We open upon the Green Goblin, deciding that he has
waited long enough, and the time has come to get his revenge on Spider-Man! The
Goblin muses to himself that he wants to toy with Spider-Man first, learn his
identity and expose him, before finally finishing him! Speaking of Spidey, he’s
swinging around and notices that he seems to be coming down with a cold and so
makes his way to Dr. Bromwell’s office. After changing, Peter emerges from a
broom closet, utterly confusing the poor janitor, and makes his way to Dr.
Bromwell. Bromwell examines Peter and diagnoses a cold, while also telling him
that Aunt May’s recent operation from ASM #33 has left her rather weak and that
she should suffer no sudden shocks or excitement. This causes Peter to worry,
thinking she can’t ever find out he’s Spider-Man and he appreciates how good
she’s been to him all these years.
Peter makes his way to ESU, still wrapped his
thoughts, as Gwen Stacy and Flash Thompson try reaching out to him, deciding to
be nice, but receiving the usual silence. Meanwhile, Harry Osborn is having his
own issues, as he is dropped off by his father Norman Osborn, who seems to be
in a rather foul mood. This causes Harry to fret that he can never seem to
please his father, causing him to also unintentionally ignore Gwen and Flash!
In class, Peter reaches out to Harry, seeing him down in the dumps, and Harry
actually starts to open up to Peter. Peter and Harry have a bit of a heart to
heart about parents and letting frustrations out. This is witnessed by Gwen,
who is overjoyed at the idea that Peter could become part of their group, and
Flash, who thinks that maybe Peter’s a better guy than he ever gave him credit
for!
After going out swinging as Spidey, Pete witnesses an
apparent robbery taking place on the observation deck of the Empire State
Building. Spidey swings down and tackles the crooks, taking out a few but
noting that they seem almost prepared for him, like they were practicing for
this very occurrence. Spidey dodges around gunfire, webbing one guy to a post
and tripping a bunch of others. Spidey’s fight with the crooks allows the
civilians to escape via the elevator, with the robbers seeming nonplussed about
their victims escaping, confirmation Spidey’s suspicions that something more is
going on here. Spidey then realizes that he’s been taking too many risks during
this encounter, remembering what Dr. Bromwell said about Aunt May. Spidey
decides to finish the fight quickly, but in so doing gets hit with a special
gas grenade the crooks had prepared.
While all this was happening, the Green Goblin has
been watching the whole thing from a distance, revealing that he orchestrated
the robbery just so Spider-Man could get hit with that gas, which will nullify
his spider-sense! After the gas seemingly has no effect, Spidey takes out the
rest of the goons and leaves them for the police. Spidey gathers his clothes
and changes back to Peter in an alley, all the while unknowingly being watched
by the Green Goblin, who sees Spidey’s face for the first time! The Goblin
continues to follow Peter, who is none the wiser, due to his spider-sense being
nullified, but can’t shake the feeling that something is off. Peter makes his
way to the Daily Bugle, where he encounters Ned Leeds, who is much more
apologetic about his behavior to Peter last issue, with Peter wishing him all
the best in finding Betty. Peter then sells the photos he took of the fight
earlier to J. Jonah Jameson, managing to talk his way into getting paid in a
timely fashion!
During all of this, the Goblin has still been
listening in, now having learned Peter’s name, discovering his full identity at
last! Peter makes his way home, but right outside Aunt May’s house, the Goblin
suddenly ambushes Peter! Not wanting Aunt May to possibly see any of this,
Peter instinctively tries to web up the Goblin, realizing too late that he’s
not wearing his web-shooters, as the Goblin releasing a choking smokescreen!
Inside, Aunt May notices the apparent fog and worries for Peter’s safety. Peter
is reluctant to engage, for fear of Aunt May hearing anything, as he dodges
around the Goblin’s attacks. Finally deciding he needs to finish this quickly,
he pounces at the Goblin, who takes the opportunity to stun him with an
asphyxiation grenade! The Goblin ties Peter up and flies him back to his lair.
With Peter tied to a chair, the Goblin wants Peter to know who it is who
finally beat him, as he removes his mask and presents the shocking revelation
that the Green Goblin is none other than Harry’s father, Norman Osborn!