Amazing Spider-Man #383
Judgement Night!
The Jury have set up operations within a building set for demolition. Once they have set up the security monitors they pick up the hero known as Nova as he flies by. With operations set up, he orders the members of the Jury out to hunt down their latest target, Spider-Man. Although most of the Jury follow out Sentry out on the hunt, Ramshot stays behind to talk to Orwell Taylor. Ramshot joined up with the Jury to bring Venom to justice for killing Orwell's son during an escape from the Vault. He now wonders why they are going after Spider-Man, one of the good guys. Orwell reminds Ramshot that if it wasn't for Spider-Man, there would be no Venom. He goes on to say that sometimes one is forced to do unpleasant things for the greater good. Ramshot has his doubts at first but decides Orwell is right. After Ramshot leaves, the technician informs Orwell that one of the monitors goes out. Irritated by this, Taylor orders a technician out to go and repair it. When the technician goes up to investigate the sensor device, he finds that it has been trashed by Spider-Man. The wall-crawler demands to know what the device is monitoring for. The technician yells at the wall-crawler, as the installation is legal. Realizing his mistake, Spider-Man is forced to flee before the police are called.
As the web-slinger swings across the city, Spider-Man worries about the scanning devices, as they have been setting off his spider-sense go off. He wonders if Alistair Smythe has been monitoring him again. Deciding that it must be too much to think about and decides to head home. Peter heads home, his wife Mary Jane can tell when he has come into the apartment. When Peter asks how she was able to tell he came home, she points out that they have been dating for years. Peter learns that Mary Jane hasn't had much luck finding a new apartment. Peter still can't believe that Liz Osborn is evicting them from their loft. When Mary Jane asks him to come along and look at some of the prospects, he tells her that he needs to go out as Spider-Man after classes the following day in order to find out more about the mysterious scanners that have appeared over the city.
Meanwhile, in Forest Hills, May sees Richard and Mary Parker off in a cab. When they ask May if they want to accompany them into the city, she says she home. Once they are gone, May hopes that the private detective she hired was able to learn about the people who claim to be her in-laws. While at Empire State University, Peter can't keep his mind on his lab work. Seeing that Parker is distracted, Professor Evan Swan tells Peter he is excused. Later, Peter walks the campus, he worries about how he is flunking out of school. However, with the apparent return of his parents, his recent battles against Carnage and the Hulk, and Mary Jane having trouble keeping her acting gig, Peter thinks his life is spinning out of control. However, he suddenly comes up with a way of figuring out what the tracking sensors are all about.
Back in Soho, Mary Jane is preparing to go out apartment hunting when she is visited by Aunt May. She sits Mary Jane down and tells her the concerns she has about the people who claim to be Peter's parents. She explains that when she and her late husband Ben wanted to get married, they couldn't wait for their public ceremony and got married in secret, six months earlier. She says that they had a private ceremony with only Richard and Mary as the witnesses. When Richard talked to May recently about her upcoming wedding anniversary, he acted as though the public wedding was the only one. Mary Jane tells May that there is probably a reasonable explanation for this. May agrees that she is probably being silly and asks Mary Jane not to tell Peter since he already has so much on his mind. When May leaves, Mary Jane resents May for laying this on her and telling her to keep it a secret from her husband. Mary Jane then lights up a cigarette while she contemplates if she should tell Peter the truth or not.
The evening, Spider-Man has been swinging across the city, intentionally ignoring his spider-sense in order to allow the tracking devices to detect him. Sure enough, Orwell Tyler learns that Spider-Man has been located and dispatches the Jury to apprehend the wall-crawler. The Jury ambushes the web-slinger, and their battle spills out into Rockafeller Plaza. There, Spider-Man goes out of his way to save a boy's life who is sent falling off a balcony because of a blast from one of the Jury. Seeing this, Ramshot hesitates when he has a lock on Spider-Man and is ordered back to base by Sentry. Ultimately, the Jury's superior numbers and weapons win the battle as they overwhelm Spider-Man and knock him out. When the web-head finally goes down, Sentry reminds his teammates that they are to take Spider-Man in alive so he can be put on trial for his crimes. When Spider-Man wakes up, he finds himself tied to a chair with an IV drip attached to him, feeding him with drugs that keep him weak and docile. That's when Orwell Taylor enters the room and tells Spider-Man that they are putting him on trial and if he is found guilty, he will be executed.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, The Jury (Orwell Taylor, Sentry, Ramshot, Firearm, Screech, Bomblast), Nova, Evan Swann, “Richard Parker”, “Mary Parker”
Continuity Notes
Venom killed Hugh while escaping from the Vault in Amazing Spider-Man # 315. The Jury began hunting Venom in Venom Lethal Protector #1-3.
Spider-Man obtained the Venom symbiote while on Batteworld circa Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8, eventually bringing it to Earth. Spider-Man abandoned the symbiote in Amazing Spider-Man #258 and left it for dead in Web of Spider-Man #1. It eventually bonded to Eddie Brock, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #300.↑ Smythe was tracking Spider-Man from Amazing Spider-Man #368-373.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage was erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.
Liz ordered the Parkers out of their loft in The Spectacular Spider-Man #205, as she couldn't stand to see Peter and Mary Jane together after the apparent death of her husband Harry Osborn in The Spectacular Spider-Man #200.
Aunt May's hunch is correct, as this couple is exposed as impostors in Amazing Spider-Man #388. The real Richard and Mary Parker have been dead for 20 years, as explained in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5.
Peter's "parents" resurfaced in his life in Amazing Spider-Man #365. Peter's recent clash with Carnage occurred during the Maximum Carnage event.Lastly, his battle with the Hulk and Mary Jane's employment troubles occurred in Amazing Spider-Man #381-382.
Mary Jane took up smoking to deal with the stress of being married to Peter in Amazing Spider-Man #361.
Continuity Errors
Here, Mary Jane states that she and Peter have been dating since high school. This is not accurate. When the pair first went on a date, circa Amazing Spider-Man #42, Peter and Mary Jane were both attending college. Peter graduated high school in Amazing Spider-Man #28, before ever having met Mary Jane.
May states that they couldn't wait the six months they had to wait to complete high school. This is contrary to Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #4 and Amazing Spider-Man Family #7 confirm that May was 18 years old when she first met Ben. Ben was also in the military when they first met. It's clear that they were well out of high school by the time they got married.
