Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5
The Parents of Peter Parker!
When helping Aunt May move stuff around the attic, Peter accidentally breaks open a storage trunk filled with photos and other items belonging to his parents. Among these is a newspaper clipping that identifies that his parents were traitors to their country. Mortified, Peter questions his Aunt May, who tells him of his parents and the last time they saw them alive and how she and his Uncle Ben adopted him when they were killed.
Unable to shake this idea from his mind, Peter decides to learn the full story, and so as Spider-Man he seeks the Fantastic Four's aid in helping him travel to the last place his parents were reported seen alive: Algeria. There he learns that his parents were supposedly spies who worked for the Red Skull, and he came across their ID badges for the Skull's organization. Spider-Man also stumbles upon the Red Skull himself, who is in the country to organize a new plot to take over the world.
Spider-Man clashes with the Skull and his men and eventually learns from one of them that Richard and Mary Parker were murdered by the Red Skull when they refused to do his bidding. Believing his parents to have died heroes, he goes after the Red Skull once more and defeats him in battle. In the aftermath, he finds that his father's Red Skull ID card has been cracked in the battle, and finds ID cards underneath that identify them as anti-espionage agents, proving to Peter that his parents were secret government operatives. With evidence to clear his parents' names, Peter returns to the United States, happy to know that in reality, his parents died serving their country instead of betraying it.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Aunt May, The Finisher, Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch) (in flashback) Uncle Ben, Richard Parker, Mary Parker, Red Skull
Continuity Notes
This story states that the flashback occurred after World War II had ended. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Per History of the Marvel Universe #1, Richard and Mary’s mission takes place during the Sin Cong Conflict, a fictional war that was created to place modern age character’s pre-Fantastic Four #1 military operations.
Uncle Ben’s murder from Amazing Fantasy #15 is referenced here.
Although this story does not specify it, this is not Johann Shmidt, the Nazi Red Skull of World War II, but Albert Mallik, the communist Red Skull who took on the identity after. The original Red Skull was still in suspended animation at the time of this story, as seen in Tales of Suspense #79. This was not clarified until Amazing Spider-Man #366.
Although the Finisher appears to die here, he apparently survived as seen in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #67-69 and Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: The Chameleon Conspiracy #1. However, since this revelation was made while the Chameleon was manipulating Peter Parker’s alleged sister Theresa and the Finisher only appeared via holographic projection, this may have been a deception of some kind. As of this writing (December 2021) Theresa is still hunting to find out if the Finisher and the “secrets” he revealed about her past are true.
