Continuity error in Web of Spider-Man 3

[Spider-Man]

At the climax of the main story, the Rhino rebels against the scientists who created him and kills them. Now, I didn't think this was a continuity error at first, since the Rhino's original origin story made it fairly vague whether or not they survived- in ASM 43, the last we see of them is when they're cowering for their lives while the Rhino is tearing down the building they're in. However, I was reading up a bit more on the Rhino's history, and I found out that those same scientists were the ones who later restored the Rhino's hide after Spider-Man dissolved it. It was a fairly dumb plot, if you ask me- they'd really want to make this guy into the Rhino AGAIN, after he betrayed them the first time?!- but it's an important part of the Rhino's backstory nonetheless.

[Spider-Man]

Just wondering if any has any more information or ideas on this.

[JephYork]

Maybe he thought he killed them, but they survived. Maybe he killed some of them, and the others later restored his hide. *shrug* I dunno...

-Jeph!

[Paul Bourcier]

I squinted hard and came up with the following sequence:

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN v2 #3 (5:4)-FB
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #43 (5:2-5:3)-FB
WEB OF SPIDER-MAN v2 #3 (5:5-6:3)-FB
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #43 (5:4)-FB
WEB OF SPIDER-MAN v2 #3 (6:4)-FB
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #43 (5:5)-FB
WEB OF SPIDER-MAN v2 #3 (1-8:4)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #43 (5:6-6:1)
WEB OF SPIDER-MAN v2 #3 (8:5-8:6)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #43 (6:2)
WEB OF SPIDER-MAN v2 #3 (9-10)

Maybe Igor and Georgi got better...to take a cue from Monty Python, "it's only a flesh wound..."

[Spider-Man]

Nice work! I just checked the scenes in question and they work together fairly well when viewed in that order. Even the different depictions of the Rhino turning against his employers- which I thought were completely contradictory- fit together almost seamlessly that way, aside from some minor hiccups in the flow of dialogue. Though, the Rhino's flashback story in Web #3 must've taken place over a much longer period of time than the narrative implies, since ASM #43 states that the procedure that gave the Rhino his hide took months. (I guess they were in that South American country for quite a while!) ASM #43 also mentions that he was working for those spies-for-hire as their muscle even before they turned him into the Rhino; I suppose that must've happened after his mob contact put him in touch with those defectors, but before he signed up for their procedure?

As for Igor and Georgi (where'd you find out their names, by the way?), I suppose them surviving getting impaled and thrown out of a building really is the only solution here. To think that they'd still be willing to perform the same procedure on the Rhino again, after all that! What're the odds that he betrayed them a second time, too? (I haven't actually read the story where they restore the Rhino's hide, I just looked up what happened online because I was curious how the Rhino was still around after his defeat in ASM #43.)

By the way, I just noticed that the Rhino getting his powers somewhere in South America actually fits in perfectly with his debut in ASM #41, where he marches into the U.S. from the country's southern border. I wonder if Van Lente actually had that in mind when he was writing Web #3, or if it's just a convienient coincedence?

[Paul Bourcier]

Spider-Man wrote:

ASM #43 also mentions that he was working for those spies-for-hire as their muscle even before they turned him into the Rhino; I suppose that must've happened after his mob contact put him in touch with those defectors, but before he signed up for their procedure?

Presumably.

Spider-Man wrote:

As for Igor and Georgi (where'd you find out their names, by the way?),

According to the Official Index to the Amazing Spider-Man #1, their names are revealed in Incredible Hulk v2 #104. (Checks H2 104 -- yup, on page 10.)