Amazing Spider-Man #426
Only The Evil Return!
Peter Parker has a nightmare about Doctor Octopus arriving from the grave. He sits upright, waking his wife Mary Jane who instantly knows that Peter is concerned about the fact the grave of Doctor Octopus has recently been robbed. Peter hopes that this is the work of some sick-o and not someone trying to bring Doctor Octopus back from the dead, recalling that Otto Octavius is one of his oldest, most deadly foes. When Mary Jane tries to reassure her husband that Doctor Octopus is not going to come back from the dead, Peter reminds her that the Green Goblin managed to cheat death recently.
Elsewhere in the city, the current Doctor Octopus -- Carolyn Trainer -- smashes up a dive bar in order to learn who stole the body of her beloved Otto Octavius. One of the patrons, named Louie, knows what happened to Otto's body and agrees to talk. Soon word of these attacks reaches the Rose, who hired the True Believers to kidnap Octavius' body to further his position in the criminal underworld. Unconcerned, the Rose checks with Master Zei who tells his employer that he can bring Octavius back from the void, but that in order to do so a sacrifice will have to be made. This is satisfactory for the Rose, who has just the candidate in mind for such an operation. Meanwhile, Angelina Brancale goes through the daily drudgery of restocking the shelves of the video store she works at. Her work is interrupted by Doctor Octopus and realizes that Carolyne has come to her because of the theft at Otto's tomb. Trainer confirms that this is true and tells her that they need Stunner to live again.
At that moment, at Empire State University, Peter Parker sits in class when he notices getting the stink-eye from Paul Stacy. He wishes he could do something about Stacy and his grudge against Peter, particularly since learning that Paul has been getting chummy with the Friends of Humanity, an anti-mutant group. Soon, Peter's mind drifts back to his concerns about the return of Doctor Octopus and wonders if someone could pull a "Doctor Frankenstein" and bring Otto back from the dead. This visibly shocks him, leading his teacher -- Professor Howard -- to believe that Parker is finally paying attention to his class. By this time, Doctor Octopus has brought Angela back to her lab and uses her virtual reality projector to activate her Stunner avatar. Later, Peter Parker is web-slinging across the city, his mind still on the subject of his oldest foe cheating death. He thinks about how often read retractions about members of the hero community that has been mistaken for dead in the past. This makes him hope that the heroes who died during the final battle against Onslaught might still be alive and come back some day. He comes across Louie, the stool pigeon, and notices that the man has his arm in a case. He decides to shake the man down to learn what Doctor Octopus is up to.
Meanwhile, back in her lab, Doctor Octopus shows the Stunner the remains of the Master Programmer the artificial intelligence that was a copy of the mind of Otto Octavius. She has recovered what she can and hopes to be present when the ninjas reanimate Otto's body so she can use the collected data to reboot his mind. At this same moment, Mary Jane has an appointment with her psychologist Doctor Reandeau where she makes a startling admission: She wants to have a cigarette. Doctor Randeau believes that Mary Jane's craving for nicotine might be the symptom of wanting something larger. Mary Jane then asks if it is possible for someone to come back from the dead, in a literal sense. When Randeau asks if she has someone in mind, Mary Jane says she does. A world away on the Aegean Sea, Alison Mongrain makes yet another unsuccessful call to Norman Osborn demanding her outstanding payments. This has angered her, and she tells her cat -- Precious -- that if Norman Osborn won't pay her to keep quiet, she'll have to take what she knows to the Parkers.
Back in the United States, Doctor Octopus and Stunner break into the meatpacking plant where Otto's body has been taken. Inside they are ambushed by an army of True Believers and Delilah. With the ninjas quickly dispatched, the three women are about to come to blows when the battle is interrupted by the arrival of Spider-Man. While the True Believers attack the wall-crawler, the Rose approaches Doctor Octopus and Stunner and suggests that since they all have a mutual enemy that an alliance is in order. The wall-crawler is busy fighting off the True Believers when he suddenly notices that Delilah, Stunner, and Doctor Octopus are not part of the fight. As if on cue, his spider-sense goes off allowing Spider-Man to narrowly dodge a rack of meat that has been upended by Stunner and Delilah. While Spider-Man is busy dodging the falling debris, Master Zei tosses a throwing star that nicks the masked hero. Once getting to safety, Spider-Man is about to launch a new attack when he realizes that the throwing star was drugged and suddenly collapses to the ground. When Spider-Man comes around he finds himself chained to a table next to the corpse of Otto Octavius. The True Believers are standing around him preparing the ceremony to sacrifice Spider-Man's life force to bring Doctor Octopus back to life.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, The Rose, Delilah, Stunner, Doctor Octopus (Trainer), True Believers (Master Zei), Master Programmer, Paul Stacy, Alison Mongrain, Mark Howard, Doctor Octopus (corpse)
Continuity Notes
Doctor Octopus was murdered by Kaine in The Spectacular Spider-Man #221.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.
The memories depicted here are of Spider-Man's first battle with Doctor Octopus in Amazing Spider-Man #3. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, Spider-Man's first battle with Doctor Octopus took place roughly nine years prior to this story.
Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin, was believed to have been killed in Amazing Spider-Man #122. He survived and for years plotted against Spider-Man behind the scenes as seen in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1. Peter recently learned that Osborn was still alive in Spider-Man #75.
Angelina is depicted as restocking VHS tapes. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as VHS tapes are considered an obsolete technology.
Paul has been courted by the FOH's ESU chapter in Spider-Man #82.
The possibility of someone reanimating the deceased like Doctor Frankenstein shouldn't be an impossibility to the mind of Peter Parker, especially since he has encountered the Frankenstein's Monster in Marvel Team-Up #36-37.
The Avengers and the Fantastic Four were seemingly killed while destroying Onslaught in Onslaught Marvel Universe #1. Spider-Man's hopes turn out to be true, these heroes have been living in a pocket dimension during the Heroes Reborn event. They will return to Earth in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.
The Master Programmer was seemingly erased in The Scarlet Spider #2.
Mary Jane took up smoking in Amazing Spider-Man #361 to deal with the stress of Peter being Spider-Man. At the time of this story, she had recently quit in Amazing Spider-Man #385.
When Mary Jane had a miscarriage in Amazing Spider-Man #418. Alison Mongrain was given the stillborn baby to dispose of. Originally, it was intended that Mongrain was keeping the baby alive, however, this plotline was dropped. What Mongraine's secret is here is revealed in the Final Chapter story arc.
