Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #123

As police take away the lifeless body of Norman Osborn, Joe Robertson asks his esteemed boss J. Jonah Jameson who he thinks did it. Jameson of course believes Spider-Man is responsible, and swears that he’s finally going to go down for this! Jameson drives off and the cop in charge reveals to Robbie that Osborn’s body was moved before they found it, and until they can discover who moved it, they can’t determine if Spider-Man was even involved. Meanwhile, the mysterious figure from last issue watches over everything, knowing that Spider-Man was involved in some way. Turns out, he was the one who removed the Green Goblin costume from Osborn, knowing that the public would care far more for the death of a wealthy socialite than that of a deranged supervillain, and swears that this will all end with Spider-Man’s death! Meanwhile, during his ride, Jameson reads an article in the paper about Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, and thinks that he may have just found the answer to his problem!

Three days later, mourners gather for the funeral of Gwen Stacy, no one’s heart as heavy as Peter Parker’s. After the funeral, Aunt May expresses her sadness that Gwen had her whole life ahead of her, almost wishing she had died in her place. Peter consoles her, all the while frustrated that Doc Ock’s guard follows Aunt May everywhere she goes, even here. Flash then approaches Peter and reassures him that Gwen always loved him, and that nothing was going on between the two of them. One by one the mourners depart, until it’s just Peter, Mary Jane, and Robbie. Robbie expresses condolences on Jameson’s behalf and explains that he couldn’t make it. Peter feels rather bitter and lost about the whole thing, and Mary Jane offers to buy him a coffee to try and cheer him up. Elsewhere, we discover that Jameson couldn’t make it due to visiting the office of Luke Cage near Times Square, right when Cage throws someone else out of his office! Cage tells Jameson to get lost, stating he doesn’t work on Saturdays, but changes his tune once Jameson flashes a huge sum of cash. Jameson then stands his ground and officially offers Cage $5,000 to capture Spider-Man, dead or alive!

Meanwhile, Spidey swings around, unable to shake his poor mood. He feels understandably lost and alone without Gwen, and wonders if maybe he should give up the superhero thing before anyone else gets hurt. Just then, Spidey gets surprised by Cage, having researched where Spidey was most commonly seen. Spidey and Cage throw punches across the rooftops, while Spidey expresses disdain that Cage would shell out his abilities for money, regarding him as nothing but a mercenary. Cage takes this personally, as the fight drags out even more. Eventually, Spidey punches Cage down through a skylight, giving him victory over round one, while Cage swears that he’ll catch Spidey, for the money and for himself! Peter then swings back to his apartment, which feels wrong to him now with Harry gone. Peter is then surprised to find Harry there after all! However, when he tries to ask questions, Harry just gives him the silent treatment, causing Peter to get frustrated and head out.

Later, Peter attends a university concert that Mary Jane invited him to, hoping it’ll help him get his mind off things. Peter assures her that he just needs time, when suddenly his spider-sense goes off. Cage breaks the door down, demanding that Spider-Man come out and face him! Peter slips away and changes back to Spidey and confronts Cage once more. They take the fight outside, with Cage voicing his displeasure with how Spidey spoke to him. Spidey realizes that Cage is really just doing a job and tries to figure out why he’s really so angry. They continue to fight until Spidey is able to web up Cage’s arms, giving them a few minutes to actually talk things through. Later, at the Daily Bugle, Cage literally shoves the money back in Jameson’s mouth, saying that he can’t take the job after all. Finally, Peter runs into Mary Jane again and tells her that he just had a good talk with someone that made him realize he’s not so alone after all.