Continued from Amazing Spider-Man V2 #3 (#444).

The Shadrac Saga continues this issue, from Amazing Spider-Man V2 #3, with the Daily Bugle reporters hitting the street to learn more on this breaking news story. First, we come to investigate reporter Betty Brant who is interviewing one Mr. Snagel, who tells her he saw Spider-Man and Iceman outside the pawnshop earlier that day. Spider-Man was holding Shadrac down, while Iceman had his hands inside Shadrac in order to somehow freeze his blood, so as to control Shadrac's flames. Betty asks Mr. Snagel to describe Shadrac and the man replies "He was...I don't how else to say it....like nothing I've ever seen before. He was...a flaming skeleton!" Mr. Snagel explains that the crowd watching this event knew something was about to happen, when there was a massive blast of flame from Shadrac which sent the two heroes to the ground. Shadrac then got up from the ground and thanked the two, and then wrapped himself up in his discarded bandages. Shadrac explains the pain of the Living Death to Spidey and Iceman, which he received "when I was foolish enough to throw my lot in Norman Osborn and has Gathering of Five ceremony has somewhat subsided. But I have no time to rehash all of this with you two right now!" Shadrac then runs toward Maxwell's pawnshop saying that Dolman cannot be allowed get to the old man. Close behind, Iceman says to Spidey "Dolman? Pawnbroker? Norman Osborn? Gathering of Five? Any of this mean anything to you, webs?" Iceman asks. "No." Spidey replies. "But if Osborn is connected to it....I'm sure it will!"

We then cut to somewhere else in the city, where reporter Ben Urich is interviewing a Doris Stipple, who was in Maxwell's pawnshop when an explosion blew the front door down. (Continuity Glitch: According to the scenes drawn last issue, there was a 'Closed' sign on the front of the pawnshop. So how could Ms. Stipple have been in there when Dolman attacked?) Ms. Stipple was knocked unconscious and when she came to, the old man Maxwell was gone. Then Spider-Man, Iceman, and "a guy covered with rags" walked into the shop, and headed down a trap door that was located within the pawnshop. There's a brief interlude where we cut to uptown where Mary Jane is being interviewed by Jude Lumely, Society and Fashion Reporter for the Daily Bugle. Mary Jane explains that her car was caught in traffic on the way to the airport, and she decided to get out of her car and see what was happening. Jude asks her what does she think of Spider-Man, and MJ notices Jonah Jameson standing nearby and says, "I don't who Spider-Man is, but I thank God he is not my husband! But...I do think Spider-Man has always been misunderstood. He goes around, trying to do good, and all he gets is grief. He's one of the few heroes I can think of who is treated like a criminal. Now I've got a plane to catch." Mary Jane walks off, while Jonah mutters "Supermodels! Feh! Who asked them to think?" Jonah then notices three people standing nearby, and questions them. They are in fact Terry Kwan, Javier Caldrone and Walter Thorson of TriCorp who explain they are part of a team studying the nature of Spider-Man's powers. "I'm all for it!" Jonah replies to Terry, "The wall-crawler should be examined! Dissected! Locked up! Whatever it takes to get him off the streets!" "You still don't know what you're talking about Jonah!" says Flash Thompson, who has suddenly arrived on the scene. "Now that Norman Osborn's no longer in control of the Bugle, we don't need his errand boy around, either." Jameson nastily replies to Flash, who chides Jonah for smearing Spider-Man's good name, and whom Flash refers to as "The best hero this city's got to offer." "Spider-Man is nothing more than a costumed menace and you...are just another washed-up collage football star who is living a pathetic life of non-achievement and broken dreams." Jonah says, as he puffs on his cigar. "Someday you'll finally see the truth." Flash finishes, as he says goodbye to Betty and walks off.

