King's Ransom is a 2021 Spider-Man story arc, the fourth major storyline event in The Amazing Spider-Man (2018). Running from issues #61-#65 and concluding with Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: King's Ransom, the story continues story threads that began in Spencer's The Superior Foes of Spider-Man and having been seeded throughout the run. The first issue was released on March 10th, 2021.
The arc focuses primarily on the hunt for the Lifeline Tablet, which Wilson Fisk intends to use to resurrect his dead wife Vanessa. To that end, he has put out a bounty on the supposedly reformed criminal Boomerang, who is helping Spider-Man look for the tablet in order to keep it out of Fisk's hands. Things are somewhat looking up for Spider-Man, who has a new gig working with the new site "Threats and Menaces". Meanwhile, Randy Robertson and Janice Lincoln's already complicated relationship faces a new obstacle when their respective fathers learn they are dating.
The arc was followed by The Chameleon Conspiracy.
King's Ransom contains examples of:
- Attack Drone: The "Pro-Spider Slayers" are drones piloted by Threats And Menaces subscribers which were meant to help the heroes in battle. While Jonah designed them to be non-lethal, they still cause a lot of collateral damage and end up turning on each other.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Fisk gets the Lifeline Tablet thanks to Boomerang's deception and uses it to resurrect his son Richard Fisk.
- Batman Gambit: Boomerang only pretended to reform as part of a ruse to trick Gus Mapleton into helping him find all the pieces of the Lifeline Tablet. However, Mapleton had placed a spell on the final piece that would kill anyone unless they were a true hero. To get around this, Boomerang ingratiated himself to Peter as a way of getting Spider-Man to help him get the final piece, which Boomerang always knew the location.
- Becoming the Mask: Despite initially befriending Peter to get access to Spider-Man, Boomerang did over time genuinely come to consider both men friends. It's telling that Boomerang's reaction to the successful completion of his Long Game is melancholy rather than gloating.
- Big Damn Heroes: Robbie and Tombstone have arrived at the dock where Randy and Janice are being held, only to find a trap waiting for them and Spider-Man too far away to get to them in time. Then Tombstone reveals that he called in the other members of the Syndicate who immediately show up and start kicking ass.
- Broken Pedestal: Janice originally admired Madame Masque. But between abducting her and Robbie to lure their fathers into a trap and Masque being a Jerkass to her, all respect Janice once had for her was lost.
- Corporate-Sponsored Superhero: Desperate to make ends meet, Spider-Man agrees to work with Threats and Menaces to provide them POV coverage of his battles in exchange for income.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Janice tells her father that him throwing a tantrum over her dating Randy only makes their relationship more attractive to her.
- Deck of Wild Cards: Besides the fact that the mob bosses under Kingpin's control are willing to kill each other over the bounty on Boomerang, Crime Master and Madame Masque try to take advantage of the ensuing violence to get rid of Tombstone and steal his territories for themselves.
- Disappointed in You: This is Robbie's reaction to finding out his son is dating Tombstone's daughter.Robbie: Randy, I was upset the first three times you got arrested for protesting. I was upset when you decided to pass on getting a law degree so you could go into social work. Upset because I was worried for you. But also very, very proud. Always proud. I told myself, "Hey, that's what you get for raising a kid with such a big heart. Someone who really wants to do some good in the world."Pulls out the pictures of Robbie and Janice kissingRobbie: Boy, was I wrong about all that.
- Downer Ending: Boomerang is revealed to have been using his friendship with Peter as a ruse to get Spider-Man to help him find the Lifeline Tablet so he could give it back to Kingpin. Kingpin also uses the tablet to resurrect his son Richard Fisk.
- Dramatic Irony: Boomerang leaves a note for Peter warning him to stay out of the Kingpin feud as he would never forgive himself if something happened to the "powerless and helpless" Peter. Boomerang has no idea that Peter is Spider-Man.
- Enemy Mine: Spider-Man convinces Robbie and Tombstone to put aside their mutual hatred and work together to rescue their children who have been abducted by Crime Master and Madame Masque.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Tombstone tells Robbie he never wanted his daughter to be a criminal like him and would have preferred if she became an honest lawyer.
