PREVIOUSLY: Joe Robbie Robertson is found guilty of misprision of felony and sentenced to three years in prison at the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for Robbie, his troubles are far from over when he finds out that Tombstone, whom he helped put in jail, is assigned to the same cellblock. Fortunately for Robbie, a humongous black man named Bruiser comes to his rescue during a particular incident with Tombstone, and the two become good friends. However, Tombstone ends up killing Bruiser during a brutal fight.

Tombstone and a very reluctant Robbie escape from prison in Spectacular Spider-Man #155 by tricking Spider-Man into coming over to the penitentiary and using him as a hostage after drugging him. But as Tombstone and Robbie fly off in a waiting helicopter, they are intercepted by Spider-Man, who has fought off the virus. The end result of their altercation is Robbie pushing himself and Tombstone out of the moving chopper to save Spider-Man's life, and the two of them disappearing in the forest down below.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #158, Robbie Robertson returns to the Federal Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to attend an appeal for his sentence of misprision of felony – an appeal complicated by his recent, unwilling, participation in a prison breakout organized by Tombstone. Robbie's lawyer, Cynthia Bernhammer, is about to admit defeat when Stuart McPhee, Bruiser's brother and an adviser to the White House for Domestic Affairs, shows up and tells her that he might be able to get Robbie a presidential pardon.

During a physics experiment at ESU with Professor Lubisch, Peter Parker/Spider-Man is bombarded with unknown energies and his spider-senses are somehow heightened and he gains amazing new abilities. With these newfound powers, he confronts the Trapster (a.k.a. Paste-Pot-Pete) – who earlier defeated him – and defeats him quite spectacularly using said abilities.

Unbeknownst to Peter/Spider-Man, The Wizard, Dr. Doom, the Kingpin, and Magneto have joined forces and traded enemies, hence The Trapster attacking Spider-Man.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #159, The Wizard helps the Brothers Grimm escape from prison and sends them after Spider-Man. Using a combination of magical powers and some of the Wizard's gadgets, the Brothers Grimm give Spidey a run for his money but Spidey still ends up defeating them, without ever using his newfound powers, which he manages to temporarily block out by the way.

Spidey remains clueless as to why these new super-villains are attacking him but does notice the presence of flying spy cameras every time he's fought one of them. Unbeknownst to Spidey, the owner of the spy cameras, Dr. Doom, has been following his battles closely and has concluded that he is imbued with powers he wishes to obtain...at all cost and to any extent.

Also in the issue, J. Jonah Jameson asks Peter to join him to produce a new photo journalism magazine to compete against the Daily Bugle, which is now owned by Thomas Fireheart, a.k.a. The Puma. It is not known if Peter accepts his offer or not.

Three days later at the Four Freedoms Plaza in New York City, Peter, as Spider-Man meets with Reed Richards, leader of the Fantastic Four, to try and find a cure for the Carrion virus, which recently infected Malcolm McBride, an E.S.U. student and classmate of Peter's. After providing Reed with all the information he has, Spidey swings off into the night, while Reed continues working on restoring McBride's genetic code.

Later that night, the Hobgoblin – recently bestowed with demonic powers (in Spectacular Spider-Man #147) which transformed his human face into that of a goblin – makes his way into a private nightclub, seemingly looking for a certain Mr. Hammer. All those in attendance at the club are shocked and appalled at his appearance, specifically his face, which – for some odd reason – does not seem to bother him. One of the club's bouncers tries to stop him from entering a private room in the back of the club and accidentally rips his tuxedo, revealing his costume underneath. Ticked off, the Hobgoblin throws a bunch of razor-sharp steel bats at the bouncer who gets sliced across the chest. Having noticed this, three other bouncers confront him but he easily takes them out using his finger-blasters. He then makes his way behind the curtain where he comes face-to-face with Hammerhead (a.k.a. Mr. Hammer) and Tombstone, who are leisurely sitting at a table. After a bit of chitchatting, Hammerhead cuts to the chase and tells the Hobgoblin that he wants him to assassinate Robbie Robertson. Tombstone is taken aback and tells Hammerhead that if anybody's going to kill Robbie, it's him, but Hammerhead replies that he (i.e. Tombstone) is too involved, hence the job needs an outside pro. The Hobgoblin names his price, which Hammerhead agrees to, and he makes his way out, telling them that "Joe Robertson is already a dead man..."

