Appearing in "Target Two"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- ⏴ Nick Katzenberg ⏵
- Joe (Bartender) (First appearance; dies)
- Guardsmen
- ⏴ Venom (Eddie Brock) ⏵ (Cameo)
- NYPD
- FDNY
- Kingpin ("Richard Fisk") (Only in recap)
- The Rose (Only in recap)
- Praetorian Guards (Only in recap)
- Foreigner (Mentioned)
- Reed Richards (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Soho
- Peter and Mary Jane's Loft
- Lower East Side
- The Tombs
- Delancey Street
- East River (Mentioned)
- Soho
- Manhattan
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Target Two"
In Soho, Mary Jane is woken up by the telephone and discovers that her husband Peter Parker has gone out while she slept.[Continuity 1] The call is coming from Nick Katzenberg, who has been hiding since the mob put a hit out on him. Drunk, he blames Peter Parker for everything that happens and vows that he will kill Parker if it is the last thing he does.[Continuity 2] Mary Jane hangs up on Nick and wonders where her husband could be.
Spider-Man is out with Moon Knight looking for Nick Katzenberg who's now a target of the Hobgoblin. As they cross the city, Spider-Man wonders what is up with Moon Knight as he is wearing different armor and he seems stronger than ever before. However, Moon Knight believes that this is all part of some kind of personal crisis.[Continuity 3] Elsewhere in the city, the Hobgoblin has arrived at one of the dive bars that Katzenberg used to frequent. He demands that the bartender tells him where to find Nick, but he refuses to talk. When the bouncer tries to throw Hobgoblin out, the villain easily incapacitates him. This leads to a bar brawl, which the Hobgoblin easily wins thanks to his weapons and mercenary skills. By this point, the bartender is willing to talk, afterward, the Hobgoblin takes off, setting the bar to blow up. Meanwhile, the Demogoblin has managed to use his mystical link to the Spider-Doppelganger to summon the creature to the prison where he is being held. While elsewhere still, a Vault transport slams to a halt when they come upon Hag and Troll as they feed on their current victim. When the Guardsmen come out to try and stop them, the pair turn on the guards.
By this time, Spider-Man and Moon Knight arrive at the bar that the Hobgoblin had just destroyed. Finding the bartender as he is being loaded into an ambulance. His final words are to inform the two heroes that the Hobgoblin was looking for Nick Katzenberg. At Katzenberg's apartment, Nick continues to panic over the hit that was put on his head by Richard Fisk.[Continuity 4] He picks up the phone to call and blame Peter Parker again. At the Parker home, the phone rings again, and Mary Jane answers it. Thinking it is Nick Katzenberg, she tells him to leave her alone but quickly learns that it is Betty Brant calling this time. Fearing that something is wrong, Betty offers to come over. However, Mary Jane is tired of people interfering with the life of her and her husband and hangs up on Betty as well.
Nick Katzenberg's phone call came at the same time as Betty Brant's call. Getting a busy signal, Katzenberg hangs up his phone. That's when the Hobgoblin comes bursting in through the window, offering to make Katzenberg's end quick if he asks nicely enough. That's when Spider-Man and Moon Knight come crashing in after him. As a battle begins in the small apartment, Nick Katzenberg makes a run for it. The Hobgoblin says that he intends to kill all three of them, Spider-man "just for fun" and the other two in order to gain access into the Foreigner's organization. The ensuing battle starts a fire in the building thanks to one of Hobgoblin's pumpkin bombs. In the confusion, Hobgoblin manages to escape out the window, intent on hunting down Katzenberg. While Moon Knight works to rescue the other tenants of the building, Spider-Man goes looking for Nick. While at that moment, the Spider-Doppelganger has managed to free Demogoblin from the Tombs. Intending to continue his holy mission, the Demogoblin tells his minion that they will start by eliminating Jason Macendale. At that same moment, Hag and Troll have finished feeding on the life forces of the Guardsmen and flee. From inside the ruined transport emerges Venom. Furious that these innocent guards were killed for no reason, Venom vows to avenge their deaths by going after their killers.
Back at Katzenberg's apartment building, Hobgoblin has cornered the photographer in the burning building. Before he can eliminate his target, Spider-Man ambushes him. As the two battle it out, Spider-Man is pinned under a pile of debris. As he is freeing himself, the Hobgoblin moves in for the kill. That's when Katzenberg manages to find some uncharacteristic bravery and strikes the Hobgoblin with a two-by-four wood. In response, the villain blasts the photographer with one of his energy blasts. Spider-Man then knocks out the Hobgoblin and carries both him and Katenberg out of the building with some assistance from Moon Knight. With the authorities on the scene, Moon Knight departs to find out what's happening to his body.[Continuity 5] As Katzenberg is being loaded into an ambulance, the paramedics discover that he is going into cardiac arrest. Spider-Man turns to the Hobgoblin and tells the villain to pray that Katzenberg lives.
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
- ↑ Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage was erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be a common-law couple here.
- ↑ The hit on Katzenberg was all because of damaging photos he took that compromised the Rose's plans against the Kingpin. Those photos were taken in Spectacular Spider-Man #173. Thank to a misprint, Peter was the target of the hit between Web of Spider-Man #84–88 until the correction was made.
- ↑ The changes that happened to Moon Knight around the time of this story are chronicled in Marc Spector: Moon Knight #41–45.
- ↑ At this time, everyone had believed that Richard Fisk had assumed his father's position as the Kingpin of Crime following his fall in Daredevil #300. In reality, as revealed in Web of Spider-Man #100, this wasn't actually Richard Fisk, but his friend Alfredo Morelli in disguise, as part of a scheme to take down the Kingpin.
- ↑ The truth about Moon Knight's transformation is continued in Marc Spector: Moon Knight #44.