If Spidey himself could be affected by the Inferno, then what of his supporting cast? The demonic invasion of New York would prove to be some bad times for one member of the Webhead's supporting cast: one Betty Brant. At this point, the poor woman had gone through some rough times. She had recently lost her beloved husband Ned Leeds, which also led her to being part of a cult for a while. So, the Inferno is really not something she needs in her life right now. However, the demons do not care where it's a good time for them to bother her or not, and so we'll see how she and Flash Thompson deals with the demonic invasion in Spectacular Spider-Man #148!
The cover is awesome. You got Ned Leeds, Gwen Stacy, and Spider-Man erupting from their graves, all zombified. It has that spooky vibe, perfect for a tie-in to a crossover about demons in New York.
"Night of the Living Ned"
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Inker: Sal Buscema
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Rick Parker
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
The story begins with a dark and stormy night. We look at the grave of one Ned Leeds, who was killed in the one-shot Spider-Man Versus Wolverine (February 1987). A hand seemingly erupts from said gravesite.
A zombified Ned erupts from the grave, basically saying "Hey, Betty! Hubby's home!" And he's not alone. A zombie Gwen Stacy also bursts out of her own grave, saying she is back. And she's accompanied by a zombie Spider-Man. But wait, Spidey's not dead. No, but he does have a gravestone. Thank the events of Web of Spider-Man #31 (October 1987), part of the Kraven's Last Hunt storyline for that. The zombies call for Betty, asking her to join them in death. And Betty Brant can only scream.
Flash can understand why. Betty had gone through a lot. Her brother Bennett seemingly died years ago back in Amazing Spider-Man #11 (April 1964). Betty had a nervous breakdown after Ned died, she nearly got killed by the Sin-Eater in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #109-110 (December 1985-January 1986) and joined the Cult of Love in Web of Spider-Man #40-43 (July-October 1988). It's why she is staying in Flash's apartment. He took her in so she could get back on her feet. Flash, however, doesn't think Betty is going mad. He thinks it's more the city itself is going mad. Weird weather, blackouts, riots, the Empire State Building is growing in size, cars trying to eat people...the Inferno is here, and madness comes with it.
Flash eyes a gas heater that Betty is running. She was cold, which was weird as the morning was sweltering hot. He shuts it off, as running a gas heater in a closed apartment is very dangerous. Fire hazard, and all that. Betty feels like she can't think straight. In a nice heartwarming moment, Betty thanks Flash for letting her stay with him until she can get her own place again, and Flash is happy to do so. After all, they knew each other for years, and friends always help each other out, regardless of the years and the changes. They hug, but are watched by a pair of demons.
The demons decide to have some fun with the two, as their master N'astirh says they can do that now. The two demons vanish. Flash Thompson goes to get some more boards, noting how cold the building is despite the heat outside. The phones are down, power went out, and he saw a riot on the corner. He is left feeling useless and wanting to do something about it. He hears someone greeting him.
It's Flash's hero, Spider-Man! Flash perks up. Hey, maybe the web-slinger wants him to help out with a team-up with the Avengers or something! That would be awesome! Flash is wondering how we're going to get out of this mess, and the webhead has an answer...in the form of a mighty backhand to the former jock. Flash is understandably confused. Spider-Man is a hero! He's one of the good guys! Why is he attacking?!
As if things can't get any more insane, Betty Brant hears a tapping at the window. Thinking it's just a bird, and trying to assure herself that she is not nuts, Betty opens the window.
Neddy's home, and he's looking...a bit decayed. A little moisturizing cream could fix that right up. Ned bursts into the apartment, and Betty flees for her life. Ned follows her, taunting her about him being back and why she's not happy to see him. She manages to lock herself in a room, wondering why Ned is back and he's doing this to her. Flash Thompson himself is...not doing much better.
As you can see, he's a bit tied up. Spidey explained that he tied Flash to the TV antenna because, well...TV antennas can make great lightning rods. And Spidey just removed the building's lightning rod, so when some lightning hits the antenna instead of the rod...Flash will get...flash-fried. I know, bad joke. Flash wants to know why Spidey is doing this. Why? Well, Spidey explains it.
He thinks Flash is annoying. He is sickened by the former football player's whole 'hero-worship' routine. To him, Flash is nothing more than a pathetic loser. Flash reaches for a screwdriver in his tool belt, distracting Spidey by keeping him talking. Spidey says he doesn't consider Flash a friend, just a thorn in his side that he's finally going to deal with once and for all.
