The Coming Storm

Peter Parker is on the set of "Secret Hospital" where his wife, Mary Jane, is putting on an emotional performance that hits a little close to home.[1] After the shooting is done for the day, Mary Jane meets with interviewers from Soap Opera Weekly for an interview. When they ask her what her inspiration is, she says it is her husband, Peter Parker, and kisses him in front of the cameras. They are then interrupted by Fiona Spencer who would like to talk to Peter about the publicity photos he has been hired to take for the show. She tells Peter that once she sees some samples of his photography work, she will make a final decision. Peter agrees but tells her that he needs to iron out some details with his wife. Looking for Mary Jane he finds his wife in her dressing room. There he tries to apologize for disappearing recently during the Infinity Crusade and finds himself unable to explain all the details.[2] She assures Peter that she isn't mad at him, as her acting career gives her an outlet to vent her frustrations. As she is telling him this, Peter sees the front page of the Daily Bugle, which features Betty Brant's exposé on the inner-city tests being conducted by Empire State University. He then tells Mary Jane that he needs to go and quickly changes into Spider-Man.

While at the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson is furious over the cover story because his wife, Marla Madison, is involved in the project. Joe Robertson tries to remind Jonah of his motto that "good news doesn't sell newspapers", but Jonah is furious. When Betty asks if his wife would be interested in making a statement to the Bugle to refute her story, Jonah angrily fires Brant on the spot. When Betty storms out, Joe chastises Jonah for not being serious about revitalizing the newspaper’s reputation and storms out.[3] He then goes out to try and catch up to Betty to convince her to come back and work for the Bugle. Alone in his office, Jonah's anger changes to depression as he worries how he can return the Bugle to respectability, but he can't do it alone. Checking his voice mail, he finds a message from Marla telling him that she will be unavailable for the duration of the project. The entire exchange is overheard by Spider-Man who has been listening from outside Jonah's window.

Meanwhile, at Empire State University, there is a crisis of command at Project: Sandstorm. Marla Madison is ordering a halt of the experiment, which involves the irradiating of two mineral samples taken from the Sandman and Quicksand. However, Tony Trainer, a representative of Morelle Pharmaceuticals insists that they continue. Marla insists it is not safe to test at these high levels in a public place. Trainer is furious, especially since the Daily Bugle published the story about Project: Sandstorm. As the pair argues over safety issues, the technician warns that something is going wrong. Not far away, Spider-Man is on his way to Empire State University when suddenly there is an explosion at the science building. Going through the rubble, he finds Marla relatively unharmed. However, Tony Trainer had been transformed into a massive pile of sentient sand. Spider-Man gets Marla to safety just as the massive sandpile -- dubbed Sandstorm -- consumes the body of the dead lab technician.

Spider-Man is not the only person who has been drawn to the location, as Sandman and Quicksand have arrived and are watching the situation as it unfolds. Spider-Man, meanwhile, is getting people to safety. Once the area is clear, he begins fighting the giant pile of sand when he is interrupted by Sandman and Quicksand who have their own personal stakes in this situation. Suddenly, Sandstorm manages to pull himself back together into human form before catching the three super-humans in a swirling sandstorm.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Sandman, Quicksand, Sandstorm, Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Betty Brant, Marla Madison

Continuity Notes

1. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.

2. Spider-Man fought on the side of the Goddess during the Infinity Crusade.

3. Jonah has been trying to boost the Bugle's reputation after discovering that most New Yorkers consider it a joke in The Spectacular Spider-Man #205-207.

Tainted, Part 1

Cardiac attacks a shipment containing tainted cancer medication, clashing with the armed guards onboard the vessel. As Cardiac cuts through the armed men, one manages to radio their leader and tells him to come and help.

The vigilante makes short work of the armed guards when he is suddenly ambushed by the Scorpion. The attack makes Cardiac drop his Beta Staff. He can barely handle the Scorpion with his bare hands, so Cardiac makes a leap for his Beta Staff. Unfortunately, this allows the Scorpion to strike Cardiac in the face hard enough to knock him out. Standing over his foe, Scorpion prepares to make a fatal strike.

Recurring Characters

Cardiac, Scorpion