Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #122

Spider-Man holds the lifeless body of Gwen Stacy as the Green Goblin taunts that he’s about to join her in death! Spidey carefully places Gwen’s body at the dock of the bridge and swings back up to attack the Goblin, stating that he’ll be the one who’s going to die! Spidey jumps on the Goblin, wrapping his legs around his neck and mercilessly wails on him! Blinded by his rage, Spidey doesn’t notice the Goblin flying towards the bridge until it’s too late, the Goblin knocking Spidey loose on one of the bridge cables. Spidey saves himself from falling and swings back up to find the Goblin’s already escaped. Spider-Man then notices that a crowd has found Gwen and swings down, putting himself between her and the crowd, absolutely refusing that anyone come near her! Spider-Man cradles Gwen, promising that no one will hurt her, as their entire history flashes through his mind, the good and the bad. Spider-Man is pulled from his thoughts by the police telling him the ambulance has arrived. He clarifies that an ambulance won’t help, and blames himself for her death! Based on that apparent confession, the police try to take him in for questioning, but Spidey throws them off and swings away, on a mission to find the Goblin and make him pay!

Peter’s first stop is to check out Osborn’s townhouse, where he finds Harry still in the midst of a drug induced fit, not quite sure what’s real and what isn’t. He realizes that Harry is no use to his search and makes the decision to ignore his friend and continue his quest for revenge, while Harry pleads for Peter not to leave him all alone. Spider-Man then makes his way to the Daily Bugle, hoping Robbie may be able to help him find Osborn. He arrives just as Robbie receives the news of Gwen’s death, which he confirms to the shocked city editor. He asks Robbie to make some calls to find out if Norman Osborn has been seen anywhere lately and if he owns any unusual properties. Robbie is able to discover that Osborn’s been seen near a warehouse he owns on 23^rd and 9^th avenue. Grateful, Spider-Man begins to depart just as Jameson arrives, decrying Spider-Man as a murderer given he’s being reported as responsible for Gwen’s death. Spidey webs up Jameson’s mouth and swings off to investigate the lead Robbie found.

Meanwhile, at that very warehouse, the Green Goblin prepares for Spider-Man’s arrival. The Goblin hears Spider-Man arrive and flies out to surprise him but ends up getting blindsided himself! Spider-Man dodges his attacks before smashing down on the Goblin’s glider, wrecking it. The Goblin lashes out in anger at that while demeaning the worth of Gwen’s life by comparison. This causes Spider-Man to totally lose it, as he mercilessly hits the Goblin over and over in a blind rage! Just before he can kill the Goblin, Spider-Man suddenly snaps out of it, realizing what he almost did. The Goblin uses the opportunity to call his remote-controlled glider, situating it behind Spider-Man. As the glider careens toward Spider-Man, he’s suddenly alerted by his spider-sense and ducks out of the way, causing the glider to slam into the Goblin and impale him against the wall! The Goblin slumps to the ground dead, and Spider-Man discovers that it doesn’t make him feel at all better. If anything, all he feels is even more empty and alone. Spidey exits the warehouse, as a mysterious figure watches from the shadows!

Epilogue: Peter returns to his apartment to find Mary Jane there, having waited hours. She says she heard about Gwen and Peter lashes out at her in grief, not believing she’d really care and tells her to just leave so he doesn’t spoil her fun. Stunned and hurt by his words, Mary Jane opens the door to leave, and hesitates. She contemplates a moment, then makes the decision to stay and comfort Peter, closing the door with a “click.”