Web of Spider-Man #11

Issue Details

Synopsis

HAVE YOU SEEN...THAT VIGILANTE MAN! Web-slinging across the city, Spider-Man is running late for an important task. En route, he happens upon a stick-up at a local grocery store that has turned violent upon the arrival of the NYPD. Unable to shirk his responsibility, the wall-crawler swings down and beats the thugs with his web-sack and quickly incapacitates the thieves for the police to round up. Unfortunately, the grocery store owners and the police are not impressed with Spider-Man's interference. Fleeing the scene, the web-slinger goes through his web-sack and discovers that his textbooks have been mangled when they were used to bludgeon the crooks. These were books that he took out from the library, however he found them useless as he was seeking answers at to what he should do with the golden notebook he recovered from a building turned into gold by the Beyonder.  The fact that he now has to pay for the damaged books is accepted as another instance of the Parker bad luck.  Soon, Peter Parker is doing his laundry at the local laundromat. Suddenly, three hoods come in and start harassing the attendant in an attempt to rob her. Hearing the commotion, Peter goes to see what is going on. Seeing the robbery in progress and unable to change into Spider-Man, Peter decides to act anyway. Pretending that he knows martial arts in order to hide his spider-powers he trounces the three thieves and send them fleeing. The locals are impressed and tell Parker that he is a hero. Peter tries to brush it off like it was nothing and collects his laundry. However, on his way out, he tells them his name is Peter Parker, even though getting publicity in his civilian guise is the last thing he needs. Later, Spider-Man is web-slinging across the city complaining to himself that the word of his heroism has spread fast, with his neighbors congratulating him and the story being picked up on the local news. The wall-crawler fears that Peter Parker's new celebrity status will create complications for his double identity. Elsewhere, a neighborhood meeting is well under way, and the locals express their frustration with the local crime and the lack of police response. They begin planning to start a local neighborhood vigilante group to root out crime. They are unaware that the three thugs who tried to rob the laundromat are watching from the roof through a skylight. They begin coming up with an idea to do patrols and decide to name it after Peter Parker. While they begin planning these patrols, a reporter from the Daily Bugle is frantically taking notes, wondering if this is the same Peter Parker that takes photos for the Daily Bugle.   When the story reaches the Daily Bugle, Joe Robertson confirms to Kate Cushing that it is the same Peter Parker that they employ. Although Joe is proud of Peter for stepping in, he cannot condone vigilante activity, and neither will publisher J. Jonah Jameson. He fears that someone might get hurt by taking the law into their own hands. When Kate asks if she should kill the story, Joe tells her to run it, but bury it deep in the newspaper. At that moment, Peter Parker returns to his apartment to discover that someone set off a stink bomb inside. He finds a note impaled through his pillow with a knife, it is a written threat. Unable to stand the smell any longer, Peter rushes out of his apartment, bumping into one of his neighbors. Recognised, Peter is told about the "Peter Parker Patrols" that the local community is planning. Peter is not impressed to hear this. Later he meets with Mary Jane Watson at a photo gallery in SoHo to talk about the problem. When Mary Jane arrives, she begins to regret telling Peter that she has known that he is Spider-Man.  When she meets with Peter, he is impressed with the photos that are on display. Mary Jane suggests that Peter meets her friend who took them, telling him that he needs to slow down. However, they soon get down to what Peter wanted to talk about. He tells her about the vigilante group that is being formed in his name. After hearing this, Mary Jane suggests that he ignores it, saying that people have short memories and soon his act of heroism will be quickly forgotten.   Elsewhere, the three thugs are eating fast food after robbing a number of elderly women for their money. However, they are upset that the "Peter Parker Patrols" have interfered with their ability to commit robberies. They can't think of any other ideas outside of their previous attempt to frighten Parker. When the gang leader, Reno, heads back to his apartment he discovers that the door is open. Suspecting trouble, Reno pulls out his switch blade and goes inside. In the darkness, he is ambushed from behind by someone who easily subdues Reno. It turns out to be Reno's brother Hector who has returned home. Hector explains that when a burglar killed their father, he tracked the murderer down and killed him. However, the heat that the killing brought forced Hector to flee New York and start up a new life in Chicago and joined the mob. Learning that his brother has become a hitman, Reno asks to help out. However, Hector refuses to allow his brother to follow him. When Reno begins idolizing his brother, Hector tells him that his life is not as perfect as it appears and leaves. Reno, however, intends to prove to his brother that he is a big shot. At that same moment, Reno's friend Freddy is being beat by his father, who just learned that his son has been stealing again. Later, the trio meet again and Reno has yet another plan to deal with Peter Parker.   Later, Peter returns home after Mary Jane turned him down for lunch and Kate Cushing having no assignment for him. Hungry, Peter is about to open his fridge door when his spider-sense goes off warning him of a danger coming from inside. Getting to a safe distance, Peter uses his web-shooters to open the fridge. Once it is open, a number of large rats come leaping out of the appliance. Peter is furious and swats the rodents away. Heading to his front door, he finds another written threat from the three thugs pegged to the door with a knife. His frustrated screams attract his neighbor, who suspects that the thugs got in through Peter's skylight. He assures Parker that the "Peter Parker Patrols" will beef up security around his house. This doesn't set Peter's mind at east, because it makes it difficult to come and go as Spider-Man. Wondering how to deal with the situation, Peter decides to pay a visit to Flash Thompson. He ask Flash for advice about bullies, since Thompson picked on Peter when they were in high school. Flash refuses to accept that he was a bully in high school, saying that Peter was so stuck up that Flash only teased him to take him down a few pegs. This justification shocks Peter, but Flash then asks him if he ever done something to someone to take them down a few pegs. Thinking of all the times that Spider-Man played a prank on J. Jonah Jameson, Peter realizes that he can. Flash explains that nine out of ten "bullies" will ease off if their victims act like a straight shooter, telling Peter that he would have eased off on him years earlier if Peter had stood up to him. When Peter asks about the one out of ten, Flash says you need to kick their head in.   When Peter returns home to find his neighbor guarding his door, and believes this would have warded off any further attacks from the three thugs. However, when Peter goes inside, he discovers that his entire apartment has been trashed. Furious, Peter slips away and changes into Spider-Man. He then tracks down the three kids in an alley and catches them. He tells them that he doesn't know Peter Parker, but has read about the harassment he has received in the Daily Bugle. Spider-Man warns them to ease off, reminding them that he isn't the law and will beat them up if they don't lay off Parker. Later, Peter Parker meets up with Mary Jane and he fills her in on what happened as they head back to his place. Mary Jane points out that Spider-Man's assistance has made Peter Parker more of a hero in the eyes of the people in the neighborhood. When they arrive at Peter's apartment building they discover fire trucks in the area and smoke billowing out of his apartment window. From a nearby rooftop, Reno tosses down a rock with a note attached to it. The note mocks Peter for having others fight his own battles. With this recent development, Peter Parker wonders what he can do to stop these punks once and for all.