Web of Spider-Man #97
Opening Volley
Prologue:
On the rooftops that overlook the Hudson River in the Lower West Side, Blood Rose attacks an illegal heroin shipment. At first, he has the element of surprise, gunning down many of the armed men. Unfortunately, a single bullet strikes his armored body. Although it doesn't pierce his armor, it causes him enough pain that he fumbles a live grenade as he falls to the ground. When he is cornered by some of the gunmen, he is saved when the grenade explodes under the pier.[1] Once the smoke has cleared, Blood Rose emerges from the water, relatively unharmed.
Now:
At Aunt May's house in Queens, the Parkers are getting ready for dinner, but Richard and Mary want to wait for their son Peter to arrive.[2] Peter's wife Mary Jane remarks that with Peter's busy schedule she hardly sees him as well.[3] That's when there is a knock at the door. When Mary Jane answers the door she is surprised to see that Peter has brought along his old friend Betty Brant. Peter was working late at the Daily Bugle and invited Betty to come along. Betty wanted to come by to finally meet Peter's parents.
The next day, downtown, Blood Rose contacts the Foreigner for assistance on his next strike, the very heart of the Fisk criminal empire. Meanwhile, half a world away, a ship is tossed across the storm raging ocean. Spotting an island, they direct their ship to it, but runs ashore hard, knocking all the passengers onto the beach. One of the crew members is none other than Richard Fisk. He recalls how he was shot and left for dead in the waters of New York City by Blood Rose. However, Fisk was rescued by some of his men who were waiting in the water in diving gear. He was going to be taken to St. Thomas for medical attention when their ship got caught in the storm. When Fisk wakes up it is morning and a man is standing over him. The strange man introduces himself as Trench and informs Richard that he is the only survivor on the crew. While back in New York, Peter is at the Daily Bugle where he is being scolded by Joe Robertson for monopolizing on using the darkroom to develop his photos. They are interrupted by the sound of an explosion coming from outside. Looking out the window, Joe and Peter are surprised to see the Fisk Tower on fire. While Joe scrambles to get a news team mobilized, Peter rushes out of the office to change into Spider-Man.
When the wall-crawler arrives at the building he hears gunfire and watches a number of thugs come crashing out the window. The wall-crawler quickly spins a web net to catch them. When he swings inside, Spider-Man is surprised to see Blood Rose mowing down the Kingpin's men. When the web-slinger tries to stop Blood Rose, the mercenary tosses a grenade. While Spider-Man is busy tossing it out a window, Blood Rose makes a break for it. When Spider-Man finally catches up to Blood Rose, he has a hostage. Spider-Man calls his bluff, by striking the hostage in the face with a web-ball at the hostage, knocking him out the broken window behind them and into the web net outside. This distraction allows Spider-Man to create a web-shield and lunge at Blood Rose. With the wall-crawler upon him, Blood Rose triggers the detonators on some explosives he planted around the building. This allows Blood Rose to escape while Spider-Man saves the lives of the rest of the mobsters trapped inside. Outside, Joe Robertson has arrived on the scene and taking a camera from an eye witness, rushes into the building to try and get some pictures for the Bugle.
Inside, Spider-Man runs into Robertson and tells him that he needs to get out, but Robertson refuses to leave until he gets the story. Suddenly, Blood Rose comes crashing into the stairwell along with a number of the Foreigner's Cyber-Warriors.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, Joe Robertson, Betty Brant, Blood Rose, Foreigner, “Richard Fisk”, “Richard and Mary Parker”, Kevin Trench
Continuity Notes
The gunmen accuse Blood Rose of killing their boss, Richard Fisk. "Richard Fisk" was killed in Web of Spider-Man #89. However, this was not Richard Fisk, but his friend Alfredo Morelli, who was posing as Fisk, as explained in Web of Spider-Man #100.
The people claiming to be Richard and Mary Parker are actually impostors, as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #388. The real Richard and Mary died years ago while on a mission for the government in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5.
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.
