Ray of Light

As a young boy named Kasey watches Insect-Man, his favorite cartoon, his older brother Jack is on the phone with his girlfriend. She is in the process of breaking up with him and the loud volume on the television is making the conversation harder. Eventually, Jack gets fed up and hangs up on her. Hearing the noise from her bedroom, Jack and Kasey’s sick mother tells the boys to keep it down or she will get out of bed. Jack is under a great deal of stress as his mother is out of medication again. Seeing his brother watching cartoons, he tells Kasey and why he continues to keep their father’s old comic book collection. Kasey thinks his brother is jealous that Jack didn’t get anything when their father left them. Jack, however, says he never wanted anything from their old man, saying that he was nothing more than a loser, especially something as lame as superhero comics. Pronouncing superheroes lame, Jack tries to change the channel. Kasey tries to defend superheroes, but Jack points out that they are all freaks that do whatever they want and that they don’t care about people like them. Kasey continues to defend his heroes, saying Spider-Man isn’t a freak because he doesn’t let himself get beaten up like Jack does. Angered by this, Jake snatches Kasey’s Insect-Man action figure and holds it out of the boy’s reach. The two argue back and forth about their different points of view. Getting upset, Kasey says he wishes Spider-Man would take care of him instead of his brother.

Suddenly, someone comes crashing through the wall of their living room. To their surprise, it turns out to be none other than Spider-Man. As they go to see if the wall-crawler is okay, they are told by Electro — whom Spider-Man has been fighting — to get lost. Although they run to cover, Kasey can’t sit by and let Spider-Man get hurt. As Electro charges up for the killing blow, Kasey throws his Insect-Man toy at the back of the villain’s head and tells him to leave Spider-Man alone. Jake tells Kasey to get back under cover and Electro suggests the boy listen before he gets hurt. When Kasey refuses to stand down, Electro begins knocking the boy back with minor electrical shots. Seeing his brother in danger, Jack finds the courage to stand between Electro and his brother and demands the villain leave his kid brother alone. Electro finds this amusing and begins mocking the boy as he reaches out with a single electrified finger. However, before he can touch Jack, Spider-Man is back on his feet and quickly ambushes Electro knocking him out.

Apologizing for the damage done from their battle, Spider-Man learns that the boys mother is sick in bed and that their father left a while ago. Feeling sorry for the kids, Spider-Man pills an envelope marked “rent” from one of his boots and gives it to them. He says it’s not much, considering the damage done, but hopes the money can help them out. He then uses his webbing to fix Kasey’s Insect-Man toy. Kasey is ecstatic, but Jake is furious because the money in the envelope isn’t even close to repairing the damage done.[1] Spider-Man admits that it is not good enough, saying that heroes can’t always save the world, only do what they can and hopes everything works out. He then picks up Electro and swings away. Unphased by all of this, Kasey sets the television upright and puts back on his cartoon. When Insect-Man says “with great power comes great responsibility”, Jack wonders what no power means. Kasey then points out that Jack responsible for him. Jack is touched by this and sits down to watch the rest of Insect-Man with his brother.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Electro

Continuity Notes

1. According to this story, Peter’s rent is five hundred dollars. However, this should be considered a topical reference since rent in New York City has become increasingly expensive since this comic was published. For example, as I write this in 2020, the average rent in New York City is about $3000 a month.