SONS OF THE TIGER PART 15 - MEANWHILE...

And now we wrap up the saga of the White Tiger with a couple of "reruns" from the earlier days of this blog. Way back in 2014, I looked at one of my all-time favorite Marvel runs -- Roger Stern's tenure on SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN from the early eighties. As part of his work on the former title, Stern decided to revisit Hector Ayala and, at least at the time, give his story a conclusion. Stern did a story about a hero-killing vigilante called Gideon Mace, and I suppose he needed to show that Mace was serious business, so he decided to have him cripple Spidey's pal from SPECTACULAR's earlier days.

When I read this at the time (and previously, in my younger days), I didn't think much of it since the Tiger was a curiosity and not a character with whom I was terribly familiar. But now, with the benefit of having seen his earliest appearances in DEADLY HANDS and some of his struggles in SPECTACULAR, Stern's callous treatment of the Tiger and his family, characters into whom Bill Mantlo clearly had invested a great deal of his energies and interest (and into whom George Pérez had injected biographical tidbits from his own life and family), reads differently, and is perhaps a blemish on his otherwise wonderful run.

But I'll let you decide! Following are my looks at the White Tiger backup serial Stern used to set up his Gideon Mace tale, and then Spider-Man's battle against Mace himself, originally posted here way back in the summer of '14:

PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: THE WHITE TIGER SERIAL
PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #52

But if, after reading these stories, you think Roger Stern was rough on the Tiger, just remember that a couple decades later, in the pages of DAREDEVIL, Brian Bendis had him framed for a crime he didn't commit, after which he was gunned down and killed by cops while trying to clear his name.

So that's it for the White Tiger, but we're not quite finished with this saga yet. There's still one last big dangling plot left over from the final days of DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU, so I broke out the Comicraft fonts and prepared a little "primer" to get you ready for it:

MARVEL TEAM-UP #100 (BACKUP STORY)

Stan Lee presents: STORM and the BLACK PANTHER

”CRY -- VENGEANCE!”
Writer/Co-Plotters/Artists: Chris Claremont, John Byrne & Bob McLeod
Letterer: Annette Kawecki | Colorist: Robbie Carosella
Editor: Denny O’Neil | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: In New York City, Ororo “Storm” Monroe is winged by an assassin’s bullet. She changes into costume and corners the shooter, getting him to admit the name of his employer: Andreas de Ruyter. This causes Storm to flash back to her childhood, when she met young Prince T’Challa while traveling south from Cairo, and helped him escape de Ruyter and his men.

In the present, Storm visits New York’s Wakandan embassy, where T’Challa -- now the king of Wakanda called the Black Panther -- greets her. Storm explains the situation and the Panther tracks de Ruyter to a mansion on Long Island. Storm and the Panther infiltrate the mansion but are assaulted by a monstrous robot. They defeat it and continue on their path, eventually finding de Ruyter, dead thanks to a mental link he shared with his robot.

As the authorities arrive to clean up, Storm and the Black Panther part ways.

PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: THE WHITE TIGER SERIAL

"...THE WHITE TIGER" | "A KILLER ELITE" | "THE MENACE OF GIDEON MACE!"
Writer: Roger Stern | Penciler: Denys Cowan
Inkers: Jim Mooney, Dave Humphreys, Josef Rubenstein
Letterers: Joe Rosen, Jim Novak | Colorists: Ed Hannigan, Christie Scheele
Editor: Dennis O'Neil | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Nathaniel Alexander Byrd, a private detective called Blackbyrd, speaks with a stool pigeon named Lou Gunther. He tells Gunther the history of the Hector Ayala, a.k.a. the White Tiger, his tale culminating with the murder of the Tiger's family one night before. Blackbyrd wants to know who did it, as does the White Tiger -- who arrives moments after the story has been told.

Gunther tells the Tiger that it was "out of town muscle" who murdered his parents and sister, and the Tiger vows to track them down. He heads for the abandoned candy shop Gunther says they have been using as a headquarters, where he finds the men -- a highly trianed military unit led by Colonel Gideon Mace -- holed up.

Mace's soldiers battle the Tiger until he is forced to retreat, but he finds his attempted point of egress -- a window -- to be painted onto the wall by Mace as a trap. With his back literally against the wall, the White Tiger is gunned down by Mace, who proclaims him the first victim of a crusade to rid New York City of all its superhuman residents.

PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #49

"ENTER: THE SMUGGLER!"
Writer: Roger Stern | Penciler: Jim Mooney | Inker: Bruce Patterson
Letterer: Rick Parker | Colorist: Ken Feduniewicz | Editor: Denny O'Neil
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Saturday afternoon at Empire State Univerisity, Peter Parker has trouble concentrating on grading papers. When fellow teaching assistant Phil Chang spots him in the office, Phil takes Peter out for a day on the town. But Phil soon spots Tommy Li, a member of the White Dragon gang, which Spider-Man had supposedly shut down some time before. Suspecting Tommy is up to something, Peter and Phil pursue him. But when Tommy hops into a van and drives away, Peter ditches Phil, changes to Spider-Man, and gives chase.

The wall-crawler loses Tommy in the Holland Tunnel, but later that evening tracks him down at the White Dragons' old hideout, where he has gone to ground. Spider-Man forces Tommy to lead him to his new gang, a group headed by "The Smuggler", a super-strong, super-durable criminal. Spider-Man takes out the Smuggler's gang and then battles the villain himself, eventually winning. But as our hero attempts to web up the Smuggler, his web-shooters run dry and he is left holding his foe by one strand of webbing, unable to reload one-handed.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #252

"COLD FIRE!"
Writer: Roger Stern | Penciler: John Byrne | Inker: Josef Rubinstein
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Bob Sharen | Editor: Jim Salicrup
Harbormaster: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Captain America is chained to the bow of Roxxon's super tanker as it moves toward New York Harbor. Batroc surreptitiously gives Cap some slack on his chains, then enters the ship's bridge with Mr. Hyde. Hyde makes clear his intention of ramming the ship into the city, even though he already has his ransom money, simply to kill the Cobra for deserting Hyde when he broke out of Ryker's Island a week before. Batroc declares Hyde insane, and attacks his ally.

Meanwhile, Cap has freed himself and made his way back aboard ship. Cap joins the fray, teaming with Batroc against Hyde. Hyde ultimately defeats himself by striking a container of liquified natural gas, which flash freezes him and knocks him into the water. Cap dives overboard to search for Hyde, but finds no trace of him. Meanwhile, Batroc escapes with the ransom. He is caught, however, when Captain America and the coast guard surround his barge before it can reach the open sea.

IRON MAN #141

"THE CARIBBEAN CONNECTION"
Plot/Writer: David Michelinie | Plot/Finished Art: Bob Layton
Pencil Art: John Romita, Jr. | Letterer: John Costanza
Colorists: Nel Yomtov & Ed Hannigan | Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Iron Man searches the sea, but finds no sign of his stolen yacht. He returns to the raft holding Rhodey and changes back to Tony Stark just in time to be picked up by the authorities. Meanwhile, Bethany is taken before Justin Hammer, the mastermind behind the missing yacht. Hammer explains that he has been contracted by an American businessman to deliver a great deal of opium to the U.S., and he intends to use the various yachts hijacked by Force for that purpose. Before having Bethany locked up, Hammer reveals to her that they are aboard his new headquarters, a massive, shark shaped submarine.

Elsewhere, Tony has reconfigured Iron Man's sensors to detect heat signatures beneath the ocean's surface. He suits up and heads out, soon locating Hammer's sub. Force intercepts Iron Man, leading to an undersea duel which sees the armored Avenger using all his energy reserves to defeat his foe. Iron Man storms aboard the submarine and uses its power source to recharge his armor, then seeks out Hammer. The power fluctuations caused by our hero allow Bethany and captured passengers from various other stolen boats to escape their cells.

Iron Man confronts Hammer, but the villain triggers the submarine's self destruct system. Iron Man races to save Bethany rather than capture his enemy, allowing Hammer to escape. Our hero finds no sign of Bethany before the sub detonates, but when he returns to the surface, he finds her, along with the other hostages, aboard the captured yachts, having commandeered them during the sub's destruction.

Back at Tony's villa, our heroes enjoy some R&R while they recover. Meanwhile, in the United States, Nick Fury and SHIELD investigate Allentown, Iowa, where the town's two hundred residents are confirmed deceased.