ACT 1: The office of J. Jonah Jameson, owner and publisher of the Daily Bugle. Laid out before him is the Spider-Man costume he purchased from the street urchin that stole Peter's backpack. Standing before him and taunting him is none other than Alistair Smythe, son of Spencer Smythe, the creator of the infamous spider-slayers. It was he that forced Jonah to forego his typical rambling anti-Spider-Man editorials (as seen in the last few issues of Amazing Spider-Man) to suit his purpose; a purpose that has yet to be revealed. Jonah doesn't have a choice but to cooperate since Alistair has his wife, Marla, and son, John, followed by small electronic spiders capable of killing them.

ACT 2: Meanwhile at the apartment, which Peter Parker shares with Randy Robertson, Jill Stacy stops by to see if Peter is interested in joining her for lunch. After hanging the phone, having finished his conversation with Gloria Grant who called to tell him that Jonah needed to see him about a job, Peter tells Jill that he will have to take a rain check on the whole thing. It seems like Randy is interested in Gloria Grant as he asked Peter to mention himself to Glory when she called. Randy also appears to be interested in Jill Stacy when the latter is rejected by Peter.

ACT 3: Later at the Daily Bugle, Jonah interrupts Peter's conversation with Gloria Grant and asks him to come inside his office. He tells him that the moratorium on Spider-Man features is off and that he has a special assignment for him. He shows him the front page of the newspaper and it reads as follows: "Spider-Man's secret revealed! Costume and web-shooters on public display! Scientists to perform DNA analysis!". Peter tries not to act surprised and wonders how Jonah managed to obtain his costume and web-shooters. Jonah tells Peter that they will be on display in the bugle lobby that night and opening up for the public tomorrow so Spider-Man will most likely try to make a move before then. He tells Peter to be there to try and catch him in the act and that he will get a healthy paycheck for it. He turns around and tells Peter to get out of his office. As he walks away from Jonah's office, Peter runs into Robbie Robertson, who is furious about Jonah's latest front page. Robbie heads into Jonah's office and slams the door behind him. Peter turns around to face Gloria Grant who is standing nearby. He tells her that Randy would be interested in going out on a date with her sometimes. She tells Peter to tell Randy to give her a call sometime. She tells Peter that he should give her a call too. Peter replies that he will think about it. A few minutes later, inside a closet, Peter transforms into his alter ego Spider-Man and web-slings into the night.

ACT 4: A short time later, Peter quickly stops by for supper at Aunt May's, who has prepared him a heck of a huge supper. As he eats, they talk about Spider-Man and about Aunt May's current financial situations, to which she responds that she is doing well and that he doesn't need him to worry about her.

ACT 5: Later that night, back at the Daily Bugle offices, JJJ explains to Peter what to do when Spider-Man arrives to steal back his costume. To his relief, Peter realizes that Jonah did not look under his mask when he had the chance in Peter Parker Spider-Man #10 after Venom knocked him unconscious. Peter sits on the ground and waits for his cue. Suddenly, his spider-sense kicks in. Crawling inches in front of him are small spider-slayers. Wasting no more time, our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man makes his appearance.

ACT 6: Miles away in the offices of Senator Stewart Ward of New York, Senator Robert Kelly is paying him a visit. Ward approves of Kelly's willingness to bring the mutant agenda to the fore (check out X-Men #102 for further details) and offers to shake the hand of the man who is about to change the face of politics. Senator Kelly suddenly coughs in his hands and tells Senator Ward that he is fighting a killer cold and that he'd hate to pass it on to him. However, Ms. Strong, Kelly's assistant does shake his hand. As they make their way out of the building, Senator Ward's hand is shown to the reader: it is covered with what appears to be red blisters.

ACT 7: Spider-Man crashes through the roof of Alistair Smythe's hideout. Smythe commands his small spider-slayers to attack Spider-Man but the latter webs them up together and leaps towards his adversary. Alistair suddenly reveals that the small spider-slayers were only the start. At that moment, it is revealed that Smythe recreated every spider-slayer designed by both him and his father. Their ultimate goal: to decimate Spider-Man.

