Tombstone Territory

Joe Robertson meets with Spider-Man in Battery Park after a message was left with Peter Parker.[1] He expresses his concerns about his last encounter with Tombstone, which ended with the mobster being exposed to a dose of Diox-3, and that Hammerhead may still be alive.[2] Joe is afraid to go to the police for fear that Tombstone will harm him or his family and asks Spider-Man to protect his family should anything happen to him. Spider-Man promises and Joe leaves, but not before Spider-Man secretly tags him with a spider-tracer. This entire scene was witnessed by Nick Katzenberg who is once more looking for dirt to use against his colleagues. He watches as Joe Robertson runs past a payphone and calls a cab to go to East Rockport, Long Island. Katzenberg decides to follow after him, thinking about how Joe had recently gone to jail because of his failure to report a murder committed by Tombstone.[3]

Soon, they arrive at the mansion owned by Hammerhead. Katzenberg sneaks onto the property, narrowly setting off a tripwire. Snooping around the property, he finds a massive arsenal stashed away in a stage. Inside, Joe Robertson is brought into Hammerhead's office to meet with Tombstone. There he discovers that Hammerhead has been beaten and tied up. Tombstone then enters the room, explaining that he did this to Hammerhead because he wanted to eliminate Joe.[4] Tombstone refused to let Joe die by anyone's hands but his own. When Tombstone steps into the light, Robertson is horrified to see what the Diox-3 has done to Tombstone's face. However, Joe refuses to be intimidated by Tombstone, even though he now has powers. At this point, Spider-Man has arrived on the scene and is spotted by Nick Katzenberg. After Tombstone explains how the Diox-3 changed his body and made it invulnerable, Spider-Man comes crashing in through the window. As Spider-Man deals with Tombstone's armed guards, Nick Katzenberg snaps photos from the window. Ultimately, Tombstone manages to strike Spider-Man from behind, knocking the hero back out onto the lawn, landing on Katzenberg. Meanwhile, Hammerhead has managed to break free from his bonds but is quickly knocked out by Tombstone.

The mobster then goes outside to finish off Spider-Man, but the wall-crawler manages to break free from his choking grasp. Turning it around, the web-slinger punches Tombstone in the face. However, the blow doesn't even phase the villain who lashes out on the wall-crawler, venting his frustration about growing up as an albino, African American. Spider-Man manages to web up Tombstone to the side of the weapons stash. Suddenly, Hammerhead comes out of his mansion with a Tommy gun and begins to open fire at Tombstone. Unaware that he is stuck to a shed full of explosives, Tombstone gloats about his newly acquired invulnerability. The shed then violently explodes with Tombstone in the center of the blast. In the aftermath of the explosion, Spider-Man checks to see if Joe is okay. Meanwhile, Nick Katzenberg is upset because the blast wrecked his camera and ruined his film.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Joe Robertson, Tombstone, Hammerhead, Nick Katzenberg

Continuity Notes

1. Spider-Man mentions how Joe and Peter haven't been getting along recently. Joe has had ethical issues after Peter "faked" a photo of Spider-Man for a Daily Bugle advertisement in Web of Spider-Man #63.

2. Tombstone was exposed to Diox-3 in Web of Spider-Man #66.

3. Joe failed to report Tombstone 20 years prior, as revealed in The Spectacular Spider-Man #139. Joe ended up going to prison in The Spectacular Spider-Man #150, but was ultimately was pardoned in The Spectacular Spider-Man #161.

4. Hammerhead hired the Hobgoblin to kill Joe Robertson, an attempt that was ruined by Tombstone himself in The Spectacular Spider-Man #161.