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AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #564

THREEWAY COLLISION

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WRITER: MARC GUGGENHEIM, BOB GALE AND DAN SLOTT
PENCILS: PAULO SIQUEIRA
INKS: AMILTON SANTOS AND PAULO SIQUEIRA
COLORS: ANTONIO FABELA
LETTERS: VC'S CORY PETIT
COVER: CHRIS BACHALO AND TIM TOWNSEND
PRODUCTION: JOE SABINO
ASSISTANT EDITOR: TOM BRENNAN
EDITOR: STEPHEN WACKER
EXECUTIVE EDITOR: TOM BREVOORT
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: JOE QUESADA
PUBLISHER: DAN BUCKLEY

PREVIOUSLY: It's been a busy time for our man, Peter Parker. Not only has he returned to web-slinging, but he's been living back at home with Aunt May for a while. Now back on his feet, he's move in with new friend, police officer Vin Gonzales – although they actually crossed paths months before when, as Spider-Man, Peter was involved in a high speed chase with Vin and Overdrive, a super-villain able to corrupt any form of automation to his own ends – and something of a lackey for Spidey's new nemesis, Mr. Negative.

Note that the following story is told from the point of view of three characters: Spider-Man, Officer Vin Gonzales and Overdrive. This is their stories.

REVIEW: We open right in the middle of a car chase between Spider-Man and super-villain Overdrive, last seen in the Free Comic Book Day Spider-Man Swing Shift Special. Overdrive races his supped up car through the busy New York City streets, Spidey in tow, swinging from a web-line. Overdrive comes close to running over a man reading the Daily Bugle, just as Spidey catches up to him and lands on the hood of the car. Spidey punches Overdrive, which causes him to lose control of the vehicle. Nearby, off-duty Officer Vin Gonzales witnesses the whole thing and calls for backup on his cell phone. Overdrive’s car, having spun out of control, is sent flying into the air, toward innocent bystanders. Thankfully, Spidey unloads his web cartridges and catches the car in mid-flight. He then swings down to apprehend his opponent, but Overdrive catches him off-guard and manages to take off running. Spidey is about to take off after him when Officer Gonzales, brandishing his weapon, orders him to "freeze", as he's wanted for the spider-tracer killings (though he is innocent of the crimes). Spidey simply ignores Vin and swings off after Overdrive.

Overdrive climbs onboard a small school bus that happens to be stopped alongside the road and uses his powers to "trick out" said bus, thus increasing the bus' horsepower, and changing its overall appearance. The bus revs his engine and takes off. Spidey catches up to the bus and comes crashing through the back door window. Before Overdrive can even react, Spidey kicks him across the face. Though slightly stunned, Overdrive grabs some weird-looking weapon and opens fire on Spidey. The glass window behind Spidey shatters and Spidey himself is sent flying backwards and out of the bus. He fortunately grabs hold of the bus on his way out, using a well-placed web strand, and proceeds to climb atop the bus to figure out his next move. After emptying two full canisters of web-fluid – to what end is not revealed – Spidey comes crashing through the windshield, surprising Overdrive in the process. Before Overdrive can do anything, Spidey grabs his weapon and, turning toward the bus’ back door, pulls the trigger. The door completely shatters, revealing an opening in the glass. Spidey instructs the kids to leave the bus through the hole in the glass. As they start to do that, the reason why Spidey emptied his web cartridges earlier is revealed: he constructed a large web-bag inside which the kids are climbing. Once the last kid crawls through the hole and into the bag, Spidey releases the bag, which lands safely on the road behind the moving vehicle. When Spidey turns to face his opponent, Overdrive is gone; having escaped while Spidey's attention was with the kids.

