Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #134

Taking advantage of the spring weather, Spider-Man hurriedly makes his way to the docks, late to meet his friends for a day cruise up the Hudson. After a recent bit of trouble (from Giant-Size Spider-Man #1), Spidey notes that he’s down to his last web cartridge. However, he doesn’t let it bother him as he changes to Peter Parker and runs to meet up with Mary Jane, Flash, and Liz. The four of them board just before the boat takes off and Peter gives the excuse that he was taking photos on the other side of town. As the day liner begins its journey, Peter feels his spider-sense tingle but chalks it up to a delayed reaction from all the excitement he’s had lately. The group then hears a commotion on the upper deck, and assume the crew is breaking up a fight. Mary Jane jokes that they’re getting hijacked before they make their way up and discover they really are getting hijacked, by a costumed man called the Tarantula and his henchmen!

While Tarantula takes control of the ship, Peter slips away to change to Spider-Man. Two more of the crew challenge Tarantula, and Spider-Man ends up getting there just after he’s kicked one of the men overboard! Spidey hesitates a second deciding what he should prioritize before ultimately grabbing the guy out of the water and swinging him up to a bridge they’d just passed under. With the crewman safe, Spidey goes to hop aboard the boat once more but discovers he’d used the last of the little webbing he had left! Deciding he has to get back to his apartment to restock, he initially tries hailing down some passing cars for a ride but gets ignored. Realizing he should have done this in the first place, Spidey just hops aboard a passing truck and rides atop it until he gets near his apartment. He leaps and bounds back to his apartment and grabs some more web cartridges, all the while thinking about how everyone still thinks he’s a murderer. Spidey heads back out, so lost in thought that he didn’t even realize that Harry was spying on him, meaning Harry now knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man!

Meanwhile, at the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson gets a call from the mayor telling him about the cruise ship being held for ransom. The mayor wants Jameson to arrange for the payment, much to the publisher’s chagrin! Back aboard the boat, Flash tries standing up to the Tarantula’s men but quickly gets overpowered. He’s saved by Spider-Man dropping back down after hitching a ride on a passing helicopter. Spidey quickly takes out the two henchmen before facing off with Tarantula. Their fight takes them across the ship until Spidey is once again grabbed by one of the henchmen. Spidey gets tagged by one of Tarantula’s foot spikes, which he quickly realizes must be laced with some sort of drug. When Flash tries to get involved again, Spidey gets stung again pushing him out of the way. Spidey puts all of his strength into a punch that knocks out Tarantula as he collapses from the drug. On the verge of passing out, Spidey’s luck gets even worse with the arrival of a new player, coming face to face once again with—the Punisher! To be continued!