Back with Betty, she thinks about how she has always needed someone to lean on to save her, and how she has lost almost everyone she has loved, like her brother Bennett (who didn't really die, but that's another story) and her husband Ned. She needed them, and they're both gone. But she gets a visit from...Ned Leeds.
Whether it's Ned's actual ghost (which is certainly plausible considering what's going on), or something from Betty's own mind, it's never really revealed. I like the ambiguity of it. Anyway, Ned tells her that she depends on others too much. He reminds her of the love they shared, and assures her she's stronger than she thinks. She can do it. She has to save herself now. Ned disappears, and the words seem to light a fire in Betty Brant.
Back on the roof, Spidey is gloating about how he's going to kill Flash. He gets a hammer to the back of the head, and tackled by Flash. Flash is convinced that this Spider-Man is a fake, because Flash was easily able to cut his way out of his web trap with a screwdriver. Also...the real Spider-Man would have been able to dodge the hammer Flash threw because his Spider-Sense would have warned him of the hammer heading towards his head. Another detail I noticed. He starts beating on the fake Spidey, screaming that the fake Spidey is lying about his friendship with Spider-Man, and he is no loser. He tears off Spidey's mask, and "Spider-Man"'s real face is revealed.
Not quite as scary as I expected. The demon Spider-Man starts to strangle Flash, taunting him about his glory days of being a high school football star having long passed him by. Flash is a boy who fears growing up, because he's nothing. He has no potential, and is not worth anything to anyone, as far as the demon is concerned.
Betty returns to Flash's apartment, and found a ton of lit candles all over the place. The wax smell is overwhelming. She grabs the gas heater, as she has a plan. Zombie Ned returns and reveals that he lit the candles. Betty tells him that he's not really Ned. The zombie Ned returns to its true demonic form.
Ahhh, that's a nice creepy face! The demon, feeling sporting, gives Betty a chance to run and hide. She refuses, as she's done with that. He tells her to scream. He likes it when they scream. She won't do that, either. Instead, she turns on the gas heater. On the roof, Flash is grappling with the demon Spidey. A bolt of lightning hits the antenna, causing it to collapse. Flash grabs a wire attached to the antenna and uses it to swing himself and demon Spidey into his apartment. Flash gets a whack in the mouth from the demon impersonating Ned, but Betty jams the gas heater into "Ned's" body, grabs Flash, and gets out of there. You see, when Flash and demon Spidey burst into the apartment, they knocked over some of the candles, causing a fire. And Betty turned on the gas heater. You can guess what happens next.
Yup. The apartment goes up in smoke, and it takes the demons with it. Betty and Flash laugh in relief about surviving. They notice something else, too. The screaming, the craziness...it's over. It's all over. Even the Empire State Building is back to normal. This is due to the events of X-Factor #38 (March 1989), in which the X-Men and X-Factor were able to defeat N'Astirh and his demon horde. Betty is overjoyed. They survived the night by themselves. Just themselves. But Flash thinks of it another way. They had help. As he watches Spider-Man swing by, he points out that it was not the superheroes who saved himself and Betty, it was the heroes within themselves that allowed them to survive.
This issue is awesome. I love that the creatives took the opportunity to take this tie-in into a crossover event and make it into a nice little character piece. I liked that we got to see Betty Brant discover her own inner strength and Flash find his own internal hero. I also liked that it was kept ambiguous whether it was really the ghost of Ned Leeds that visited Betty or just her imagination. It would have been easy to say it was Ned's ghost considering the circumstances, so I think that it's very clever that they decide to let the reader make their own interpretation. Betty Brant overcame both her metaphorical and literal demons in this story, and it's a joy to read.
Sal Buscema's art makes some great creepy sights, like the zombies at the beginning and the demons. He also is great at making characters rather expressive. I still got a bit of a chuckle at his portrayal of a terrified Betty Brant. He drew her eyes very big and wide with small pupils, like she's a cartoon character. It's amusing.
I hope you all enjoyed this little Halloween treat I made for all of you. You know, I can't help but wonder. What was Spider-Man himself doing during the Inferno? Well, let's find that out in a nice little Halloween bonus! Next time, Spider-Man deals with a demonic siege of the Daily Bugle...
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