ACT 8: Back at Randy and Peter's apartment, Randy is lying down when the doorbell rings. He runs over and opens the door. Standing in the doorway are Gloria Grant and Jill Stacy, who both seem to have a date with Randy. Randy looks up towards the skies (at God) and says: "Someone up there likes me!".

ACT 9: One by one, the spider-slayers are destroyed by Spider-Man. When Spider-Man finally destroys the last slayer, Smythe appears with his latest spider-slayer holding J. Jonah Jameson in his metal claws (the other spider-slayers attacking Spider-Man was a diversion to allow Smythe to kidnap Jameson). His spider-sense failing, a small spider-slayer launches itself at Spider-Man's head and grabs hold of it; sending our hero falling to the ground, the small slayer starting to glow in a greenish color. To be continued next issue.

Amazing Spider-Man Volume I #25 REPRINT

WRITER:  Stan Lee
PENCILLER:  Steve Ditko
COVER BY:  Steve Ditko
INKER:  Steve Ditko
STORY #2 TITLE: Captured by J. Jonah Jameson!
REVIEW:  ACT 1: On his way back home, after spending the night studying with Liz Allan, Peter notices three suspicious individuals who appear to be trying to steal a car. As he starts putting on his Spider-Man costume, he spots a cop walking down a nearby street. Using his spider-signal Peter gives away the thieves and the policeman makes the arrest. Peter snaps a few shots for the Daily Bugle and heads home to work on his spare Spider-Man costume.

ACT 2: The next morning at the Daily Bugle's office, Peter tries to sell his pictures to J. Jonah Jameson but the latter it not really that impressed by the policeman basically making a pinch. Peter convinces him that it makes Spider-Man look bad as it looks like he was beaten to some crooks by a one lone officer. A smile appears on Jameson's face, but not on Betty Brant's. She cannot believe that Peter has sunk to Jonah's level. Peter tries to defend himself but his conversation is interrupted when Spencer Smythe walks in the room accompanied by some kind of robot. He tries to convince Jameson to let him demonstrate what his robot can do but Jameson refuses, not wanting to get mixed up with any more nutty mad scientists. Peter convinces him to give it a try (he thought it would be fun), to Betty Brant's disappointment. Smythe asks Peter to hold a glass jar containing a small spider while he goes and stands behind the robot's control station. At the press of a button, metal coils spring out of the robot and Peter is ensnared in their grasp. Even his spider-strength is useless against the steel strands. Jameson is more than pleased with the robot's performance and asks Smythe to step into his office to work out the details. Once they're gone, Betty gets mad at Peter for supporting Jonah in his decision to try and capture Spider-Man, after all that Spider-Man has done for both Peter and his family; most recently in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 when Spider-Man saved Aunt May from Doctor Octopus. Furious, she storms out of the office, leaving Peter standing there by himself.

ACT 3: Later at Midtown High School, Flash Thompson and his friends are hanging out when Peter Parker and Liz Allen come walking down towards them. Flash is pissed that his girlfriend is hanging out with geeky Parker so he pulls Peter aside and tells him to meet him after school (to pretty much kick his ass). Later during the day, students notice how jumpy Peter seems to be and they believe that it is because Flash Thompson is waiting for Peter outside the school, while in fact it is because every time Peter hears a noise he thinks it might be the robot coming after him. Speaking of the robot, let's turn our attention to JJJ and Smyth putting the final touches to their devious plans. As Smythe finishes the adjustment to the robot, it suddenly starts moving by itself; it has picked up Spider-Man's impulses. JJJ jumps behind the robot control station and the robot starts walking, JJJ's face appearing in the robot's head screen.

