Appearing in 1st story
Featured Characters:
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
- Ben Reilly (Only in flashback)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Screwball
- Damon Ryder (Main story and flashback)
- Kaine Parker
Other Characters:
- Iron Patriot (Norman Osborn) (Photo)
- Laura Ryder (Only in flashback)
- Mayor Jameson (Mentioned)
- The DB! (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
- Humans
- Human-Dinosaur Hybrids
- Dinosaurs (Mentioned)
Locations:
- Earth
- North America
- United States of America
- New York State
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Murray Hill
- Lower East Side
- East Village
- Alphabet City
- Peter and Michele's Apartment
- Alphabet City
- East Village
- Queens (Mentioned)
- Forest Hills (Mentioned)
- Manhattan
- Ithaca (Mentioned)
- New York City
- New England (Only in flashback)
- Massachusetts (Only in flashback)
- Boston (Only in flashback)
- Massachusetts (Only in flashback)
- Oregon (Only in flashback)
- Portland (Only in flashback)
- New York State
- United States of America
- Africa
- Venezuela (Mentioned)
- Antarctica (Mentioned)
- North America
Items:
- Spider-Man's Suit and Web-Shooters
- Spider-Tracer
- Scarlet Spider's Suit (Only in flashback)
- Iron Patriot Armor Model 1 (Photo)
Synopsis for 1st story
Doctor Damon Ryder (Raptor) interviews a potential lab assistant, Ben Reilly, noting his good reputation and record. The scene switches to the present as Spider-Man faces Screwball in the heights of New York. Despite Screwball's argument that she's not a "bad guy" but a performance artist, Spidey continues to pursue her until she drops the 3 million dollar bonds that she stole, fleeing the scene.
Since Screwball posted the fight between herself and Spider-Man on her blog live, Ben cannot buy his pictures because they're yesterday's news. Norah points a shady individual to Peter, Damon Ryder in the present, after he asks to see him. Peter tries desperately to ignore him but Raptor persists while repeatedly calling him "Ben," until things escalate into a physical battle. Fortunately the fight stops when two of front Line's staff hold Raptor down, having already called the police. Unfortunately Raptor also gives Urich the police sketch of someone identical to Peter, with the article stating that the same man burned down a family's home.
Back in the past, Doctor Ryder and his assistant Ben work together on an experiment until Ryder convinces Ben to join his family for dinner. At dinner they discuss what they're working on involving dinosaur DNA, attempting to not just find but create the missing evolutionary link. Later on one night in the lab Ben brings up the fact they're losing funding, however Ryder shocks him by revealing that at this instant their lab is growing the first dinosaur-human hybrid in millions of years.
At Morroco in the present May Reilly and Jonah Jameson Sr. enjoy their honeymoon. Aunt May asks if they can return to Manhattan since she misses the city of New York, especially Peter. Jameson agrees to return albeit he plans to take their honeymoon to Venezuela directly after.
Spider-Man follows the signal of his spider-tracer to an abandoned building finding Ryder's jacket with the tracer still attached. Ryder arrives at Peter's apartment confronting Michele Gonzales, claiming that he's one of Peter's friends. The final flashback shows Ben confronting Ryder about this new hybrid he's developed, as Ryder tested on himself which disturbed Ben, enraging the usually passive doctor. When Raptor prepares to attack Michele with his teeth while she's off-guard, back at the abandoned building Spider-Man is lifted by the throat by a stranger. His new enemy is none other than Kaine!
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
- This marks the first appearance of Kaine since the Clone Saga from the 90's!
Trivia
- Portraits of both Norman in his Iron Patriot Armor and Spider-Man in his black costume can be seen behind Peter and Ben Urich when Peter tries to sell his pictures.
- Text in filling Portland newspaper is taken from Lucretius' De Rerum Natura, book 1.