Web of Spider-Man #4
Arms and the Man!
Spider-Man is staking out a warehouse where he observes a gang stealing crates full of fur coats. Using the cover of darkness, Spider-Man manages to ambush the thugs, taking down many. However, he loses the advantage when he gets tangled up in a rack of coats. He is dogpiled by some of the thugs but fights them off. The last of the gang tries to run over Spider-Man with the delivery truck. The wall-crawler is briefly blinded by the headlights but dodges it at the last moment. The truck smashes through a wall and tries to get away. Unfortunately for him, Spider-Man manages to leap onto the roof of the truck and forces it to crash. However, the drivers now stuck in a traffic jam get upset with the wall-crawler. Spider-Man pulls the wrecked truck off the road and when the police arrive he web-slings away.Having taken pictures, Spider-Man goes to the Daily Bugle building where he changes into Peter Parker. He stops briefly to say hello to Betty Leeds before heading in to try and sell his photos to Joe Robertson. Unfortunately for Peter, Joe Robertson isn't interested in more pictures of Spider-Man. On his way out, Peter bumps into J. Jonah Jameson, spilling the pictures on the floor. Jameson likes the photos and asks to use them in his revived Now Magazine. Once more, Jameson asks Peter to join his team, exclaiming that Now Magazine is going to be big. As he leaves, Peter thinks that becoming a photographer for Jameson's magazine he could pull in a lot more money than usual and considers taking some photography courses.
Meanwhile, at the Brooklyn Psychiatric Facility, Doctor George Jefferson is in a session with Otto Octavius, the criminal known as Doctor Octopus. He tries to get Otto to open up about his childhood, but Otto can't bring himself to talk about it at that moment. Jefferson understands and as he walks Octavius back to his room. He assures Otto that they will work to finish the work started by Mister Fantastic. He promises that they will get over his fear of Spider-Man and make him a productive member of society again. Otto decides to take a nap before lunch, and as Jefferson leaves he thinks about how people claim that Doctor Octopus can't be cured, and vows to prove them wrong. After a troubled sleep, Otto wakes up and sees a spider has made a web in the corner of his room and begins to panic. He remembers the last time he was defeated at the hands of Spider-Man, one of his most humiliating defeats. This is followed by memories of his return home from the Secret Wars, how the sheer power of the Molecule Man drove him to the brink of insanity. Suddenly, Doctor Octopus begins to hallucinate that he is being swarmed by a swarm of spiders.
This mental distress affects the mental link that Doctor Octopus has with his mechanical arms, which are stored in a facility deep below Manhattan. The arms begin to flail around in the holding cell, but this is dismissed by the guards. Suddenly, Otto's fear turns into rage and he crushes the spider in his room. This also commands the mechanical arms to break free and begin burrowing their way up to the surface. As Doctor Jefferson and the orderlies enter his room to sedate Otto, he has had another mental break. Without the conscious mind of Doctor Octopus controlling them, the mechanical arms go on a rampage through the city. Even with special equipment provided by SHIELD, the NYPD are unable to stop the arms. Peter Parker hears the reports of the rampage from a radio in an electronics store where he is purchasing a new lens for his photography. Grabbing a portable police band radio, Spider-Man follows the reports to the source of the rampage.
Spider-Man arrives just as the mechanical arms have broken Doctor Octopus out of his cell. Cradling the sleeping body of its master, the mechanical arms damage the foundation of the mental health facility. Spider-Man is forced to hold rescue those trapped inside, allowing the mechanical arms to flee with Octavius. Otto wakes up in one of his hideouts and realizes that his mechanical arms had freed him. Thinking of all the battles over the years with Spider-Man, and all the humiliating defeats, Doctor Octopus puts on his mechanical arms once again and vows that this time, he will destroy Spider-Man.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Betty Brant
Continuity Notes
Peter thinks about his recent break-up with the Black Cat. This happened in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #100.
Mister Fantastic freed Doctor Octopus from a fugue state in Fantastic Four #267.
The battle that Doctor Octopus remembers in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #79.
Doctor Octopus was involved in the Secret Wars from Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12. Otto witnessed as the Molecule Man used his powers to bring the city of Denver back to Earth and restore all the stars destroyed by the Beyonder.
There is an advertisement for a Sony Walkman in this shop. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as Walkman are an obsolete technology.
Among his recollections, Doctor Octopus recalls the accident that gave him his powers and his first battle with Spider-Man from Amazing Spider-Man #3. He also recalls the battle in which Spider-Man ripped off his mechanical arms in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #76.
