Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #240

Background

The Vulture has been laying low since his last battle with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #224. He's been living a nice, peaceful existence, but something from the old man's past is about to bring him out of retirement and that means trouble for Spidey.

Story 'Wings Of Vengeance!'

Somewhere in the South West in a retirement village, Adrian Toomes picks up a copy of the Bugle to see what's going on back in New York. The Vulture has been enjoying the good life and he isn't about top give it up. It isn't until he sees an article about Bestman Electronics that he gets bent out of shape. He calls the airport to schedule the earliest flight back to New York.

Peter wakes up from a nightmare that involved Black Cat, Doc Ock, the Owl, and the Hobgoblin. Knowing that he won't be able to get back to sleep and realizing that he's been asleep longer than he thought, he puts on the red & blues and heads for aunt May's. Amy Powell, trying to get in to see Peter has just missed him.

Peter is having a nice visit at aunt May's until Nathan turns on the TV, showing that the Vutlure is back and he's causing all sorts of havoc at the New York Coliseum's high tech expo. Cue Peter's usual disappearing act to change into Spidey.

When Spidey arrives the entrance to the coliseum is blocked off and Lieutenant Keating doesn't want the web-slinger getting involved. Spidey convinces Keating that it would be better to do things his way to keep people from getting hurt.

Inside, the Vulture is demanding to know where Gregory Bestman is. The Vulture's prey hides while the man in the giant bird costume wrecks the place. Spidey jumps on the Vulture's back but he's quickly flung off and smashed into a pile of electronics. As he's getting up, his spider-sense goes off. Looks like someone brought a supply of bombs to the trade show and the Vulture is using them to try and turn our hero into a red & blue mess. Spidey webs a robot and hurls it at the Vulture who just barely evades it. Wanting to buy some time, the Vulture finds a machine that generates beams of electricity and flips the switch. Electricity is flying everywhere at random. Bestman takes off and shouts of everyone to clear out. Vulture recognizes Bestman's voice and swoops down to nab him. Spidey's about to latch onto the Vulture, but he's hit by a beam of electricity. As he falls, he grabs onto the Vulture's leg but he's shaken off by a freaked out Bestman. Spidey hits the ground hard and lies motionless. The Vulture laughs as he flies away with his hostage.

General Comments

An enjoyable old-school Spidey tale with one of my favorite villains. I know it may not seem like much, but I really liked the portion of the fight where the Vulture hurled bombs at Spider-Man. The air is the Vulture's domain and he should make more use of it aside from just flying or trying to lose Spidey when he's webbed onto him.

Overall Rating

Four webs.