To her credit, I don't think Mary Jane asked Peter to bust guys up as often as she could've.

Somehow, I've read a bunch of Peter David books lately, and more Web of Spider-Man than ever before. I usually enjoy the former but they occasionally land flat, and the opposite for the latter. Let's see how today's book does! From 1989, Web of Spider-Man #49, "Corner Business!" Written by Peter David, art by Val Mayerik, with a nice cover by Charles Vess.

David opens with a bit of narration suggesting that small business by-and-large was going the way of the dinosaur; except for one lone holdout of entrepreneurial individualism: the corner drug dealer. David doesn't seem thrilled about it either, but it's a weird pitch. This issue we follow one such small businessman/sleazy dirtbag as Spider-Man harasses him repeatedly, at the behest of his wife, and for profit! After a friend and fellow model nearly overdoses, Mary Jane asks Peter to put her friend's dealer out of business; and while repeatedly embarrassing him and throwing away his drugs, Peter takes pictures to sell to the Bugle. Spidey plants a tracer--in the greasy weasel's hair, so it's tough to feel any sympathy--and hounds him; while MJ tries to find a rehab clinic for her friend. This was before rehab had also become big business, so she's having a hard time finding an opening. Is that still the case? I feel like today, there'd be a surplus of places for treatment. Maybe not great treatment, true, but...

Mary Jane is forced to go to her more upscale friends ("the ones that always give Peter a rash") for cash to cover her friend's rehab, even getting her a job; but she's already cut out to look for a score. Meanwhile, Spidey has driven the pusher back to his source, who had told him in no uncertain terms, don't come by if Spider-Man's following you. Seems reasonable enough, right? The pusher gets shot, as Spidey arrives too late, then has to beat and web up the source and his goons. (Pre-Breaking Bad, they still mention cooking!) Spidey feels a little bad over the pusher's death, even though he didn't even know the name of MJ's model friend...which I haven't mentioned here either, but I don't think she appears again: she has a another overdose, and the story leaves it open if she would survive. And another dealer takes up on the corner...

On the plus side, Peter's boss Kate Cushing is really happy with pictures of a dead dealer. Like scary happy.