Little Wars!

In the London Heathrow terminal hall, Joy Mercado and Peter Parker found themselves in the middle of a terrorist attack! A bomb explodes and immediately a gun shooting starts between policemen and terrorists. Joy asks Peter for going to take some photos. Rushing into a nearby supply closet, Peter opens his camera kit and re-assembles his web-shooters. He thinks about how much of a hassle it is to transport his web-shooters with metal detectors and considers the idea of making new versions out of plastics. Using the cover of a vent, Peter use his web-shooter to disarm one of the terrorists and knocks him out.

Afterward, Peter meets Joy. She explains to him that the target of the attack was John Bartlett, a top agent in the Scotland Yard. The terrorists could not kill him, but there were some innocent victims, including a child. The got out and take a limo to the Dorchester Hotel where they are staying. Along the way, Joy explains the history of violence between Ireland and Britain. Centuries earlier, Spanish missionaries converted the Irish from Paganism to Catholicism. Fearing an invasion from Spain, the British began populating Northern Ireland with Protestants. This has caused centuries of conflict between North and South Ireland, with the South attempting to reunify the country while the North resists this with the backing of the United Kingdom. Peter is horrified to hear that all the modern day bloodshed is all because of a possible invasion hundreds of years ago that never came to pass. Soon they are at their hotel and check into their room. After two hours of rest, they both meet to go to dinner. Although his mind is still confused by the horror he has seen earlier in the day, his thoughts are immediately distracted when he sees the dress that Joy is wearing out to dinner. After dinner, Joy tells Peter that she is glad that he was assigned to cover this story with her. Peter suggests to go together out for sightseeing, but Joy has other plans and declines his invitation, it is an awkward situation for both.

Back in his hotel room, Peter catches a news report about the attack at Heathrow airport and decides to go out as Spider-Man to find out who was responsible for the attack. As Spider-Man swings out into the night, Joy has second thoughts about blowing off Peter and tries to call him, only to find there is no answer. The wall-crawler goes to the local prison where the terrorists had been taken after they were arrested. Forcing his way into one of the cells, he forces the prisoner to talk about the motivations behind the attack. At that very moment, Joy Mercado is meeting with a contact in Hyde Park to get information that suggests that Roxxon is involved in the recent uptick in violence. Meanwhile, Spider-Man infiltrates a secret meeting of the terrorists. The web-slinger overhears their plans to attack the British government, but the police intervene before he may find out the details of the plan. With teargas filling the hideout, Spider-Man uses it as cover to assist the police in apprehending the terrorists before leaving.

The next morning, Joy and Peter head to British Parliment in order to listen to the anti-terrorism speech that is being given by the Prime Minister. After being screened through security, Peter and Joy document the speech, although Peter can't focus on what is being said. Looking outside, he sees a construction crew working in a nearby manhole. Remembering what the terror cell members said about "shaking the foundation" of parliament, Peter realizes what's going on. Making an excuse, Peter rushes off to change into Spider-Man. Slipping into the sewers, Spider-Man catches members of the terrorists setting up explosives. In order to maintain his cover, the wall-crawler douses the lights with his webbing and takes down the terrorists before they can set off their explosives. However, things turn deadly when one of the terrorist members tosses a grenade at Spider-Man. The hero webs it to a wall, but the terrorist is not willing to give up and leaps at the grenade in the hopes of freeing it, only to be caught in the blast. With the terrorists rounded up by authorities, Peter slips away to change back into his civilian guise and return to Joy.

As they document that arrests they witness the leader of the group, the one who was caught in the grenade explosion is wheeled by. He's alive, however, he has been horribly maimed by the explosion. Still clinging to consciousness, the man still has enough energy to utter their terror slogan. Joy suggests that they continue their investigation by going to Dublin, but Peter reminds her that Jonah was only covering their expenses for the anti-terror speech. Joy is about to concede, when Inspector Bartlett comes to talk to them. He tells them how the little girl who was wounded in the attack on Heathrow is dead, convincing both Joy and Peter that they have work to do in Ireland.

Continuity Notes

• Peter Parker gets confused about British money and the difference between farthings and shillings, even though both of those coins were phased out in 1972 when British currency went decimal, 14 years before this issue came out. Regardless of the issues here, the problems Peter has with the currency should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

• The Prime Minister of Britain is depicted as Margaret Thatcher in this story. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Particularly since Thatcher ceased being the Prime Minister in 1990 and subsequently passed away in 2013.

• Another topical reference in this story is that of the terrorist organization involved, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, which was active from 1969 until 2005. At the time this story was published, this iteration of the Irish Republican Army was responsible for a series of terror attacks against Britain. Since this story the IRA as spun off into two splinter groups, the “Real” IRA in 1997 and the “New” IRA in 2012. The level of violence by its succeeding organizations has varied over the years. Modern readers should consider Spider-Man fighting terrorists that are interested in Irish independence but not a specific organization.