Web of Spider-Man #114
Who Among Us?
Following an argument with his son at a gala for the Macro Science Museum, J. Jonah Jameson returns to the Daily Bugle to think. He is upset that his son John Jameson is turning down his job offer to work for Ravencroft Institute instead.[1] His thoughts are interrupted by John, who has cooled down some since their argument. He has come in the hopes of talking his father into supporting his decision to work as chief of security for Ravnecroft. Seeing that his father isn't going to stop being stubborn about this, John decides not to waste his time, leaving his father to cry by himself. As John sees himself out, Lance Bannon arrives at the Bugle with rookie photographer Cole Cooper. Cole wants to know what Lance is so excited about, but Bannon convinces Cole to leave him alone. Ducking into a dark room, Lance begins developing a roll of film in the hopes of discovering who stole the FACADE armor earlier that evening. Unknown to Lance at this time, the thief has arrived at the Bugle in the FACADE armor seeking to cover up any discovery of his identity.
At that moment, across town, Spider-Man stops a carjacking in progress, however, this is not completed without the car getting wrecked. The owner of the car is furious as it was expensive and fresh off the lot. The wall-crawler sarcastically tells the man not to thank him and swings away. While back at the Daily Bugle, Lance has finished developing his film but needs to take a closer examination of the photos in order to learn the identity of FACADE. Unfortunately, just as he makes his discovery, FACADE smashes his way into the darkroom and breaks Bannon's neck, killing him instantly. Moments later, Betty Brant returns to the office and goes looking around to see who is still in. Looking in the darkroom she is horrified to find Lance's dead body and calls the police. Soon, she goes over the crime scene with Detective Sloan Chase and tells him that other than Lance's body she found evidence that J. Jonah Jameson and Cole Cooper were in the office recently as well. That's when Lance's fiancee Amy Powell arrives looking for Lance and learns the tragic news that her husband-to-be was just murdered. The following morning, as the Daily Bugle staff tries to go about their business, Detective Sloan meets with J. Jonah Jameson, his son John, and Cole Cooper. Since they were present around the time that Lance Bannon was murdered, he wants to hear their alibis for the night. John lies to the detective, telling him that he and his father went back to his place to discuss things after their argument. Cole explains that Lance told him to go home, and instead called Amy Powell on a payphone in order to trick her into convincing Lance to come home so he could go back to the Bugle and sneak a peek at his photos. While he investigates these alibis, Sloan tells the three men not to leave town.
Meanwhile, Betty Brant is conducting an investigation of her own. Unwilling to believe that the Jamesons or Cooper were responsible, she begins looking into Arthur Bryce and his butler, Victor as the next likely suspects. While in Forest Hills, Aunt May is returning home from shopping. Her mind is on the impostors that were posing as her in-laws and wonders how her nephew Peter is handling this.[2] She then answers a phone call and begins talking to a young man she is has spoken with before. He has called in to check and see how she is doing. She hopes that this man will come to New York so they can meet her family. Unfortunately, she has to let the young man go when she sees the front-page story in the Bugle about Lance Bannon's death so she can call her nephew and see how he is taking this recent tragedy. Sensing that there is trouble with the Parker family, this mystery caller decides to go to New York and investigate this.[3] That evening, Spider-Man has just read the news about Lance Bannon's death. Unwilling to go home to his wife Mary Jane at this moment, the wall-crawler decides to keep an eye on Betty Brant as she is potentially at risk.[4]
At that very moment, Betty Brant is going through the computer files in the Bugle's morgue trying to find more evidence of her suspicions. She is unaware that FACADE has returned to the Bugle in order to eliminate her as well. However, before he can get to Betty, FACADE is ambushed by Spider-Man. Their battle leads them to the basement printing presses. There, Spider-Man savagely attacks FACADE, but is pinned under tons of equipment. When guards arrive on the scene, FACADE escapes while Spider-Man pulls himself out from under the rubble. Meanwhile, Betty continues her research when she is interrupted by Archer Bryce's butler who asks her to meet with his employer. They go out to the limo parked outside of the Daily Bugle, but find no trace of Archer Bryce in the back seat. While high above, Spider-Man has just missed Betty inside the Bugle, and decides to look for her at her home. He wonders who is using the FACADE armor and where they are hiding, fearing that it could be right under his nose. The wall-crawler cannot be further from the truth as the FACADE armor stands empty inside a truck parked near the Daily Bugle.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Lance Bannon, Aunt May, John Jameson, FACADE, Cole Cooper, Ben Urich, Amy Powell, Ben Reilly (unidentified)
Continuity Notes
Jonah offered John a job as a special correspondent for the Daily Bugle in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #27. However, he took a job as head of security at Ravencroft in Web of Spider-Man Annual #10.
A couple claiming to be Richard and Mary Parker tracked down May and Peter in Amazing Spider-Man #365. They were later revealed to be impostors in Amazing Spider-Man #388. The real Richard and Mary Parker were killed two decades prior to this story as explained in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5.
This mystery person is identified as a clone of Peter Parker in Web of Spider-Man #117.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.
