Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #52

Background

Spider-Man had rescued Deb Whitman from Mysterio, who was still looking for the hidden treasure of Dutch Mallone. Meanwhile, White Tiger had been gunned down by Colonel Gideon Mace.

Story 'The Day Of The Hero Killers!'

Outside the Daily Bugle, Peter was surprised when a sedan threw the body of the White Tiger onto the pavement before speeding away. Around the Tiger's neck was a note that said, "This is the first." Peter yelled for someone to call an ambulance as he ran after the car, which was rapidly getting away. It was too far for him but he managed to toss a spider tracer onto the back bumper. He got back to the White Tiger and unmasked him to help him breathe, as he had revealed his identity on TV anyway. Jonah and Robbie soon arrived, wanting to know what the commotion was about. Jonah demanded to know where Peter was, but was surprised to see him trying to help his friend. Jonah wanted Peter to get pictures but took it back once he saw that he was looking at a man on the verge of death. Peter said that he knew Hector Ayala and that there was nothing that he could do for him. Jonah consoled him, saying that he had seen a lot of rough things in his years in the news. A paramedic radioed that Hector's heartbeat was weak and had lost a lot of blood. Peter jumped into the back of the ambulance, saying he was a friend and a witness. As the ambulance sped away, Robbie said Jonah was quiet. Jonah of course hated super vigilantes but still hated to see a young man shot up. Robbie realized that was as close as Jameson would come to admitting that he could be wrong.

Inside the ambulance, Peter wondered how many of his friends he would lose to murderers. Hector weakly told him of how he had come home to find his family murdered and tracked down their killer, Gideon Mace. It had been a trap and Tiger was nearly shot to death by Mace. After shooting Tiger, Mace told him that he planned to kill every superhero, and he was only the first. At the hospital, Peter gave a description of the sedan to the police as Hector was prepped for surgery. The doctors wanted to remove his tiger amulets but they were stopped by a man named Nathanial Byrd, who said removing the amulets would be a death sentence. Byrd was a detective and a friend of Hector's who knew that he got his powers from the tiger amulets. Removing them would make him sick, like an addict going through withdrawal. In his current condition, he wouldn't survive. The doctors left the amulets alone.

Peter went to talk to Byrd, who guessed that he was with the press and denied any information. Peter had once met with the detective as Spider-Man and eventually earned his trust. He gambled on him cooperating with Spider-Man again. He hung behind Byrd as he watched the doctors operate and the detective reluctantly agreed to talk. Spider-Man said that Peter Parker had told him that Hector had been shot by a guy named Mace. Byrd recognized the name and said he had fought Power Man a few times. Mace was an ex-army colonel, unstable and had been thought to be dead.

With the new information, Spidey followed the buzz of the spider tracer he had left on the sedan. It took hours but he eventually followed the buzz...to a rooftop. Wondering how a car had gotten there, he soon found that the signal was coming from another of his tracers. The tracer was still attached to a pigeon that he had accidentally tagged the previous week. He still managed to follow the correct tracer to a junkyard, where the sedan was being placed into a compactor. As Spidey dealt with two guards, a third radioed back to base that they were under attack. At base, Mace was explaining that he wanted Power Man dead next. He had a personal interest in his death, as did the Maggia and Halwani Freedom Front. Mace was informed of Spider-Man's arrival at the junk yard and radioed to him that he was declaring war on vigilantes. There were plenty of organizations that were happy to help him build an army to see him succeed. Spidey said that Mace's "war" had injured his friend and would eventually involve him anyway. Mace told him if he was so eager to meet, he could find him at Eastside National Guard Armory.

At the armory, Mace reassured a soldier that Spider-Man was a loner and wouldn't bring the authorities. He told his troops to expect Spider-Man's arrival in 15 to 30 minutes, to ready the small field artillery and activate the landmines planted in the streets. There was no time to evacuate civilians but war is Hell. Spider-Man was surprised at Mace's boldness to simply give his location but believed him, as the guards at the junkyard wore standard army issued gear. He was about to drop to the ground when his spider sense warned him, and he swung himself away from a recently patched spot in the road. He wondered if Mace was crazy enough to plant explosives in the street and threw a chunk of sidewalk at the patch to find out. It detonated and a watchman reported that Spider-Man had blown himself up. Mace was skeptical, as Spidey's profile labeled him as reckless but not stupid. He ordered that all landmines be deactivated, as the police would arrive soon. He expected that the mine would be mistaken for a gas leak but ordered his men to stay on alert.

Spider-Man surprised the troops by appearing through a grate under the floor, which resulted in them shooting each other by accident. Spidey expected that their flack jackets would spare them from nothing worse than broken ribs but soon faced soldiers with flame throwers. He knocked them into a transport vehicle and was amazed to see others arriving with howitzers. He quickly bounded over to them and knocked them out before he found Mace himself. Mace approached him with a service revolver and a spiked mace that replaced his right hand. The gun was knocked away swiftly and Mace tried to hit Spidey with his weaponized prosthetic hand, which also could fire like a missile. Mace ranted that he should have made general but the joint chiefs were jealous of him and his military skill. He believed that they had used the loss of his hand as an excuse to muster him out. He held the new volunteer army in contempt, saying that his troops could overrun them in weeks. He would see that it happened. Spider-Man mocked that he thought the same thing about wiping out costumed vigilantes.

Two soldiers arrived as Spidey stood behind Mace. Despite Spider-Man's warning that he'd be shot, the colonel said that a good soldier was willing to make the sacrifice. Mace ordered them to shoot, ripping him apart as Spidey dodged the barrage. In anger, he slapped the soldiers into unconsciousness before they could shoot again. Mace was taken by ambulance to the hospital and wheeled into the operating room as Hector was wheeled out. Peter watched with his camera but couldn't make himself take the photo or hate Mace. Byrd was there and was willing to talk to Peter. He said that Hector would survive despite the 12 bullets taken out of him, many of which missed vital organs by inches.

A week later, the bullet wounds were nearly healed, which Hector credited to the White Tiger amulets. He also blamed them for making him homeless, without a family and a danger to his friends. He refused the wear them any longer, despite the intense pain that removing them caused. His girlfriend offered to get a nurse to give him painkillers, but he refused. He'd just be substituting one addiction for another. He'd have to purge the White Tiger from his soul and he'd have to do it alone.

Another three weeks later, he and Holly left New York as too many people knew him as the White Tiger. They would go somewhere that had never heard of the Tiger or Hector Ayala but wanted Byrd to take the amulets. He wanted Byrd to take them back to the "Sons of the Tiger" and warn them of what they could do. As the bus pulled away, Spider-Man hoped the best for them. Byrd said that some people are born lucky and others make their own luck. Either way he was smarter than Spider-Man, since he knew when to quit when he was ahead.

General Comments

This is more my type of story. I can relate more to looking for justice after a friend was shot than to a caper with crooks dressed as aliens looking for mafia treasure. Mace having a cannon/mace hand reminded me of toys that I had as a kid but you can't expect comic books to be too realistic.

This was definitely a product of it's time, which I also like. It had echoes of the Vietnam War, which goes to show the extent of trauma from that era as this story was published six years after the war ended. Domestic terrorism and militants were more common in the 1970s, if I remember.

A few complaints/observations:

• Detective Byrd being in the hospital just as Hector was arriving in the operating room was pretty convenient.
• Spider-Man actually used Mace as a human shield as the two troops arrived.
• Spidey blowing up a potential explosive device in the street was definitely reckless. Makes for a more exciting story, I guess.

Overall Rating

You know what? Four webs.