Bit of a tip off there. This month, Priest is no longer working from a plot by DeFalco, leaving it up to him to bring this mess in for a landing. Art Nichols also helped Jim Fern ink. Spider-Man wakes up on that roof and recaps how he got there as cops rush up onto it. The Rose and his main guys are trying to escape the fracas, and Hobgoblin assists by drawing everyone’s attention with some explosives.
Gus! don’t see too many Guses. Spidey goes down into an alley, whining and whatnot, to take a break. We go to find Lance Bannon meeting up with Daredevil’s Sgt. Tork, a very not-by-the-book police detective, last seen around here in the far-future ASM 418. Before we see what they do, we go find Richard Fisk reading the paper in the park, when he’s approached by a young lady.
I really hate this stuff. Peter’s “I’m gonna quit” routine is my all-time least-favorite trope, and by now, he’s just a fully unpleasant character. MJ tries to cheer him up, but it does no good. Meanwhile, hilariously, Tork & Bannon go see a car salesman/mob guy called “Honest Vinnie” who is very much based on Vinnie Colletta. Colletta used to like to insinuate to people that he had mob ties, and here he gets his wish.
Richard Fisk sure doesn’t talk like The Rose. That kind of underhanded. Meanwhile, Peter Parker is dead asleep when someone’s at the door. It’s Lance Bannon, passing the tip on the meet tonight to Peter because he can’t break his plans tonight. Because he’s The Hobgoblin, right? Sure seems to be what you’re meant to think. But he tells this to MJ, because Peter is still asleep. That is, until the phone rings, and Matt Murdock wants to meet him at midnight. Busy 5 minutes! Elsewhere, Richard goes to see his mom and tell her about this girl he’s into now, and she remembers him for once. But her doctor tells him she comes and goes, and not to get his hopes up. But once Richard leaves, the doctor makes plain that he’s keeping her drugged, and will up the dosage for that. Rude. Later, Peter Parker is at Aunt May’s, having swung by for dinner, but is preparing to leave so he can meet Daredevil at midnight. How late is he at May’s? Don’t old people go to bed early?
There you have it. Back at the meet, Tork is literally waving his hands over his head to get the mobsters’ attention, and gets a rocket launcher shot at him for his troubles. He thought that would make them leave, for some reason? Barely escaping being blown up, he tells the other cops to move in. Spider-Man calls MJ to ask if Matt called, only to be told of the explosion and ensuing violence, and that she took Lance’s note and kept it from him to spare him getting involved. He tries to hitch a ride to the battle on top of a cop car, but is rebuffed, NYPD really hating him lately. But then one cop flags him down to offer a ride. Back at the fight, The Rose and his guys have arrived and immediately gotten pinned down. He calls Hobgoblin and demands to be rescued, and Hobby balks at his tone. Rose is hit, but not badly, and Hobby tells Jack to come help him rescue The Rose… until he sees Spider-Man riding in on top of the cop car, and decides they should kill him, instead.
Peter remembers he helps people. Imagine that! This issue felt really rushed and disjointed, and as I recall, that’s how this is going to be from now on. This issue’s letter page was very much supposed to run last issue, as it has 2 blurbs telling people to check out ASM 286, despite being in ASM 286. Very weird. At one point, Richard Fisk was to be Hobgoblin, but instead, he’s The Rose. But we’re ever closer to the big reveal now. Such as it is…