Spider-Man: The Manga #8

Background

Continuing with part two of the three-part Kangaroo arc.

Story Details

In the paper the next day, the whole incident is painted to make Spidey look bad. Even saving the child is presented as an excuse to let the Kangaroo get away. A distraught Yu decides that the only way to put an end to these lies is to catch the Kangaroo.

Later, as the Kangaroo has taken to "robbing wealthy houses nightly", Yu goes to the Joho Newspapers to try to get a job. The publisher knows him from when "you always reported about your High School chemistry experiments in the past" but he has a different job this time. "How about taking pictures of Spider-Man?" Yu asks for money up front and with his advance buys a motorcycle and camera. (Wow, if I knew it was so easy to become a newspaper photographer, I'd have tried this ages ago!)

As Yu rides his cycle, he is overtaken by his friends Kame and Anko, who are riding double on a motorbike. They are quickly followed by Araki, with a young woman named Yoko riding double with him. Yoko gives Yu a big wink which makes our hero blush. The three bikes race for a bit, then stop at an intersection, where a speeding car smashes into Araki and Yoko's bike. (There is a nicely rendered full-page illo of the crash but how the whole thing happened is a little unclear.) Yu and his other friends realize that the hospital is needed but any attempt to get another car to stop is futile. Yu jumps out into traffic, trying to flag down a ride but he, too, is run over. Only his Spider-agility saves him from injury.

The three young men can't understand it. No one will stop. Everyone is driving like a maniac. Araki turns out to be bloodied but unhurt. Still, Yoko needs the hospital, so Yu puts her on the back of his bike and takes her into the city. Downtown, "there are no traffic rules anymore". The roads are chaos. The pedestrians are panicked, trampling anyone who slows down. It is only because of his Spider-powers that Yu succeeds in getting Yoko to the Emergency Room.

At the hospital, Yu discovers the cause of the panic. The Kangaroo has stolen "a very dangerous medical bacteria which he mistook for money". (Just as he did in the Amazing Spider-Man #81.) If the capsule is opened, the whole city will be infected. The people, egged on by the Manga JJJ, blame Spider-Man. If he hadn't interfered in the first place, allowing the Kangaroo to escape, this danger would not even exist. Yu decides he must atone for his actions.

Overall Rating

The series is steadily improving. Here's hoping that continues. Three webs.