- Falsely Reformed Villain: Boomerang's reformation is revealed to have been a ruse to manipulate Spider-Man into helping him retrieve the final piece of the Lifeline Tablet, which could only be removed from its hiding place by a true hero. However, Boomerang did genuinely come to appreciate his friendship with Peter and Spider-Man (whom he still does not know are the same person), and is shown to be rather melancholy when celebrating with his reunited gang.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Robbie and Tombstone go to Mirage for information on where to find Randy and Janice. When Robbie being nice doesn't work, Tombstone gets the information they need by dangling Mirage from a rooftop. Of course, Mirage was actually working for the kidnappers and only pretended to be playing hard ball with Robbie and Tombstone.
- Hated by All: If there was ever any doubt that Boomerang is not a very popular guy, this story has both heroes and villains outright saying that they hate him. Spider-Man is pretty much the only person who actually likes him.
- Henshin Hero: Peter's new Spider-Man suit is made from unstable molecules, allowing him to rapidly change into it and back.
- Implausible Deniability: Mirage mentions how the Daily Bugle got him into trouble with the Owl once when Robbie comes to him for help in finding Randy and Janice. Mirage had agreed to give the Bugle information on the Owl's gang as an anonymous source, but the Bugle still mentioned that they got their information from someone working for the Owl. Unfortunately, the Owl had only two henchmen at the time, Mirage and Death Adder, and Death Adder can't talk.
- Insult Backfire: Robbie calls Janice "a vicious crook just like her old man". Tombstone takes this as a compliment.
- In the Blood: Robbie states that "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" in regards to Janice Lincoln being a criminal just like her father.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Janice is a huge fan of Madame Masque and is thrilled when the latter says Janice is "not to be trifled with". Sadly, Janice's flattery and fangirling doesn't stop Madame Masque from knocking her out.
- Lighter and Softer: In comparison to Hunted, Sins Rising and especially Last Remains, this arc is much more humorous and less emotionally heavy. The fact that Boomerang is a main focus has a lot to do with that.
- That said, the story has a rather sad ending, with Boomerang having revealed to have been pulling a ruse on Spider-Man and Kingpin using the Lifeline Tablet to resurrect Richard Fisk.
- MacGuffin: The Kingpin wants all the pieces of the Lifeline Tablet so he can use it to resurrect his wife Vanessa, and puts a price on Boomerang's head to keep him and Spider-Man from stopping him.
- Moving Beyond Bereavement: Kingpin gets the Lifeline Tablet, but ultimately decides not to use it to restore his deceased wife Vanessa, accepting that she would prefer to rest in peace. However, Fisk does use the tablet to resurrect his son Richard, aka The Rose.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Madame Masque is able to track Spider-Man's movements using the "Find Your Hero" app Jonah had Threats And Menaces develop, allowing them to tell how long it will take for the Wall-Crawler to arrive at their location.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Kingpin offers total immunity from the authorities to any mob boss who brings him Boomerang. Naturally, this escalates to the mob bosses trying to kill each other to eliminate the competition. Boomerang comments that this type of infighting is why the mob always loses.
- The Nose Knows: Gog is able to help Peter find Boomerang by following his scent.
- Only the Pure of Heart: Gus Mapleton placed a spell on the final piece of the Lifeline Tablet that would kill anyone who tried to remove it from its hiding place, unless they were a truly selfless hero. Boomerang manipulated Spider-Man into removing the piece for him so he could give the completed tablet to the Kingpin.
- Papa Wolf: Robbie, having long since overcome his fear of Tombstone, outright threatens the monster when he thinks Tombstone had something to do with Randy's abduction.
- Price on Their Head: Fisk offers full criminal immunity from the police to whomever captures Boomerang for him.
- Restraining Bolt: Bullseye shoots and destroys Gog's collar, causing the alien to grow giant and hostile. Spider-Man just barely succeeds in putting it back on and returning Gog to his more docile state.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Randy and Janice's relationship faces a major obstacle when their respective fathers discover they are dating. White Rabbit even compares them to Romeo and Juliet "if Juliet also pulled off jewel heists on the side".
- Targeted to Hurt the Hero: Fisk decides that if he can't hurt Boomerang, he can hurt someone he cares about; namely, Boomerang's alien pet Gog. However, the goal is not to actually kill Gog, but to destroy the collar that keeps Gog small and docile. Once Bullseye destroys the collar, Gog grows giant and starts rampaging.
- Torture Technician: Kingpin hires Baron Mordo, an expert in effective torture techniques against demons, to break Kindred.
- Wham Episode: Part 2 (Issue #62) ends with both Robbie and Tombstone discovering that their respective children are dating each other.
