Ben Urich attends the funeral of John Fernandez, a Daily Bugle staffer who was killed in the Stamford incident. At the reception afterward, Ben meets Sally Floyd of the Alternative and they get to talking about the Superhuman Registration Act; Ben supports it, Sally opposed, but it looks like the Act will be passed into law and divide the nation, civil liberty versus civil comfort. At a meeting with his editor, Ben grows uneasy about the Bugle’s shallow sensationalistic coverage of the issue. Later that night, Sally gets a visit from Spider-Man (in his red and gold "Iron Spider" suit), scaring her. He gives her an interview where he confesses his doubts about the Superhuman Registration Act and how making his identity public could hurt his family. As he leaves, he advises her to attend Iron Man’s press conference the next day…
…so she does. From the podium, the Golden Avenger defends the Superhuman Registration Act and talks about his uncertainty over keeping his identity secret. When challenged by a reporter he explains that he would feel like a hypocrite by keeping his secrets, so he publicly unmasks as Tony Stark….
Story #2The Accused Part One
Writer: Paul Jenkins. Penciler: Steve Lieber. Inker: Steve Lieber. Colorist: June Chung.
Synopsis
A farmer and a police officer search a remote field in
Upstate New York late at night for what they think is a small plane crash. Instead they find
Speedball, blown five hundred miles by the explosion in
Stamford Connecticut. A residual power buildup then kills the two witnesses. At a science lab, doctors discover the energy he absorbed burned out his Speedball superpowers while leaving him the sole survivor of the blast. As he comes to, he meets SHIELD
Agent Eric Marshall who informs him that: 1) all his
New Warriors teammates are dead, 2) so are 612 residents of Stamford, 3) Speedball is now powerless, and 4) he is under arrest….
Story #3(No title given)
Writer: Paul Jenkins. Penciler: Kaye Kobayashi. Inker: Kaye Kobayashi. Colorist: Christina Strain.
Synopsis
The relocation and internment of Japanese citizens during
World War 2 is paralleled with
Spider-Man’s crisis of conscience over the
Superhero Registration Act.