Insecticide

In another dimension, Doctor Strange examines Driddil’s Doorway. It was the extend of Driddli’s travels before he was destroyed by the dread Dormammu.

Meanwhile, in Greenwich Village, Spider-Man is reading the newspaper and minding his own business when he is suddenly ambushed by the Vulture. The two fight across the rooftop before they both end up crashing into an apartment.

At that same moment, Doctor Strange has returned to his Sanctum Sanctorum where there is a package waiting for him. It is a copy of “Liber Infinitas” by Albion Crawley. When he opens the book, Strange is shocked to discover that the ancient tome had been booby-trapped with a powerful Webwaze spell. The spell snakes across the city and its source stretch beyond the known dimensions. Somewhere, past Driddli, an alien creature begins to cheer.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man has webbed up the Vulture to a kitchen sink and used the apartment owner’s cell phone to call the police. The man who lives in the apartment is not happy that Spider-Man crashed into his home and also invited the police. As they bicker, a spider-like creature crawls out of the sink and attaches itself to the back of the Vulture’s head. Under the spider’s control, the Vulture grabs a can of bug spray off the kitchen counter and sprays it in Spider-Man’s face. The wall-crawler stumbles out a window and discovers that his powers and web-shooters no longer work. Landing on a roof of another building below, Spider-Man wonders what he was sprayed with. Disorientated, he crawls into another apartment and crawls into the bathtub to rest. He suddenly begins muttering a cheer under his breath as he blacks out, this cheer is the exact same as the creature who sent out the Webwaze spell.

Back at the Sanctum Sanctorum, Doctor Strange reads through the Liber Infinitas and learns that it was written by some kind of spider. Using his magic to translate the tome, he learns about occultist Albion Crawley who in 1909 attempted to complete the Frozen Fire Ritual to complete the Crossing of the Abyss. Assisting him was his student Victor Neuenon. They used a Webwaze Tract to cross the abyss. This led them to a group of spider-demons known as the Arachnix. These creatures were soul eaters who easily traped the two necromancers. In a panic to get free, Albion cast a spell to transform Victor into a Sorror-Fly so he could escape.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man continues to struggle over what he was exposed to. He begins to hallucinate a relives a memory of his childhood. He was being shown a spider-web by his Uncle Ben. At the time, Ben tried to convince his nephew not to be afraid of spiders and recognize the beautify of their evolution. When this memory ends, Spider-Man suddenly sees what appears to be the radioactive spider that gave him his powers.[1] He asks the spider why it chose him. Suddenly, the spider transforms into one of the Arachnix and demands that Spider-Man give it his soul.

It’s then that Doctor Strange senses a strange presence in his home and races to the bathroom. There he catches the Arachnix trying to steal Spider-Man’s soul. Strange tries to banish the creature with a spell, but it doesn’t work. This spider-demon then escapes down the drail with Spider-Man’s soul. This Arachnix, named Daddy-Long-Legs, drags Spider-Man’s soul across the myriad mystical dimensions until it reaches it’s home and presents it to his master, King Korozon. Sensing something different about this particular human soul, King Korozn orders it prepared for a feast.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Vulture, Arachnix (Daddy Long Legs, King Korozon), Uncle Ben (flashback), Sorrow-Fly, Fetch Doggy Fetch, Pugly

Continuity Notes

1. In case you’ve been living in a cave, this happened in Amazing Fantasy #15.

Topical References

• Dated pop-culture references: Late Night with David Letterman, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Britney Spears