ACT 4: Meanwhile, it is the end of the school day at Midtown High School. Flash walks by Peter and tells him not to forget to meet him outside. No sooner does Flash leave that Peter peeks out of the window and sees the robot coming down the street towards the school. Peter slips out through the side door. At the front of the school, Flash and his buddies are waiting for Peter to show up. A furious Liz Allan, who has just heard about Flash waiting to have a fight with Peter, comes running towards Flash and demands that he does not fight with Peter. One of Flash's buddies interrupts them and screams at Flash that he's just seen Peter running away. Pissed off, Flash and his gang start running after Peter. The next scene shows Peter running away from Flash's gang as well as from the robot, who is right behind them. Suddenly, as he rounds a corner, Peter leaps in the air, grabs a flag pole sticking out from a building, performs a flip, and ends up on the rooftop of the building. Flash and his gang continue running down the street, thinking that Peter ran down there, while the robot follows Peter by climbing on top of the building using his metal coils. Having switched to his Spider-Man costume, Peter continues running away, the robot hot on his trail. Flash and his buddies abandon their pursuit of puny Parker and decide to follow Spider-Man in case he needs their help. Meanwhile, Spider-Man makes his stand against the robot, right in the middle of the street. He tries webbing the robot up but it does not work. The robot's coils spring at Spider-Man who leaps out of harm's way and takes to the roof.

ACT 5: Meanwhile at the Daily Bugle, Betty Brant, who is eyewitnessing the events unfold, decides to take matters into her own hands to help Spider-Man. She tries to press on some of the buttons of the control station but fails to do so. She then tries to unplug the electrical cord of the control station from the wall but Jameson catches her in the act and kicks her out of his office. She then proceeds to call Peter to convince him to help Spider-Man but unfortunately, the line is busy at Aunt May's, where Peter resides. She grabs her jacket and heads over there. Meanwhile, Flash and his buddies, as well as Liz Allen, have lost track of Spider-Man so Flash decides that they should go over to Peter's place to see if he is there. Peter is actually well occupied fighting off Smythe's robot.

ACT 6: Betty Brant finally arrives at the home of Peter Parker where Flash, his buddies and Liz Allen, are waiting for Peter to show up. Liz and Betty, who both seem to be infatuated with Peter, decide to see if he is home. Aunt May answers the door and tells them that Peter is expected back shortly, and that she'd like to introduce them to another charming young lady, Mary Jane Watson, the niece of Anna Watson, who lives next door. Both ladies are struck by Mary Jane's screen star beauty, although her face is not revealed to the reader. Both extremely jealous, they leave, heading in different directions. Flash asks Liz to stay but the latter replies that she is going home. Flash's buddies are getting hungry so too they leave. Flash is mad at them and he stubbornly decides to wait for Peter for as long as it takes.

ACT 7: Peter, as Spider-Man, is running around the Manhattan rooftops, evading Smythe's robot. However, he runs out of luck and the robot's metal coil trap him. Miles away, J. Jonah Jameson rejoices himself and him and Spencer Smythe make their way to where Spider-Man is trapped so as to learn his secret identity. Although incapacitated by the metal coils, Spider-Man uses the suction power of fingers and pulls off the robot's control panel. He then starts to switch knobs and wires around. In the meantime, JJJ and Smythe have arrived. Spider-Man is still trapped within the robot's metal coil. JJJ wastes no time and pulls off Spider-Man's mask, only to reveal that the costume is EMPTY? On a narrow ledge just above Jameson and Smythe stands Peter holding tiny web strands that made the Spider-Man costume move, giving the impression that there was somebody in it. Below, J. Jonah Jameson is furious that Spider-Man has just made a fool out of him, once again. Smythe is annoyed but already contemplates building more robots. Peter takes a few pictures of the duo and heads home.

ACT 8: When he arrives home, Aunt May is waiting for him. She is mad that he's missed Mary Jane's visit but has more important thing to discuss with him. She shows him the Spider-Man costume she's found behind a bookcase in his room. Peter cleverly tells May that it is just a disguise that he was going to use to fool some people. May believes him and tells him that she doesn't want him to wear that silly costume to any parties as it could possibly get him in trouble. She heads into the kitchen leaving Peter pondering about his close encounter with reality.

