Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #145

Having just discovered who appears to be Gwen Stacy in his apartment, Peter Parker sits atop the stairs trying to convince himself he hasn’t gone insane! He runs through the events from the last couple of issues to make sure it all fits, from arriving home from Paris, seeing Mrs. Watson at the door, and running up to find Gwen in his apartment. He yells at “Gwen”, coming to the conclusion that she’s an imposter! As she crumples to the floor, crying and scared, Peter angrily storms out, running into Anna Watson on his way out and telling her that he’s going to find whoever orchestrated this sick joke! Still angry, he changes to Spider-Man in order to swing over to the hospital to see Aunt May. He promises that whoever is behind Gwen’s “resurrection” is going to pay, but admits that he’s not even sure what he’ll do when he finds them. With everything from the last few days catching up with him, Spider-Man melancholically swings off toward the hospital.

Meanwhile, at a New Jersey penitentiary, the Scorpion is being released for good behavior. Scorpion takes a bus to a hotel where he uncases his costume once more, ready to return to a life of crime! Around that same time, Peter arrives at the hospital and quickly finds Aunt May. After being told to wait outside for a while, they finally let Peter in to see her. As he gazes at her unconscious form, he blames himself for her being here, drawing the conclusion that one of his enemies must have deduced his identity and is using “Gwen” to hurt him! Aunt May then stirs and she tenderly asks if Peter is okay, leading to a warm moment between the two. Several hours later, the Scorpion breaks into a bank and makes off with a couple bags of money, announcing to the world that the Scorpion is back! Back at the hospital, we find Peter in the midst of a terrible nightmare! He relives Gwen being killed by the Green Goblin, only when he unmasks the Goblin, it’s Harry this time, instead of Norman. As he cradles Gwen’s body, he looks behind him to see Gwen standing there and turns back to discover that the one who died was actually Aunt May! Peter awakens from his dream with a start, and hears on the radio about Scorpion’s bank heist, deciding that going to find him will be the perfect distraction.

Spidey swings around for hours with no luck (and manages to get pulled into the events of Marvel Team-Up #33 during his search). With the events of that issue done, a tired Spidey resumes searching for the Scorpion, but is surprised when the Scorpion finds him! Scorpion attacks Spidey, who grabs onto him and swings off, eventually landing at a cement processing plant. Tired after his battle with Meteor Man from Marvel Team-Up #33, Spidey has a hard time with the Scorpion, who’s still fresh. Spidey and Scorpion’s battle leads them up to the top of the plant, where Scorpion tries to strangle Spider-Man to death! The railing behind them breaks, causing Spider-Man to fall into the cement mixing vat. Scorpion turns it on, causing Spider-Man to be buried in liquid cement! By the time he manages to crawl his way out, Scorpion has escaped.

That evening, Peter returns to the hospital to find a whole group waiting for him, including “Gwen.” Mary Jane tells him they’ve been trying to find him and Ned stops him when he starts yelling at Gwen once more. Ned tells him that they checked her fingerprints, and they match Gwen Stacy’s! Not only that, they checked Gwen’s grave, and her body hadn’t been disturbed! There are seemingly two identical Gwen Stacys, one dead, the other alive! Scared and confused, Gwen asks Peter to help her, while Peter and Mary Jane share a bewildered glance, too stunned to say anything! To be continued!