#148 Cover: Gwen confronts Spider-Man in freakish pose with spider-abilities. Copy: a word balloon from Gwen. “I know your secrets,” “...and now I'm going to use your own powers to END THIS!”
(Pg. 1-4)When they disappear to Jackal's lair with Gwen this time, she's observing their operations and stoking the Jackal's ego in the most vanilla and pleasant way possible. She pokes around and makes the horrifying discovery: Peter's body!
(Pg. 5,6)Ned Leeds and Betty Brant both visit Peter, whose embarrassment actually begins as he's answering the door fresh out the shower, expecting only Ned from the knock and the call ahead, so haha, oops, hi ex-girlfriend. Leeds discusses the as-yet-unfounded notion with Peter that this Gwen is a clone. Ned has been researching into the sudden appearance of this second Gwen Stacy, but Betty's actually spent more time with her, which points to how absurd it is not to go to the source. Ned feels like it's a crime story. He believes someone meant harm to either Peter Parker or Spider-Man or both, and asks if anyone had access to a sample of Gwen's cells. Betty tells Peter Gwen said she was heading to E.S.U. Campus to find some answers, but didn't name her contact. Peter suddenly remembers one day during one of Miles Warren's science classes, Warren had an assistant collect their cell samples: Gwen's, too.
(Pg. 7,8) Yet somehow, back at the Jackal's lair, Gwen watches Peter wakes up. At this point in his memories, he reacts normally and gratefully to Gwen being alive. His memories end in their freshman year, when the cells were donated for a class project conducted by Professor Warren, and here is a chance for some version of the two to be together, happy. Oh, gosh, but now she mesmerizes him...and by the moonlight, sinks her teeth into his neck.
(Pg. 9, 10)Peter and Ned rush to ESU where they ask Miles Warren about the assistant that he had used that day. Miles tells them it was a man named Anthony Serba. With this information, Ned and Peter split up to try and find Serba. Peter does his searching as Spider-Man, going to an old apartment, finds nothing there but the Tarantula waiting for the attack. (Pg. 11-13)Their fight takes them out into the streets, where Gwen appears, telling Spider-Man she knows his secret.
(Pg. 14- 16) She demonstrates spider-abilities of her own, and tremendous strength. Despite this emotionally-confusing attack, Spider-Man deals with this threat and the Tarantula simultaneously. Soon, the Tarantula's own pointed shoes cause his defeat when they cause a torrent of water to knock him out when he sticks them into a water tower.
(Pg. 17) Dragging the unconscious Tarantula off to the authorities, Spider-Man stops to call out to Gwen, who sees he is stalked by the Jackal. His Spider-Sense saves him from a clawed attack from behind. But it's Morbius the Living Vampire that swoops down to ambush and knock out the wall-crawler.
'(Pg. 18)The Jackal leaps forth angrily, determined to play the spoiler, obsessed with his own plan. Morbius explains that he already knows everything. The Jackal uses his drugs to keep Spider-Man from struggling back to consciousness.
“Take me back to your laboratory,” says Morbius.
The Jackal then takes off his mask, revealing his true identity, spoken by Morbius: “Miles Warren.”
Only now can I tell you: my name for this five issue plotline is, “The Gwenpyre Strikes Back”.
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