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Nick Peron

Welcome to the website of comedian Nick Peron. It is the ground zero of his comedic writing.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23

Nick Peron
Atlantis Attacks

Abominations!

Atlantis Attacks continues from Uncanny X-Men Annual #13...

On an island previously owned by the mutant named Magneto, the Deviant priest Ghaur oversees the construction of a massive Serpent Crown. He gloats over the victory the Serpent Society had in collecting a number of mystical talismans that were needed to assist in this process. Soon, he will use the Crown to bring his master, the elder god known as Set, back to Earth, bringing about the ultimate destruction of the planet. After punishing one of his minions for dripping a molten talisman on the floor, Ghaur is contacted by Llyra. She informs Ghaur that her airship is nearing Colorado and that she will be reaching New York City in a matter of hours. Meanwhile, in New York, Spider-Man is snapping photos of a Naval fleet leaving the city. The Navy has been on alert since a Lemurian attack on the Panama Canal. He is taking advantage of this opportunity, Daily Bugle city editor Kate Cushing has grown bored of photos of Spider-Man.

Rushing back to the Daily Bugle, Peter Parker is paid a generous amount for the photos. On his way out of Cushing's office, Peter is shocked to see his wife, Mary Jane, is waiting for him. She was visiting with Lance Bannon and Joy Mercado while waiting for her husband to show up so she can take him out for lunch. Suddenly, Kate Cushing enters the room and turns on the news. There is a report about a Lumerian airship that was responsible for breaking the Abomination out of incarceration. As Joy Mercado is sent to cover the story, another commotion starts as the She-Hulk storms out of J. Jonah Jameson's office. She had come demanding an apology from the publisher for the editorial he printed suggesting that New York's homeless population should be shipped to New Jersey. When she doesn't get the apology she is looking for, the gamma-powered lawyer storms out of the Bugle offices.

Later, Peter and Mary Jane are having lunch at an outdoor cafe. There they witness a homeless person being removed from panhandling on the sidewalk. This gets Peter thinking about Jameson's editorial in the Bugle about the city's homeless problem. While Parker doesn't agree with Jonah's solution to the problem, he doesn't know what can be done. He wishes there was something he could do with his powers to help, but Mary Jane reminds her husband that he can't help everybody. Suddenly, the wall-crawler's spider-sense kicks in warning him of a truck that is passing by, but he sees nothing dangerous about it. This truck pulls into an alley behind the site of the old mansion headquarters of the Avengers. From one of the buildings, comes a number of Lemurians who open up the truck. From inside comes Llyra, as well as the Subterranean ruler known as Tyrannus, who is trapped in the body of the Abomination. Llyra and Ghaur have set up a device that will restore Tyrannus to his human form. As part of this process, they have captured Emil Blonsky, the original Abomination. Placing both men into the machine, they manage to restore Tyrannus' humanity while cursing Blonsky with the form of the Abomination once more. However, as a result of the energy needed to complete this process, it causes a blackout in Manhattan.

The sudden blackout convinces both the She-Hulk and Peter Parker to get into costume and investigate the situation. With the transfer complete, Tyrannus is removed from the device. That's when Llyra notices that the process has turned Emil Blonsky into a mindless beast. As Ghaur and his associates flee the scene with Tyrannus, the Abomination breaks free from the device and goes on a rampage in the streets. He is spotted by Spider-Man and She-Hulk who engage the villain. As the two heroes pull innocent bystanders out of harm's way, Ghaur notes the She-Hulk's tremendous strength and believes that she will be useful for the next stage of his plan. With the innocent people out of the way, Spider-Man and She-Hulk confront the Abomination but are not prepared to deal with his mindless brute strength. As the story hits the news, Peter Parker's Aunt May watches the reports on television and fears for her nephew's safety. Also seeing the report is Spider-Man's biggest fan, Flash Thompson. Thompson decides to go to the scene of the battle to see if he can help the wall-crawler out. He arrives just as the Abomination collapses the wall of a building on the two heroes and flees the scene. When the She-Hulk pulls herself free from the rubble, Flash tells her where their foe went. She leaps off to find him, telling Thompson to keep an eye on Spider-Man. Following the She-Hulk is Ghaur who wishes to examine the She-Hulk's strength further.