Jonah then comes across a homeless man wrapped in blankets, who is sitting up against the front of a shop. "You there!" Jonah barks. "Did you see anything?" "Uh-Huh!" The man replies. "Saw it all." The man says he'll tell Jonah all about it, and goes into a long narrative. The man says he was in a tunnel a little south of where he and Jonah are standing when a trap-door opened above him, and a frightened old man, (Maxwell), climbed down the ladder leading from it, and took off down the tunnel. Then the "good looking young guy", (Dolman), appeared down the ladder and took after Maxwell down the tunnel. Soon after, Spider-Man, Iceman and "a guy who makes me look like a fancy dresser" also appeared and followed the other two. The homeless man then explains he decided to follow the strange group and clam to a big cavern that had a rather large drop in the middle. Dolman was holding Maxwell over the edge of the chasm, and "Spider-Man and the other two didn't seem too happy about this development." Dolman warned the heroes to turn around and leave, since this was no concern of theirs, and explained that Maxwell had hid the spindle within the chasm. "I am simply going to retrieve it and leave." Dolman explains, then Maxwell shouts "No! You can't let him! If he makes contact with the spindle...the release of power will be tremendous. He is evil! I saw it all. It is the gift of Knowledge I received from the ceremony! The Gathering of Five! The city in flames and ruins...and Dolman the cause of it all! " Those words are enough for Iceman and Spidey who leap towards Dolman, who hits them with a blast of energy and explains "I possess each of the gifts. I know how to utilize them."

Dolman then turns on Shadrac and attempts to take control of his mind once more, and briefly succeeds as Shadrac fires a blast of flame at Iceman and Spider-Man. The mind-controlled Shadrac apologizes to the two superheroes, and picks them up and proceeds to burn them with his flames. Spider-Man then shouts at Iceman to grab his wrist and "start pouring on the cold!" Iceman does so, and Spider-Man shoots webbing towards Shadrac which is now made of ice thanks to Iceman. The ice-covered webbing covers Shadrac like a net and the creature exclaims "YES! Thank you." But it is too late, and Dolman has found the energy signature of the spindle, and makes contact with his energies. The release of power is tremendous, and threatens to bring down the chasm around everyone. Spider-Man says he will get Maxwell to safety, but the old man won't have it. "I'm telling you. If he gets hold of the spindle, this city will be in ruins!" Shadrac then tells the others he will do it, and tells them to leave as he jumps toward Dolman, fusing his hands into his torso. "FOOL" Dolman roars. "You do not have the power to stop me!" "Not as Shadrac, perhaps, but...as Override?" Shadrac calmly replies, as the two plummet into the chasm. The homeless man then explains that the world around them then filled with fire, and the heroes grabbed Maxwell and ran. The homeless man then ends his tale, but Jonah is confused. "But what happened to the others? This Shadrac and Dolman?" Jonah asks. "Come to think of it...how did you escape?" "I told you all I'm going to - " The homeless man then lets out a cry of pain, but assures Jonah he is fine. Spider-Man and Iceman then appear, and Jonah accuses the wall crawler of endangering the homeless man's life down in the cavern. Spider-Man says there was no homeless man there, and Jonah turns to see the homeless man is gone!  "Fools." The homeless man says a short distance away, as he removes his hood and scarf to reveal the face of...Dolman! "To think that I could be so easily defeated." Dolman grins. "To think that-" But then his face changes...to that of Shadrac! "You cannot escape me any longer, Dolman. Now I'm a part of you. As a consequence of the Gathering, my power to Override has expanded. " Shadrac chuckles. "And I can override whatever evil you try to - " "NO!" Dolman mutters to himself. "How? It's not possible. It can't be. I never saw it coming." And accepting his fate, Dolman walks on into the gathering darkness. The End.

The idea of the story being told from the point of view of eyewitnesses is an interesting take this issue, and is a refreshing change of pace from the mystical muck we had to put up with in Amazing Spider-Man V2 #3 (#444). The scene between Flash and Jonah is an interesting piece, but not much is done with the fact Flash is unemployed following Norman's disappearance to make it really good and interesting drama. It's not long before the issue dissolves into the familiar Gathering of Five nonsense, with out wall crawling hero merely having a bit part between all the mystical guys and Iceman. But thankfully, this issue puts to rest all this stuff...for the time being. Mattie Franklin makes a further appearance as Spider-Woman III in Amazing Spider-Man V2 #5 (#446), as does Madame Web, as we finally she how she was affected by the Gathering of Five ceremony. Of course, both Dolman and Shadrac would appear again in Mattie's own title, Spider-Woman V3 #3 & #4.

By Gerry Sparling