THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #245

"SACRIFICE PLAY!"
Writer: Roger Stern | Artists: John Romita, Jr. & Dave Simons
Letterer: Joe Rosen | Colorist: Bob Sharen | Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Spider-Man begins his hunt for Lefty Donovan by speaking with District Attorney Blake Tower, but the D.A. is uncooperative. The wall-crawler next tries looking for info on Donovan at the Daily Bugle, but strikes out again. Finally, after additional weeks of searching, he visits Detective Lieutenant Lou Snyder, who provides Spider-Man with Donovan's file.

Meanwhile, a mysterious figure has completed Norman Osborn's strength formula, but it explodes in his face. He recuperates in the hospital while Spider-Man conducts his search, and then, after sneaking out and stealing a car, he heads for the Hobgoblin's former mansion on Long Island and enters a secret basement, where he dons the goblin's costume and heads for Times Square to get Spider-Man's attention at the same time the web-slinger is visiting Snyder.

Snyder informs Spider-Man of the Hobgoblin's rampage and the wall-crawler heads out to meet him. The goblin's strength gives him an unexpected edge, but Spider-Man soon regains the upper hand. He unmasks the Hobgoblin to find Lefty Donovan's face underneath, but just as Donovan is about to reveal the identity of the true Hobgoblin, his jet glider locks onto his feet and takes off, crashing him into a wall.

As the paramedics mop up, Spider-Man realizes that Donovan was simply a decoy, and the real Hobgoblin is still out there. And the Hobgoblin himself watches the news footage of Donovan's death, pleased that his guinea pig provided him with enough data to hopefully duplicate Osborn's formula again, this time without the resultant explosion.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #243

"OPTIONS!"
Story by: Roger Stern | Art by: John Romita, Jr. & Dave Simons
Letters by: Diana Albers | Coloring: Bob Sharen | Edited by: Tom DeFalco
Overseen by: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Spider-Man pays a visit to Dr. Curt Connors at Empire State University to analyze the fragment he grabbed from the Mad Thinker's android. Unfortunately, Connors is able to provide no answers. Afterward, the web-slinger patrols the city, takes out a group of terrorists who have seized a church, and eventually returns to ESU to inform his lab partner, Roger Hochberg, that he has decided to quit graduate school.

The Sub-Plots: If that main plot description seems a bit thin, it's because this is pretty much a sub-plot-centric issue, as Stern catches up on various aspects of Peter Parker's life. First off, the Amy Powell storyline finally comes to its close. After several issues of Amy toying with Peter to make Lance Bannon jealous, Amy storms out of Peter's apartment when Mary Jane Watson barges in. Lance pursues Amy and the couple eventually reconciles over coffee, finally admitting to one another that they are in love at that the games they've played have gone on long enough.