Elsewhere in the city, the Kingpin monitors events and wonders what implications this battle will have in his city. While at the office of the Daily Bugle, the staff there worry about the fate of the city. Watching the news reports from an electronics store show window, Mary Jane worries about what happened to her husband as reports about Spider-Man are not forthcoming. Meanwhile, the Abomination's rampage has taken him to City Hall Park where he clashes with authorities. That's when She-Hulk catches up to him, saving the lives of the police officers who have arrived on the scene. Meanwhile, Flash Thompson has managed to revive Spider-Man. Once he learns where She-Hulk and the Abomination have gone, he web-slings off to help. At that very moment, the Abomination strikes She-Hulk hard enough to knock her out and continues his rampage. Before the woman can recover from the blow, Ghaur lands his ship so he can put the mark of Set on She-Hulk's neck and flies off. When She-Hulk wakes up, she sees Spider-Man battling the Abomination and comes to his aid. Realizing that he is greatly outmatched, Spider-Man skitters up the Brooklyn Bridge to put some space between himself and the Abomination. This is when She-Hulk tosses a Roxxon Oil fueling truck at their foe. The resulting explosion sets the Abomination on fire.

In extreme pain, the burning Abomination runs off the side of the bridge to the water below. However, he crashes into a tugboat which explodes on contact. With the battle over, Spider-Man notices the strange mark on She-Hulk's neck, but she dismisses it as nothing more than a bruise. Spider-Man heads back home, but he has a strange feeling that things are far from over. At that very moment, at a federal prison in Washington, D.C., Tyrannus is posing as a doctor so he can get access to the notorious terrorist known as the Viper.

Atlantis Attacks continues in Punisher Annual #2...

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, She-Hulk, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, Flash Thompson, Tyrannus, Abomination, Ghaur, Llyra, Kingpin, Viper, Set, J. Jonah Jameson, Lance Bannon, Joy Mercado, Kate Cusing

Continuity Notes

  • The Serpent Society manipulated the X-Men into helping them obtain these talismans in Uncanny X-Men Annual #13.

  • The attack on the Panama Canal took place in Iron Man Annual #10.

  • Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife in this story. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such, Peter and Mary Jane should be considered a common-law couple as opposed to husband and wife.

  • The Abomination, or more specifically, Tyrannus in Abomination's body has been incarcerated since Incredible Hulk Annual #15.

  • At the time of this story, the Avengers had relocated to Hydrobase following an attack on Avengers Mansion by the Masters of Evil in Avengers #273-278. The site of the mansion was left as a park since X-Factor #23 until the group rebuilt a new headquarters, which opened in Avengers #329.

  • Tyrannus and Abomination's physical forms were both destroyed in Incredible Hulk #243 and Incredible Hulk #291 respectively. When the Abomination was restored to physical form in Incredible Hulk Annual #15, but he was also merged with the mind of Tyrannus. Ultimately the Hulk managed to separate Emil Blonsky from the Abomination, leaving Tyrannus trapped in that form.

  • The date on the check made to Peter Parker is dated May 3, 1989. This date should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

My Science Project

Trying to understand his situation on a scientific level, Peter Parker writes a report on himself following surrounding the events of that led to his becoming Spider-Man.

Recounting that he was a bullied high school student under the care of his loving Aunt May and Uncle Ben, Peter describes the day that changed his life forever. He went to an exhibition on radiation at a local science exhibition. There, unseen by anyone, a spider lowered from the ceiling and into the radioactive beams of the demonstration. This spider then landed on the hand of Peter Parker and bit him. Feeling dizzy, Peter went outside for some fresh air. There he is surprised when he leaps across the street to avoid an oncoming car and cling to the wall of a building. On top of these new abilities, he discovers that his strength and agility have also been enhanced, as though he radioactive spider had given him the proportionate abilities of an arachnid.

