Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #111

Last issue, Spider-Man rejected the Gibbon and left him frustrated and alone. All the while, the Gibbon was being watched by Kraven the Hunter, who descends upon him and says that they can be of assistance to each other. Initially, Gibbon just wants to be left alone but Kraven convinces him to hear him out. Kraven chronicles how he survived his fight against Ka-Zar in the Savage Land (in ASM #104). After being kicked over the edge of a cliff, he slowed his fall just enough by grabbing onto passing branches to prevent his death, instead only breaking his arm. Kraven crawled into a cave to recover and days later came upon Gog almost completely submerged in quicksand. Kraven then swore revenge on Spider-Man for his role in Gog’s death. He convinces Gibbon that if the two of them join forces, they’ll be able to do what either alone could not and defeat Spider-Man!

Speaking of, Spider-Man swings over to Aunt May’s apartment, feeling bad about how he treated Martin but overall hoping he spared him from the miserable life of a superhero. Spidey sneaks into Aunt May’s apartment and finds a note she left for him saying that she’s going away for awhile. Peter is immediately worried but can’t dwell on it too much as Aunt May’s neighbor saw him sneaking in and called the cops! Spidey escapes the police and stresses about where Aunt May could have gone, feeling like he’s failed her. Happening to be near the Daily Bugle, Spidey wonders if maybe Joe Robertson could help and stops by. Robbie tells him that he’s suspected of kidnapping May Parker and Spidey shows him the note she left, claiming that Peter Parker asked him to grab it for him. Hoping Robbie bought it, Spidey swings out just as J. Jonah Jameson comes in asking about the coverage on the kidnapping story. Robbie then shows Jameson the note and he’s forced to consider that perhaps Spider-Man is innocent!

Meanwhile, in his hideout under the botanical gardens, Kraven brews Gibbon a special herb potion which, as soon as he drinks it, begins to increase his strength and aggression! Gibbon lashes out at Kraven and the two engage in an intense brawl. They come to a stalemate when suddenly a strange effect takes hold. Since both took the same potion, Kraven, having the stronger will, gains a kind of telepathic suggestive control over Gibbon. Gibbon releases his hold on Kraven, who sends him out as his pawn to accomplish their shared goal of killing Spider-Man! Elsewhere, Peter returns to his apartment after a fruitless night searching for Aunt May, when he receives a call from Gwen. Peter tells her what happened with Aunt May and Gwen blames herself, feeling like she was too harsh on her. Peter reassures her that this was coming for a long time and heads back out to search some more.

Spidey swings all over, looking everywhere he thinks Aunt May could be. Finding no leads, Spidey’s spider-sense starts to tingle when he suddenly comes upon the Gibbon. Gibbon catches Spidey off guard, while Kraven telepathically chants to him to kill Spidey. Gibbon has his hands around Spider-Man’s neck while Kraven increases his commands. However, Gibbon begins to fight back and, not wanting to be used like a rabid animal, refuses to kill Spider-Man. He loosens his hold just enough and Spidey immediately presses that advantage to flip Gibbon off of him, and swings down to catch him before he can hit the ground. With the Gibbon now unconscious and defeated, Spidey finds that he can’t bring himself to feel too angry at him, intuiting that someone else was truly pulling the strings. With Spidey’s intuition spot on, back at his lair, Kraven rages and wallows in his defeat, all because he couldn’t wait to accomplish things himself!