Rags To Riches! * 1ST APPEARANCE "DANSEN MACABRE"
Peter Parker is in Los Angeles on assignment for the Daily Globe, and, his work finished, he is at the gala opening of Cat's Jazz Club before returning to New York. As he observes the attendees, he is surprised to see Jack Russell, who he knows from a previous meeting is the Werewolf. Then Peter recalls the day's events, including how he talked a costumed woman out of turning to a life of crime. (He does not know that she was Spider-Woman.) As the music begins, he settles down to enjoy himself. Jack Russell is at a table with his friend Buck Cowan, quietly discussing recent events. Two days ago, a hoodlum called the Enforcer broke into Buck's apartment and shot him. Fortunately, Spider-Woman and the Werewolf caught the criminal, and the police now have him in custody. Apparently, he was not trying to kill him, because the bullet merely drugged him. Buck was given an antidote at a hospital. Jack says that Buck now has nothing to worry about, but Buck maintains that the Enforcer was working for someone. Jack can see that Buck is becoming worried, and this is exactly what he wanted to avoid when he invited Buck to the club. Actually, Buck nearly died, muses Jack, but there are no clues and the Enforcer is not talking, so there is little they can do. As time passes, Buck calms down and begins to enjoy the music. Suddenly an awful stench permeates the room, and a man dressed in filthy rags redolent of sewage enters. The club attendees are appalled at this apparition.
Calling himself the Tatterdemalion, the man scornfully apologizes for offending his "wealthy, refined friends" and declares that tonight he will AVENGE himself against them.
