For ten exciting years, the Spider battled the underworld, imprinting his scarlet seal on the bodies of the criminals he slew. None knew his name. His face was unknown. Pursued by the police, sought by the mob, the Master of Men crushed crime with a blazing ferocity never witnessed before or since. Manhattan is under siege from a new brand of terrorist-a human monster who calls himself the Black Death. His weapon a choice: Virulent strains of Bubonic plague that strikes down its victims within hours. Unless the city fathers pay up, New York will become a charnel house of horrors. Can the Spider defeat this menace-or will death's black wings smother him too?