Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #28

Pete used to store his clothes there when he went out swinging as Spidey. One time, the renovation team had taken off the torch with his clothes, id and spare web shooter still in it. To keep his identity secret, he knows he has to get his stuff back ... except it's being taken to California for a parade!

The Bugle pay for him to go there as part of a photo feature. Over in California though, some militant avocado growers (I swear I'm not making that up) are plotting to steal the torch to highlight their cause. Pete, meanwhile, has been told by the torch's guards to take a break as they are doing nothing at the time. He goes to the beach and gets beet-red burnt. Imagine how hard that made his web-slinging! Back in the present, MJ laughs at him.

Anyway, back in California. The crooks take out the guards and steal the torch. Spidey drops in but gets shot by a tazer-type gun. The thieves are double-crossed by members in their own gang, though and break into two sets. A stunned Spidey manages to get a lift on the top of one set of thieves' car who is pursuing the other gang who have the torch.

Both sets of thieves are in a crash and the police show up. Spidey checks the torch for his stuff but finds nothing. It turns out the torch in California was a fake - the real one was in a warehouse in NY.

General Comments

This is another run-of-the-mill back stories - at least it has MJ in it though. The inter-changes with her and Pete are quite amusing and push the flow along nicely.

It's still a very average tale however and we can be grateful that this is the last of four months worth of back stories, flashbacks and generally irrelevant filler material.

Let's hope the next issue can complete the crossover nicely with Amazing and get Web Of... back on track.