Amazing Spider-Man Volume I #58 REPRINT

WRITER:  Stan Lee
PENCILLER:  John Romita Sr.
COVER BY:  John Romita Sr.
INKER:  Donny Heck and Mickey Demeo
STORY #3 TITLE: To Kill a Spider-Man!
REVIEW:  In last issue Ka-zar saved Spider-Man by fishing him out of the lake in Central Park in which he was drowning. At first Ka-zar had thought Spider-Man was dead but his jungle-bred instincts revealed that Spider-Man was indeed quite alive.

ACT 1: Ka-zar takes Spider-Man to a place of safety to learn the truth about him while his saber-tooth, Zabu, who is left behind, evades the policemen surrounding Central Park and runs away. His only purpose had been to scatter the policemen so that his master could escape.

ACT 2: Some time later, high above the bustling metropolis, Ka-zar manages to help Spider-Man regain consciousness. Spider-Man goes to punch Ka-zar since the last thing he remembers was fighting Ka-zar and ending up in the Central Park Lake, but Ka-zar stops him. Ka-zar tells Spider-Man that somehow he is different from the Spider-Man he fought back in the park. Spider-Man realizes that the amnesia he exhibited in last issue is gone.

ACT 3: Meanwhile at the offices of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson receives a phone call from Spencer Smythe, the creator of a robot meant to capture Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man Volume One #25. Jameson picks up the phone and immediately blasts Smythe but the latter tells him to calm down and he explains that he now has the chance to completely crush the web-spinner. Jameson listens. Meanwhile, his own flesh and blood, his son, John Jameson, a Colonel in the US army, is meeting with Athur Stacy, retired police captain and now private investigator, and father to Gwen Stacy, a friend of Peter's. John is sorry that he can't stay around to help clear Spider-Man but Arthur comforts him when he tells him that he won't rest until he gets to the bottom of it. Meanwhile at the hospital, Aunt May lays in bed while both Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn watch over her, wondering where Peter is.

ACT 4: Back on the Manhattan Rooftops, Spider-Man finishes explaining to Ka-zar the recent events that led him to be convinced that he and Doctor Octopus were partners. Suddenly, Ka-zar hears the warming roar of Zabu coming from the street far below. He instinctively jumps down. Cops with guns are surrounding Zabu but are no match for Ka-zar who swoops in, grabs their guns, and smashes them on a brick wall. He then grabs a lamp posts and wraps one of the police cars with it. He tells the policemen to clear the way and he leaves the scene, accompanied by his trusted companion. Meanwhile, Spider-Man remembers that he needs to visit his Aunt May so he decides to head back to his apartment to pick up some clothes and then make his way over there.

ACT 5: J. Jonah Jameson arrives at Spencer Smythe's lab to see what the latter has in store for him. Smythe's shows him this huge robot, which he calls a Spider-Slayer. It is far bigger, far more powerful and far more deadly than the first prototype. Smythe tells Jameson that it should be able to slay Spider-Man without mercy. Jameson interjects that he just want Spider-Man to be captured and put behind bars forever, not dead. Smythe demonstrates the robot's capability to Jameson, who is immediately convinced when he sees what it can do.

ACT 6: Back at the Daily Bugle, John Jameson stops by to see if his father is in. Ned Leeds and Betty Brant, who are flirting nearby, tell him that his father is out and asks if there is anything they can do to help. John says that he had just stopped by to say goodbye as he is shipping out within the hour. Joe Robertson, who overheard the conversation comes over to Jameson and wishes him the best of luck.

