Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do #2
A Ruse By Any Other Name
Having just killed Hunter Todd, the drug dealer named Mister Brownstone — real name Garrison Klum — hangs up his call with Spider-Man. He is at Carnegie Hall with his brother Frances at Carnegie Hall. He tells his brother to scrub Hunter Todd’s name from all of their records. He tells his brother that superheroes are starting to look into his illegal drug operations and don’t want them to get too close. He then leaves Francis to deal with this before he is celebrated for his charitable work to assist those who were displaced from their homes following a recent terrorist attack.[1] Meanwhile, in SoHo, Spider-Man and the Black Cat are watching as Hunter Todd’s body is being loaded into an ambulance. Todd was their only connection in their intersecting investigations. Felicia is trying to find her friend, Tricia Lane, while Spider-Man is trying to learn who was responsible for killing one of his students by a drug overdose. Peter starts lecturing her about where she learned how to deal with a heroin overdose and Felicia insists that she learned it from watching movies, suggesting he should take the time away from fighting his enemies to at least rent one. This leads to an argument about why they break up, which Peter blames on the fact that Felicia couldn’t handle his secret identity. Felicia, however, points out that if he hadn’t ran off and married his “high school sweetheart” she would have eventually calmed down and they could have gotten back together. Felicia points out that she has gone out of his way to save his life many times and all he can ever bring up was the fact that she didn’t like who he was under the make. Once the two have vented their past frustrations, Peter admits that he does appreciate the things she has done and apologizes for losing his temper as he had a rough time recently. The two then quickly make up.[2]
Spider-Man and the Black Cat then decide to compare notes and try to figure out the connections between Hunter Todd and the drug dealer known as Mister Brownstone. Having talked to Brownstone on the phone, Peter recalls how he said he was giving Hunter Todd and his female guest lethal doses of heroin and not that he gave it to them earlier. The Black Cat, fearing for the life of her friend, wants to go ripping up the city to find this Mister Brownstone, Spider-Man says they need to look into leads and come up with a plan. When Felicia suggests they go back to her hotel room at the Four Seasons, Peter is reluctant at first until she reminds him that she doesn’t go after married men. Spider-Man reluctantly agrees to join her, much to the Cat’s delight. As they swing toward the hotel, she admits to herself that she still has feelings for Spider-Man, even his alter-ego Peter Parker this time. The two turn the trip into a race where Spider-Man cautions himself to be careful as the two of them still have a lot of chemistry together. When things start getting a little to hot around the collar for him the web-slinger swings ahead of the Cat, telling her that he’ll meet her at the Seasons.
At that moment, Garrison Klum is an entertaining party goers with a modest story about how he thought other people were more deserving of the award he had just won. That’s when Scorpia comes bursting through one of the walls. It just so happens that Spider-Man and the Black Cat are happening by and decide to investigate. Back inside, Garrison and his brother Francis figure that Scorpia has been sent by the Ortega cartel as she has come looking for Garrison. That’s when the Black Cat enters the room and kicks Scorpia in the face. Scorpia tries blasting the Cat with her gauntlet blasters but Spider-Man webs them up. Watching the battle, Garrison and his brother consider this a small-world coincidence. Francis suggests they leave, but Garrison points out that they can’t with all the press around. Quick thinking, Black Cat hooks her grapling hook to Scorpia’s mechanical tail and leaps out of the building. Sure enough the momentum of her fall pulls Scorpia to the hole on the wall where she grabs for dear life. The sudden resistance then causes her mechanical tail to pop off. Spider-Man then leaps out after the Black Cat and saves her with a web-line. Grateful for the save, the Black Cat kisses Spider-Man before catching herself. Spider-Man tells her it was just as well since he was still wearing his mask. In the aftermath of the battle, Garrison Klum decided to use this opportunity for a positive PR move and congratulates Spider-Man and the Black Cat for a job well done.[3] When Spider-Man asks why Scorpia went after him, Klum figures it was due to his wealth and influence making him a candidate for kidnapping. As they talk, Spider-Man finds Garrison’s voice familiar. After Klum and the press leave the two heroes, Spider-Man tells the Black Cat his suspicions, that Garrison Klum is the mysterious Mister Brownstone.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Black Cat, Francis Klum, Mister Brownstone, Scorpia
Continuity Notes
When Francis asks if his brother is suddenly the Kingpin, Garrison retorts by saying he’s not 800 pounds, blind, or dead. At the time of this story, the Kingpin was just recently blinded in Daredevil (vol. 2) #14 and is also believed to have died when Sammy Silke took over his empire in Daredevil (vol. 2) #30. Fisk eventually regains his eyesight and crushes Silke in Daredevil (vol. 2) #46 and 50 respectively.
Felicia and Peter bicker about a lot of past history and there are a few facts that are wrong. They are:
Peter and Felicia dated from Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #73 to 100.
Peter states here that Felicia broke up with him because she couldn’t handle that he was boring old Peter Parker and wanted him to be Spider-Man all the time. While Peter revealed his identity to her in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #87, and that did cause issues for the reason state above, that wasn’t the reason why they broke up.
It was the bad luck powers that Felicia gained in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #90. She got said abilities by making a deal with the Kingpin. A side-effect was those powers started affecting Spider-Man all the time, requiring him to have Doctor Strange to lift the curse in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #115, stripping Black Cat of her powers.
Peter did indeed started dating Mary Jane Watson again after their break up. However, he was never her high school sweetheart. The pair first met in Amazing Spider-Man #42 when Peter was attending Empire State University. The couple got married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, much to Felicia’s chagrin.
However, years after this story, Mephisto erases Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage from existence in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the new timeline, Peter and Mary Jane don’t get married but remain engaged. Felicia would have been mad at Peter for that instead.
The “Spider-Slayer thing” with Alistair Smythe that Felicia said she helped Peter with is a reference to the Invasion of the Spider-Slayers story arc which took place from Amazing Spider-Man #368-373.
Spider-Man mentions how Scorpia’s gear was made by Silverman. This is correct as seen in Spider-Man: Power of Terror #2.
Topical References
Dated references The Producers, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks, Blazing Saddles, a fundraiser being held for people displaced by the 9/11 terror attacks, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Pulp Fiction, Jenny Craig, Fantasia 2000,
