He has all your powers, does he? Name one. After the events of last issue, Peter is worried JJJ might have peeked under his mask while he was unconscious, so he drops by the Bugle to check in. Joe Robertson and Jonah are discussing JJJ’s latest article, “How I Stopped Spider-Man,” when Peter Parker arrives.
Oof. Robbie’s not wrong, though! Glory Grant tells Peter to lay low and maybe this will all blow over, but he just gives up and leaves. He decides to swing by the Tut exhibit to try to get some pictures to make it up to Robbie. It’s freezing out, and he thinks he might be getting the flu. He has no way of knowing The Fly is in line with the other people waiting to get into the exhibit. Then we cut away to something pretty unusual…
That guy tearing up Aunt May’s house sure is dressed in a familar way. You don’t think… But it’s too late, we’re back with Spider-Man, who climbs into the museum and gets spotted by the guards just in time for The Fly’s bomb to go off. Very unlucky! Nearby, The Fly gets into his supergear and gets to work robbing not the King Tut exhibit, but the adjoining Art of Dresden show. The stuff in there is worth a ton, and he’s rightly guessed security would be focused on the Egyptian stuff, so it’s easy pickings. Spider-Man being chased through the museum by the guards only helps, until Spidey and the guards both see The Fly take off with his loot.
After a big fight, The Fly throws Spider-Man into the approaching guards, once again saying he can match Spider-Man’s powers “one to one,” and again, I say how? Can he stick to things? Shoot webs? No? Speaking of shooting webs, Spidey does the ol’ webs in the eyes trick, and The Fly ends up zipping around with Spidey swinging from his face, which is certainly unusual, but he manages to fling Spider-Man off of him and escape. Spidey slinks home, only now Remembering he missed a date with MJ last night. He tries to call her, and she tells him to lose her number, and THEN Betty walks in! Busy couple of minutes!
It’s pretty lame that he had that hit coming. Power and responsibility, indeed. Our guy’s kinda losing it. Spidey goes on a Daredevil-style rampage through the underworld trying to find The Fly and coming up empty. Meanwhile, at The Daily Globe…
Uh-oh! Spider-Man’s oldest foe is back! And just when things are going so bad he can’t even get his revenge tantrum to go right! But hey, see that next issue blurb? A big debut is coming next issue. Keith Pollard is really starting to make the book his own by now. His Spidey is easily recognizable compared to other artists’, the supporting cast has a classic, Romita-esque look, but it’s not a copy. Things look slick and cool. He’s a really good fit for the title.