Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #9
The List
Having worked for years trying to solve some kind of mystery, Jonathan Rickman has finally made the connection and begins writing a list. As he wonders what authorities to go to, someone blasts through the wall of his office, someone who has been searching for Rickman for some time. A short time later, Spider-Man is helping firefighters with a burning building. After rescuing a young girl, Spider-Man hears another cry for help. This time its a man trapped atop of a burning office building. Risking the flames, Spider-Man runs up the side of the building, but the man — Jonathan Rickman — thinks the wall-crawler is after his list and he refuses to hand it over. Before the web-slinger can talk sense into Rickman the roof collapses sending both men falling into the inferno. Thankfully, Spider-Man manages to get the man out and he is rushed away in an ambulance. While Spider-Man tries to make sense of it all he notices that Rickman dropped the book he was trying to protect and takes a look at what’s inside. Interestingly, he finds a list of names, the last name on the list — much to his surprise — is Peter Parker.
At that moment at a tropical island, a storm rages both outside and inside. The inner storm is Mary Jane’s growing anger that her husband, Peter, had missed his flight so they could spend time together on their second honeymoon.[1] When she tries to call Peter to see what’s going on she gets the voice mail. In New York, Peter has arrived at the Daily Bugle and cannot get his mind off the list he found. There he almost ignores Jill Stacy and Glory Grant. He snaps out of his thoughts when they ask why he stinks. He tells them that he was photographing Spider-Man in action at the fire and hands over his film to Glory to give to J. Jonah Jameson. Before Peter can lose himself in his thoughts again, Jill tells him that she came looking for him because Mary Jane has been trying to call him. Realizing what he to call her back right away, Jill tells him that the line was cut while she was talking to MJ and the operator told her the disruption was due to a tropical storm. Agreeing to try calling Mary Jane later, Peter rushes down to the Daily Bugle’s morgue to look up the names on the list to try and find the connection.[2] His search comes up dry and Peter heads home trying to make sense of everything going on. Suddenly he gets the feeling that he is being watched but since his spider-sense didn’t go off he dismisses it as nerves and decides to go to sleep unaware that someone is watching him hovering overhead in the shadows of a nearby alley.
Instead of getting much-needed rest, Peter goes back to the scene of the fire and begins looking around the ruins of Rickman’s office. There he finds a burned scrap of paper with the address for General Techtronics Research Lab. He then remembers that this is the lab where he got his spider-powers. He recalls how Otto Octavius was demonstrating his new mechanical arms resulting in an explosion. Peter would have died had he not been bitten by the radioactive spider that gave him his powers.[3] His recollections are cut short when his spider-sense warns him of danger. Peter leaps out of the way of a collapsing wall and wonders if the collapse was caused by fire damage or if there was someone responsible. Still, this trip was worth it since he now has a lead to go on.
Peter then pays a visit to the home of Arthur Stacy. After getting an earful from his belligerent son Paul, Peter is invited into Arthur’s office to talk.[4] Peter asks Arthur for some advice on how to do his own investigation. As they sit down, Peter happens to notice that Arthur has a thick file on Senator Stuart Ward and wonders what that is all about.[5] After hearing all the details of Peter’s investigation, Arthur tells him to start simple and go ask Jonathan Rickman about it. Peter rushes to the hospital. At first, Rickman thinks Peter is a detective and refuses to talk but then realizes Peter is too young to be a detective. When Peter introduces himself, Rickman starts to panic and tells Peter to get out of the hospital while there is still time. Peter gets Jonathan to calm down a little and he tells Parker that those who survived all the Techtronics blasts started disappearing one after another and that they need to escape while there’s still time. While Rickman is telling Peter all of this, Doctor Octopus appears in the hospital lobby and prepares to rampage. However, someone grabs his mechanical arms and yanks him out of the building. Hearing the commotion, Rickman fears that it is too late and that they are going to die.
Meanwhile, half a world away, Mary Jane is soaking in the bathtub when the phone starts to ring. She tells herself to stay calm and to tell him everything about the obscene phone calls she has been getting. However, when she answers the phone it is not Peter at all, but the stalker who has been harassing her.[6] The stalker gloats about being able to reach her anywhere. When she demands to know what he wants, the stalker tells Mary Jane that he wants her and to get ready to wear black because he is going to make her a widow. Dropping the phone, Mary Jane rushes to the bedroom to pack her bags so she can get home and warn her husband of the danger.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Jonathan Rickman, Mary Jane Watson, Jill Stacy, Captain Power (unidentified), Doctor Octopus, Stalker (voice)
Continuity Notes
Some facts about Peter and Mary Jane’s second honeymoon here.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. They were married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. They had their first honeymoon in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #7.
Mary Jane asked Peter to come out to see her in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #8. However, he didn’t make his flight due to activities as Spider-Man.
Peter promised Mary Jane that he would retire as Spider-Man following the Final Chapter story arc. He secretly reneged on this promise and has been going out as Spider-Man since Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #2.
Years later, their marriage is erased from existence in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here. Instead of going on a “second honeymoon” this could be seen as just a normal romantic getaway.
The Daily Bugle’s morgue room is depicted as being a series of card catalogs and microfiche projectors. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as this is an outdated form of archiving.
The origin story recounted here is the one presented in Spider-Man: Chapter One series. It was intended to be a retcon of Spider-Man’s origins. Ultimately, Marvel decided to rescind this retcon and the events of Spider-Man Chapter One has been delegated to an alternate reality of Earth-98121. Since the plot to issues #9 and 10 draw on plot elements from Spider-Man: Chapter One, Marvel has not provided an official explanation for any of this.
Paul Stacy accuses Peter of being bad news for the Stacy family, citing the deaths of his uncle George and cousin Gwen. George died saving a child from falling rubble during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus in Amazing Spider-Man #90, while Gwen was murdered by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121. Paul also mentions how Peter landed a job at TriCorp he did so in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #1.
Arthur Stacy and Stuart Wards’ past together is detailed in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #23-24.
Mary Jane has been getting harassing phone calls from a stalker since Peter Parker: Spider-Man #5. This harassment continues to escalate until Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #13
Making Sense of Nonsense
As stated above, this story draws elements from Spider-Man: Chapter One, John Byrne’s attempt to retcon Spider-Man’s origins. In that story, he combined the origins of Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus. That the explosion that fused Otto’s mechanical arms to his body also irradiated the spider that bit, Peter Parker. Christina Carr, aka Captain Power, the villain of this two-issue arc was a victim of the blast (hence how she gained her powers).
So how to make sense of this all? My way of interpreting this is to ignore the origin story retcon. Instead, Peter finds the name of US Atomic Research, the company that Doctor Octopus worked at in Amazing Spider-Man #3 instead. As opposed to recalling his own origins, Peter recalls Doctor Octopus’ origins instead. One could then presume that Christina was injured in that explosion.
So how do you explain Peter Parker’s name being on the list of people Carr wants to get revenge on? Well if we’re going to infer Christina Carr into the original origin of Doctor Octopus, then perhaps instead of seeing his own name, Peter sees the name of Otto Octavius and is curious to know why his longest foe is on a list. It’s less of a mental exercise to work with than trying to figure out why Parker’s name would be on that list.
