All That Glitters

Spider-Man is in the sewers hunting for someone and is determined to find them without giving up. Above ground, a group of people are gathered around a storm drain waiting for the wall-crawler to come back up. Suddenly, the hero returns to the surface with his quarry: a kitten that had fallen into the sewer. Handing the feline back to the little girl who lost it, the crowd cheers Spider-Man. The wall-crawler isn't sure how to handle people swarming him for autographs and abruptly leaves. Spider-Man can find it hard to believe that Thomas Fireheart's campaign to boost Spider-Man's popularity after years of J. Jonah Jameson's negative editorials and his recent bout of cosmic powers.[1] As he mulls his over, his spider-sense goes off warning him of a man ordering a hot dog stand from a street vendor. However, he dismisses this as nothing and swings on his way.

However, the warning was legitimate, as the man buying a hot dog is his old foe the Molten Man. When he tries to pay for the hot dog, the frightened vendor tells him that it is on the house. this angers the Molten Man. However, before the scene gets anymore heated, a police car pulls up and asks Raxton if he is staying out of trouble. This makes Mark lose his appetite and as he turns and walks away he tosses the hot dog into the trash. Looking at the time, he realizes that it is almost time to meet with his stepsister Liz Osborn and he doesn't want to be late. Meanwhile, at the Soho apartment, Mary Jane shows her Kristy's cousin some of her old modeling photos. Mary Jane is happy to see that Kristy appears to be doing well since she was released from the Queens Medical Center's eating disorder unit.[2] They are interrupted by Liz Osborn who has come up to tell Mary Jane that her step-brother is coming to meet her to get $10,000. At that same moment, Spider-Man is returning home. Seeing Liz through the skylight, Peter changes on the roof and enters his apartment by jumping down the shaft of the building freight elevator. He worries that Harry may be having problems, particularly since he briefly resumed his Green Goblin identity recently.[3]

When he enters the apartment, Peter is brought up to speed on what's going on. When Kristy asks why they just don't call the police. Liz explains that her step-brother and how he left home after high school, on bad terms with her father. She didn't hear from him again until the accident that turned him into the Molten Man.[4] She recalls how he recently came after her and her husband Harry but was stopped thanks to intervention from Spider-Man.[5] Learning that Mark is due in 5 minutes, and with Harry due home with her son Normie, Peter tells the women to intercept Harry and delay him so he can deal with Mark.[6] Waiting for Mark, Peter hears a knock at the door, however, instead of Mark Raxton, it is a woman named Edna Gorch, who has come because Osborn's conversion of this warehouse into a living space is in violation of municipal building codes. As she begins looking around, Peter's spider-sense begins going off and he is forced to shove Edna into a closet so he can deal with the Molten Man.

After being buzzed in, the Molten Man takes the freight elevator up to Harry and Liz's floor, but when he arrives he is confronted by Spider-Man. Raxton thinks the wall-crawler did something to his step-sister and begins attacking the wall-crawler. Spider-Man, however, is looking for a fight thinking that Raxton has come to extort her out of money. Try as he might, Spider-Man is quickly overpowered and knocked out. Molten Man stuffs Spider-Man into the Osborn's fridge and tosses it down the freight elevator. The Molten Man then rides the elevator down in the hopes of crushing the fridge beneath it. However, Spider-Man recovers from his beating and punches his way through the floor of the elevator. Needing to end the battle quickly, Spider-Man tosses the Molten Man up into the freight elevator's electrical source, shocking him into unconsciousness. In the aftermath of the battle, Spider-Man feels as though he missed something important about this encounter. Later, Peter Parker and Mark Raxton catch up with the Osborns. It's then revealed that Mark wasn't looking to extort his step-sister out of money, but to get a loan so he can start his life over. Harry declines his request but offers him a job at the family chemical plant as long as Mark keeps his temper in check. Mark is overjoyed and thanks Harry for giving him a second chance. The group end up going out to celebrate.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn, Liz Osborn, Molten Man, Kristy Watson, Normie Osborn, Wilson Allan (flashback)

Continuity Notes

1. J. Jonah Jameson has had a grudge against Spider-Man since Amazing Spider-Man #1. However, the Daily Bugle was recently purchased by Thomas Fireheart in The Spectacular Spider-Man #156. Spider-Man's recent bout with cosmic powers occurred in Amazing Spider-Man #326-329, The Spectacular Spider-Man #158-160, and Web of Spider-Man #59-61.

2. Kristy suffered from bulimia, as revealed in Web of Spider-Man #53.

3. Harry briefly became the Green Goblin again in Amazing Spider-Man #312 in order to stop the Hobgoblin from harassing his family.

4. Mark Raxton was turned into the Molten Man in Amazing Spider-Man #28.

5. The Molten Man harassed Liz and Harry back in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #63.

6. Peter recalls how Liz always treated him like a human being when they were in high school and had she not dated Flash Thompson there may have been a past with them, but dismisses it as ancient history. The situation was slightly more complicated than that. Liz was dating Flash starting in Amazing Fantasy #15, however, she started to develop a crush on Peter in Amazing Spider-Man #6. This interest was never pursued and the pair became estranged after Liz graduated from high school in Amazing Spider-Man #28.