The Tarantula is a Very Deadly Beast! last edited by Vlad3008 on 12/27/22 11:49AM View full history

    The Tarantula gets crafty as he plots an escape from prison. Spider-Man entertains the thought that Gwen Stacy could be a clone. The Jackal reveals the truth behind Gwen’s reappearance, and it will leave Spider-Man, and readers, reeling!

    The Tarantula is a Very Deadly Beast!

    Spider-Man returns to New York from his trip to Florida (in Giant-Size Spider-Man #5) and heads to the Daily Bugle. Upon reaching there, J. Jonah Jameson yells at him for not taking any photos. Peter then leaves the office, and is approached by Ned Leeds, who tells him he's been doing a bit of research on Gwen Stacy (who's recently returned). He hands Peter a folder, telling him that he should read it.

    Over in a prison, Anton Miguel Rodriguez (the former Tarantula) is using the prison workshop to reconstruct his special shoes. He stabs a prison guard with them, commenting that he'll need to get the correct poisons for his shoes, and that until then, he'll just have to stab people with them and stun people. The Tarantula then uses a acetylene torch to burn through the bars on the workshop window, and scales the wall to the prison using his shoes as pinions. Once he's escaped from the prison, he jumps in a van waiting outside for him. Inside the van, the driver is revealed to be the Jackal.

    At the hospital where Aunt May has been staying, Aunt May has a talk with Mary Jane whilst they wait for Anna May Watson to arrive. Aunt May asks Mary Jane how things between her and Peter have been going, and Mary Jane replies that ever since Gwen returned, Peter's forgotten that she exists. Aunt May tells Mary Jane that you only have once chance at love, and that she shouldn't give up on Peter. Whilst this happens, Spider-Man is swinging around. He thinks of the file Ned Leeds gave him, which said that the Gwen who's returned is a clone. It suddenly hits Spider-Man that for all he knows, there might be tens or even hundreds of Gwen Stacy clones. He psyches out for a moment and smashes a mirror through a window, where he had a vision of thousand of Gwen Stacys, but is then approached by two cops who are ready to shoot him.

    Fortunately for Spider-Man, the Tarantula arrives at this moment, and wants to fight Spider-Man himself, so takes out the two police officers. He then starts fighting Spider-Man, with the fight leading out into the middle of the road in the middle of traffic. The Tarantula keeps trying to lead Spider-Man somewhere, and succeeds in punching Spider-Man through a bus window. Strangely, the bus driver doesn't notice anything unusual about this, and simply tells Spider-Man to move tho the back of the bus. Everyone on the bus (except the driver) get off at the next stop as the fight between Tarantula and Spider-Man continues. However, Gwen Stacy gets on the bus. The driver then rips off a face mask to reveal that he's the Jackal. The bus keeps going to the Brooklyn Bridge, which Spider-Man recognizes as where Gwen was killed.

    The Jackal and Gwen get off the bus, and Spider-Man starts to follow, but is stabbed from behind by the Tarantula. He is knocked unconscious from the poisoned tip, and wakes up a bit later to find himself chained on top of one of the Brooklyn Bridge's support columns, with the Jackal, Gwen Stacy, and Tarantula standing by. The Jackal tells Spider-Man that he'll never realize how much the he hates him, because of what he did to Gwen Stacy. The Jackal tells Spider-Man that he gave Gwen (the clone) life, and that he'll give Spider-Man death in the same way that Gwen died. The Jackal then pushes Spider-Man off the support column.

    Notes

    • Features the Hostess Twinkies ad, Captain Marvel In The Big Bang!!
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