Back in 1996-as-1964. Helpless before the might of… Gordon! Not the scariest name. Strangely, the tiny print on the newspaper tells you what happens in this issue, including how it ends. Why would they do that? I mean, I know most people probably didn’t read it, but… why? Well, anyway, Gordon starts getting dastardly right on page one.
The next day, her new boyfriend is foiling an attempt to hijack a Daily Bugle distribution truck. The distributor thanks him, saying that someone’s been hitting their trucks all over town, and he’s trying to handle 3 routes alone right now as a result. Later, at school, Peter is fending off Liz’s crush when Flash appears, happily playing Peter the breaking news that JJJ has been arrested for financial malfeasance. Peter assumes it must be connected to the hijackings, but can’t guess how yet.
Kinda funny slipping Eddie in there. I guess I’m not sure just how much older than Peter he’s meant to be, but this probably tracks. Peter goes to see Betty at home, where she’s freaking out. She begins to confide in Peter what’s happened, but…
Well, that’s a surprise. It really is, I don’t remember this at all.
Duly chastened, our man goes back to school, but he can’t concentrate for the rest of the day. He walks out of the building in the afternoon with his mind racing about Betty, only to find Tiny has put in an appearance. Flash and Liz are excited to see him. He explains he’s got a job and an apartment now, but he can work nights and weekends and come back to school (A teenage kid working nights & weekends at a gas station whose ownership seems very much in question right now can afford an apartment? Even in 1996-as-1964????). Tiny is visibly worried Flash will be upset that he can’t play football, anymore, but Flash is just happy he’s back.
This issue moves fast. The fight spills out into the bullpen just as Betty is arriving, and she’s terrified and guilty and cringing in a corner and JJJ of course accuses Spider-Man of being in on this. Spidey runs off and then webs and drags Gordon down an elevator shaft into the press room, trying to move the fight to a less populated location.
Gordon punches into the scaffolding JJJ’s standing on, causing it to fall, but the distraction let Spidey loose, and he grabs JJJ before he can fall. He webs up to the roof at a safe distance so he can settle things.
Bringing MJ in this early is certainly… a choice. She obviously can’t interact with Peter, so it’s gonna be a weird issue. But we shall see.