Our story begins with Spider-Man swinging through a
heavy snowfall, on the lookout for Kraven the Hunter, who escaped last issue.
While staying on the move to keep warm, Spidey swings past the municipal
prison, before deciding to call it a night. Meanwhile, inside that very prison,
the Vulture lies in the infirmary, near death, due to a mishap in the workshop.
The Vulture demands to speak to his cellmate, Blackie Drago, and divulges to
Blackie the location of his last pair of Vulture wings, merely 500 yards north
of the prison. Blackie laughs in triumph, revealing that he had arranged the
workroom mishap to get Vulture to tell him the location of the wings, after he
had been after the information for months. Blackie leaves satisfied while the
Vulture furiously thinks of all of the times he could’ve beaten Spider-Man in
his apparent final moments, leaving it to Blackie to finish what he started.
Later that night, Blackie knocks out a guard and escapes in the car he arrived
in. He drives to the location of the hidden wings and puts them on, escaping
the guards after a shaky start.
The next morning, Peter and Harry Osborn drive to
class through the snow, and Harry notes that Peter seems rather sick. At class
they run in to Gwen Stacy, sporting a new hairstyle, and Harry comments that
Peter must like it due to looking more like Mary Jane’s hairdo, annoying Peter.
After Peter’s teacher, Dr. Miles Warren, notes how feverish Peter seems, he
sends Peter home to get some rest. At home, Peter catches an editorial by
J. Jonah Jameson on TV, detailing how Spider-Man failed to catch Kraven last
issue, followed by a news report about Blackie Drago’s prison escape from the
previous night, causing Peter to stress about the new Vulture on top of feeling
sick. Back with Blackie, he fashions a helmet to go along with his wings and
practices his flying, getting the hang of it, and heading out to loot the city,
only not caring about his predecessor’s vendetta against Spider-Man.
The new Vulture proceeds to go on a crime spree,
robbing people and establishments before they know what hit them, noting that
even Spider-Man hasn’t dared to come after him. We see however, that this is
because Peter has still been feverishly ill the whole day, barely able to stand
as he tries to don his Spidey costume. He considers contacting Daredevil to
tackle the new Vulture in his stead but decides that he owes it to himself and
the city to try anyway, hoping that the swinging will help him to feel better.
Meanwhile, the new Vulture swoops down upon a man carrying a briefcase with
negotiable bonds, but finds the man chained to the case. He then flies off with
the man, perching him atop the George Washington Bridge, to give him time to
get the case from the man where no one can interfere. Spidey follows the police
cars heading toward the scene and spots the new Vulture and his prey atop the
bridge, knowing he’s the only one who can get there in time.
Spidey surprises the new Vulture, knocking him into a
tailspin, while lowering the man safely to the cops on the bridge. Spidey then
narrowly avoids an attack from the new Vulture, webbing onto his legs and being
carried off in the process. The new Vulture cleverly whips Spidey into the
bridge, stunning him, with Spidey’s continued fever only making things worse.
The new Vulture then carries Spidey off, to the hero’s secret relief, as he was
beginning to lose consciousness. We then cut briefly, as Mary Jane Watson,
Aunt May, and Anna Watson pay a visit to Peter’s apartment after hearing of his
illness. Harry tells them that Peter isn’t there and that he must be feeling
better at the Silver Spoon and Mary Jane suggests she and Harry meet him there.
Back with Spidey, he frees himself from the Vulture’s grasp and fights back,
landing a good kick before perching on a wall. However, Spidey’s fever finally
gets the better of him and he begins to pass out just before the Vulture lands
a final attack, kicking Spidey out of the air and leaving him defeated on a
rooftop in the snowy cold! To be continued!