Vulture on the Wing!

After hearing that the Vulture escaped from prison, Spider-Man goes on the hunt for his old foe, finding him high above the city in the pouring rain. As the wall-crawler and the Vulture fight it out above the city, Spider-Man quickly learns that the Vulture has increased the power of his wings. Eventually, Spider-Man gets fed up of keeping the battle in the range of his automatic camera and decides to snare his foe with a web-line. However, this does little to slow down the Vulture who manages to shake Spider-Man loose. He then tells the wall-crawler that he plans to steal an Atomic Accelerator that the army is bringing through the city. He is telling this to Spider-Man because he intends for the wall-crawler to try and stop him, confident he will eliminate the irritating arachnid once and for all. When the Vulture flies away, Spider-Man tries to catch him in a web-line again, but the villain is too fast and quickly gets out of range. Going to collect his camera, Spider-Man laments about how J. Jonah Jameson will likely use his photos to convince the city that he is in league with the Vulture, but he needs the money. Unfortunately, the old Parker Luck strikes again, as he discovers that the camera was smashed during the battle and it will cost money to get the camera fixed.

The following morning, Peter Parker gets ready for work and is told by his Aunt May to make sure he keeps his appointment with his optometrist. Peter dances around confirming this appointment to remind Aunt May that she has a trip to pack for. As he walks to school he thinks about his Aunt May is going to Florida and hopes this will distract her from the fact that his glasses were recently broken by Flash Thompson.[1] However, Peter discovered that his powers have corrected his vision and he now fears that an eye exam might reveal something out of the ordinary and expose his double-identity.[2] When he arrives at school, Peter is approached by Flash and his friends. Flash says he feels bad for Peter's glasses and actually repaired them. At first, Peter is grateful, until he realizes that Flash is playing a prank. His "glasses" are nothing more than the bottom of Coke bottles that Flash fashioned into a pair of glasses. Unimpressed, Peter walks away without saying another word. When Tiny McIver and Liz Allan say nice things about Peter, this comes to a shock to both Jason Ionello and Flash Thompson.

A few hours later at lunchtime, Peter web-slings up to the Bronx Armory to warn General Thaddeus Ross about the Vulture's intent to steal the Atomic Accelerator from the military. General Ross is unhappy to hear this, but wonders what it was in it for the wall-crawler to travel all this way to give him this warning. Spider-Man explains that he is only doing his duty to his country, but Ross doesn't buy it. When he suggests that Spider-Man wants something, the young hero makes the mistake of suggesting payment for his services. This confirms the bias that Thaddeus Ross has already formed in his head and he orders his officers to arrest the wall-crawler, prompting a hasty retreat from Spider-Man. As Spider-Man swings back to Queens to get back to class, he thinks about letting the military deal with the Vulture without him but realizes that he cannot shirk his responsibility. Back at school, Peter suffers through a game of dodge ball in gym class and was asked to stay behind and help clean up by Mister Murch, the gym teacher. When Peter finally gets to the locker room, he discovers that someone stole his gym bag while he was in the shower and he now has no clothes. The culprit is Jason Ionello, who decided to humiliate Parker after Liz Allan said she found him kind of attractive. However, this prank is poorly received by his classmates. As everyone is distracted, they fail to see Peter crawling down the side of the building outside so he can recover his clothes. Inside, the only person who encourages Jason is Sally Avril, but this does little to ease Jason's sour mood, as he believes if Flash did the same thing it would have garnered laughs from his fellow classmates.

After school, Peter goes to the Daily Bugle where he gets a list of train time-tables from Betty Brant. He tells her that it is to plan his Aunt's trip to Florida, but in reality, he is using it to figure out what time the military train will be passing through the city. That's when J. Jonah Jameson storms out of his office and demands to know where Peter's photos of the Vulture from the night before are. Peter explains that his camera is being repaired and he could use an advance in order to pay for the repairs. As usual, Jameson refuses to give Peter and advance. While he is at the office, Peter asks Betty out to the movies on the weekend and she accepts. That evening, Spider-Man has tracked down the military train and leaps on board. there he is ambushed by soldiers who catch him in a net. The wall-crawler is then taken into the frightcar where General Ross is guarding the accelorator. He is unhappy to see Spider-Man here and warns his men not to make any sudden steps because the Atomic Accelerator is unstable and a sudden jolt will cause it to explode. As he chastising Spider-Man, the Vulture enters the freight car armed with a gun. Getting the drop on the soldiers, and with Spider-Man still trapped in the net, the Vulture easily steals the Accelerator and escapes.

That's when Spider-Man breaks free from the net and follows after his foe. Between the Vutlure's flying and being shot at by soldiers, Spider-Man has a hard time trying to get the device back from the Vulture. Ultimately, Spider-Man manages to get the upper hand when he attaches a web-line to the device. That's when the Vulture notices that they are heading toward a tunnel and has to fly away before impact. With the device back in his possession, Spider-Man returns it to General Ross and his men. Hitching a ride back home, Spider-Man takes the time to rest atop a moving truck so he can relax. He thinks about how easily he was able to deal with the Vulture and thinks things are starting to look up for him. However, things are going to get complicated for Peter Parker. At a diner, Flash Thompson is enteraining his friends. This makes Jason Ionello incredibly jealous, as nobody gives him the same sort of attention. Tired of playing the second banana to Flash Thompson, Jason vows to do whatever it takes so people stop ignoring him, forever.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Vulture, Flash Thompson, Liz Allan, Jason Ionello, Sally Avril, Tiny McKeever, General Ross, Aunt May, Betty Brant, J. Jonah Jameson

Continuity Notes

1. Flash broke Peter's glasses in Amazing Spider-Man #8.

2. If Peter actually needed glasses or not is questionable at best. As revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #-1, the only reason why he wore glasses was that Aunt May feared that Peter might get eye strain from all the books he read.