Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #213

Issue Details

Synopsis

TYPHOID ATTACKS PART 1  After a busy night on patrol, Spider-Man when he hears a police siren alerting him of another crime. The wall-crawler decides to investigate it as Peter Parker. Changing out of his costume, he thinks about he hasn't been out of costume in a while and wonders if his alter-ego still has a job with the Daily Bugle.  Parker manages to get onto the scene of the crime due to his press credentials. Even though the officers warn him that it is a gruesome scene, which he thinks he can handle until he actually sees it. He learns that the victim had a history of abusing women. All they know about the perpetrator is that this is their third victim and that they are being chosen due to. Learning that they have a witness, Peter decides to ask her his own questions. The witness is a meek young woman named Mary Walker, who claims to have witnessed the whole thing from a hole in the wall between their apartments. She talks about the killer being a confident and strong woman who knew what she was doing. However, the police don't buy her story and think she might have been involved. Peter believes her story and invites her over to his place for dinner so she can talk to his wife Mary Jane, who at listening.  Mary likes this idea and accepts Peter's phone number.  Later, Peter changes back to Spider-Man and returns home to discover that his wife is not home. With a serial killer on the loose, he wants to go back out to look for them. With no clean costumes, he uses one of Mary Jane's spandex t-shirts to bind the tears in his costume. He checks the voice mail and finds a message from Mary Jane. She is concerned about Peter and wants him to get in touch with her as soon as possible to let her know that he is okay. He feels bad for going back out and leaves her a message telling him his fine and giving her the heads up on their dinner guest before going back out. Elsewhere, in Mary's apartment, she looks over the various pills that she has to take on a regular basis. She feels fine and lashes out, thinking that she feels fine. She begins going through her artwork and becomes disturbed by some of the gruesome and graphic images among her actual work. She also finds a shotgun in her bag as well as police reports about men in the New York area that have a past history of abusing women. As she reads one of the reports, she puts her finger in a shattered bottle of black paint and runs a line down the middle of her face. After reading about the man's numerous offenses, she wishes that someone would do something about it.  By this time, Mary Jane has returned home with dinner and is disappointed when Peter isn't home. She then gets a phone call from Mary Walker who is lost and asking for directions. Mary Jane actually looks forward to talking to another woman and gives her directions. Mary tells her that she is also looking forward to having a girl talk. A short time later, Mary Jane answers a knock at the door and is horrified to see the vigilante known as Typhoid Mary waiting on the other side. Inviting herself in, Typhoid notices the dinner that is growing cold on the table. She quickly understands that her husband Peter has stood her up, and not for her first time. She then begins to mock Mary Jane, painting her as a dutiful housewife. When Mary Jane tries to defend herself and her marriage, Typhoid mocks her further before using her telekinetic powers to trash the room before leaping out a window. In the aftermath of this attack, Mary Jane wonders who that woman was, and how she knows her husband. Soon, Spider-Man returns home and sees the state of his home and asks Mary Jane what happened. After hearing her explanation, the wall-crawler figures that Typhoid is the vigilante killing men across the city. He tells Mary Jane to go someplace safe while he goes after her. Having not made the connection between Mary Walker and Typhoid Mary, Mary Jane decides to wait for Mary to show up before leaving. Before the wall-crawler leaves, Mary Jane tells Peter that in order to catch a killer he has to be able to think like one, but warns him that he can't be like one.  Meanwhile, Typhoid Mary arrives at a dive bar, gaining the attention of the lechers who are drinking there. Her presence attracts the attention of Spider-Man who is swinging by as she tosses one of the drunks out of the bar window. She attacks Spider-Man, who is reluctant to hit a woman, even one that can somehow evade his spider-sense. The wall-crawler is convinced that Typhoid Mary is the serial killer. When he strikes her, she begins to cry and blames him for being abusive like all other men. This accusation causes Spider-Man to take pause long enough for Mary to attack him. As the fight continues, the web-slinger accuses her of killing men. Typhoid Mary denies this and flees from the scene. However, she is confused as to why she is running away. Spider-Man follows after her, wondering what she is up to. Suddenly, Typhoid collapses to the ground. Suddenly, she uses her telekinetic powers to wrap herself in metal. Spider-Man quickly realizes that Typhoid Mary is developing another split personality. This new persona, Bloody Mary, arms herself with a sniper rifle and goes after her next target Jack Morray.  However, as she pulls the trigger, Spider-Man kicks the gun, spoiling her shot. As the wall-crawler tries to subdue Mary, he notices that even her fighting style is different. She accuses the wall-crawler of being another abuser of women, but Spider-Man refuses to be judged by a lunatic. He tries to snare her in his webbing, but this new persona has the power of pyrokenesis to burn through the webbing. As she gets away, Spider-Man manages to tag her with a spider-tracer. Trying to make sense of this encounter, Spider-Man quickly realizes that Mary Walker, Typhod Mary, and Bloody Mary are all the same person. He fears that Mary might return to his home to terrorize Mary Jane and leaps after her.