Face to Face

At the West Side Train Yard, Betty Brant has stumbled upon an arm’s deal going on with what appears to be members of the Crime-Master’s gang. Since the most recent Crime-Master was her brother, Bennett, Betty fears that he might still be alive.[1] She has called in her ex-boyfriend, Flash Thomspon, aka Agent Venom to deal with the situation. Flash apologizes for how their relationship turned out and asks her to get his mother out of town and let him handle this.[2] With Betty gone, Flash disguises himself as one of Crime-Master’s men and moves in to replace on of the goons so he can be brought to their leader.

Today is also the opening day of Parker Industries, and Otto Octavius — who has taken over Peter Parker’s life[3] — welcomes the team of scientists he has hired. He gives a speech telling them that they will become the rulers of the world of science in a speech that sounds more like a super-villain’s rant than about the opening of a brand new company. After his speech, Otto meets with his partner, Sajani Jaffrey who believes their business model will yield more breakthroughs then when they worked for Horizon Labs.[4] Otto is gloating over how their former colleagues will come crawling back to work with them when he notices that Jay Jameson’s car is parked out front and learns that his Aunt May is with Doctor Elias Wirtham and nobody told him.

In the medical lab, Wirtham is telling May and Jay that they will begin a tour of a facility once “Peter” arrives. While they are waiting, May expresses her approval that Elias has taken over the FEAST Center after Martin Li was arrested.[5] However, when they hear that the newly christened HEART Clinic has help from Spider-Man,[6] they are concerned because “Peter” promise to sever ties with the wall-crawler.[7] When “Peter” finally arrives, May asks him to come to dinner so he can introduce them to his new girlfriend. “Peter” accepts the invitation and then tells them about his new cybernetic breakthrough that will allow May to walk without a cane.[8]

Meanwhile, Yuri Watanabe arrives at the apartment of Carlie Cooper and finds that it has been ransacked. All of the evidence they have collected connecting Doctor Octopus to Spider-Man has been taken. She vows to find out what happened, if not as Yuri Watanabe, then as the Wraith.

Back at the Pier 64 headquarters of Parker Industires, “Peter Parker” is seeing May and Jay off. May is looking forward to finally meeting “Peter’s” new girlfriend. After they are gone, Otto visits Anna Maria Marconi in her private lab where she is experimenting with bioluminescence for use in night clubs. Otto is impressed and asks her if she wants to meet his “family”. Anna Maria is impressed with how “Peter” always gets what he strives for and decides to take advantage of their moment alone for some romance before he is called away by Spider-Man.

Later, on Spider-Island Two, the Spiderlings are monitoring the footage from the spider-bots and become aware of Agent Venom’s clash with Crime-Master’s men. They call Spider-Man who orders a team of Spiderlings to join him in their spider-mechs. As they approach the scene, Spider-Man contacts Chief Pratchett to tell him to hold the police while he handles it. Pratchett complies but still calls mayor J. Jonah Jameson to get his permission. Jameson confirms this and hangs up. He is angry that he is being blackmailed into doing the web-slinger’s bidding but suddenly comes up with a way to get out of his situation.[9]

Inside the dockside warehouse, Agent Venom is clashing with Crime-Master and his gang. He realizes that this is a new Crime-Master and not the one he previously fought. This newcomer is upset to learn that the franchise he bought from Roderick Kingsley came with such baggage.[10] However, before Venom can learn more about this, Spider-Man and his private army comes crashing in. Seeing Spider-Man and his army causes the Crime-Master to surrender instantly. However, Spider-Man reveals that he hasn’t come to stop Crime-Master and uses a flame thrower on Agent Venom.

Flash realizes that he hasn’t really interacted with Spider-Man since becoming Agent Venom and due to the covert nature of his job he wouldn’t know that he is one of the good guys.[11] Spider-Man continues his assault on Venom, using sonic webbing to further incapacitate his target. The attack uncovers Agent Venom’s face and Flash tries to explain that he has the symbiote under control. He hopes that his long history with Spider-Man will convince his hero that he is on the side of angels. Spider-Man shocks him however by telling him to tell it to someone who cares and prepares to land a blow with his flaming fist.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Agent Venom, Crime-Master, Betty Brant, Anna Maria Marconi, Sajani Jaffrey, Elias Wirtham, Aunt May, Jay Jameson, Yuri Watanabe, J. Jonah Jameson, Glory Grant, Chief Prachett

Continuity Notes

1. Bennett Brant was the previous Crime-Master from Venom (vol. 2) #1 to 21. Her concern that her brother might have cheated death is not unwarranted since he cheated it once before after getting shot in Amazing Spider-Man #11.

2. Betty and Flash have dated on-and-off for years dating back to Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #90. The pair had recently gotten back together in Amazing Spider-Man #648. When Flash became Agent Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #654, his secret double-life caused a great deal of strain in their lives, particularly when Crime-Master learned Flash’s true identity and used this to blackmail him. Flash eventually broke things off with Betty in Venom (vol. 2) #12. Betty later found out that Flash was the new Venom in Venom (vol. 2) #18.

3. Otto Octavius stole Peter Parker’s life back in Amazing Spider-Man #698-700.

4. Horizon Labs employed bother Peter Parker and Sajani Jaffrey from Amazing Spider-Man #648 until a series of legal problems and the destruction of the actual lab forced Horizon to shut down in Superior Spider-Man #19.

5. The FEAST Center was originally run by Martin Li from Amazing Spider-Man #546 until he was outed as Mister Negative in Amazing Spider-Man #664.

6. Elias Wirtham took over the FEAST Center and rennamed it the HEART Clinic in Superior Spider-Man #7.

7. May and Jay asked “Peter” to cease his association with Spider-Man in Superior Spider-Man #10 following his brutal handling of various criminals.

8. May was injured when Terminus attacked New York City in Amazing Spider-Man #694. Because of her advanced age, May has had to walk with a cane ever since.

9. When the Spider-Slayer attempted to escape from his execution, Spider-Man recorded Jameson ordering him to kill Smythe and has been using it to blackmail Jameson into doing his bidding. See Superior Spider-Man #11-13.

10. Roderick Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin, started selling super-villain identities as part of a franchising business in Amazing Spider-Man #697.

11. Venom mentions how he was a member of the Secret Avengers. His membership on the team lasted from Secret Avengers #23-37.