Spectacular Spider-Man #126
Sudden Impact
While trying to get photos of the new Spider-Woman, Spider-Man finds himself between the masked heroine and the Wrecker. Having just destroyed the disc that Spider-Woman was seeking to obtain, the Wrecker now vows to kill them both. The two arachnid heroes are on the defensive until Spider-Woman manages to grab the Wrecker's crowbar. However, when she tries to use it against him, she discovers that he cannot be harmed by its magic. Spider-Man swings in and rescues Spider-Woman before she can be harmed and they both flee. Spider-Man manages to tag the Wrecker with a spider-tracer on the way. They stop to rest at the New York City Transit Authority. Meanwhile, the Wrecker thinks about how his plan is falling apart. He recalls how he was given his powers from the Norn Queen years earlier. He thinks about how he was regularly defeated by Thor until he divided his powers up among the members of the Wrecking Crew. However, Thor recently stripped the rest of the Wrecking Crew of their power, transferring it all back to him.
The Wrecker then begins to wonder what to do next as he has not worked solo for some time. He also finds himself conflicted, thinkingof his ill mother. He wants her to be proud of him before she dies, but can't bring himself to go straight. At that same moment, Dirk's mother is watching the news coverage of her son battling Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. She is aware of her son's criminal career and blames herself. She raised Dirk alone after her husband died, and he fell into a bad crowd. She looks at a letter she received with a large sum of money in it.She knows it came from her son, but refuses to use any of the money he has sent to her from the crimes he has committed. All she wants is for her son to go straight before she dies. A few hour later, both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman are in an out of business diner. There, Spider-Woman calls Michael Clements who is unhappy that the disc he hired her to obtained was destroyed. However, he secretly gloats that this failure will keep Spider-Woman under his service a longer. He then calls his daughter to check on how she is doing. Meanwhile, Spider-Man has been trying to get ahold of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, only to discover that both teams are out of town. With nobody else in the city who can stop the Wrecker, Spider-Man tells Spider-Woman that it is up to them. That's when Spider-Man tells her that he tagged the Wrecker with a spider-tracer. Spider-Woman refuses to go, as she has to meet with Clemson's helicopter otherwise she will not be able to see her daughter. Spider-Man can't shirk his responsibility and decides to go after the Wrecker, with or without her.
Meanwhile, the Wrecker has arrived at the Tombs Prison to free the rest of the Wrecking Crew. He easily trounces the guards and frees his comrades and they escape. This plays right into Thunderball's hands as he intends to steal the Wrecker's power for himself. When Spider-Man arrives, he is too late to stop the breakout but learns that the villains escaped through the utility tunnels. At that moment, Spider-Woman recovers her handbag from the roof and spots a notebook that the Wrecker dropped during their battle. Hearing Dirk's mother calls out for him from the house across the street, Spider-Woman's maternal instincts draw her there. She explains that she is also a mother and asks for advice on what she should do. Anne Garthwaite tells Spider-Woman to do the right thing, for her daughter. Recalling how Spider-Woman recently fought her son, she tells the masked heroine to give a note to him for her and then dies. As the ETM's deal with Anne's body, Spider-Woman takes the letter and leaves. At that moment, at one of Baron Zemo's secret safe houses, the Wrecker and his teammates recoupe from the escape. Thunderball figures that with the sophisticated computers on hand he can recreate the design for the bomb on the disc that was destroyed. The Wrecker likes the sound of that and intends to retire after they make one last big score. However, Thunderball is not sold, pointing out that the Wrecker loves this life too much to give it up.
When Piledriver and Bulldozer ask when the Wrecker is going to divide up his powers again, their leader isn't sure he can. That's when Thunderball tells him to help with some heavy lifting. While the Wrecker's back is turned, Thunderball takes two live wires and presses them against the Wrecker's temple. He is willing to kill the Wrecker to get his power back, but they are interrupted by the arrival of Spider-Man. The Wrecker and Thunderball agree to put their differences aside to kill the wall-crawler. When Spider-Man sees the live wires he thinks how he used electricity to stop Thunderball in the past and tries to get them. However, Thunderball manages to incapacitate Spider-Man with the wires. He then attacks the Wrecker, who is still weakened by the electrical jolt he received earlier. Thunderball manages to wrest the Wrecker's crowbar from his hands, claiming his powers. Before Thunderball can use his newly gained power, Spider-Woman arrives and tries to keep him back with a psi-web. However, he manages to break loose, but buy this time, Spider-Man has recovered and attacks again.
This distracts Thunderball long enough for the Wrecker to get close enough to try and wrestle the crowbar from his hands. Pulling his crowbar free, the Wrecker decides to let Spider-Man and Spider-Woman go as they helped him regain his powers. However, Spider-Man refuses to stand down and resumes his attack. He easily overpowers Spider-Man, but before he can kill the wall-crawler, Spider-Woman hansd him the note from his mother. Dirk is shocked to find all the money orders he sent his mother inside, uncashed. Reading the letter, his mother's final words were telling Dirk to go straight as there is a good person inside him somewhere. Telling the Wrecker that his mother died moments earlier, the Wrecker lashes out, blaming the authorities for keeping him away from his mother. However, the Wrecker realizes that if he hadn't have gone straight sooner he would have been there for his mother during her final moments. With no fight left in him, the heartbroken villain leaves. The next day, Spider-Woman goes to Washington, D.C. to meet with Michael. He warns her about failing anymore missions, saying that she will become a fugitive of the law for real and never see her daughter again.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Bulldozer, Piledriver, Thunderball) Anne Grathwaite, Mike Clemson, Rachel Carpenter
Continuity Notes
The Wrecker got his powers in Thor #148. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, it has been roughly five years between that story and this one.
The Wrecker created his Crew in Defenders #17.
Thor had just recently stripped the Wrecking Crew of their powers in Avengers #276.
At the time of this story, the Avengers are battling Tyrak on Hydro base, as seen in Avengers #278. Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four are away at Johnny Storm's wedding, as seen in Fantastic Four #300.
Thunderball was felled with a ton of electricity back in Amazing Spider-Man #248.
