In his Bugle column, Conover’s Corner, Jacob Conover writes about nine-year-old Timothy Harrison, who loves Spider-Man so much that he collects any Spider-Man memorabilia. Spidey reads about Tim, and is so moved that he visits him. There he demonstrates his power for Tim by lifting his bed, relates the story of his origin, and shows off his web shooters. When Tim asks Spidey’s identity, the wall-crawler reluctantly removes his mask, tells him he’s photographer Peter Parker, and swears him to secrecy. A tear in his eye, Spidey hugs Tim and departs the Slocum Brewer Cancer Clinic. As Conover’s column revealed, Tim is a leukemia patient there and only has a few weeks to live.
Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains its powers. He fails to stop the Burglar who later kills his Uncle Ben (AF #15, ’62). Spidey uses his spider-sense to evade the gunmen.
This is Assistant Editors’ Month, where the Assistant Editors took over while the editors were at the San Diego International Comic Con. Credits for both stories listed on letter’s page.
