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SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #204

DEATH BY TOMBSTONE - PART ONE - TAKEOVER!

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WRITER: STEVEN GRANT
PENCILS: SAL BUSCEMA
INKS: SAL BUSCEMA
COLORS: BOB SHAREN
LETTERS: JOE ROSEN
COVER: SAL BUSCEMA
EDITOR: MARK POWERS
GROUP EDITOR: DANNY FINGEROTH
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: TOM DEFALCO

PREVIOUSLY: In Spectacular Spider-Man #200, Harry Osborn fell prey to the Green Goblin strength-enhancing formula and passed away after saving Peter Parker/Spider-Man, his best friend and worst enemy, from imminent death.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #201-203, Spider-Man joined forces with Captain America, Black Cat, Deathlok, Iron Fist, Firestar, Morbius, Cloak, Dagger, and Venom to stop a murdering rampage spreading out over the City caused by Carnage, Shriek, Doppelganger, Carrion, and Demogoblin.

Peter Parker now tries to return to a semblance of a life, though the death of Harry Osborn still haunts him.

REVIEW: Tombstone, who was a major player in the Gang War storyline, featured in Spectacular Spider-Man 139 – 154, crashes through Hammerhead's office door. Unfazed, sitting in his chair, Hammerhead orders his men to take him down. Their guns drawn, they do as ordered and unload their weapons. The bullets, however, simply ricochet off Tombstone's impervious skin. Furious, Hammerhead tosses his desk aside and proceeds to attack Tombstone. Tombstone dodges his attack and breaks his leg in the process. Obviously in pain, Hammerhead lies on the ground and tries to act tough. He takes a swing at Tombstone, who easily grabs hold of his fist and proceeds to break his arm. The pain overcoming him, Hammerhead passes out. Inducting himself as the new boss, Tombstone tells Hammerhead's henchmen to get him a doctor and put him on a train to Arizona. Tombstone proceeds to rearrange the furniture in the office and sits down at the desk. He has great plans for Manhattan.

Liz Allen Osborn, Normie Osborn, Mark Raxton, Peter and Mary Jane Parker, Flash Thompson, and Felicia Hardy are gathered at a lawyer's office for the last will and testament of Harry Osborn. The lawyer pulls out a VHS tape and inserts it in a nearby VCR; apparently Harry has made special provisions in lieu of having a will read to them. The tape starts to play; Harry appears on the television screen. He first tells Liz that his fortune, as well as his company, is now hers. He then proceeds to tell Normie to grow up strong and happy and to lead a happy life. He then tells Flash that he's donated fifty thousand dollars to a youth program Flash is affiliated with. Next, he tells Peter that he has a special gift for him but first, he excuses himself, and he proceeds to put his Green Goblin mask on; in his own words: "I need to slip into something more comfortable". He then grabs a small jewelry box that used to belong to his mother and tells Peter that he is leaving him the box as a memento of their friendship. Harry then says goodbye to everybody and the recording is over.

As Liz, Normie and Mark make their way out of the office, the lawyer hands the jewelry box over to Peter. Visibly upset, Peter switches to his Spider-Man costume – without being seen of course – and swings out the window. Felicia lets MJ know that Peter took off. A few minutes later, Spidey lands in a garbage scow, which he deems to be a safe place to open the box. There doesn't appear to be any danger with opening the box, since his spider-sense is not tingling, so Spidey proceeds to open it. Inside the box, there is a small piece of paper with the word "Gotcha!" on it. Totally enraged and tired of playing Harry's twisted games, Spidey slams the lid on the box and throws it into the garbage pile. He takes off swinging into the night, believing that Harry is still alive and that he is tormenting him from the shadows.

Back at Hammerhead's headquarters, now Tombstone's, a representative of the mob leader council meets with Tombstone to discuss his recent application to join the council. The rep tells Tombstone that his application was rejected. Furious, Tombstone grabs hold of the man and slams him into a wall. The man begs him to not hurt him anymore and explains that it was a man named Nick Kaska who didn't want him on the council; all the others thought he'd be great. Satisfied with the man's answer, Tombstone tells his first lieutenant, Sandoz, to "do the honors". He then tells him that he does not intend to fight the council but run it.

Liz Osborn puts Normie to bed and heads back to the living room. As she ponders about Harry, Spider-Man climbs inside her apartment through the window; he wants to talk to her. Spidey tries to explain that he never wanted trouble and that it was Harry who came after him. He goes on explaining that Harry is still coming after him and suggests that Harry might still be alive. Furious, Liz starts to bang her fist at his chest, screaming that she buried him herself and that he won't be coming back from beyond the grave. Just then, Mary Jane, who probably heard the raucous through the ceiling, enters the apartment and, yells at Spidey to leave Liz alone, as she is in mourning. Realizing how right Mary Jane is, Spidey gets out of the apartment through the window and takes off into the night. MJ stays with Liz to comfort her.

In another part of the City, Tombstone arrives at Club Kaska with his henchmen; they are there to make a point and they want Kaska to know that they did it. The club's doorman tries to pick up a phone to obviously alert those inside that Tombstone is about to enter the club, but Tombstone incapacitates him before he's able to make the call. Tombstone and his men enter the club, unaware that some of Kaska's men are watching him through surveillance cameras. Tombstone tells the club's occupants to leave their bets on the tables, empty their wallets and purses and leave the establishment. Back in the surveillance room, one of Kaska's men, Kleiner, orders his own henchmen to take Tombstone and his thugs out of the club; putting an emphasis on the word violently. As the henchmen leave, Kleiner and one of his higher henchmen named Nigel head to an adjacent room to dig out heavy artillery.

Kleiner's henchmen are no match for Tombstone; the bullets simply ricochet off his impervious chest. As Tombstone tears through them, Kleiner appears in the doorway with a small rocket launcher and aims it at Tombstone; he fires. The floor below Tombstone collapses and Tombstone is sent falling through several floors, all the way down to the basement, where he smashes into the concrete floor. Looking down the hole, Kleiner taunts Tombstone and asks if Tombstone can take another hit like that. Unfazed, Tombstone points out that when he smashed into the floor, a gas main was exposed. He then tells Kleiner that when gas mains explode, they blow really big. Terrified, Kleiner thinks Tombstone is bluffing, but Tombstone isn't.

At the same time, Spider-Man is web-slinging not far from there. His spider-sense suddenly kicks in warning him of danger. Just then, a nearby building explodes. Listening only to his courage and forgetting everything else, Spidey web-slings in the direction of the explosion to check up on innocent citizens living in nearby apartments. As a matter of fact, some of them are in dire need of help so Spidey gives them a hand to evacuate their building. Watching from the street down below, Tombstone would like nothing better than fight Spider-Man but he knows that the timing is not right, nor the place. As he ponders that, police cars, fire trucks and ambulances arrive on the scene of the explosion. Wondering how to get past them, Tombstone gets a strike of genius, when he sees an ambulance stop feet from him. Two EMS technicians emerge from the ambulance so Tombstone decides to make his move and proceeds to intercept them. But as he strangles them, he hears a voice telling him to let them go: Flash Thompson's. Tombstone drops the two technicians to the ground and starts to walk towards Flash.

To be continued.

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