Peter decided to test his abilities by putting on a disguise and accepting a challenge to last 3 minutes in the ring with a wrestler named Crusher Hogan. Watching Peter win the match, a talent agent named Maxie Shiffman offered to represent the youth and make him rich and famous. Returning home, Peter decided to use his newfound powers to make it rich and designed himself a set of wrist-mounted web-shooters and a flamboyant costume, to complete his new identity as the amazing Spider-Man. However, this good fortune soon turned to tragedy. One night after a television appearance, Spider-Man allowed a thief to escape the studio. When a security guard asks Spider-Man why he didn't stop the thief, the wall-crawler explains that he only looks out for himself.

A number of days later, Peter returns home to discover that a burglar broke into his home and fatally shot his Uncle Ben. Learning that the killer has holed up in a nearby warehouse, Peter went after him as Spider-Man. Catching his Uncle's killer, Spider-Man is horrified to discover that this is the same man he could have stopped a few days earlier. After webbing up the burglar for the police, Peter leaves to process the tragic results of his inaction.

Continuity Notes

UncleBen.gif

  • This story retells Spider-Man's origins from Amazing Fantasy #15. Interestingly, this story depicts an issue of the Daily Bugle with the headline asking if Spider-Man is a threat or a menace. However, this isn't very accurate, as Original Sins #3 that revealed that Jameson actually gave glowing reviews of Spider-Man's entertainment career. In fact, he didn't develop a vendetta against Spider-Man until after his son was bumped from an appearance on the show "It's Amazing!" in favor of Spider-Man, as depicted in Amazing Fantasy #18. Since this story is being told from the perspective of Peter Parker, it could be that his recollection is mistaken.

Spider-Man's Uncanny Spider-Sense

A feature which explains the functionality of Spider-Man's spider-sense works. How it can detect danger that is hiding from plain sight, detecting potential dangers, and determine the level of danger coming from said threat. He can use his spider-sense in a similar fashion to radar, allowing him to walk across a tightrope blindfolded, or warn him of rotten ceiling rafters in a warehouse when he is witnessing a crime in progress. The spider-sense can also warn him of danger lurking in total darkness, and warn him of prying eyes when he needs to change into Spider-Man.

It also assists him in battle, making him to make split-second movement, allowing him to fight multiple foes at once, dodge the Hobgoblin's randomized finger blasts. However, this feature points out that Spider-Man's spider-sense is instintual and can't always differentiate between two types of danger. As an example it shows a scene of Spider-Man trying to disarm a bomb while unaware that Doctor Octopus is sneaking up behind him.

Continuity Notes

  •  Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife in this story. However, years later, their marriage was erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. Peter and Mary Jane have been living at Aunt May's since they were evicted from their condo at Bedford Towers in Amazing Spider-Man #314.

  • Uncle Ben was killed by the Burglar in Amazing Fantasy #15.

Standards of Behavior

At May Parker's boarding house, she is showing her house to Nick Katzenberg, unaware that he is a unethical photographer working for the Daily Bugle who is trying to dig up dirt for his workplace rival, Peter Parker. She tells him that most of the rooms in her home are rented by retirees, but her nephew Peter Parker and his wife Mary Jane also live here as well. She tells Katzenberg how she originally owned the house with her husband, Ben Parker, until one day he was murdered by a burglar.

As she shows Nick around the house, Peter returns home as Spider-Man and enters his old bedroom to change out of his costume. His cover is almost blown when Aunt May shows Katzenberg the room, as it is identical to the one she will be renting out, which is currently under renovations. Peter narrowly avoids being seen by clinging to the ceiling until they are gone. Peter changes back into his costume and slips back outside so he can see what's going on. He overhears Katzenberg suggest that Peter probably goes out and parties a lot and makes a number of lurid comments about his wife. When Aunt May asks Nick Katzenberg about his previous line of work, he tells her that he was a photographer for the National Examiner. She is disgusted to learn that Katzenberg worked with such an unethical newspaper and kicks him out, much to Spider-Man's amusement.

Changing back to his civilian guise, Peter Parker checks in on her Aunt May. When she asks if Peter would ever take photos for a tabloid, he assures her that he never would. She is proud to hear him say this, as she raised him to uphold certain standards of behavior.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Aunt May, Nick Katzenberg

Spider-Man's Top 30 Villain Count Down

Spider-Man goes over a list of his top 30 villains, considering them on the basis of three different categories:

The first category is tenacity, with many world threaten menaces that he's fought just once missing but more persistent lesser foes included. The second category considers raw power, either in special abilities or strength. Finally he considers the nature of the relationship with direct personal hatred outweighing standard conflicts.

