Appearing in "Family Ties"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- ⏴ Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) ⏵
- ⏴ Alfredo Morelli ⏵
- ⏴ Richard Fisk ⏵
- ⏴ The Rose ⏵
- ⏴ Hobgoblin (Jason Macendale) ⏵ (Possessed by ⏴ Demogoblin ⏵)
Other Characters:
- ⏴ Nick Katzenberg ⏵
- ⏴ Willie Lumpkin ⏵
- ⏴ Kristy Watson ⏵
- NYPD
- Twitch (Nick's Informant)
- Michael (First appearance; dies)
- Walt (Nick's Informant) (First appearance)
- Jessie (First appearance)
- Punisher (Referenced)
- Ghost Rider (Referenced)
- Uncle Ben (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Fisk Towers
- Soho
- Peter and Mary Jane's Loft
- Manhattan Correctional Facility
- Queens
- Manhattan
Items:
Vehicles:
- None
Synopsis for "Family Ties"
Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, tells his son to come in while he finishes his training session.[Continuity 1] As Richard watches his father, he thinks about how he has always been a pawn. Although he has tried to take down his father's criminal empire, he now finds himself working for the Kingpin.[Continuity 2] The Kingpin tells his son to watch the battle as he fights off a group of men armed with swords. Telling his son that he has always prepared himself for any threats, and surviving. To illustrate this point, he snaps the neck of one of his sparring partners. He is pleased to hear that his son is continuing his martial arts training and suggests that he put some meat on his bones, telling Richard that he doesn't want people laughing at the heir to his criminal empire.
Meanwhile, on the Upper West Side of the city, Spider-Man is trying to talk a man out of harming a little girl coming home from a school field trip. As it turns out, this man snapped when the girl and the other school children laughed at him. The knife-wielding maniac is even more upset when Spider-Man's quips make him feel stupid. Seeing that things are only going to escalate, Spider-Man takes a risk and saves the girl with a web-line and easily trounces her attacker. Running late for his evening plans, Spider-Man webs up the maniac and leaves him strung from a basketball hoop for the police. Spider-Man prides himself in being able to handle the situation without hurting the crook, thinking that there are too many "heroes" like Ghost Rider and the Punisher who push things too far. When Spider-Man returns to his Soho apartment, his wife Mary Jane reminds him that they are having dinner at his Aunt May's house and that they are running late.[Continuity 3]
An hour later, on the Lower East Side, Nick Katzenberg pays off an informant on a news tip. When the informant mentions how sorry he was to see that Katzenberg was scooped on his last time, Nick has no idea what he's talking about. That's when Katzenberg looks at the most recent edition of the Daily Bugle and becomes furious and storms off swearing he is going to kill somebody. At the Fisk Building, Richard Fisk secures a line to make a call out to one of his associates. He asks his ally if he has seen the potentially damaging story in the Daily Bugle. Fisk's associate assures him that he is in the process of handling the situation. Meanwhile, in Queens, Peter and Mary Jane arrive for dinner with his Aunt May, her boyfriend Willie Lumpkin, and Mary Jane's cousin Kristy. With the table being set, Peter tries to sit down and go through the Sunday edition of the Daily Bugle but is scolded by his wife. Mary Jane reminds him that it is his turn to carve the turkey. While in a special police holding cell, the Hobgoblin screams in agony as he shifts from his demonic form back to human form. The process is pure torture and he cries out to know why the Lord has forsaken him. The guards watch this, noting that these transformations are occurring more and more frequently.
Back at Peter and Mary Jane's loft, a group of men have ransacked the place looking for something. They didn't find what they were looking for, but one of the men has found something "even better", and goes on to use the phone and inform their employer that they got what they came for. However, the man in charge is quickly ordered on the line and after some brief instruction, shoots his minion in the head, punishment for making a call on an insecure line. While back at Aunt May's, Peter is asked to put out the garbage. Not having had a chance to look at the paper, he asks Willie to keep his wife from hiding it. As he goes outside, Peter's spider-sense begins going off. Looking around he sees a man approaching the house. When this stranger pulls out a gun, Peter slips into the shadows and changes into Spider-Man and climbs up to the roof of the house. Thinking that these men are looking for Spider-Man, Peter becomes upset that his career of Spider-Man is once more threatening the lives of his loved ones. When the men get to the door, they knock and ask to see Peter Parker, claiming that they are officers with the NYPD. When Mary Jane insists on calling the police to verify their claims, the men pull out their guns and demand that Mary Jane turns over her husband. That's when Spider-Man webs up their guns and leaps down from the roof. As the bullets begin to fly, the wall-crawler tells Mary Jane and his Aunt May to get back inside.
As Spider-Man begins fighting off the gunmen, more arrive on the scene, including a group in a helicopter armed with automatic weapons. Realizing that he is dealing with professionals, the web-slinger decides to find out who sent these people. Swinging up into the helicopter, the hero knocks out the gunmen and then begins questioning the pilot. However, the pilot refuses to talk, so Spider-Man forces him to land and knocks them all out. Quickly swinging to the back of the house, Spider-Man changes out of his costume. Mary Jane tells her husband that the gunmen were not looking for Spider-Man, but Peter Parker. When Peter wonders why, he finally takes a look at the Daily Bugle. In it, he finds an advertisement, a photo essay that claims it will blow the lid off the criminal underworld. Looking at the photo credit, Peter is shocked to see his name there, as he did not take the photo. While outside the Daily Bugle, Nick Katzenberg is still furious, believing that Peter Parker somehow stole his photo and turned it in as his own. On his way out of the office, he is pulled aside by one of his informants and told about the failed hit on Parker. Finding this interesting, Nick pays the man to keep this between them.
Back at Fisk Tower, Richard Fisk calls his ally the Rose and asks what happened. The Rose assures him that there was a minor setback this evening. However, regardless of this, Parker knows that there are people after him and that he will soon come to him. When Fisk asks how the Rose can be sure that Parker won't go to the police, the Rose assures him that after tonight, the police aren't going to believe anything Parker says. Back at Peter's loft, there is a lot of interesting things for the police to find. Not only is there a dead body waiting, but also part of Peter's Spider-Man costume laying on the bed for anybody to see.
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
- ↑ The narrative of this story states that these events occur prior to Daredevil #300. In that story, Daredevil exposed the Kingpin for the criminal that he is, ending his empire.
- ↑ Richard has tried to take down his father's criminal empire twice. The first, as the Schemer, in Amazing Spider-Man #83–85. Later, he attempted to take down the Kingpin's empire as the Rose, starting in Amazing Spider-Man #253 until Web of Spider-Man #30. It should also be noted that this is not Richard Fisk, but his best friend Alfredo Morelli. As revealed in Web of Spider-Man #100, Alfredo underwent plastic surgery to take Richard's place. For clarity, the "Richard Fisk" who appears here is Alfredo Morelli. The Rose is actually a police sergeant named Blume. The man in shadows that "Richard" speaks to is the real Richard Fisk.
- ↑ Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As a result, they should be considered a common-law couple here.