Later that night in Queens at the home of Randy Robertson, Robbie Robertson's son, the entire Daily Bugle staff, as well as Robbie's lawyer, Mrs. Bernhammer, and Samuel McPhee, Bruiser's brother and the man responsible for Robbie getting a presidential pardon, are celebrating Robbie's recent acquittal (Mary Jane Parker is also there and is angry with Peter who is late again). After presenting Robbie with a gold-plated pen for when he comes back as editor of the Bugle, Jameson gets ready to make an announcement about the newsmagazine he is preparing to launch but he's interrupted when the current owner of the Daily Bugle, Thomas Fireheart, a.k.a. The Puma, shows up at the door and tells Robbie that he'd like him to accept a promotion from managing editor to president and publisher of the Bugle. Robbie is speechless, while Jameson fumes with rage. Overwhelmed, Robbie heads outside with his wife Martha to think about this very lucrative job offer.

Just as they kiss under the full moon, the Hobgoblin suddenly shows up and starts throwing pumpkin bombs at them. Robbie grabs Martha and the two begin to run away, while pumpkin bombs explode all around them. Having heard the commotion, the others come outside to see what is going on. The Hobgoblin becomes aware of their presence so he throws pumpkin bombs at them. Fireheart saves Mary Jane and the two of them hide in the bushes, out of harm's way. MJ tells Fireheart that she knows his secret, just as he knows Peter's, and that unless he does something, people are going to get hurt. Being a man of honour, Fireheart transforms into the Puma. Meanwhile, not too far from there, the Hobgoblin prepares to kill Robbie with a razor-sharp steel bat, but a shadowy figure standing on a nearby rooftop shoots the bat out of his hands using a long range rifle. The Hobgoblin is caught by surprise, which is exactly when the Puma decides to make his move. The Puma launches himself from a nearby rooftop and takes the Hobgoblin's glider away from him. Amazingly however, the Hobgoblin continues to hover in mid-air and a new glider suddenly materializes itself right underneath his feet. Using one of his finger-blasters, he then zaps the Puma, who falls into the bushes down below, and he proceeds once again towards Robbie and Martha. But as he flies towards them, he is suddenly snag by a web-line, courtesy of Spider-Man, who has arrived on the scene. Spidey swings him around his head like a lasso and throws him through a window of the Robertson's homestead, where fire is raging. Spidey then drops down to street level where MJ and members of the Bugle staff are running in all directions. But, as he checks up on them, the Hobgoblin emerges from the burning house and tackles him with his glider. Down below at ground level, the Puma regains consciousness and emerges from the bushes where he had landed. Back in the air, Spidey tries to hang on to the Hobgoblin's glider while the latter tries to shoot him down using his finger-blasters. As the glider comes flying by an advertising billboard, Spidey throws himself off of it and grabs the sign. The Hobgoblin quickly turns around and comes back to hit a helpless Spidey, who falls to the ground. As the latter plummets towards the ground, he drops a few pieces of paper containing information about the Carrion virus, which the Hobgoblin picks up. Just then, the Puma launches himself at the Hobgoblin to protect Spidey. The Hobgoblin prepares to shoot the Puma using his finger-blasters but at that moment, the shadowy gunman seen earlier takes a shot at the Hobgoblin, and the bullet grazes him in the forehead. Just then, Spidey reappears and kicks the Hobgoblin in the face using both of his feet. Accidentally, one of the Hobgoblin's finger-blasters goes off and ricochets off of a nearby billboard. It then comes back and hits Hobgoblin right in the eyes. Blinded by the light, the Hobgoblin clumsily flies off into the night, while the Puma checks up on Spidey. Spidey asked the Puma if they are now quits in the whole debt-of-honour thing to which the Puma replies that he didn't save his life but a gunshot did. A gunshot silenced but audible to his genetically superior sense of hearing. The Puma tells Spidey that someone else saved both their lives and as he walks away and disappears into the bushes, he tells Spidey that the debt he owes him is not discharged but that one day soon, it will be. As Spidey ponders about who might have fired the shot, the identity of the gunman is revealed: Tombstone: "Like I said, nobody kills my pal Joe Robertson...except me."

To be continued...soon.