Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #148

Background

Jackal freed Tarantula from prison and had him attack Spider-Man, who was reeling from the revelation that the Gwen he saw was a clone. Spidey was defeated and thrown over the Brooklyn Bridge. Meanwhile, MJ was resentful that Peter had been ignoring her after Gwen returned and May told her to not let another woman get in her way.

Story 'Jackal, Jackal...Who's Got the Jackal?'

As Spidey fell, he had trouble aiming his arm to shoot a web toward the bridge. The chains were too tight and the fall was hindering him. He managed to web the bridge but the inertia of the fall swung him into the piling, knocking him out. On the bridge, the police called up to the Jackal to stay in place and he called the cop a "blue suited ape." He politely removed Gwen's coat, revealing disassembled parts of a jet pack. He told Tarantula to use it to fly them away and he removed dry fuel from Gwen's purse. They flew away, as Gwen robotically asked where they were going. Jackal was impressed by her curiosity despite her hypnosis and told her they were going where no one would find them.

Below the bridge, an unconscious Spider-Man dangled from his web. A police boat arrived and the cops were eager to detain him to make up for the Jackal's escape. After lowering him to the deck, an officer tried to unmask him when another one stopped him. He wanted Spider-Man unmasked on the docks, where the media was waiting. He'd give them a dramatic unmasking and hoped for a promotion to Captain, especially with the Commissioner present. He had the others unchain Spidey, so they didn't look cowardly. That's when Spider-Man broke free, saying he'd pretended to be unconscious so they could unchain him. He dove overboard into the river as the attention hungry cop fired into the water, angry at the turn of events. The Commissioner screamed at him that he'd better get shoes in bulk, because he'd be walking the beat for the next twenty years.

In Manhattan, Peter walked back to his apartment and was greeted by a sarcastic Mary Jane. She accused him of forgetting her phone number since Gwen returned and said he looked tired. Had Gwen been keeping him up late? Peter groggily asked her to talk about it later and she refused, they were going to talk right away. She explained the conversation that she's had with May and how she was supposed to fight for her man. Peter barely paid attention and MJ yelled that she was talking to him. When she demanded that he choose between her and Gwen, he slammed his apartment door in her face. Immediately, Peter realized he was being stupid and opened the door to talk to her but she was gone.

Peter took a bath to relax but it didn't last long before the doorbell rang. He hoped it was MJ but was disappointed to see Ned. Ned went over what they knew about the situation with Gwen. First, Gwen was dead and a clone of her had suddenly appeared. Her memories were several months out of date and whoever was behind the cloning wanted harm to either Peter or Spider-Man. He said that because Spider-Man had initially been blamed for Gwen's murder until responsibility was put on the Green Goblin. Finally, whoever cloned Gwen must have had access to her tissue while she was alive. Peter realized that he, Gwen and the class had donated cell samples in their biology class at Empire State University for an experiment. Ned said they needed to talk to Professor Warren about the whereabouts of the cells.

At the university, Peter and Ned asked Warren about the tissue samples and when he took them to the storage unit they were kept in, the samples were gone. Warren assumed that they had been taken by his lab assistant, Anthony Serba. Unfortunately, Serba had disappeared months prior. Ned and Peter went to find him.

Spider-Man arrived at what was believed to be Serba's apartment building but found an empty factory instead. It was completely empty of furniture and looked to have been cleared out for months. Looking around, he was surprised by the Tarantula who challenged him by crying out, "Dance, amigo! Dance--or die!" The fight crashed them through a window and onto a nearby rooftop, where Tarantula damaged a water tower. The water smashed into him, knocking him out.

Spidey began to drag him off to the police when he was attacked from behind, scratched by the Jackal's poisoned claws. He collapsed, stunned that no one could sneak up on him. As Jackal unmasked, he said Spider-Man can only sense enemies but Professor Warren had always been his friend.

General Comments

Very solid issue, until the last page. Gerry Conway kinda bent the rules with Spidey's abilities in this issue. First, he couldn't break out of a chain in the beginning of the issue and needed the help of the police to break free. Whatever, Conway was filling space and gave an amusing scene with officer Arbuckle's dreams being dashed by the Commissioner. The fact that Jackal was able to sneak up on Spidey because he was his "friend" doesn't fly, because he really wasn't a friend to Peter. Oh well, comic book logic once again.

Poor Peter being pursued by a beautiful redhead that is determined to be his girlfriend. Maybe she shouldn't have been going after him so angrily considering the circumstances, but it was difficult to feel too sorry for him.

Tarantula is still ridiculous.

Overall Rating

Darn near perfect.