Amazing Spider-Man #564
Threeway Collision!
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is forced to abandon a job interview after spotting Overdrive racing past Yankee Stadium.[1] As he tries to get Overdrive to stop, they almost run down Dexter Bennett who is reading a paper. The situation is also witnessed by Officer Vin Gonzales who was on the scene to see a baseball game. As Spider-Man webs up Overdrive’s sports car, the villain manages to punch him in the face and flee. When Vin tries to arrest Spider-Man he ignores him in order to go after Overdrive.[2] When the wall-crawler catches up to Overdrive the villain has used his powers to soup-up a school bus as his makeshift getaway vehicle. Disarming Overdrive, Spider-Man then using the weapon to blast open the back of the bus and lower the children out in a web-sack. However, when he turns around to deal with Overdrive the villain has fled the scene.
Vin Gonzales
Vin later recounts what happened to his superiors saying that his day had gotten off to a rotten start thanks to his new roommate Peter Parker.[3] Vin was furious because he found out that Peter had just recently lost his job at the DB and keeping it a secret for the past two weeks. Vin doesn’t care that Peter is unemployed as long as he pays the rent, but is furious that Peter didn’t tell him what happened, especially since Vin has been giving him news tips over the past two weeks. Since both of them are planning on being in the Bronx, Vin tells him to stay away from Yankees Stadium.
Later that day, Vin and his father were getting off the subway and making their way to the stadium when Vin spotted Spider-Man chasing after Overdrive. After Spider-Man webbed up Overdrive, Vin attempted to arrest the wall-crawler who then fled. To Vin’s surprise, Overdrive’s vehicle transforms from a black roadster into an ordinary red convertible as he’s calling the vehicle in.
Determined to bust both Spider-Man and Overdrive, Vin then commandeers a taxi cab and orders it to chase after the school bus that has been souped up by Overdrive’s powers. As Vin encourages the cabbie to speed, they too almost run over Dexter Bennett. Unfortunately, when they catch up to the school bus it has already stopped and is changing back to normal. He finds Spider-Man freeing the children from the web sack. When Vin tries to arrest him the kids protest this move and Spider-Man webs up his gun and makes his escape.[4] Vin was forced to stay behind because the cabbie demands payment and the kids still needed to be freed from the webbing.
Finishing his story, his superior — Seargent Simmons — tells Vin that the reason why his day went sour was that after calling in the crime in progress Vin continued trying to be a police officer even though he was off duty. SImmons tells Vin that he can’t be a cop 24/7.
Overdrive
An hour later, Overdrive has arrived at Mister Negative’s hideout, where his employer is not very pleased and orders his minion to explain what happened.
Override explains that everything was going according to plan. Using his powers on a monster truck, Overdrive crashed it into the side Lou & Oscar’s Lab, Inc. where he stole the sonic pulse generator he was hired to steal. While Overdrive spins a wild tale about enhanced security systems and automated weapons, the robbery was a simple snatch and grab. Fleeing the scene, Overrider stole the convertible that he was driving when Spider-Man first started chasing after him.
As it turns out, the sonic pulse generator was the weapon that Overdrive tried to blast Spider-Man with. When the wall-crawler disarmed him and was busy getting the children to safety, Overdrive fled the school bus and fled on a stolen motorcycle, almost running over Dexter Bennett in the process. When Mister Negative asks what happened to the sonic pulse generator, Overdrive figures that it ended up in police custody. Overdrive is not incorrect as at that moment Carlie Cooper is bagging it as evidence. That’s when Vin asks her to meet his father, who is probably still watching the Yankees game.
Having heard enough, Mister Negative orders his Inner Demons to dispose of Overdrive. However, they make the mistake of putting him in the trunk of a limo, allowing Overdrive to use his powers to reshape the car and make his escape.In response, he orders his minions to be eliminated instead.
Peter Parker
After losing Overdrive, Spider-Man changes back into Peter Parker and is surprised that he’s still on time for his interview. Unfortunately, this interview is at Lou & Oscar’s Lab and he is shocked to see the monster truck stolen by Overdrive still embedded in the side of the building. The two scientists tell Peter that, unfortunately, they can’t hire him because they now have to make extensive repairs to their building. As Peter wonders how this day can get any worse, Dexter Bennett is running a frontpage story about how he was almost run over three times that day, blaming Spider-Man for what he believes were attempts on his life.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Overdrive, Mister Negative, Carlie Cooper, Vin Gonzales
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man remembers Overdrive from their last encounter in Free Comic Book Day 2007: Amazing Spider-Man #1.
Vin tries to arrest Spider-Man for being a vigilante and a serial killer. FIrstly, superhumans are required to register with the government following the events of Civil War #1-7. Although Peter supported to Super-Human Registration Act he later renounced his support in Amazing Spider-Man #535, making him an outlaw. More recently, Spider-Man has been accused of the so-called spider-tracer murders back in Amazing Spider-Man #548.
Peter moved in with Vin in Amazing Spider-Man #568 on the same day he was fired from the DB.
Some of the kids think Vin is Alex Rodriguez, a former shortstop for the New York Yankees, calling him by “A-Rod”, the nickname that Rodriguez was known by. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, as Rodriguez stopped playing for the Yankees in 2016 amid a steroid controversey.