ACT 7: Spider-Man is a little woozy from his latest encounter with Ka-zar so he hitches a ride on top of a bus. However, a man looking out of his apartment window notices him and screams for the police so he has to resort to web-slinging once again. Meanwhile, Smythe's new and improved spider-slayer is closing in on Spider-Man. Using a portable remote control inside Smythe's car, Jameson and Smythe follow the robot. Spider-Man reaches his apartment and decides to check on Aunt May. There is no answer at her house. Peter doesn't know that May is in the hospital. As he is taking off his costume, his spider-sense suddenly goes off. As he puts his mask back on, he hears footsteps walking up the wall as well as Jameson's voice. He peeks out of the window and gets his first glimpse of the new spider-slayer, with Jameson's face in the robot's head screen. Spider-Man kicks the robot in hopes that it's going to fall off the building but it doesn't. It takes a swing that misses our hero by inches. The fierce battle continues. Miles away, Jameson is ecstatic about this new robot but Smythe has other ideas. He wants to kill Spider-Man, not capture him. Jameson disapproves. All he wants is to capture Spider-Man, not kill him. Smythe tells Jameson to step away from the controls as he takes over. As he fights the robot, Spider-Man starts observing its weaknesses: it is extremely slow. The battle continues in the streets, from building to building. Spider-Man realizes that he needs to find out where Smythe's lab is so he basically goes and checks in the phone book of a nearby phone booth. He manages to find the address seconds before the robot smashes the booth to pieces. He then makes his way to the address he's just found; the robot following him. He easily finds Smythe's lab, goes inside and waits for the robot. As the robot enters the lab, it starts to malfunction so Smythe increases the robot's power to it's absolute maximum. However, it does not quite turn out how he expected it to turn out. The increase in power makes the robot blow up. Spider-Man knew that Smythe's robot was activated by spider impulses and that is why it was able to track our hero so easily. Spider-Man just figured out that too many spider impulses might just short circuit it, so he brought it to Smythe's lab where there was enough spiders to do the trick. While at the office of J. Jonah Jameson, the mood is somewhat less than triumphantly hilarious. Jameson is furious and kicks Smythe out of his office.

Later that night, Spider-Man returns home and tries to call his Aunt May once again. He is worried since she is never out at this late out...unless something was wrong. He decides to go and find her, as Peter Parker. On his way to find her, he rounds a corner, and runs into Ka-zar with his tiger Zabu taking an evening stroll. Ka-zar tells Peter not to be alarmed by the tiger. He adds that he thought he had sensed a familiar figure but he realizes that he must have been mistaken: "Though it is most passing strange for the aura of Spider-Man is not easily forgot!", he says, as Peter walks away.

Amazing Spider-Man Volume I #192 REPRINT

WRITER:  Marv Wolfman
PENCILLER:  Keith Pollard
COVER BY:  Keith Pollard
INKER:  Jim Mooney
STORY #4 TITLE: 24 Hours...till Doomsday!
REVIEW:  After being defeated by a deadly Spider-Slayer, Spider-Man finds himself shackled to a somewhat startled and frightened J. Jonah Jameson.

ACT 1: Spencer Smythe explains to Spider-Man and Jameson that the shackle holding them together is in fact a specially created bomb meant to explode in 24 hours. If they try to take the shackle off, the bomb will explode that much sooner. Spider-Man grabs Smythe by the collar and lifts him up in the air, trying to force him to talk. Smythe reveals that even him cannot force him to reveal the secret of that bomb since he is already dying. He explains that the plutonium needed to power his creations slowly poisoned him and that, as a result, he is now dying from his exposure to it. He blames Jameson for forcing him to create spider-slayers after spider-slayers and Spider-Man for having humiliated him so many times. Knowing that arguing with Smythe is useless, Spider-Man takes off with an ecstatic Jameson at his side.

ACT 2: Far from Spencer Smythe's Westchester Lab over the New York skyscrapers, there can be heard a strange, sinister buzzing, as a lithe, silent figure arcs a swift path toward Kennedy Airport where an Egyptian delegation is to arrive from Cairo in fifteen minutes. The figure is none other than the fearsome Fly. Meanwhile in the frantic offices of the Daily Bugle, Joe Robertson is looking for Peter Parker, who Robbie gave an assignment to, although Peter was fired by Jameson. What Robbie doesn't know is that Peter has his hands full at the moment, as he and Jameson make their way to Dr. Curt Connor's Lab. As they crawl through a window, a policeman in the building across the street, notices them. Connors performs a few tests which substantiates Smythe's affirmations: the bomb works on a pressure principle and any change in pressure will detonate it. Suddenly, the wall outside Connor's lab comes alive with the sound of running feet and then a moment later, the police comes crashing through the door. Meanwhile, the Fly breaks through the window of one of the delegate from Egypt and steals his invitation to the King Tut Exhibit.

