brought a stripper named Candy back with him to Avengers Tower so they can continue partying. That’s when Norman Osborn comes in wanting to talk about the situation with General Wolfram the day before. He is particularly concerned since the money Wolfram stole was never returned and that the villain is now missing an arm. Norman reminds Gargan that he is not allowed to leave the Tower or interact with the public without Osborn’s permission. Although Mac agrees to follow the rules from now on, he makes a mental note to put Norman on his list. At that same moment, Doctor Gunderson meets with General Wolfram in the hospital. The doctor is wearing a death’s head mask and calls himself the Redeemer and that he has come to save him.
Later, Venom has come up with an idea on how to deal with J. Jonah Jameson. When Jonah returns to Gracie Mansion after a grueling day of running the city where he discovers the dead body of Cherry in his bedroom. This was Mac’s big idea and his only regret is not being able to see the look on Jonah’s face when he found the dead stripper in his bed. Meanwhile, the Redeemer have gathered a group of villains who have all been brutilized by Spider-Man. They include General Wolfram, the Hippo, Doctor Everything, Dementoid, and Eleven. The Redeemer has decided that rehabilitating villains is a dead end and that he has instead decided to devote their energies to redeem the amazing Spider-Man.
Recurring Characters
Venom, General Wolfram, the Redeemer, Hippo, Doctor Everything, Dementoid, Eleven, Dexter Bennett, Betty Brant, J. Jonah Jameson, Norman Osborn
Continuity Notes
Norman Osborn became a hero after killing Vernake, the Skrull queen who led an attempted invasion of Earth in Secret Invasion #8. He was made director of SHIELD (which he rennamed HAMMER) and later formed a team of Dark Avengers in Dark Avengers #1. Nearly every member is a villain who has co-opted the identity of a well established hero. In the case of Venom, he is posing as Spider-Man.
Dexter Bennett accused Spider-Man of being the Spider-Tracer Killer from Amazing Spider-Man #548 to 588.
Gargan was hired by Jameson to find out who Spider-Man really was in Amazing Spider-Man #19, he was transformed into the Scorpion in an experiment funded by Jameson in the following issue.
At the time of this story, J. Jonah Jameson was just recently elected as mayor of New York City in Amazing Spider-Man #592.
Mac Gargan bonded with the Venom symbiote in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #9.
