Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #40

Story 'All You Need Is Love'

Flash is rushing to the Bugle to tell Betty about his new job coaching kids in the police athletic league. This is a bit strange since the last time we saw Betty, she still had amnesia and thought Ned was alive! Anyway, Betty is talking to a guy who says they'll catch up later.

Several weeks later and Spidey is swinging by Betty's when he decides to drop in as Pete to say 'hi'. Betty has moved however and an estate agent is there. Betty has instructed them to sell everything as is. The estate agent offers to get rid of a 'tacky lamp' (Pete's housewarming gift!) if it'll make the place look better.

As Pete leaves, as Spidey, he swings across Flash beating a guy up. Flash tells Spidey that Betty went missing two weeks back and that this guy (the same one from the start) was the last person to be seen talking to her. Spidey helps the other guy up but pilfers one of his pamphlets, which he takes (as Pete) to Kate Cushing at the Bugle.

Kate says it is from a religious cult called The Students Of Love. She tells the story of how her sister became involved in a cult when she was younger. Kate gets Ben Urich to try and track Betty down using the calling card the estate agent gave Pete at Betty's old flat. She then reports Betty as missing to the police.

Meanwhile Flash is following the guy from the start again. He tracks him to an old ramshackle building but once he gets inside the cult members come after him with knives. As they corner him, Spidey swings in and cleans house. It turns out that Spidey put a tracer on the guy and followed him. The chap had led Flash deliberately into a trap and the building isn't their real HQ.

Spidey continues to track the cult guy out to NJ by hitching on his van's roof. He finds Betty there and, at night, tries to get her out. She screams though and all the cult members show up with weapons...

General Comments

The first part is slightly confusing at first with the whole Betty/Flash relationship which has never been explained in any of the books. It was only a few issues back she still had amnesia. We'll see how things go though.

Overall Rating

A reasonable start.