Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Spider-Man swings through the city while wondering what he will write for his school essay on "civic duty." Suddenly, a yellow-costumed character comes crashing through a bank window; Spidey picks him up and heads inside to investigate. What he finds is Captain America in combat with several more of these fellows (A.I.M. operatives, since you can’t see the pictures). Spidey, who has never worked with Cap before, takes down a baddie sneaking up behind the patriotic hero—not that Cap needed the help but he’s nice enough to thank Spidey. Cap interrogates one of the captives and reports to Nick Fury that this was a diversion from their primary objective and announces he is heading there right away. Spidey offers to help but Cap turns him down, citing national security issues. Which, of course, doesn’t prevent the Webslinger from following at a distance. Which, likewise, doesn’t prevent the Super-Soldier from knowing he’s there and disapproving. Cap allows Spidey to join the stakeout, explaining that the criminal group A.I.M. is planning to send in an operative called the Grey Gargoyle to hijack a secret weapon. Cap warns Spidey that the Gargoyle can turn people and objects to stone with a touch of his right hand, the effect lasting an hour. As they wait for hours on the rooftop, Spidey and Cap converse about the older hero’s background and his motives. Cap explains that, to him, America is about the freedom to make changes and make a difference…. At this point they spy the Grey Gargoyle and follow a trail of petrified security guards into the lab where they confront the villain—who reveals he has also brought back up: a score of A.I.M. agents. While Cap is occupied with the ground troops, Spidey faces the Gargoyle on the balcony. The villain hurls a petrified henchman at him to distract the Wall-Crawler while he turns a cabinet to stone and drops it on Captain America. Spidey manages to web the stone block to the ceiling but this gives their foe the opening to turn him to stone. Cap leaps to the balcony and into the waiting hand of the enemy…. Some time later, Cap and Spidey awaken and break free from their chains, surprising the Grey Gargoyle that their superhero metabolisms caused them to recover sooner than he expected. Cap reveals that the weapon the villain stole—the second half of the Super-Soldier Serum—is a fake, intended only to lead the Gargoyle into a trap. And at this point Spidey’s web dissolves, dropping the stone cabinet on the villain’s head. As SHIELD takes the Grey Gargoyle away, Cap thanks Spidey for all his help—while Spidey thanks Cap for giving him material for his school essay….