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Amazing Spider-Man #502 | |
WRITER:  J. Michael Straczynski
PENCILLER: John Romita Jr. COVER BY: Jason Pearson INKER: Scott Hanna STORY TITLE: You want pants with that? REVIEW: ACT 1: Peter and Mary Jane Parker are having supper at a fancy restaurant when a speeding vehicle chased by police cars drives by. Peter excuses himself, promising Mary Jane that he will be back really soon, changes into his Spider-Man costume, and follows the pursuit. It is assumed that he catches up to the speeding vehicle and apprehends his occupants since the story shifts to a pedestrian observing Spider-Man in action. His name: Leo Zelinksy, his profession: tailor. Leo starts walking and soon arrives to destination. A man, named Killshot, who is speaking to somebody on his cell phone about his upcoming deadly hit, is waiting for him. Leo takes out a box sitting on a nearby shelf and opens the box to reveal a long black trench coat that he hands over to the man. The latter is satisfied with it: "Perfect. It's a killer, that's for sure". ACT 2: Later that night, at his residence, Leo is having supper with his grandson Michael. Michael is rather disappointed that his grandfather will not go to the police to tell them what he overheard Killshot say about his next target when he walked in on him earlier that day. Leo replies that he is not getting involved because getting involved in other people's businesses is what got his son killed (Michael's father). Later that night, Leo has a hard time falling asleep and keeps staring at a picture of his deceased son and widow so he decides to go out for a walk. ACT 3: Meanwhile, Spider-Man is patrolling the streets of New York and is just about ready to go home when somebody from the streets down below calls up to him. It's Leo. Spidey heads down to meet him. Leo tells him that somebody wants to kill the New York City District Attorney during some award ceremony held at a local Boys and Girls Club the next day. The two end up in a small delicatessen not far from there to discuss it further. Leo explains that he has become the tailor of choice for heroes such as the Thing, Captain America, and Thor but also for villains such as Doctor Doom, the Blob and of course Killshot which was introduced earlier. He retells to Spider-Man how he heard Killshot talking on his cell phone about shooting someone at the award presentation mentioned earlier. He adds that what supervillains have done before they come to him is none of his business but that what they intend to do is. They leave the delicatessen together and walk for a little while until they reach Leo's residence. Before heading into his place, Leo tells Spider-Man that he is doing this for his grandson so that he doesn't think his grandfather didn't do the right thing when it counted. ACT 4: Later that night, Peter is having a hard time sleeping as he ponders about what Leo said about his mask not having a mouthpiece to allow him to eat. He heads into the bathroom, puts his Spider-Man mask on, and looks at himself in the mirror, trying to figure out what he would look like if the mask had a mouthpiece. Venom's face appears in the mirror (hilarious). A few minutes later, Peter is back in bed and is still wearing his mask; staring at the ceiling. Mary Jane awakens, looks at him and tells him to quit having coffee so late at night. ACT 5: The next day at the award ceremony, Killshot is about to take his deadly shot aimed at the District Attorney when Spider-Man arrives, webs up his rifle, and takes it away from him. Killshot quickly turns around, pulls out another gun, and starts shooting at Spider-Man. He misses Spider-Man and the latter teases him about it. However, Killshot purposely missed Spider-Man and in fact aimed at the cables holding up a platform upon which a window cleaner was standing. The latter starts falling to his death but Spider-Man comes to the rescue, providing Killshot with enough time to flee the scene of the crime. ACT 6: Having figured out who sold him out, Killshot immediately heads over to Leo's place. Leo is showing sewing techniques to his grandson Michael when Killshot comes crashing through the door, pointing his gun at them. He demands that they tell him who else they talked to and points the gun at Michael. Leo bravely steps in between Michael and Killshot. Killshot fires a round. It goes through Leo's arm. Killshot turns around and then points the gun at Michael once again. That's when Spider-Man finally comes crashing through the front window. In seconds, Killshot is webbed up from head to toe, lying on the sidewalk. ACT 7: The District Attorney meets with Spider-Man and Leo and expresses his gratitude; saying that he owes both of them his life. When the DA is gone, Leo hands Spider-Man a piece of paper with a new costume design as a reward for having saved his business, his life. Later that night, when Spider-Man finally looks at the paper, the illustration shows the costume wore by his futuristic self in Amazing Spider-Man #499 to 501.
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