About an hour later, Vin Gonzales tells Detective Simmons about his day, prior to him getting involved in the Spider-Man – Overdrive fracas. Flashing back to earlier that day, Vin confronts Peter about overhearing him talking on the phone about a job interview in the Bronx later that afternoon; he wants to know what is going on. Cornered, Peter fesses up to having been fired two weeks prior. Vin is not so much angry with him for being unemployed – as long as he pays rent of course – Vin is mad at him for feigning interest in news tips he was providing him with and acting like he was covering stories, while he was actually playing him all along. Peter apologizes profusely and explains that he didn't want Vin to think of him as a deadbeat roommate. Grabbing a shirt out of his closet, Vin tells Peter that he does now and advises him to stay away from Yankee Stadium (located in the Bronx) as he's taking his dad to a ball game and he would rather not see his face for the rest of the day. Having said that, he leaves. Later, after coffee with his dad, the Gonzales make their way to Yankee Stadium. It is, on their way there, that Vin and his dad happened by the Spider-Man – Overdrive car chase (told earlier from Spider-Man's point of view). Duty calling, Vin instructs his dad to head inside without him, and proceeds to call for backup. We now see things from Vin's point of view, including his failed attempt to have Spider-Man surrender. As Spidey was seen swinging after the bus full of kids that was taken hostage by Overdrive, Vin realized he wouldn't be able to catch them on foot, so he commandeered a taxi to follow the bus. The cab driver was reluctant to pursue the bus at first, for fear of not getting paid, but a glance at Vin's weapon convinced him otherwise. Vin’s taxi driver managed to catch up to the bus, though he almost ran over a pedestrian reading his/her newspaper (the same one that was almost hit during Spidey's point of view segment). When Vin exited the cab, he went directly toward Spider-Man, to arrest him (again). Busy helping the kids out of the web-bag he constructed to save their tiny lives, Spidey just mocks Vin when he attempts to arrest him. The kids join in on the mockery as well, infuriating Vin. Spidey turns toward Vin and webs up his weapons, which Vin relates to Detective Simmons as Spidey using the kids as shield to make good his escape. With Spidey swinging away, Vin tries to get his cab driver to chase him but he refuses, first because Vin owes him money for chasing Spidey earlier and because he believes Vin, as a cop, should be helping the kids out as opposed to playing hero. Back in real time, Detective Simmons chastises Vin for being cowboy-like and trying to be a cop 24/7, as it is a bad way to live and he'll end up with no friends, no family and no life, in no time. Simmons adds that Spider-Man didn't ruin Vin’s afternoon; he ruined it all by himself. As a matter of fact, the next panel shows his dad at the Yankees baseball game, sitting alone.

One hour later, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Overdrive meets his boss, Mr. Negative, who is rather displeased with his failure at obtaining the sonic pulse generator. Overdrive relates what happened. Driving a huge monster truck, he crashed into Lou & Oscar's Lab Inc., located in the Bronx. Overdrive's version of the facts is highly distorted/exaggerated. What he says were high-tech fence and reinforced walls was a simple brick wall. Armed guards with light sabres were in fact Lou and Oscar, the two lab techs, and they had soldering irons in their hands when the monster truck came crashing through the wall. A state of the art alarm system was in fact Lou and Oscar basically yelling for help. Overdrive jumped into one of the techs’ car, "tricked it out", and sped away. It was shortly after that Spider-Man showed up and took the sonic pulse generator from Overdrive. He managed to escape, stealing a motorbike, and almost ran over Dexter Bennett as he fled the scene (turns out that Dexter Bennett was the same guy that was almost run over when Spidey told his version of the story and when Vin Gonzales told his). Having heard enough, Mr. Negative asks where the sonic pulse generator is. Overdrive figures that it must be in police custody. As a matter of fact, across town, forensic specialist Carlie Cooper is collecting evidence from the school bus and she finds the sonic pulse generator. Exiting the bus, she tells Vin how proud she is of him and Spidey for stopping Overdrive from getting his hands on the sonic pulse generator. She feels that the fact that he went beyond the line of duty is something every good cop does. Vin would love to share her enthusiasm but tells her that his father probably wouldn't believe him, so he asks if she would talk to him instead. She is taken aback by his suggestion. Is she finally realizing that Vin has a crush on her?

Mr. Negative has had enough of Overdrive's failure. He orders his henchmen to dispose of him. Two of them throw Overdrive in the back of a car while Mr. Negative talks to another one of his men and tells him to contact one of his operatives on the police force who will be useful in the retrieval of the sonic pulse generator. Suddenly, the rumbling sound of a car interrupts them. As they turn around, Mr. Negative's "tricked out" car speeds away, Overdrive at the wheel. When Mr. Negative realizes that his own two henchmen threw Overdrive in the back of his car, which was a stupid move considering his powers, he orders the other henchman to dispose of them.

About one hour late to his interview, Peter (Parker) removes his Spider-Man costume and makes his way on foot the rest of the way. When he reaches the place where his interview is being held, it turns out that it is (coincidently) Lou & Oscar's Lab Inc., which was earlier destroyed when Overdrive crashed his monster truck into the building. As Lou and Oscar are going to have to do extensive remodelling to get the place back up and running, they won’t be able to hire any more staff. A dejected Peter walks away.

Later, at the DB, the latest edition of the paper is lying on Dexter Bennett's desk. On the front page there is a picture of Dexter Bennett leaping out of the way of Overdrive's vehicle with Spidey on the hood. The text above the picture reads as follows: "Spider-Man and Overdrive in Cahoots: The Secret Plot to Target Dexter Bennett". There is also an article about Spidey risking the lives of small children and an article about the baseball game at Yankees Stadium, which has been dubbed the "greatest Yankees games ever played" with comments from lifelong fan, David Gonzales, father to Vin Gonzales of the NYPD.

The end...for now.

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