Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #21
Slayers to the Left of Me…
While attempting to recover his lost costume from the Daily Bugle, Spider-Man has fallen into a trap set for him by Alistair Smythe, whose newest Spider-Slayer has J. Jonah Jameson as a hostage.[1] Worse, one of Smythe’s Mini-Slayers has attached to the wall-crawler’s face and beings jolting him with powerful energy. Spider-Man manages to wrest the device off his face. Spider-Man then webs up the Spider-Slayer and frees Jameson. This does little to discourage Smythe who tells the pair that his Mini-Slayers are psio-empathic and absorbed information from their brains so that the robots can target and eliminate their loved ones. Spider-Man finds that hard to believe, but Smythe banks on the wall-crawler not taking that risk. Sure enough, Spider-Man grabs J. Jonah Jameson and swings away.
When they get to safety, J. Jonah Jameson tries to call his wife on his cell phone but can’t get through.[2] Jameson orders Spider-Man to take him higher so he can get better reception but ends up dropping the phone as Spider-Man carries him up the side of the building. This is going according to plan for Spider-Man as he intends to strand Jameson on a rooftop so he can track down all the Mini-Slayers without being impeded.
Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, Senator Stewart Ward is having a romantic moment alone with Susan Strong, the assistant to Senator Robert Kelly.[3] She is insulted when Ward states that his support of Kelly’s presidential bid comes with some reciprocity. She points out that she’s not to let herself be used for political gain. Getting up and looking at the strange boils that have appeared on his hand, Ward tells her she’d be surprised by what she’ll end up doing for him.[4]
By this time, Spider-Man has arrived at the home shared by J. Jonah Jameson and Marla Madison. Crashing in through the window he saves Marla from one of the Mini-Slayers. Asking her where he can find Jonah’s son John, he learns that John Jameson is scheduled to arrive at JFK Airport soon. As Spider-Man swings to the location of his next stop, he is ambushed by the massive six-armed Spider-Slayer robot. Realizing that it’s following him, Spider-Man webs up the massive robot in the hopes of slowing it down. When Spider-Man follows some of the Mini-Slayers to the apartment he shares with Randy Robertson he decides to take a more subtle approach and changes back into his street clothes. Unfortunately, he discovers this will be easier said than done when he enters his apartment and sees that Randy is throwing a party. Worse, both Glory Grant and Jill Stacy are there and try to get Peter to talk about his problems.[5] Thankfully, Randt pipes in with his own advice, giving Peter an opportunity to excuse himself.[6] Going into the bathroom, Peter catches the Mini-Slayers and after destroying the robots flushes their remains down the toilet. That’s when Peter’s spider-sense goes off warning him that the Spider-Slayer is getting close and makes an abrupt departure. When Jill and Glory express their concerns for Peter again, Randy insists that everything is fine with Pete.[7]
By the time Peter is back outside and in costume, the Spider-Slayer attempts to ambush him,. However, the wall-crawler is able to evade the massive robot’s energy blasts. He then tricks the Slayer into landing on a condemned building causing it to fall through the roof. This gives Spider-Man the time he needs to get all the way back to Queens so he can save Aunt May from the Mini-Slayers. Unfortunately, when he gets to Queens the Spider-Slayer manages to catch up. Starting to get tired, Spider-Man decides that the only way he can get to the others is to destroy the Spider-Slayer. The web-slinger lays into the robot with all of his strength and after a flurry of blows destroys the robot. Spider-Man is surprised that he managed to pull it off. With the destruction of the Spider-Slayer, the Mini-Slayers suddenly power down and fall lifelessly to the ground. Inside the Daily Bugle, Alistair Smythe is horrified to see the Mini-Slayers protecting him suddenly become inert. That’s when J. Jonah Jameson comes storming in with a baseball bat to show Smythe just how much of a coward he really is. While back in Queens, Peter Parker checks on his Aunt May and discovers that she is fine. While he makes small talk he looks around and finds an inert Mini-Slayers laying on the floor and crushes it under his foot.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Alistair Smythe, J. Jonah Jameson, Jill Stacy, Randy Robertson, Glory Grant, Aunt May, Marla Madison
Continuity Notes
Spencer Smythe has been blackmailing J. Jonah Jameson since Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #16. The costume that was used to lure Spider-Man was stolen in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #18 and sold to J. Jonah Jameson in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #18.
Spider-Man asks if Jameson is calling the Scorpion since Jameson helped him get into the “I Hate Spider-Man Business”. This is a reference to the fact that J. Jonah Jameson financed the experiment that turned MacDonald Gargan into the Scorpion in Amazing Spider-Man #20. This is also referencing the fact that Alistair’s father, Spencer, was originally hired by Jameson to build the first Spider-Slayer in Amazing Spider-Man #25. Spencer became obsessed with destroying Spider-Man until his death in Amazing Spider-Man #192. Alistair started following in his father’s footsteps in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19.
Senator Kelly announced his bid to run for President of the United States in X-Men (vol. 2) #102. Stewart Ward offered his support last issue.
The strange boils on Ward’s hand are the result of being infected with a Z’Nox pathogen as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #23-24.
They want to talk to Peter about the apparent death of Mary Jane in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13. Everyone believes Mary Jane died in a plane crash however she survived as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #29.
Randy starts talking about people their age and says they’re just “kids”. Let’s do some math here. Per Civil War #2, Peter Parker states he was 15 when he first got his spider-powers. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 this story happens roughly 10 years after Spider-Man got his powers, making Peter and Randy about 25 here, they’re hardly children, but I think it’s fair to assume that Randy is exaggerating.
Glory points out that she has known Peter much longer than Jill Stacy. Glory first met Peter in Amazing Spider-Man #140. Based on the Timescale, Peter and Glory have known each other for roughly six years at the time of this story.
