Sal Buscema tags in on pencils as Spider-Man is swinging around angry about the death of Dr. Bolton last issue, blaming himself for it, and finds some would-be muggers to take out his frustration on. Too much of his frustration.
Why’s he gotta yell that last bit? Spidey realizes he’s gone too far, and thinks he can either go home and sleep it off or go looking someone worth his rage. He chooses the latter. Ugh. Therefore, it’s time to look at a police truck carrying The Sandman to prison in a plexiglass tube from which they think he can’t escape. But then someone detonates a bomb in front of the truck, and it turns out to be the same goons from last issue, who seemed a little too costumed for that story, saying if they don’t pull this off, the boss will kill them. The blast was enough to crack Sandy’s prison, so he quickly dispatches the guards in the truck.
The goons pack Sandman into a car and speed off to see “the boss.” Then we check in on a mysterious, eloquent homeless guy first seen in ASM 152. He’s still wandering around, talking like a Stan Lee character, only now he’s robbed a guy for his wallet to get some booze.
Just like last time, someone who doesn’t seem to actually be there scares him off. Now back to Sandman, who’s been outfitted with his terrible, terrible other costume again.
Sandman is ordered to go steal a part from a research facility, presumably to go with the part the bad guys got last issue. Meanwhile, Spider-Man’s been looking for trouble for hours and not found any. He’s still really upset that a guy a died on his watch, when suddenly he senses one of his Spider Tracers. But he hasn’t used one in days, so he has no idea what he’s dealing with. Following the signal brings him to the research facility Sandy is robbing, where he sees some of the goons from last issue. He webs them up and heads inside, where his tracer, which we’re told was bought from a fence, is thrown at his feet by, who else?
Ah. Too bad I don’t have that one. Spidey webs up Sandman pretty completely, but it’s not enough and Sandy just sifts through it. Then he starts attacking Spidey out of nowhere, forming and reforming, and actually manages to stun him. And while he’s out…
You know, just your garden variety cryogenic freeze ray. Sandman zaps him with the whatever ray, but Spidey flips the table over so only it gets frozen, freeing himself in the process. Then it’s fightin’ time. For a couple panels, anyway, and then…
I did not, in fact, know about the chemical mixing bit. I guess they were trying to make Sandman more interesting. Spidey barely avoids getting smashed, but then tricks Sandman back into his own oil slick, and the freeze ray is still going. So he slides right into it.
Looks like next issue may reveal who’s behind the stuff in the last 2 issues. Maybe we’ll even find out who the homeless guy is. Stay tuned.
Alas, this issue’s Marvel Value Stamp has been cut out. They put these in various comics and if you cut them all out, you could send them in for a poster or something. I’ve still got way more with the stamp than without from this ebay experiment, but not this one.