Spider-Man's Tangled Web #9
Gentleman’s Agreement Part 3
Then
Bullets fly as Charlie Clemmen’s taxi cab crashes into the side of a squad car. Spider-Man arrives on the scene to stop Seeds and his gang from escaping from a bank robbery. In the confusion, one of the gang members dumps the stolen loot down a manhole. At some point, Spider-Man is unmasked.
Now
Charlie Clemmen is sitting in the home of Seeds, detailing his plan to rob the jewelry store he started working at as a security guard. Seeds and his gang have agreed to help on this heist and give Charlie half of the million-dollar take because he has also offered to hand them Spider-Man on a silver platter. Although Seeds is interested, one of his men is not and threatens to shoot him in the head. Charlie responds by tripping Roach, and reminding him how their last heist went literally down the drain. Seeds then asks how they can be certain that he can deliver Spider-Man, Charlie says if they can provide him with a pigeon, he can prove it to them. That’s when one of Seeds working girls, Lorainne, comes in to ask what all the noise is about.
They then take Lorainne out to a nearby liquor store and tell her to hold it up. When she takes a gun and heads for the business, Charlie says he needs to go to a payphone. However, Seeds refuses to let him out of the cab and hands him his cell phone instead. Charlie calls the Daily Bugle and Peter Parker’s extension. He informs him of the robbery but smashes Seed’s cell phone after so the gangster can’t redial the number. Sure enough, Spider-Man shows up a moment later, prompting Charlie to make a quick getaway, leaving Lorainne to be nabbed by the wall-crawler. As they drive away, Charlie and the gang agree to rob the store on Friday, and Charlie will make sure that Spider-Man is somewhere else, ensuring that the robbery can go off without a hitch.
On Friday, Charlie calls Seeds to confirm that the plan is still a go, but insists that Seeds and his men go in with unloaded guns because he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. Seeds agrees but he doesn’t tell his men what he promised. As Charlie hangs up the phone, he notices a shadow cross his room. Noticing his bedroom window is now open, Charlie turns around and sees that someone has written “we need to talk” on his wall. The following morning, Seeds and his men attempt to rob the jewelry store while Charlie is working. After calling Spider-Man, he tells the staff not to set off the silent alarm as nobody is going to get hurt. However, the situation changes when Roach, one of Seeds goons, fires his gun at someone trying to escape out one of the doors, revealing that Seeds lied about coming with unloaded weapons. They then all escape in Charlie’s taxi cab. As they make their getaway, Charlie expresses his anger that they went in with loaded guns. However, after he hands off an address where he is planning on meeting Spider-Man, Seeds tells his men to give Charlie his cut. Roach protests this, but Seeds decides to believe Charlie, reminding his goons that they know where Charlie lives if he’s been lying to them. When Roach begins sorting out the loot, Charlie stops him when he is about to give him more than half a million, telling the surprised gangster that he only needs half a million.
That evening, Seeds and his gang are waiting in an alley. When its ten past the hour Roach begins getting restless as he wants to kill Spider-Man. However, Seeds tells him to put his gun away, saying that he has bigger ambitions, pointing out how much money they could stand to make if they can force Spider-Man to rob for them. When Spider-Man finally arrives on the scene, he suddenly makes a run for it. Seeds and his men chase after the web-slinger and follow him into a nearby building. To their surprise, they find themselves in the middle of a Spider-Man convention with hundreds of people wearing Spider-Man costumes.[1] When they turn to leave, the real Spider-Man is apparently standing behind them prompting Seeds and his men to run for it. Going upstairs they attempt to climb out a window but are frightened off the ledge by someone in a Spider-Man costume resulting in the crooks falling into a web net spun by the real Spider-Man. The phony Spider-Man turns out to be Charlie Clemmens who figures Spider-Man needs an explanation but he is suddenly struck by another painful headache and collapses to the ground.
Later that day, Charlie’s ex-wife Gladys goes into the hospital room where her son following his surgery. The doctor, the one who told Charlie that treatment would cost half a million dollars, tells him the security is a success and that he is expected to recover. Gladys tells the doctor how she woke up in the morning with half a million dollars in cash waiting on her dresser and has no idea where it came from, considering its sudden appearance a miracle. She then goes into another room where her ex-husband Charlie is in a coma. When she asks the doctor if people in a coma can dream, the doctor isn’t sure. However as she holds Charlie’s hand, he does dream. He dreams of the night of the accident when his cab was flipped over in the car crash. After Spider-Man had nabbed the crooks and pulled Charlie to safety, Clemmens told Spider-Man that his son is still in his cab. Spider-Man managed to pull Benny out before he could be harmed by the burning vehicles. However, Benny isn’t breathing prompting Spider-Man to give him CPR. When Benny starts breathing again, he impulsively pulled off Spider-Man’s mask, allowing his father to get a good look at his face. Despite this, Peter Parker handed over his son to a grateful father. This recollection causes Charlie to smile.
Recurring Characters
Charlie Clemmens, Gladys Clemmens, Benny Clemmens, Spider-Man
Continuity Notes
One of the attendees is debating the underlying Nietzschien commentary in Silver Surfer #14. Frederick Neitzche was a German philosopher of the late 19th Century who is often quoted by annoying Goths the world over. He had some profound things to say but died broke and insane. To learn about the totally not depressing life of Frederick Neitzche check out his entry on Wikipedia or your local library. Anyway, Silver Surfer #14 was a story where the Silver Surfer meets Spider-Man for the first time. This debate is of course satire as Stan Lee’s work in the 60s — while perhaps timeless — was never particularly deep.