This list includes the Red Skull, Crime Master, Sin Eater, Hammerhead, the Chameleon, Hydroman, the Shocker, Molten Man, Silvermane, the Juggernaut, the Human Fly, Carrion, the Jackal, the Tarantula,the Rhino, the Puma, the Lizard, Electro, Mysterio, the Sandman, J. Jonah Jameson, the Burglar, Venom, the Scorpion, the Vulture, Doctor Doom, the Kingpin, Kraven the Hunter, Doctor Octopus, the Hobgoblin, and the Green Goblin.

Continuity Notes

  • Spider-Man refers to this Red Skull as the original, Johann Schmidt, longtime foe of Captain America. However, he is mistaken, as he states that this was the villain responsible for the death of his parents when he was a child. That was in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5. This Red Skull was actually Albert Malik the Communist Red Skull of the Cold War. The mistake is understandable because Spider-Man was unaware of this at the time this feature was published. He learns the truth in Amazing Spider-Man #366.

  • Spider-Man mentions both Crime Masters, Nick Lewis and his revenge-seeking son, Nick Junior. Nick Lewis was killed by the police in Amazing Spider-Man #27. His son briefly adopted his father's identity in Marvel Team-Up #30

  • Spider-Man recounts the Sin Eaters murder spree which included the death of Jean DeWolff. This occurred during the course of Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110.

  • The Chameleon is referred to as Spider-Man's "first" costumed foe. He first battled the Chameleon in Amazing Spider-Man #1. However, he is not the first costumed villain the wall-crawler fought. That distinction goes to Supercharger, who he fought in Amazing Fantasy #18. The omission is due to the fact that Amazing Fantasy #18 was published years after this feature.

  • Spider-Man refers to the Molten Man as the step-brother of his friend Liz Osborn. Peter discovered this familial relationship in Amazing Spider-Man #132-133.

  • Mention is made of Silvermane's attempts at regaining his youth. His first failed attempt was using the Lifeline Tablet in Amazing Spider-Man #74. He later was given a cyborg body to prolong his life in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #70.

  • Spider-Man points out that the Juggernaut is a regular foe of the X-Men. The villain has clashed against the team of mutants many times since their first clash in X-Men #12.

  • Spider-Man makes light of the fact that the Human Fly had developed a taste for garbage. Spider-Man discovered this for himself in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #86.

  • It is stated here that Carrion was thought to be a clone of Miles Warren, but was later revealed to be a living virus. In High Evolutionary refuted the claims that Carrion was a clone of Miles Warren in The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #8. However, this was later confirmed to be a hoax perpetrated by the Evolutionary to dissuade his New Men from worshiping Miles Warren, as seen in Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1

  • At the time of this story, Spider-Man believes that the Jackal died in Amazing Spider-Man #149. However, Miles Warren survived and will resurface again in Amazing Spider-Man #399.

  • It is stated that this is the second man to take on the title of the Tarantula. The original Tarantula, Anton Miguel Rodriquez, died in Amazing Spider-Man #236.

  • The wall-crawler recounts the time that Mysterio almost discovered his secret identity while posing as a psychologist. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man #24.

  • He also states how the Sandman has recently reformed. That happened in Marvel Two-In-One #86.

  • Spider-Man glosses over the symbiotic nature of Venom. Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote joined forces after Brock lost his job for misreporting the Sin Eater murder spree, and the symbiote was rejected by Spider-Man. The story behind their union was revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #300.

  • It is pointed out that the Kingpin has been more focused on Daredevil in recent time. At the time of this story, the Kingpin had recently tried to ruin Daredevil's life, as seen in Daredevil #227-231.

  • Spider-Man recounts how he was buried alive by Kraven, who later committed suicide. This happened during the course of Kraven's Last Hunt as documented in Web of Spider-Man #31-32, Amazing Spider-Man #293-294 and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132.

