Amazing Spider-Man #171
Photon Is Another Name For...?
This story continued from Nova #12....
Spider-Man and Nova are on the scene of a whodunnit: Ralph Rider (the uncle of Richard Rider) has been murdered by someone named Photon, and the three prime suspects have just disappeared. With Michael Lincoln, Rider's embittered and recently fired assistant in police custody, Spider-Man and Nova fly off to try and find Franklin Risk (an unscrupulous businessman), Harry Daze (A member of AIM), and Jason Dean (A member of the Maggia.)
Meanwhile in Chinatown, Harry Osborne and his bride to be Liz Allan talk about their coming wedding, unaware that they are being followed by a mysterious assailant.
The three men whom Spider-Man and Nova are looking for have escaped and decided to work together to profit from the collection of Riders transistorized nuclear device. Daze calls in his associates at AIM to help in a raid of Rider's mansion to steal the device they all seek. Nova and Spider-Man manage to track them down and attack.
The two heroes are overpowered, however, chained to an anchor and dumped in the harbor to die. However, the combined strength of Spider-Man and Nova allow the two heroes to break free and continue after the AIM soldiers who they deduce are going to the Rider home.
There the two heroes fight off the AIM forces, and Nova and Spider-Man stop Photon when he takes Nova's father hostage. Afterwards, Detective Steele tells the two heroes that Ralph Rider left a clue to the identity of Photon. Showing them a crime scene photo he points out that Ralph (a fan of anagrams) had put his fingers on letters of scattered calendar pages that were scattered on the scene. Unmasking Photon, Steele's deduction turns out to be true and Photon is revealed to be Jason Dean.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Nova, Harry Osborn, Liz Allan, Photon, AIM (Harry Daze), Jason Steele, Michael Lincoln, Franklin Risk, Ralph Rider (corpse), Charles Ryder, Molten Man (unidentified)
