Web of Spider-Man #55

Issue Details

Synopsis

SHOWDOWN The gang war between the Lobo Brothers and the Kingpin has erupted on the streets of New York City. Under the full moon, the Lobo Brothers -- in full werewolf form -- wage a bloody battle with the Kingpin's enforcers in the middle of Times Square. Arriving on the scene, Spider-Man works to save lives and minimize violence. When some machine gun fire loosens a theater marquee, Spider-Man uses all his strength to prevent from falling on the crowd below. As he is doing so, the wall-crawler's spider-sense goes off. Looking across the street he sees Nick Katzenberg, the trashy tabloid photographer, taking photos of the carnage. With the mobsters fleeing the scene, Spider-Man goes up to the rooftops. He's upset that Katzenberg is still working for the Daily Bugle, even though he was hired by the Chameleon when he was posing as J. Jonah Jameson.  Pulling off his mask, Peter knows that there is one person that can potentially end this gang war, Jonah's secretary Glory Grant, who is in a relationship with Eduardo Lobo.  Later, a van pulls up in the alley next to a vintage hotel. From within come the Lobo Brothers who revert back to human form as the sun begins to rise. Getting dressed, the pair goes back up to their room where Glory Grant waits for Eduardo's return. That morning, the Arranger is overseeing the repairs on Fisk Tower following an attack by the Lobo Brothers. He is afraid that the Lobos will kill him because it was he who arranged the botched assassination attempt on the two brothers. He has now started carrying a gun to protect himself.  This is a concern for later, as he also must prepare himself for the Kingpin's wrath. When the crime boss returns to his office, he startles the Arranger who pulls his gun. The Kingpin tells his minion to put the gone away or he will ram it down his throat. The Arranger is surprised to see his master back, but the Kingpin explains that he has returned to end this gang war and orders a meeting with the Lobo Brothers to be arranged. One of the workers overhears this and finds this bit of information interest. Leaving the work site, this worker changes into the Chameleon and meets with his partner Hammerhead. He tells his partner what is happening, and how they can use this meeting to ambush the two gangs and seize control of the underworld for the Maggia.   That afternoon, both Nick Katzenberg and Peter Parker are competing with each other to get J. Jonah Jameson to buy their photos of the previous evening's violence. Jonah finds himself beside himself, he can choose Katzenberg's pictures which suggest that Spider-Man is threatening the crowd or Parker's which show the truth. Before he can make up his mind, Kate Cushing enters the room and threatens to quit if the publisher chooses Katzenberg's photos. Frustrated, Jameson concedes and decides to run Parker's photos. After they leave the office, Joy Mercado pulls Peter aside to ask Peter to talk to Glory about her relationship Eduardo Lobo, unaware that Nick Katzenberg is listening in and looking to capitalize on the situation. Seeing that Glory is at her desk, Peter tries to talk to her, but based on how miserable she looks he doesn't know what to say and quickly leaves because he has to meet up with Mary Jane. When she asks him for advice, he tells Glory to follow her heart.  Peter rushes to the apartment that they were going to see in Hell's Kitchen, and sees that it is a total dump.  Mary Jane is discouraged because their life seemed to be going well after their marriage until her modeling career dried up.  Peter tries to cheer her up with romance, pointing out that this was the first time they have had a moment of privacy since her cousin Kristy came to live with them. This reminds Mary Jane that Kristy is currently in the hospital getting treatment for her eating disorder.  At dusk, Spider-Man is staking out Glory Grant's apartment and watches her enter a van driven by the Lobo Brothers. Inside the van, Carlos thinks bringing Glory is a bad idea, but Eduardo assures him that there will be no more violence as they are going to broker peace with the Kingpin. When the van drives off, Spider-Man follows after it, vowing to end things this evening once and for all. The wall-crawler follows the Lobos all the way to Flushings Meadow Park at the site of the 1964 World's Fair. There he waits for the Kingpin arrives and sets up his automatic camera to take photos. The Kingpin tells the Lobo Brothers that he wants to end the gang war and asks the Lobo Brothers for their price. The Lobos insist that they want the Kingpin's assistant, the Arranger since he was the one who organized the hit on the Lobos. However, before the Kingpin can make a decision, Hammerhead's men come racing onto the scene with guns blazing. As everyone runs for cover the Lobo Brothers accuse the Kingpin of setting them up, an accusation the crime boss flatly denies. His point is proved when the gunmen began firing at the Kingpin and his men as well. As the moon begins to rise, Eduardo goes back to his van and helps Glory under it for cover. As he turns into his werewolf form, Eduardo tells Glory that he loves her.   Eduardo then leaps at the Arranger, blaming him for everything that happened. However, before the werewolf can gore him, Spider-Man leaps in the way. In the struggle, the Arranger drops his gun and it slides under the van near Glory. Spider-Man tries to convince Eduardo that he has come to make sure peace is made, telling him not to let Hammerhead and his men ruin this chance. However, this ambush has convinced Carlos that this meeting was pointless. Not far away, the Chameleon and Hammerhead watch and figure out how to divide up Manhattan when they have eliminated their competition. While Spider-Man struggles with Eduardo, Carlos tries to attack the Kingpin. However, the fat man had prepared for this and strikes the werewolf with a cane tipped with silver, knocking Carlos unconscious. With Hammerhead's men dead or unconscious, the Kingpin decides that it is time to go, leaving Spider-Man fate to Eduardo Lobo. As Spider-Man struggles with Eduardo, the mobster gives into his animal lust. Watching from nearby, Glory Grant fearfully tries to figure out what to do. Glory takes the Arranger's gun and fire. The silver bullet loaded in the weapon strikes Eduardo in the back, killing him. As Glory goes to him, Spider-Man begins to recover from the attack. He is suddenly ambushed by Carlos, but knocks him out with a single punch.   As Eduardo reverts back to human form, Glory realizes that Eduardo is dead.  Spider-Man tries to console the distraught woman, saying her actions saved his life. Much to his surprise, Glory says that she wasn't aiming at Eduardo, she was aiming at him. She explains her friend Peter Parker told her to follow her heart, and her heart told her to stay with Eduardo. As Spider-Man stands over her in silence, the entire ordeal had been witnessed by Nick Katzenberg, who photographed the entire scene. He gloats about J. Jonah Jameson not being able to turn him down this time.