With Great Power… Part Five

With media criticism jeopardizing his career, Peter Parker has been forced to make Spider-Man a hero in the eyes of New Yorkers. His most recent act of heroism is talking a jumper from committing suicide. The man goes over a litany of crimes he has committed, debts he owes to bookies, and how if he doesn’t jump he’s probably going to jail. When Spider-Man asks if he has any children and what they would think about him killing himself, it’s the last straw that makes the man jump. Spider-Man luckily manages to save the man’s life before he can hit the ground.

Returning to the apartment of Tiffany Lebeck to watch the news footage, Spider-Man tells her that he doesn’t think he is cut out for heroics. She tells him to stick with it. She tells him that Mister Angel (a mobster their boss Monty Caabash owes a lot of money) has told them that he has heard about a bank robbery that Spider-Man can stop. Unaware of Angel’s criminal background, he wonders how he can know about crimes before they happened and why he doesn’t take that information to the police. Tiffany, as usual, manipulates the naive young wall-crawler that he needs to do this to repair the damage J. Jonah Jameson has done to his reputation. She tells him to do it for her and that she will make him proud. When Spider-Man asks if his life is even his anymore, she tells him that it is not. The next day, Spider-Man is there to stop the armed robbery, but in the process of trying to stop the thieves from getting away, he causes their get away van. Although he manages to swerve the vehicle out of the way of crowed he is upset that the crooks inside were seriously hurt and the people who almost got crushed are more interested in collecting the money. This does little to soften J. Jonah Jameson’s opinion of the wall-crawler and the front page of the Daily Bugle chastizes Spider-Man for recklessly endangering people.

Mister Angel and his associates are furious and begin considering having a talk with Jameson. Tiffany warns them that if they keep on pushing the kid hard enough and he is going to reach his breaking point. However, Angel doesn’t care and angrily reminds her that it is her job to make sure that their star doesn’t. When Spider-Man returns to Tiffany’s apartment, he once again tells her that he doesn’t think he has what it takes to be a hero. Turning to face him she tells him to suck it up and he sees that she has a black eye. He asks her if Angel did it and threatens to knock him through the wall. Tiffany, drunk on wine, tells Spider-Man to forget about it, telling him that soon they’ll be going to Los Angeles and they can leave this all behind them, saying they won’t have to worry anymore after tonight. Peter asks her what she means, Tiffany says she won’t say a thing unless he reveals who she really is. Peter takes off his mask, which Tiffany finds unfair because she won’t remember what he looks like in the morning because she is pretty much blackout drunk. She then tells him that Angel and his goons are going to the Daily Bugle to put a bullet in J. Jonah Jameson’s head. Not wanting a death on his conscience, Peter puts his mask back on and races to the Daily Bugle.

There, J. Jonah Jameson is reminded that the early edition is on hold until he is finished his editorial. Even though Jonah has a modern computer, he still insists on banging out his work on an old fashioned typewriter. That’s when two of Angel’s men barge in on his office and tell him that he’s going to stop saying bad things about their wrestling stars. This doesn’t do much but reinforce Jonah’s desire to publish his negative Spider-Man editorial. They begin threatening Jameson with violence when Spider-Man comes crashing in. Although he webs up one of the heavies, the other grabs Jonah and pulls a gun. Spider-Man strikes the gunman sending him flying out a window with a single punch, but breaks his fall with webbing. With Jameson knocked out, Spider-Man reads the editorial he wrote and decides to edit it. The following morning, the Daily Bugle runs with an editorial credited to J. Jonah Jameson suggesting that Spider-Man be given a parade, much to the publisher's chagrin. The entire experience has Peter realizing that he has a lot of growing up to do. When he goes past Tiffany’s apartment he discovers that she is long gone, which is just as well as he thinks he’s done with being Spider-Man.

When Peter returns home he discovers police cars waiting for him outside. When he rushes inside he finds Aunt May in tears and fears that something happened to Uncle Ben. However, he comes in the door moments later relieved to see Peter is fine after he had been missing for an entire week. Peter hugs his adopted parents, thinking about how he is going to be spending the rest of his life making up for it, something Peter thinks he’ll be doing for a very long time. In the background of this happy reunion, the television in the living room runs the evening news. The reporter talks about J. Jonah Jameson retracting his most recent editorial, plus a warning to the public about a man responsible for a string of robberies in the area and a warning to people not approach him as he is considered armed and dangerous.[1]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Uncle Ben, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Tiffany Lebeck, Monty Caabash

Continuity Notes

1. You know what’s coming…. Amazing Fantasy #15