Issue(s): Marvel Super Heroes #4 (Spider-Man/Nick Fury story only)
Cover Date: Dec 90 / Winter 90
Title: "Mind storm"
Credits:
Archie Goodwin & Gerry Conway - Writer
Don Perlin - Penciler
Frank Springer - Inker
Mike Rockwitz - Editor

Review/plot:
Archie Goodwin is credited as "writer" for the first 5 pages and Gerry Conway is the "writer" for the rest. I find it hard to believe that one writer (Goodwin?) didn't actually plot the whole thing and the other just scripted the unfinished pages for publication here.

The story has Spider-Man getting shot by a costumed goon after the goon caused an explosion at the Daily Bugle (it only affected a floor that was used for storage).

Nick Fury shows up and accidentally kills the goon while trying to just disable him.

The goon, whose name was Mindstorm, is said to have first worked for Hydra as an assassin. But he was also a scientist for AIM and later a minion of the Red Skull, and at this point he was an independent agent. He's developed a hallucinogenic chemical, and that's what he shot Spider-Man with. So poor Spider-Man wanders New York having hallucinations (i'm assuming that's Harry and Liz Osborn in the second panel below, although the MCP doesn't list them)...

...while SHIELD works on a cure.

Here's where Spider-Man resolves to never let his aunt die.

Despite Spider-Man's rampages, which take him into the Daily Bugle offices, Nick Fury shows up at the end with a cure and tells J. Jonah Jameson that he's not allowed to report on it for national security reasons.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: It's stated that this story takes place before the Nick Fury vs. SHIELD limited series. We'll then have to look at Spider-Man's costume. Directly before the vs. SHIELD series, Spidey is wearing the Die Spinne costume, and before that, the black costume exclusively for a while. At that point it becomes kind of arbitrary, but i've pushed this back into 1986 when Spider-Man was occasionally wearing his red and blue costume.

Instead of pointing to every other story from this issue, let me just point here. The Considerations on that entry will link to the others.

References:

• Spider-Man thinks he's been shunted into another dimension, like he's been to with Dr. Strange. A footnote credited to "Lazy Librarian" offers No-Prizes to those of us who remember when that happened; i'll just note the first time, in Amazing Spider-Man annual #2.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Wouldn't that "wife" comment push this story post-wedding?

fnord, I distinctly remember thinking that this story seemed very much like a remake of the one that appeared years before in Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD #7, except in the original it was Fury who was drugged with a hallucinogen and saw monsters instead of Spider-Man. And that issue also featured work by Archie Goodwin & Frank Springer!

S is right, and this story can fit in right after the Die Spinne costume is destroyed in Web of Spider-Man 39.

Thanks S and Michael. In my defense, Mephisto came to my house and crossed out all references to Spider-Man's marriage on my paper copy. Luckily i had the digital scan.

Ben, you're right. The premise of this story is a lot like Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #7. Except the plot of that one was about who was injecting the drugs, which wasn't a mystery here.