Hey where could they be shipping these hockey pucks? Oh hey, Canada! Who would have thought!

The two of them are duking it out inside a warehouse, how the story got to this point, we don't know and really it's not very important.

As the two super beings duke it out, Spidey is warned (via his spider-sense) that a thug is sneaking up behind him, when he turns to face the creep he is shocked by Electro (How did you miss that happening with that stupid spider-sense of yours is anyone's guess.)

Instead of finishing off Spider-Man, Electro decides to be a total puss and retreat before the cops show, leaving Spider-Man knocked unconscious on a broken crate of hockey pucks. Apparently, Electro, with all his vaunted electrical powers, is scared of normal everyday police officers.

As it probably became very clear above, I was ever so impressed with the hockey parallel that they decide to use. How much thought did that take to be in the plot? I suppose there were a bunch of guys at the Marvel bullpen's in New York tabulating up a list of things they knew about Canada, they thought it'd be silly to have a plot that involved drug smugglers tempting kids who were lumber jacks or Mounties was too silly they opted for drugs hidden in hockey pucks (I know I just ruined the plot twist in this one, but if you are really that disappointed you must be like five years old. A retarded five year old. Who still believes in Santa -- He doesn't exist by the way -- who'll just cry to your mom that the mean old computer man ruined your fun.)

Okay, got off topic again, so what happens is Spidey finds out that he's on a pile of hockey pucks, which Electro is shipping up to Winnipeg, then muses on how light they are. How the hell does Spider-Man know that Electro is shipping hockey pucks to Canada anyway? Did Electro sign the form "Electro"? That's not very inconspicuous. And come on, hiding drugs in a hockey puck? I'm not even going to try and dignify it with any rational consideration on if it would feasibly work or not.

Spidey, wondering just what Electro is up to (Because a guy who tries to fry you with lightning bolts obviously doesn't tend to send hockey pucks up to Canada for anything good.) breaks into an office in the warehouse and calls his boss J. Johna Jameson to ask to be flown to Winnipeg. Apparently, JJJ was sending Peter Parker to Fredericton to cover a science fair.

Let me get this straight, you live in New York City, which is full of heroes battling super powered bad guys. Galactus just dropped out of the sky and wants to eat the planet. Dr. Doom is blowing up the Fantastic Four's base, and the X-Men are wanted by police again, and you're sending you're best photographer to cover a science fare.... In Canada.... In Fredericton, New Brunswick ? Talk about squandering a talented person.

Through the magic of bargaining, Peter manages to convince JJJ to send him to Winnipeg (to interview one of the kids partaking in this science fare that everyone thinks is all the rage...The President is dropping bombs in the Middle East and they're covering a science fair... I'm sorry, I just can't get my head around this one) before going to Fredericton to take pictures of the science fare.

When arriving in Winnipeg, Peter Parker starts looking for Beth Smith (The girl that he's supposed to be interviewing for the science fare) after checking at her parents house, he finds her at the local rec-hall. Peter meets Herb Carnegie (who is based on a real person, see the side bar) who explains that Beth is a member of the junior hockey team that he coaches called the Future Aces. Beth isn't the best player (probably because she's a girl, way to set an example Marvel!) the star player is a native boy by the name of Alan (In the typical Marvel fashion native peoples are represented by having RED skin. They don't have red skin in real life. WTF is this?) Herb is worried that young Alan is becoming a slacker and is careless and being a bad influence to his teammates.

The game ends, and Herb has them chant their team mantra and gives them a pep-talk. Aces by the way stands for Attitude, Cooperation, Example and Sportsmanship. I suppose it's a good chant to motivate people, but it sure as hell wont power you're Green Lantern power ring.

Later at the Winnipeg Mall... Wait... I'm sure there are more than just one Mall in Winnipeg. There probably isn't a single one called "Winnipeg Mall" (In fact a half assed web search yielded no such Mall. There are malls in Winnipeg, but not an all-seeing all knowing singular mall in Winnipeg.. My reserarch showed however that people like to have gun fights in malls in the 'Peg.. but anyway.)

Dude, it's 1991 and you still have a rat -tail? Those haven't been popular since 1988! (Psst, look over to the far left, it's a very young Geordie LaForge from Star Trek: The Next Generation!)

So, anyway...the kids congregate at the Winnipeg Mall and meet a guy with a mullet who offers Alan a cigarette and some beer.

Obviously, the danger of associating with someone with a mullet is clearly illustrated in this panel, as Alan drinks his beer and smokes his cigarette. But here is something that's bugging me about this. whole sequence right here: there are kids OPENLY DRINKING IN PUBLIC and nobody is noticing?

I figure the mullet would be the equivalent to waving a white flag on the battle field when it comes getting spotted publicly drinking, but never onceduring their whole exchange does anyone pop out of a squad car and chase this mulletted, sleeveless freak. I would

have given my eye teeth to watch this guy run through the ghetto's of Winnipeg, with police in hot pursuit, only to get caught when he thinks hiding under a kiddie pool is the best way to escape the police.

This doesn't happen of course, but Spider-Man is watching (You know, I know that Peter Parker is straight and married to Mary-Jane and all, but the guy sure likes to follow kids around, it's pretty damn creepy.) Spidey see's that one of those kids (coincidentally!!) has one of those hockey pucks full of drugs that Electro was mailing out to Canada, and boy howdie, how full of drugs they are!

Now, take a look at that picture over to your right, what the hell kind of drugs are those anyway? They look like penny candy. And judging from Spider-Man's reaction, he doesn't know what the hell kind of drugs they are either. What would drugs like that do? I opt that they'd make you feel like you have water stuck in your ears. Or maybe they make you feel like you got a wicked rug burn on your arm.

Anyway, so Alan get's offered some drugs, and the he's given "no pressure" to try them.

I don't know about you, but I don't think you can make a lucrative drug smuggling career shipping you're grandmother's vitamin pulls in hockey pucks.

Not about beer? Not about beer!? Everything is about the beer my dear Spider-Man... Hey why is this kid hanging out with Rush Limba and French fisherman?

Anyway, Spider-Man intervenes and decides to meet up with Alan, who at that moment is thinking that he is too one of the guys. Spider-Man then takes young Alan on a trip through the city to see where his buddy Ben get's all his drugs. Beth and her friends (intelligent people that they are) decide to follow Spider-Man and Alan. Because when you see one of you're friends being dragged off by a super-hero, the best thing to do is follow them. And how exactly do you keep up with a guy who can swing through a city much faster than you could ever possibly run?

So Spidey shows Alan all the places where Ben get's all his drugs. Alan seems to be stuck on the idea that all Ben wants to do is go out and get beer. Spidey tells the boy that "this isn't about beer". So Spidey and Alan follow Ben through the city as he meets seedy characters in city parks and in dark alleys. Never once did Ben notice that a guy in red pajama's and a loud mouthed kid in an Edmonton Oilers jersey was following him as he was making his rounds.