Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #17
Hero of the People Part 1
Spider-Man is thinking about his various troubles as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man when he suddenly sees someone shining a spider-signal into the sky.[1] Following the signal to its source, Spider-Man is attacked by a group of costumed mercenaries. After defeating them, Silver Sable and the Sandman appear and dismiss the guards. As it turns out, Silver Sable was seeking out Spider-Man in order to hire him for another job. Inviting the wall-crawler into the Symkarian Embassy, she explains her current assignment while also going through her workout routine. She explains that rebels have overthrown the monarch in Belgruin, a nation that shares a border with Symkaria. The royal family has been held hostage and Silver Sable International has been hired to rescue them. Spider-Man thinks this sounds like a routine job for Sable and asks why she needs him. She explains that this operation needs some superhuman help because the kidnappers are their old foes, the Sinister Syndicate.[2] When he asks why Sable can’t go to the Avengers, she explains that the king of Belgruin is a known tyrant and the rebels intend to replace the current government with a democracy. The web-slinger initially rejects this idea, thinking that Sable is willing to do anything for a buck. That’s when Sable tells him that one of the hostages is the king’s daughter Bogdana Radischev and the rebels won’t hesitate to kill her along with the rest of the royal family. She goes can relate to such tactics led to her mother getting murdered and doesn’t want to see another girl suffer a similar tragedy.[3] She then questions if Spider-Man will stand by and let a helpless child die.
At that moment, in Belgruin, the disposed of king watches as the people celebrate their newfound freedom. He asks Gregori, one of the leaders of the rebellion, to let his daughter go and he will consider sparing everyone when he returns to power. Ignoring these threats, Gregori thanks the Beetle for the Sinister Syndicate’s help in liberating his country. The Beetle is genuinely glad to help and actually likes playing the hero for once. However, the other members of his team could care less and are only in it for the money. He checks in on the rest of the Syndicate who are growing restless. The group comes to blows when Boomerang’s complaints result in Hydro-Man picking a fight with him. Before the whole group can get into a huge fight the Beetle breaks them up and orders them to calm down or he’ll get their boss involved. Fearing their employer, Boomerang and the others stop fighting instantly. The Beetle can understand their fear as he goes to report to the boss to give him a status update. He tells his boss that the freedom fighters are completely unaware of their true reasons for helping overthrow the monarchy. Although pleased, the mastermind behind this plot is certain they will be opposed telling Beetle to prepare for company as the king has powerful friends.
By this time, Spider-Man has joined Silver Sable and her troops on a plane to Belgruin in a stealth aircraft. Spider-Man is wearing his black-and-white costume, a look that the Sandman approves of, resulting in the pair trading insults until it’s time to parachute into the country.[4] However, their arrival doesn’t go unseen as soon after deploying his parachute, Spider-Man’s spider-sense warns him of danger. When freedom fighters start shooting at him, Spider-Man releases his parachute and lands in the trees in order to get to cover. Isolating a lone freedom fighter, Spider-Man knocks him out and steals his clothes so he can try to blend in with the rebels as Peter Parker. Eventually, Peter ends up in town where he witnesses the Sinister Syndicate being hailed as heroes. Unfortunately, Peter’s cover is blown when a woman mistakes him for her nephew because of the clothes he is wearing. When he can’t respond to her in Belgruin’s native tongue she alerts the others that there is a spy in their midst. This forces Peter to make a hasty retreat so he can change back into Spider-Man. He is soon ambushed by the Sinister Syndicate who begin overpowering the web-spinner. The Beetle tells his men to keep Spider-Man alive as they need him for questioning. In the ensuing battle, the Beetle blasts Spider-Man sending him falling onto the street below. He then reins in his men, telling them that the people will handle the situation from here. Sure enough, Spider-Man is swarmed by an angry mob of Belgruin people.
Watching from a window in the royal palace, the Sinister Syndicate’s employer is pleased to see his old foe being beaten by the people. This employer turns out to be Doctor Octopus who gloats over being considered a hero while Spider-Man is an enemy of the state who will be executed.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Silver Sable, Sandman, Sinister Syndicate (Rhino, Speed Demon, Boomerang, Beetle, Hydro-Man), Bogdan Radischev, Bogdana Radischev, Doctor Octopus
Continuity Notes
The narrative of this story states that this story takes place between Amazing Spider-Man #288 and 289. To set the scene, Spider-Man’s internal monologue goes over various events that happened around the time of those two issues:
The first thing he states is that he has been bouncing back and forth between his classic red-and-blue costume and a black costume. This black costume is not the alien symbiote that later became part of Venom. He wore that costume between Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 and Amazing Spider-Man #258. This he is actually a cloth version of the black-and-white costume that was made for him by the Black Cat in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #99. He will alternate between the two costumes until Amazing Spider-Man #300, when Mary Jane’s encounter with Venom leads him to stop wearing it.
Speaking of Mary Jane, Spider-Man also states that he is thinking about proposing to Mary Jane. Peter would eventually propose to MJ in Amazing Spider-Man #290. She said yes. In the original timeline, the couple got married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, after Mephisto altered reality in Amazing Spider-Man #545, Peter accidentally no-shows on their wedding the couple doesn’t get married but remain engaged for years, as seen in Amazing SPider-Man #638-639.
He mentions trading punches with the Absorbing Man and Titania. whom he fought in Amazing Spider-Man #283.
Lastly, he mentions his battles with the Hobgoblin, Jack O’Lantern, Hammerhead, the Rose, and The Punisher. This is a reference to the Gang War story-arc which took place from Amazing Spider-Man #284-288.
Spider-Man and Silver Sable previously fought the Sinister Syndicate in Amazing Spider-Man #280-281.
The death of Silver Sable’s mother was first detailed in Amazing Spider-Man #279.
Spider-Man quips that people mistake him for a villain as often as people mistake the Sandman for being a hero. At the time of this story, the Sandman had only recently reformed back in Marvel Two-In-One #86. He has been trying to atone for his criminal past by working for Silver Sable since Amazing Spider-Man #281.
