Slip Slydin' Away!

30,000 feet above the Atlantic, Peter Parker and Joy Mercado are flying home after their assignment on the United Kingdom for Now Magazine. Peter is impressed with the photos he took and asks Joy if he has a future in the photojournalism field. Joy doesn't think so, saying that he is unreliable and unprofessional. She then excuses herself to go to the washroom. This frustrates Peter who wonders what he did wrong and follows Joy into the bathroom and demands that she explain herself. She reminds him of the special arrangement he has with Spider-Man, tipping each other off for photo opportunities and splitting the money. She tells him that she thought he was finally taking his job seriously, but sees that he is still using Spider-Man as a crutch. Peter tries to defend himself, but he can't do so and leaves. He realizes that he has been done out by his own cover story and returns to his seat.

Later, at the Daily Bugle Building, Peter calls his Aunt May to tell her that he is back from overseas and promises her to tell her all about his trip when they can meet up for dinner next. After his call, Peter is ordered into J. Jonah Jameson's office along with Joy Mercado. Jameson is furious at their expense reports as the pair went to Belfast without authorization. However, he changes his tune when he sees the photos exposing Roxxon for instigating tensions in Ireland and tells them to keep him informed of any initiative in the future. Hopping on the elevator, Peter tries to think of how to patch things up with Joy but finds himself wondering if he is cut out for a career in photojournalism. As he rides the elevator, Peter's spider-sense begins going off and wonders why. This is because, in one of the offices below, a man returns to his office and finds the costumed villain known as Slyde going through his records. Slyde easily flees with vital records. He manages to get away in the elevator, and it's when his elevator car passes the one carrying Peter Parker that Slyde sets off Parker's spider-sense. When the guards surround the elevator at the bottom floor, they discover it is empty. Slyde has outsmarted them by climbing out of the elevator car and slipping away in the parking garage. Meanwhile, Peter has changed into Spider-Man and is climbing the rooftops of the city on his way back to his apartment. He stops to take a look at the recent edition of the Daily Bugle. There he finds a large advertisement asking Spider-Man to contact Silver Sable. Wondering what Sable could want, Spider-Man decides to swing over to the Symkarian Embassy to find out.

Days later, Peter is toiling away in his apartment, trying to come up with a new design for his web-shooters, making them out of materials that won't set off airport metal detectors. After working for three hours, Peter decides to take a break. He wonders why he is going through the effort when doesn't think he'll be traveling overseas anytime soon and the fact that he has decided to give up being Spider-Man. Getting hungry, Peter realizes that he has no food in his fridge and heads over to his Aunt May's house to have dinner with her. He sits down with her with Victor Palermo and he tells her about his trip to England, leaving out the parts where his life was endangered so as not to worry his aunt. When Peter decides it's time to go, May asks him to stay the night, and since he has nothing else planned obliges her.

Meanwhile, at the apartment of Jerome Beacher, the villain known as Slyde. He is busy trying to crack the files he stole earlier that day and finds it a challenge.Jerome thinks back to how he created a revolutionary non-stick coating but was later fired from his job when the business was taken over by a mobster named Rockwell. He used his coating to create the identity of Slyde so he can steal enough money to start his own business. However, when this was foiled by Spider-Man, he decided to take a different tactic. Learning that Rockwell is involved with Talmadge Investments and discovers that the company makes exchanges twice a week, the next one happening tomorrow.

The next morning Peter wakes up in his old bedroom and heads out for the city. Before he leaves, Aunt May asks Peter to join her and her tenants on a seniors junket to Atlantic City. Peter agrees to go along and then heads into Manhattan to go about his day. While at Talmadge Investments, Slyde breaks in and steals a briefcase of money and easily escapes. Peter Parker spots Slyde making his escape and witnesses the villain as he slips into Trump Tower. Rushing into an alley, Peter changes into Spider-Man, leaving his clothing and recently bought chocolates for Mary Jane in a web-sack. Inside Trump Tower, Spider-Man tries his best to capture Slyde, but the villain's non-stick suit trips the wall-crawler up. Ultimately, the wall-crawler snags the briefcase full of money. With the police closing in on him, Slyde decides to cut his losses and flee the scene. Spider-Man turns the briefcase over to the authorities before going to recover his street clothes. In typical fashion, the old Parker luck is true to form when he discovers the three pounds of chocolate he purchased melted all over his clothes. Later, Peter returns to Queens to go on the trip to Atlantic City with May and her tenants.

At midnight in Atlantic City, a newlywed couple are having a romantic moment on a park bench. They are briefly interrupted when a strange shadow passes overhead. Not seeing what the object was, they dismiss it as nothing and go about their business. However, not far away, the villain known as the Vulture stalks the area.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Joy Mercado, Slyde, Vulture, Victor Palermo

Continuity Notes

• Peter has convinced people that he has a working relationship with Spider-Man since Amazing Spider-Man #46.

• Silver Sable's job proposition for Spider-Man is explored in Amazing Spider-Man #281.

• Peter was forced to disassemble his web-shooters and hide the components with his camera gear when he traveled to London in Web of Spider-Man #20.

• Peter decided to retire as Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #275, however, when Flash Thompson was framed for the crimes of the Hobgoblin in the following issue, Peter decided to continue being Spider-Man until he cleared Flash's name and captured the real Hobgoblin.

• Slyde states that these files were stored on a floppy disc. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as floppy discs are now an obsolete technology.

• Spider-Man interfered with Slyde's plans in Amazing Spider-Man #272.