Peter Parker: Spider-Man #49
The Big Answer
Spider-Man has been sent cryptic messages by a strange woman who was involved in stealing the Eye of Persia from the AKG Building. After doing some research on the internet, Spider-Man is drawn to a yoga instructor named Mister Singh. He has sought out Singh because he is an activist seeking justice for his home village of Malpura which was a victim of a chemical leak caused by the AKG. Although the company paid out millions in compensations, Singh still protests against the company, suggesting to him that what the company did in Malpura was a lot worse than what is known. Singh recounts the events of that day for Spider-Man, saying that he and his brothers headed into the market to purchase a goat. Suddenly, the town was filled with black fog. Amid the chaos, there was also the sound of gunfire and people barking orders. In the aftermath of the chemical leak, four thousand people were dead. After hearing this story, Spider-Man then shows him the strange cloth with a question mark that was left with him by a strange female the night before. Seeing this brings great joy to Singh who tells Spider-Man that he was visited by a goddess. He says that the wall-crawler was visited by Tara, the most important goddess of the Buddist religion. He explains that she is usually the embodiment of compassion, but the garment she left for Spider-Man suggests that she has come to avenge the people of Malpura. He then says that Spider-Man must have been chosen and that Tara will seek him out when the time is right to strike against AKG. With that, Spider-Man leaves to look for signs of the mystery woman. After Spider-Man leaves, Singh looks at his hands as strange energy starts to crackle from them.
Later, a young woman suddenly strips off her clothes as she undergoes a transformation into the mystery woman that has been targeting AKG. While at that moment, Mister Kirkland — the head of AKG — is informed by his secretary who has called to ask about the silk scarf they found in the safe on the night the Eye of Persia was stolen. As Mister Corman watches him, Kirkland quickly ends the call, dismissing it as nothing. At that same time, Spider-Man is swinging around the AKG building waiting for a sign when suddenly he spots a glowing lotus on a nearby rooftop, the mystery woman’s calling card.
At that same moment, Kirkland and Corman are meeting with a woman named Tara Virango,[1] the woman who stole back the Eye from them. She tells the two men that she stole the Eye of Persia as it belongs to the people of Malpura and that it is a suitable repayment for the people who live with the illness that has plagued her people. However, they refuse to allow her to keep it and Corman pulls out a water gun containing a strange black liquid. He explains that he is holding a watered-down version of the control virus they sprayed on the town. Since Virango has already been infected getting sprayed with it will kill her. When Kirkland refuses to be a party to this, Corman reminds him that it is too late as he has enough documentation that proves that AKG was commissioned to create an intelligent nano-metal virus and to test it by releasing it on a non-threatening environment. Virago is shocked to learn that the “accident” was actually planned. Before Corman can spray her with the chemicals, Spider-Man comes swinging in and kicks Corman to the floor. When Corman tries to spray the chemical wildly prompting Tara to push Spider-Man to the floor. Unfortunately, a drop of the virus does end up landing on Spider-Man causing him a great deal of pain as his spider-sense mentally links him to Tara. Through this connection, he learns that the virus was made in order to enhance latent human/mutant tendencies for military applications. When Spider-Man snaps out of it, Tara tells him that they must stop Corman.[2]
The pair chase him to a research lab where he tries to toss a vial of the virus at Virango, but Spider-Man encases it in webbing. Running for cover, Corman warns them to leave before he sprays them. With Spider-Man climbing up to the roof, Virango confronts Corman and tells him to surrender. He refuses, although he admits that the woman has a lot of guts to confront him, like this. When he tries to spray her, Spider-Man snatches his squirt gun away. Trying to escape, Corman ends up falling into canisters of the virus, getting covered in the nano-metal. Corman is both consumed and transformed by the nano-metal, transforming into a creature that calls itself the Virus. The Virus then escapes by eating through the floor, warning Spider-Man that this won’t be forgotten and that they are connected. That’s when Spider-Man notices that Tara has disappeared. That’s when Kirkman enters the room and warns Spider-Man that the men responsible for creating the virus are too high up for him to bring to justice. This may be true, by Spider-Man figures he can get Kirkman to face justice after he recovers the security footage of Corman implicating the businessman in who the whole ordeal.
Later, Peter Parker is out for a walk musing about how he should figure out how his spider-sense actually works when he happens upon a newsstand. He stops to read the front page news and learns that AGK’s owners are denying allegations that were made. As he reads, Tara Virango puts her hands over Peter’s eyes. She then whispers “thank you” before removing her hands. When Peter turns to ask who the woman is he discovers that she has disappeared and in her place is a lotus on the ground.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Enigma (unidentified), Virus, Barker
Continuity Notes
The mystery woman in this story is never identified by name in this story. Her real name is later revealed at Tara Virango and that she operates under the codename Enigma was revealed in Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1. I refer to her by name in this summary so I’m not writing “that mystery woman” over and over.
This story suggests that there is some kind of connection between Spider-Man’s spider-sense and the Buddist goddess Tara, however, these connections are never fully explored.
