Stalking Feat!

At his Aunt May's home, Peter Parker wonders where Venom might be, unaware that the homicidal maniac is lurking just outside the window. Peter feels ineffectual because his spider-sense cannot pick up Venom thanks to the alien symbiote he wears.[1] That's when Aunt May enters the room with some hot coco, after noting that Nathan Lubinsky has nodded off again.[2] She asks Peter where his wife Mary Jane is, and Peter tells her that she had other plans so he decided to come over and visit his aunt.[3] When Aunt May realizes that she forgot the marshmallows she goes back intp the kitchen. While she is gone, Venom manages to sneak up behind Peter. Venom hands a map to the bomb shelter where he has holed up and asks Peter to meet him there within 24 hours, or else. Furious, Peter tells Brock that he is sick of Venom threatening his Aunt May. This wounds Venom, as he considers Peter's aunt an innocent and promises to never harm her, offering to shake on it. Realizing that Eddie Brock has a sick sense of honor, Peter shakes on it. Having heard talking in the other room, Aunt May asks Peter who he is talking to. Parker tells her that it is an employee of the gas company. To sell this ruse, Venom changes his costume into that of a blue-collar worker and walks out just as Aunt May is entering the room.

When Peter returns home, he suggests that he and Mary Jane take off for a vacation in Aruba. However, Mary Jane can't take time off from "Secret Hospital" and that they can't afford a trip. When Peter points out that they can still get her money back in the lawsuit against Jonathan Caesar, Mary Jane explains that she already signed a no contest agreement.[4] Peter asks why she did that, confident they could have one the trial. However, Mary Jane couldn't bear to be in court where Caesar will leer at her for hours. Understanding his wife's position, Peter tells her that he understands and will get a refund for the plane ticket, even though his plans to get his wife away from Venom have just been quashed. While at Bedford towers, Jonathan Caesar demands that Styx and Stone destroy Spider-Man. Stone explains how when they went to Central Park to battle the wall-crawler, they found Venom on the scene fighting the hero. Figuring that Venom could lead them to Spider-Man, the pair followed after him, but lost him in a maze of abandoned subway tunnels. When Styx uses his powers to feed off a plant, Stone sends him to wait outside. Caesar asks what caused Styx to become a life-force stealing vampire. Stone explains that his partner was a homeless man suffering from cancer that was enlisted to test new experimental cancer treatments. Stone conducted his own independent studies, using Styx as his test subject. His treatment cured Styx, but made him a living cancer in the process.

Meanwhile, Peter Parker decides to pay a visit to Flash Thompson where he holds boxing classes for children to get some advice. He worries that Felicia Hardy might be there, but to his relief she is not.[5] After ending his session, Peter asks Flash about his volunteer work with underprivileged children. Thompson explains that he wanted to be a role model to these kids, since his own youth was devoid of such people. The exception was the fact that Flash idolized Spider-Man, and he has been using the wall-crawler as an example to guide him to always do the right thing. This reinvigorates Peter, and he thanks Flash for the advice. That evening, Styx and Stone are staking out the sewer pipe that Venom escaped into earlier that day. As their luck would have it, they witness Spider-Man enter the pipe in order to make his rendezvous with Venom. Eventually, Spider-Man finds the abandoned bomb shelter that Venom has set up operations in. Venom is waiting for him, and reiterates his hatred for Spider-Man.[6] However, this bit of exposition was merely to distract Spider-Man while the symbiote tried to attack him from underneath.[7]

Leaping to safety, Spider-Man webs up some of the weights laying around and tries to throw them at Venom, but misses. When Venom lunges to attack, Spider-Man's spider-sense warns him that something is behind him and he ducks. This causes Venom to be struck by a chain fired out of the Stone's shoulder cannon. Although Venom breaks free, Stone hits him with a sonic blast that weakens the symbiote. While Brock is incapacitated, Spider-Man tries to get away, but Styx and Stone impede his progress. Venom eventually recovers and launches an attack on Stone, while Spider-Man avoids Styx's deadly touch. Venom shrugs off all of the different attacks that Stone launches on him, getting close enough for the maniac to crush his shoulder cannons. Stone calls Styx for help and his partner dutifully leaves his fight with Spider-Man to help. Styx touches Venom's body, causing extreme pain to the symbiote. Not wanting anyone to die, Spider-Man leaps in and knocks out Stone. When he turns to Styx he finds the deadly killer in a state of pure ecstasy. Surprisingly, Eddie Brock survived, but apparently his symbiote did not fare so well.[8] When the authorities arrive to take the villains away, Spider-Man can't help but feel sorry for the alien symbiote for its sacrifice so Eddie could live. Still, he feels relieved that the menace of Venom appears to be finally over.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Flash Thompson, Aunt May, Venom, Styx and Stone, Jonathan Caeser, Nathan Lubensky

Continuity Notes

1. This is because Peter wore the symbiote between Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 to Amazing Spider-Man #258 and learned how to negate his spider-sense.

2. Nathan's health has been failing since he was diagnosed with heart disease in Amazing Spider-Man #321.

3. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage was erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple as opposed to husband and wife.

4. Peter and Mary Jane moved into Bedford Towers, a condo building owned by Jonathan Caesar in Amazing Spider-Man #300. Caesar was obsessed with Mary Jane and kidnapped her from Amazing Spider-Man #307-309. Although Caesar was arrested, he had Peter and Mary Jane evicted from their condo in Amazing Spider-Man #314. Mary Jane's money was tied up in a legal battle. Caesar recently got out of jail in Amazing Spider-Man #331.

5. Felicia Hardy started dating Flash in Amazing Spider-Man #329. She was jealous over the fact that Peter had married Mary Jane in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. She started dating Flash to break his heart out of revenge. In the altered timeline created by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545, one could assume that Felicia is upset that Peter and Mary Jane are engaged.

6. Venom's desire for revenge against Spider-Man is two fold: Eddie Brock hates Spider-Man because during the period of Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110, Eddie Brock was conducting interviews with a man who claimed to be the serial killer known as the Sin-Eater. However, when Spider-Man caught the real Sin-Eater, it ruined Brock's career as a reporter. This was revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #301. The alien symbiote hates Spider-Man for the fact that he rejected it. He obtained the costume in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 until Spider-Man discovered it was alive and discarded it in Amazing Spider-Man #258. When it attempted to bond with him again in Web of Spider-Man #1, Spider-Man rejected it once more, leaving it for dead.

7. Spider-Man recalls how Venom did a similar trick when they last fought in Amazing Spider-Man #317.

8. Although the symbiote appears to die here, it survives and is seen again in Amazing Spider-Man #344.