For a comic that will be introducing Silver Sable, this cover seems an odd choice. ASM is rendered by Ron Frenz and Joe Rubenstein this month. Inside, The Black Fox is fencing some big jewels so he can retire. It is literally the same story as every other Black Fox appearance. Perhaps these are the jewels from ASM 255, the rare instance of him getting away clean? I dunno. He doesn’t this time, because cops burst in looking for him. He throws a gas grenade and leaps out a window like he’s not a million year old regular dude. With the cops having failed to capture him, others are called in…
How exciting. But in more important news…
Liz & Harry are STILL at the hospital with their new child, in spite of Peter going to spend the weekend with the happy family in last month’s Spectacular. Come on, guys. MJ and I are sympatico on babies & children. Peter leaves, thinking he’s uncomfortable around MJ since he found out she knows his secret, and also thinking about May being mad at him and his relationship with Black Cat coming to a much needed conclusion. Soon he’s Spider-Man out on the street, where he runs into Silver Sable’s Wild Pack chasing The Black Fox. Seeing an army of unfamiliar armored guys shooting at 1 old timer makes Spidey think he knows what side he’s on.
Lt. Keating! Long time no see! But we must cut from there to the proper introduction of Silver Sable…
Some intro! I have no idea why Sable’s thrown weapons are called “chais,” but it doesn’t make sense to me. The internet only seems to know “chai” as the tea and a Jewish symbol. Meanwhile, in Queens, Aunt May is moping about Peter, and Nathan finally gets her to see that, while he’s given up on his dream, she’s given up on him, and he needs her. Some 13 issues later, she finally seems ready to be friends again. But she calls Peter 3 times, and the line is always busy… because he’s trying to call her. Wah wah waaaaah. Peter decides he’ll have to patch things up in person, and in the meantime, he has to go out looking for Black Fox. But he once again decides his red & blues smell bad, so he has to wear the black & whites. Why is this always the reason? Why can’t he just wear whatever whenever? I dunno. He heads out, thinking the public “wouldn’t accept” a masked adventurer with 2 suits (What are you talking about???_ when he spots a helicopter following him. It’s The Wild Pack, of course, but he moves so fast he eludes them. Cut to Black Fox arranging travel out of the country, observed by yet another member of The Wild Pack, who calls in the helicopter. Spidey hitches a ride on the bottom as they head off after The Fox.
Fox runs into a gang of Sable’s goons, who open fire on him with their “mercy bullets.” He gets pretty beat up, inspiring Spidey to web the goons and swing off with the old guy. Fox feeds him a sob story about how he’s trying to get back to his wife and 4 children, who he hasn’t seen in years and worries it’s too late to reconnect with, but was hoping to try, and our guy falls for it. So as the helicopter locates them, Spidey’s all-in on keeping The Fox from them. He manages to get Fox into a boat and then fight off The Wild Pack as he escapes.
It’s gonna be 1 last job yet again next time… But who cares about that, here’s the last page:
Yaaay! They sure dragged that out long enough. But not as long as they’re dragging out the mystery of The Hobgoblin. The letter page is full of guesses. Everyone from Ned Leeds and Betty Brant to actual Marvel employees like Louise Simonson and Elliot R. Brown are postulated to be the villain. If only they knew it would be another 2 years before they get an answer… And that answer… may not be correct! I don’t know if I’ve talked about it in awhile, but by this time, Tom DeFalco has vetoed Roger Stern’s intended identity for the villain, and it’s not long until editor Jim Owsley, aka Christopher Priest, vetoes Tom’s choice, too. So in a way, no one knows who The Hobgoblin is right now. This situation seems to plague the Spider-Office far too often.