The Daydreamers!

Uatu, the Watcher, tells that not only can he view alternate realities that exist in the multiverse, but the realities of thoughts and minds. He turns his attention to the planet Earth, where Felicia Hardy is still recovering in the hospital. She has grown bored and begins going against her doctor's orders to stretch and exercise. Her stretching is interrupted by the arrival of Spider-Man who has brought her Black Cat costume. Once she changes into her costume, the couple go out web-slinging. Spider-Man tells the Cat that their mission that evening will benefit from her skills as a former cat burglar. They are to recover papers from a foreign embassy for the sake of freedom. They easily steal the papers from an office when the wall-crawler lowers the Black Cat down from a skylight. They then go to the pier where they meet with their government informant on Spider-Man's yacht. They are paid a large sum of money for their services. As they speed off in their yacht, Spider-Man suggests that they go on vacation to Monaco. Along the way, the wall-crawler removes his mask, revealing that he is none other than film actor Cary Grant and they speed off into the sunset. Felicia Hardy suddenly snaps out of her daydream by a doctor who demands to know what she is doing out of bed. He tells her to get back to bed before she pops her stitches. Felicia follows orders and thinks about her little dream. She realizes that Spider-Man is probably not Cary Grant, but thinks about how wonderful it would be if he did.

Meanwhile, at the offices of the Daily Bugle, publisher J. Jonah Jameson arrives at the office wearing a tracksuit. He is handed a copy of the late edition of the Daily Bugle. The front page story is about Spider-Man saving the day and this frustrates him. Suddenly, Spider-Man comes down from the ceiling and mocks Jameson. This angers the publisher and he rips the newspaper in half in frustration. Having had enough of the wall-crawler, Jonah takes a swing at the masked hero, stunning him. The publisher begins beating down on the web-slinger and forces him to confess that he is a menace to society. Jameson's battle gathers a crowd, including Peter Parker and Lance Bannon snap photos while cheering Jameson on. Once he finishes cleaning the wall-crawler's clock, he is joined by his girlfriend Marla Madison who runs to his side. A now noticeably youthful Jameson is given the reprinted late edition which proclaims that he defeated Spider-Man and has been named publisher of the year. However, this too is a daydream. Jameson wishes that this could be the case, but concedes that the Daily Bugle will only publish facts. He is satisfied with writing his editorials in the hopes he will eventually crush his nemesis in the court of public opinion.

Elsewhere, Mary Jane Watson is leaving the Shubert Theater with a date to go get some food. Mary Jane tells her date how she's always wanted to perform on Broadway and how sitting in the front row is almost as though she is part of the show. Looking up at the marquee she is shocked that the show coming soon is called the "Mary Jane Watson Story". When the gathered crowd spots Mary Jane, they swarm her asking for an autograph. Getting past her adoring fans, Mary Jane goes into the theater where a blonde woman is being denied the part of Mary Jane in the play. Seeing Mary Jane, the director suggests that they hire her to play herself. This is met with praise from actors Warren Beatty and Woody Allan who are playing the roles of Spider-Man and Peter Parker respectively. They cheer her on as she recites lines from the play, but the accolades are interrupted by Mary Jane's sister Gayle and her two children. Gayle asks Mary Jane if there is a role for her in the play about her life story. The appearance of her sister snaps Mary Jane out of her daydream. Her date is concerned about her, but Mary Jane assures him that her mind wandered.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man is not far from Avengers Mansion, pondering if he should accept an offer to join the Avengers or not. He then spots J. Jonah Jameson jogging down the street and wonders why he is on a health kick as of late. Suddenly, an army of super-villains break out of the ground and surrounds the publisher. Spider-Man tosses out a highly advanced camera to snap photos as he goes to aid Jameson. As Spider-Man fights off this nearly endless army of villains, Jameson suddenly realizes that Spider-Man is a hero. Once the battle is over, Jonah gets down on his knees and kisses Spider-Man's feet in thanks for saving his life. This becomes the photo on the front page of the Daily Bugle, with the headline "Jameson Eats Crow". This very shot wins Peter Parker a Pulitzer Prize for photojournalism. Suddenly, the award ceremony is interrupted by Morris Sloan, who tells Peter that some of his lab work at Empire State University turned out to be a cure for every illness in the world. Swarmed by reporters, Peter slips away to change into Spider-Man to get away. He goes to Central Park where the Avengers and Fantastic Four are joining the mayor of New York to award Spider-Man a key to the city. Suddenly, the two superhero teams fight over which group Spider-Man gets to join. Spider-Man tells them that he will work for both teams on alternating days. However, this dream is shattered when Captain America points out the reflection of Spider-Man on his shield. It is that of Peter Parker, someone they say doesn't look like a hero an abandon them.

Spider-Man is snapped out of his daydream by the shouts of some teenagers bullying a skinny young man. Spider-Man scares the bullies off and helps the kid pick his books off the ground. The wall-crawler encourages the child not to let the bullies get him down and to focus on his studies, but also not to forget about the outside world. The boy is in awe as Spider-Man web-slings away. The teen imagines what it would be like to be a hero just like Spider-Man, however, he dismisses this idea as ridiculous, but he still allows himself to dream about what he would look like if he was.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, The Watcher, Black Cat, J. Jonah Jameson, Mart Jane Watson

Continuity Notes

• The Black Cat is still recovering in hospital after being injured during a battle with Doctor Octopus and the Owl in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #76.

• The dreams in this story include real-life individuals such as actors Cary Grant, Meryl Streep, Woody Allen, Warren Beatty, and former New York Mayor Ed Kotch, could be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, but then again they only appear in dreams so such a distinction is a moot point.

• The appearance of Gayle Watson in Mary Jane's daydream leaves a lot to a mystery. The troubled life of the Watson sisters is delved into in detail in Amazing Spider-Man #259.

• Spider-Man's considerations about joining the Avengers in this story are explored further in Avengers #236-237.

• Peter's dream about winning a Pulitzer Prize, he acts as though he has not won one before. In reality, he has. As revealed in Sentry: Spider-Man #1, Peter was awarded a Pulitzer for taking a photo of the Sentry. However, all memory of the hero (and subsequently Peter's Pulitzer win) were erased from memory as seen in Sentry #1-5.