Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #5
Broken!
Emotionally manipulated by the Psycho-Man, the Silver Surfer had declared war against the human race. This led to a battle with Spider-Man in Central Park. Now, the wall-crawler is down and the Surfer is closing in for the kill. However, before he can kill Spider-Man, a tactical team arrives and tries to stop the Surfer. Seeing them as nothing more than gnats, the Surfer easily blasts them away.[1] Suddenly, the Surfer manages to get ahold of himself and feels confused. Seeing things clearly for the first time in a while the Surfer is shocked to see the destruction he has caused to the city and flies away. As paramedics see to Spider-Man, the Psycho-Man watches from a distance. He is impressed at the long-range capabilities of his emoto-caster but is even more pleased with the results when he turned off the hate ray that caused the Surfer to go mad, as the Surfer was instantly consumed by sorrow when he realized what he had done. He is very pleased with this even if this also saved Spider-Man’s life.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man tries to convince the paramedics that he is fine and is more determined to find the Silver Surfer and Psycho-Man. George Stacy tells Spider-Man that he needs to rest, thinking that he is seeing things as nobody else saw the Psycho-Man on the scene. Still, Spider-Man insists that there was another being and that he was somehow manipulating the Silver Surfer. Not far away, the Silver Surfer flies across the sky lamenting how he had abused his powers to attack innocent people. He originally wished to enlighten humans but now, thanks to his own actions, they fear and hate him even more than ever before.
Back at the Daily Bugle, Ned Leeds tells J. Jonah Jameson that neither he nor Ben Urich was able to get to Central Parker in time to get photos of Spider-Man’s battle with the Silver Surfer. Furious, Jonah tells Ned to get out of his sight and for everyone to leave him alone unless they know where he can find Peter Parker. By this point, Peter Parker has returned to his apartment to get a fresh costume and web-fluid. Out of costume he looks at the bruises all over his body and realizes how much of a beating he took from the Surfer. Unfortunately, his efforts to avoid his roommate — Harry Osborn — fail when Harry comes home. [2] Harry sees Peter’s bruised face and is worried that Peter is taking too many risks to get photos of Spider-Man. He also thinks it was insane for Spider-Man to try and tackle the Silver Surfer alone. When Harry mentions that the military is being mobilized to tackle the alien, Peter rushes out of the apartment so he can change into Spider-Man again.
Elsewhere, the Psycho-Man has resumed his human disguise and returns to the rundown hotel that has operated as his base of operations since being exiled on Earth. He thinks over his plot to manipulate the Silver Surfer for his own ends. Once in his room, Psycho-Man drops his disguise and his room changes into his temporary laboratory. There he observes his homeworld of Sub-Atomic located in the Microverse. He hopes to use the Silver Surfer to liberate his domain. That’s when insectoid creatures teleport into his room, and the Psycho-Man realizes that his enemy has found him. He easily kills these drones but knows that he must act quickly before his enemy attacks again. Meanwhile, the SHIELD helicarrier is on a course to engage the Silver Surfer. As they approach, Dum Dum Dugan gets word from the Pentagon that they have been given clearance to use the Sonic Shark. Jasper Sitwell expresses concern, reminding Fury that the last time it was used it almost completely drained the Silver Surfer’s Power Cosmic.[3] However, Fury feels that they don’t have any other choice, particularly since the Surfer had just recently attacked their agency.[4] Without any hesitation, Fury orders the Sonic Shark to be launched. Moments later, Spider-Man is continuing a fruitless search for the Silver Surfer when his spider-sense goes off and spots the Sonic Shark as it flies by and decides to follow it. The weapon leads the wall-crawler to the Silver Surfer’s location but soon notices someone else watching them. Spotting the Sonic Shark heading toward him, the Silver Surfer recognizes it from his previous encounter with the weapon and uses his power to destroy them. Witnessing this, the SHIELD agents cannot believe what the Surfer was able to do prompting Fury to order the Fantastic Four or the Avengers be called in.
The Silver Surfer flies back into the city, his presence being detected by other heroes like Daredevil and Doctor Strange. There he spots Spider-Man fending off an army of insectoid invaders. Spider-Man is surprised when the Silver Surfer comes to his aid, considering their last encounter. In the middle of the battle, Psycho-Man appears and tells Spider-Man he will not be needed and uses the doubt function on his Emoto-Caster. The creatures, however, are not affected by the ray and as they attack the Silver Surfer, Psycho-Man uses his hate-ray to make Spider-Man joint them. Giving in to the overwhelming number of attackers, the Surfer fells them all with a single blast of his Power Cosmic. Seeing Spider-Man among the fallen, the Surfer begins to believe that he is too dangerous to remain on Earth. This plays into the Psycho-Man’s plans and he offers to give the Silver Surfer sanctuary on his world. He also tells the Surfer that he needs his might to repel the insectoids invaders. When the Surfer points out that he cannot leave the earth, Psycho-Man reveals that he comes from the Microverse a world within worlds, reminding the Surfer that he had been there in the past.[5] The Surfer remembers the Microverse and agrees to do what he can, unaware that the insectoid’s master watches this from a monitor screen. Amused, he orders his troops to prepare themselves to prepare for battle. While back on Earth, the Psycho-Man decides that they may need Spider-Man and teleports them all into the Microverse.
Sometime later, the Fantastic Four arrive on the scene of the battle. Mister Fantastic examines the area with a scanner that confirms that the attackers were alien of origin but can find no readings that can tell him where they went. That’s when te Thing finds some of Spider-Man’s webbing on the scene suggesting the wall-crawler was somehow involved. With no further clues available, Mister Fantastic concludes that wherever Spider-Man and the Silver Surfer went, they’ll have to deal with the danger alone.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, Psycho-Man, George Stacy, J. Jonah Jameson, Ned Leeds, Harry Osborn, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Jasper Sitwell), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Wong, Annihilus
Continuity Notes
The Silver Surfer mentions how he was once a Herald of Galactus and has been banished on Earth. For the origin of the Silver Surfer see Silver Surfer #1. The Surfer was later exiled on Earth when he betrayed Galactus to help the Fantastic Four save the planet in Fantastic Four #48-50.
At the time of this story, Peter Parker and Harry Osborn are roommates. Peter became Harry’s roommate in Amazing Spider-Man #46. Peter will end up getting evicted from this apartment in Amazing Spider-Man #138.
The Sonic Shark was last used in Fantastic Four #72.
The Silver Surfer was forced into attacking SHIELD by Mephisto in the opes of being reunited with his beloved Shalla-Bal in Silver Surfer #17. It went as well as you expected a deal with the devil to go.
The Silver Surfer tries to escape into the Microverse in Fantastic Four #75.
