Spider-Man is on his way to the Daily Bugle with some
hot photos of the mayor looking bad that he knows will be worth some badly
needed money. He changes into Peter Parker on the roof and heads to Kate
Cushing’s office; she buys the photos and offers him a job of snapping some
pictures of Margaret Thatcher arriving at the United Nations. Pete agrees but
he has only 45 minutes to get there. He asks for a check now. Kate dispatches
an office boy to accounting to get Peter’s check. Meanwhile, Betty Brant spots
a hole in Peter’s pants with his black costume showing through. Betty patches
the hole as Peter gets his check and he races to the bank…
…where he encounters a long line. Reaching the front, the
teller (Doris Kannon) tells him he needs the manager’s signature. Peter gets
manager Simon Johnson’s signature then gets his money from Doris. He races to
his bank to deposit the cash to cover his rent when he discovers that Doris
gave him $100 too much. He debates what to do as he time is ticking down so he
decides to return the money tomorrow and dashes over to the UN….
The next day he returns to the bank and Johnson takes care
of the error but Pete notices that Doris isn’t there. He asks Johnson who tells
him she was fired for all of her mistakes. Pete swipes her file out of the
trash and learns her name and address; he also finds a note for Simon Williams
from an escort service….
Spider-Man goes to Doris’ apartment and overhears her mean
landlord demanding the overdue rent in thirty minutes or he will evict her and
her two children. Spidey dashes off and withdraws from his own account the
money he was saving for his rent and secretly places it in Doris’ apartment.
She pays the landlord and reveals that she was fired for resisting her
supervisor’s romantic overtures. Spidey then heads to the brothel and snaps pix
of Simon Johnson emerging with an escort….
The next day, the pictures appear on Johnson’s desk with
instructions to rehire Doris Kannon or be blackmailed. Johnson calls Doris and
gives her her job back then goes into the men’s room and burns the photos. Pete
is also there, pondering whether to sell the Bugle a photo of Spider-Man
with a hole in his pants. He decides against it and burns the photo, setting
off the sprinklers and soaking him….
Story #2Once More in the City of Light
Writer:
Dennis Mallonee.Penciler:
Bob Hall. Inker:
Bill Sienkiewicz. Colorist:
Sandy Plunkett. Letterer:
Bill Oakley.
Synopsis
Marie Laveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, summons Captain Marvel
(Monica Rambeau) to her home in the French Quarter. CM tells Marie that her
friend the Scarlet Witch warned her not to trust Laveau without a guarantee of
honor. Laveau gives it and explains her predicament. She reveals that she is
several hundred years old, kept young by means of an enchantment. Now one of
the necessary ingredients is a dollop of vampire’s blood but there are no
longer any vampires on Earth, thanks to Dr. Strange’s spell. So Laveau asks CM
to use the Black Mirror to go into the past to find a vampire and take a blood
sample. Unable to pass up the chance to travel through time, CM takes a token
that will help her find a vampire and steps through the mirror into
pre-Revolutionary France. She emerges in the laboratory of the sorcerer
Cagliostro. She explains her errand to him and he agrees to help her, escorting
her to a palace ball where she will find the man she seeks. Dressed
appropriately, Monica is the hit of the party and she draws the attention of
Count Dracula. They dance, they flirt, and at the end of the evening Monica
returns to Cagliostro’s home to await the dawn….
In daylight, Captain Marvel uses the token to lead her to
Dracula’s crypt. She uses a hypo to extract some blood but the vampire awakens
and they fight. He tries to bite her and turn her into his minion against
Cagliostro but CM turns into sunlight and repels Dracula. He vows revenge
against Cagliostro and she departs….
Back at his lab, Cagliostro advises Monica to return to her
own time where Dracula will not find her and tells her not to worry, he can
handle himself against the Lord of the Vampires. CM returns to the present and
hands the blood over to Marie Laveau but the curse that ended the vampires
causes the blood to boil and the hypo to burst, ruining the sample. Marie is
philosophical, knowing she has fifty years in which to find a substitute….
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Cagliostro, Marie Laveau.