  • Spider-Man recounts how Doctor Octopus almost married his Aunt May. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man #131

  • Spider-Man believes that the original Hobgoblin was Ned Leeds, as this was what he was led to believe in Amazing Spider-Man #289. Ned was murdered in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1. However, it is later revealed in Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #3 it is revealed that the real Hobgoblin was Roderick Kingsley, who brainwashed Leeds into thinking he was the Hobgoblin. He also mentions how after Ned's death, Jason Macendale took over the identity. That also happened in Amazing Spider-Man #289. More recently, in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #67-69, it was revealed that Ned Leeds apparently survived. However, at the time of this writing (September 2021) all of the details have yet to be provided.

  • Spider-Man recalls the three different people who have worn the Green Goblin costume at the time of this feature: Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin, who was responsible for killing Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man #121. Spider-Man thought Norman had died during their battle in Amazing Spider-Man #122. However, he survived, as revealed in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1. Norman will resurface in Amazing Spider-Man #412. Harry took over his father's guise in Amazing Spider-Man #136-137 after a mental break but he was later treated. Lastly, Harry's psychotrist Bart Hamilton operated at the Goblin until his death in Amazing Spider-Man #176-180.

Spidey Versus J.J.J.!!

For years, J. Jonah Jameson has had a vendetta against Spider-Man. Secretly, Jameson is jealous of the hero for his selfless deeds and devotion to helping others. He was unable to match the masked hero in battle until he collaborated with Spencer Smythe to create the Spider-Slayer robot. Over the years, Spencer Smyth and his son Alphonso have built up to seven different models of Spider-Slayers. He also funded the experiment that turned Mac Gargan into the Scorpion. The Scorpion attempted to get revenge against Jameson for years, most recently crashing his wedding to Marla Madison.

Another superpowered being funded by Jameson was the Human Fly, who also turned on Jameson as well. Once, Jameson almost figured out Spider-Man's secret identity when he obtained a photo of Spider-Man disposing of the body of his clone. However, Peter managed to convince him that it was a double exposed photo that he created. The one threat to Spider-Man that Jameson is not directly involved with was when his son, John, was turned into the Man-Wolf. Jameson remains completely oblivious to the fact that Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker, whose pictures of the wall-crawler have been purchased by Jameson for years.

Continuity Notes

Cataclysm

This story continues from Uncanny X-Men Annual #13...

The Watcher continues detailing the history of the Serpent Crown. He explains that 20,000 years ago the second host of Celestials came to Earth to follow up on their experiments. They discovered that the Deviants of Lemuria have enslaved humanity. However, there are forces at work to try and oust the Deviant occupation. One such man was the alchemist known as Atra, who was working on a weapon to vanquish their enslavers. This was the Serpent Crown, a device that was constructed by alchemists with the help of the dreaded Serpent Men.

Meanwhile, the city of Atlantis was under attack by Deviant forces. The only beings opposing the Deviants is Lord Kamuu, the ruler of Atlantis, and his wife Zartra. With the battle going poorly, Kamuu ordered the lava flows around the island opened. This destroys the Deviant invasion fleets, but also doomed Atlantis to sink to the bottom of the ocean. As Zartra fell to the blade of the Lemurian warrior known as Nolem, Atra sacrificed his daughter to power the Serpent Crown.

At that same moment, the Deviant ruler known as Phraud is informed of the arrival of the Celestials, and orders their ship shot down. As Kamuu lamented the death of his bride, Atra attempted to use the Serpent Crown to eliminate Phraug. However, much to his horror, Phraud is a devout worshiper of Set, and is protected from the Serpent Crown's power. It's at this moment that the Deviants attempted to attack the Celestials. In retaliation to this, the space gods used their power to sink the islands of Atlantis and Lemuria. As the Eternals came to help those ravaged by the ensuing flooding, the Celestials imprisoned the traitorous Dreaming Celestial. Among the wreckage of Lemuria remained the bodies of Atra and Phraud, still grapling for the Serpent Crown.

This story continues in Punisher Annual #2...

Recurring Characters

The Watcher, King Kamuu, Queen Zartra, Ikaris, Dreaming Celestial, Set, Emperor Phraug, Atra

Atlantis Attacks Reading Order

Amazing Spider-Man #319

Amazing Spider-Man #319
Amazing Spider-Man #320

Amazing Spider-Man #320