ACT 3: Meanwhile downtown at the Police Headquarters, bomb disarmament experts are trying to defuse the shackle holding our hero and the disgruntled Jameson together. Spider-Man is tired of waiting so he takes matters into his own hands and leaves with Jameson at his side. Elsewhere, Betty Brant calls up Flash Thompson to let him know that Peter is picking up his diploma today at four so she thought they could all surprise him by showing up. Flash, Harry Osborn, Liz Allen and Sha Shan all agree to go. Betty then calls up Mary Jane but she misses her by mere seconds. Mary Jane has left.

ACT 4: Meanwhile, Spider-Man, with Jonah in his arms, is web-slinging through the New York skies, with the hope of finding a way out of this mess. His spider-sense suddenly goes crazy and seconds later, the Fly attacks Spider-Man and Jameson (the Fly was created by Dr. Harlan Stillwell who was paid by Jameson to build a super-being capable of destroying Spider-Man). Using his free hand and two feet, Spider-Man tries his best to maneuver out himself and Jameson out of harm's way, but eventually he is beaten and falls unconscious to the ground. The Fly then grabs Jameson and Spider-Man up in the air and throws them off of the building upon which they were fighting. Spider-Man, who had been pretending to be unconscious, tells Jameson to hold on and he tries grabbing a flagpole sticking out of a building. The flagpole unfortunately breaks under both their weights. Spider-Man does his best to slow their descent but they still land hard on the ground; Spider-Man absorbing the weight of Jameson and his. The fly flies by and assumes that they are dead. But they are not, well Jameson is not, as he awakes seconds later. Spider-Man, still unconscious, lays at Jameson's feet and it would be easy for the latter to finally learn of his secret identity. However, the reader does not get to find out right now whether or not Jameson is going to have a peek under our hero's mask, as the action moves elsewhere. More precisely in the administration building at Empire State University, where Flash, Harry, Liz, Sha Shan and Betty are waiting for Peter to show up. Elsewhere, Mary Jane is tired of waiting for Peter with whom she had a date so she calls up Cliff and he comes and picks her up.

ACT 5: When Spider-Man awakes, he is back at Connor's lab, where Jonah dragged him. Although he may have a concussion, he suddenly realizes that the key to disarming the bomb probably lies at Smythe's lab. It takes almost half an hour for a tired weak-limbed Spider-Man to carry an equally-tired Jameson to Spencer Smythe's lab. As our hero and Jameson rush in, they notice Smythe sitting silently in a chair. They approach him but it is too late. Smythe is dead. A pre-recorded message featuring Smythe suddenly starts playing on a giant screen. He brags that he will die a happy man for both Jameson and Spider-Man will perish as well. He bids farewell and the message ends. Jameson has had enough and falls to his knees, crying in desperation. Spider-Man tells Jonah to pull himself together and suddenly realizes that Smythe had to know that they wouldn't stay in the lab with him for 24 hours so he must obviously have had some kind of camera hidden in the shackle to keep track of them. He realizes that if there is a hook-up, there most definitely is a power source. Using his trusted spider-sense, he discovers the power unit hidden behind a wall. He tries to terminate the power supply but he fails. As a last resort, he uses the liquid oxygen feed of a cryogenic chamber (in which Jameson's own son, John was frozen inside a few weeks back, but that's another story) and with a little help from Jonah, he starts freezing the power supply. With merely seconds left, the locking mechanism of the shackle shatters and the shackle falls to the ground. Spider-Man quickly grabs the shackle and throws it out of the window as far as he can. The bomb explodes in mid-air.

ACT 6: Back in the lab, free from his worst enemy, Jameson starts verbally tearing Spider-Man apart. The latter cannot believe what Jameson is saying to him, after having just saved his life so he takes his leave. Once Spider-Man is gone, Jonah starts crying and it is revealed that Jameson's hatred for Spider-Man is due to the fact that he is simply jealous and that he is just a weak and ordinary man trying to measure up to a super-powered being.