Poor Charlie has stumbled into a comic from 1995! This issue’s first page flashback to the accident includes more Spider-Man, a big bag of money seemingly thrown down a well, and an unmasked Peter Parker, and then it’s on with the show.
Oh, a sewer, not a well. Being a real standup guy, Seeds ues his girlfriend there as Spider-Bait, sending her to hold up a store while the others wait in Charlie’s taxi. He calls Spider-Man, and he arrives, as promised.
So, now we know what Charlie’s up to. Thursday night, he calls to say they’re not allowed to bring loaded guns to the robbery, which Seeds does not seem keen to honor. Then Charlie finds a message on his wall that says “We need to talk.” But instead…
And they’re off. Charlies tells them he’s agreed to meet Spider-Man tonight at 9, and gives them the address. Over the others’ protests, Seeds gives Charlie his cut. Then it’s just after 9, and they’re arguing about whether Spider-Man will show, with Seeds talking about how knowing Spider-Man’s identity would let them blackmail him, when…
Well, that’s sure a twist. The guys move through the convention, one of them not even sure they saw the real Spider-Man now, increasingly rattled. Then, for reasons I don’t really understand, they go out a window.
Like, I have no idea why they did this instead of just leaving out the door they came in. They saw a Spider-Man in front of the exit, but they had no reason to think it was the real one. They don’t say anything to indicate that they can’t go back the way they came, they just run across the room and decide to go out a window. That’s a pretty bizarre turn of events.
Another swerve. The end of this story is really all over the place.
Shaky! But, whatever. Kind of a jumbled ending. The resurgence of Bruce Jones at this time is a bit strange. He’s really the only guy of his era working at this level in 2001. His peers who were still working were not going to be offered the seat as the hot new writer on a major Marvel book (Hulk, as mentioned before). His numerous far more famous peers weren’t invited to contribute to Tangled Web. It’s sort of like Gerry Conway getting the keys to 2 Spider-Man titles in the late 80s, except Jones was one of Conway’s contemporaries back in the early 70s, and here for a while, he was back 30 years later. And in 2004, he goes to DC, where he keeps working for much of the decade. Highly unusual. And good for him!