At the end of last issue, Spider-Man was shocked to
discover that the potion he took to rid himself of his spider powers had
instead caused him to grow four extra arms! Peter agonizes about what to do,
realizing that the effects could very well prove permanent! Peter then receives
a call from Gwen, with plans to go see a movie, but has to decline, telling her
he’ll be out of town for a while. She hangs up, thinking he no longer wants to
see her, as Peter dreads what could happen if Aunt May were to discover his
current condition. Convinced the shock would kill her, he feels that at that
point, he’d be just as much of a menace as everyone already thinks he is! Peter
then receives another call, this time from Robbie and Jameson, with another
photo assignment for him. He’s forced to decline this as well, siting a case of
mono as the reason. While Jameson is irate as usual, Robbie can’t help but feel
that something more might be going on with Peter…
Now feeling like he’s ruined his relationships with
both Gwen and the Daily Bugle in mere minutes, Peter suddenly remembers that
there is someone who might be able to help! He phones Curt Connors and after
giving as many details as he’s comfortable with, Connors offers to let Spidey
stay at his summer home in Southampton, complete with a lab should he need it.
Spidey then heads to make his way there while struggling to adjust to suddenly
having four extra arms. After a ride atop the Long Island railroad, Spidey
finally makes it to the slightly foreboding summer house. Though nothing seems
to be troublesome and he’s the only one there, Spider-Man still can’t shake the
feeling that something isn’t quite right.
Meanwhile, on a nearby ship just a mile offshore, the
crew conspire to avenge their captain, who was found dead that morning.
Realizing it must have been the work of the strange vampiric creature they
found adrift in the ocean, they head to where he’s hiding out to exact their
revenge. They pile on him, but the creature easily escapes and flees, hiding
from the crew on the ship until nighttime comes. Once it’s nighttime, the
creature, Morbius, stalks through the ship, quenching his vampiric thirst by feeding
on each one of the remaining crew members. With the entire crew now dead,
Morbius dives from the ship into the ocean and eventually washes ashore around
dawn. Here, he finds refuge in the attic of the very summer home that
Spider-Man currently resides in, to wait out until the sun has set once more!
In that same home’s lab, Spider-Man has been working
tirelessly for two days on a serum that may cure him, to no avail! Spider-Man lashes out, frustrated at his lack
of progress which captures the attention of Morbius as he makes his way
downstairs. Deciding that Spider-Man would perfect to quench his thirst,
Morbius pounces on the unaware Spidey. Spidey quickly realizes that his
attacker is much stronger than expected and fights him off as best he can.
However, Spider-Man’s exhaustion from two full days working non-stop catches up
with him, allowing Morbius to overpower and defeat him! Just as Morbius is
about to feed on Spider-Man, he's interrupted by the arrival of Curt Connors!
Morbius attacks Connors, whose adrenaline causes him to transform once more
into the Lizard! At that moment, Spidey awakens once more to discover that he
now has two monstrous problems to deal with! To be continued!
For the special marvelite in you