Amazing Spider-Man #364
The Pain of Fast Air
The Shocker has broken into the security firm owned by Trevor Atkins, setting off the security drones.[1] He destroys them, but it attracts the attention of Spider-Man, who happens to be passing by. When the wall-crawler tries to stop his foe, they are interrupted by a security guard. The Shocker blasts the guard out the window, and while Spider-Man is saving the man's life, the Shocker manages to escape. That's when Trevor Atkins enters the room and discovers that the Shocker had stolen his client's files. After giving Spider-Man a printout, he goes to inform his customers so they can change their security codes. After collecting his automatic camera, Spider-Man goes back out looking for the Shocker but goes in the wrong direction. The Shocker is relieved, as he is more concerned about being murdered by the Scourge of the Underworld. Thinking that he could be the Scourge's next victim, the Shocker has decided that he needs to kill Scourge, and believes the data he has stolen will help him with this task.[2] Meanwhile, at JFK International Airport, an elderly couple have just arrived from a flight from Germany. The woman is concerned about coming back, because she fears that it may ruin the life of Peter Parker. Her husband, however, insists that they must.
the following day, Peter Parker is in Queens visiting his Aunt May. Going through old photo albums, he comes across his parent's wedding photo and can finds it hard to call them mom and dad as he hardly knew them.[3] He is curious what his parents might look like now and considers running the photos through some age-enhancing software at Empire State University. It's then that Aunt May sees the photos Peter took the night before of his battle with the Shocker on the front page of the Daily Bugle. She tells Peter how much she wishes he'd find another way to earn money for an education instead of taking dangerous crime photos. Peter assures her that he is very careful, but after May has lost so many people to violence she can't help but worry about him.[4] By the time Peter arrives at Empire State University, he wonders if Aunt May is worried after her recent troubles with the Vulture.[5] Peter soon arrives in the computer lab where some of his colleagues are running more tests on their age-enhancing software. He gives them the photo of his parents, and they tell Peter that they will run it through their next batch of tests.
While at the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson is called from the records room and is told that the Shocker is trashing the place. Jameson knows how to deal with this problem and presses a silent alarm. As the Shocker begins gathering data from the computers, he is suddenly attacked by members of Silver Sable's Wild Pack who Jonah keeps on retainer.[6] When Peter Parker arrives, he learns from Joe Robertson that the Shocker stole information on a up coming space-shuttle launch. Peter asks for hard copies of the data to look into, and wonders what the Shocker is up to. While at that moment, at a midtown hotel, the elderly couple decide to put off visiting Peter Parker for one more day. When the woman once more expresses her concerns that Peter will not accept them, her husband assures her that resisting them would be Peter Parker's worst mistake ever made. That evening, Peter Parker is at his Soho apartment going over the information that the Shocker stole. He learns that Moleed Labs has developed an advanced technology that uses a special air compressor. He makes a connection since the Shocker's weapons operate on air compressors. He is about to change into Spider-Man and look into it, when there is a knock at the door. It's his Aunt May who wants to talk about Peter's career options, but her nephew tells her he has something to do and they can talk about it when he gets back. After Peter leaves, May sees the computer print outs on his coffee table. Looking over them, and fearing for Peter's safety, decides to go find him and talk him out of looking for danger.
Soon, at the Moleed Labs, the Shocker has used the information about the facility security systems to break in without setting off the alarms. He finds the prototype for a air compressor that could tripple the spacewalk time of astronauts. The villain intends to use the device to boost the power of his vibro-blasters. That's when Spider-Man arrives and the two begin fighting. That's when Aunt May arrives at the facility and finds the guards tied up. She decides to call the police. It's then that Spider-Man and the Shocker come crashing through the wall. Seeing his Aunt May and fearing for her safety distracts the wall-crawler long enough for the Shocker to stagger him with a vibro-blast and gets away. Spider-Man convinces May that her nephew is already gone. Once she has left, Spider-Man is ambushed by the Shocker who has rigged up the device to his gauntlets, making them more powerful than ever. At first, Spider-Man considers leaving and coming back with the Avengers, but decides against this idea in case the Shocker manages to kill someone in that time.[7] He leaps at the villain and begins pulling at the device until he pulls out a crucial wire that causes the Shocker's equipment to short out, knocking the villain unconscious.
In the aftermath of the battle, the police arrive and take the Shocker into custody and take a statement from Aunt May. By this time, Spider-Man has changed back to Peter Parker and finds his Aunt. When she expresses her concern for his safety, he tells her that he can look after himself, and that she needs to accept it. However, he explains that he understands her concern because she cares about him and he considers her the parents he never had, telling her that nothing will change that. That following morning at Empire State University, the wedding photo of Peter's parents has just been run through the computer. When the results come out, the much older Richard and Mary Parker look exactly like the two people who have returned to New York looking for Peter Parker.[8]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Shocker, “Richard and Mary Parker”
Continuity Notes
The narrative of this story states that the Shocker was last seen fleeing to South America. That was in Deadly Foes of Spider-Man #4.
The Scourge of the Underworld has been murdering super-villains since Iron Man #194. It is later revealed in U.S. Agent #1-4 that there is not just one Scourge, but an entire organization. The Shocker has a mental picture of a number of Scourge victims, they include: the Enforcer (killed in Iron Man #194), Death Adder (killed Captain America #317), Firebrand, Mirage, (Both killed in Captain America #318-319, Basilisk (killed in Fantastic Four #289). The Ringer is also depicted as dead, being part of the massacre from Captain America #318-319 however, he survived as revealed in The Lethal Foes of Spider-Man #1-4. Also depicted is the Hate-Monger, however it is the wrong one. In the image, the Hate-Monger is depicted as the Adolf Hitler clone. However, it was the Hate-Monger that was created from the Microverse (killed in Secret Wars II #2) that was really murdered by Scourge. One could assume that the Shocker is mistaken as to which Hate-Monger was murdered.
Peter's parents were killed in action while on a mission for the CIA decades earlier as depicted in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #25.
May is referring to Peter's parents, her late husband Ben Parker (murdered in Amazing Fantasy #15) and her late fiancee Nathan Lubenski (who died of heart disease while being attacked by the Vulture in Amazing Spider-Man #336).
The Vulture terrorized Aunt May during the events of The Spectacular Spider-Man #186-188. She is also concerned after Peter became a target after being miscredited for a photo of the Rose in Web of Spider-Man #84-89.
Jonah has kept the Wild Pack on retainer since The Spectacular Spider-Man #175.
At the time of this story, Spider-Man had briefly joined the Avengers from Avengers #314-318. He eventually opted for reserve status starting in Avengers #329.
Although this leads the readers to believe that this is Peter's parents, back from the dead, it is later revealed that they are simulacrums created by the Chameleon as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #388.
