Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #131

Picking right up from last issue, Spider-Man stares through the window in shock as Doctor Octopus is about to marry Aunt May! Before the ceremony can proceed however, Hammerhead and his men break down the door and start firing! Doctor Octopus fights back briefly before fleeing with Aunt May, leaving his men to handle Hammerhead and his goons. Spidey spots the fleeing duo and swings around just in time to catch Doc Ock and Aunt May exiting an escape tunnel. Doc Ock knocks Spidey away and Spidey decides to hang back until he can ensure Aunt May’s safety. Doc Ock activates a secret, hidden hanger and he and Aunt May board an aircraft. Hammerhead and his men fire at the helicopter in vain before boarding their own aircraft to take pursuit. Spidey then stealthily hitches a ride on Hammerhead’s helicopter while wondering how much more there is to this whole thing than meets the eye!

Back at Betty and Ned’s Christmas Eve party, the two ask Mary Jane where Peter ran off to. She claims he’s given her the cold shoulder and Ned says that he’ll come around. Mary Jane pretends not to be hurt by this and claims she has another party to get to, while Betty sees right through her, knowing that she’s just scared of how she feels. Robbie then weighs in that Peter is capable of making his own decisions, and that maybe they should just leave things be. Meanwhile, the two helicopters make their way north to Canada, while Hammerhead surmises that Doc Ock is headed to someplace that Aunt May inherited, clueing Spidey in that Hammerhead is unaware of all the details. As they get closer, everything becomes clear as they approach a Canadian island! Turns out, Aunt May had inherited an island housing one of the world’s most advanced nuclear processing plants! Doc Ock had learned of this fact which set his plan in motion to marry her and then secretly kill her, leaving the plant legally his to do with as he pleased!

Doc Ock and Aunt May land while the approaching Hammerhead fires on them! He rams his aircraft down onto Octavius’s, allowing Spidey to jump off and take off after Ock. Spidey attempts to grab Aunt May, leading to a confrontation between the two old enemies! Spidey and Doc Ock engage in short but sweet fight, until Spidey is able to gain some leverage and flip Ock over. Spidey wails on Doc Ock until he’s unconscious, his anger over Ock’s plans for Aunt May only fueling him! Spider-Man then grabs Aunt May and swings off in the direction of the power plant, hoping to lose his pursuers so he can double back and commandeer one of the helicopters. Doc Ock regains consciousness and he and his men chase after Spidey, with Hammerhead and his guys not far behind. Spidey is able to lose them as planned and boards one of the helicopters with Aunt May, taking off as soon as he figures out the controls. Doc Ock and Hammerhead’s forces end up running into each other in the plant. Against Ock’s warnings, Hammerhead rams at him, striking an important reactor and setting off a chain reaction, causing the entire place to go up in a massive explosion! Spidey watches the explosion in awe as he makes his way back to New York with Aunt May.

In an epilogue, the Christmas Eve party wraps up near dawn, leaving only Betty and Mary Jane. Betty asks MJ how she feels about Peter, and MJ admits that she’s not sure. She’s scared about loving Peter, feeling that she likes him too much to get too involved together. Feeling like things are getting too heavy, Mary Jane heads off, deciding to think about everything another day.