Amazing Spider-Man #502
You Want PANTS With That?
Mary Jane and Peter Parker are out for dinner and after a difficult time placing their order with a particularly snooty waiter, Mary Jane gets down to some serious talk.[1] Mary Jane says that now that she and Peter have worked out their marital problems it’s time for her to get back to work, however, she isn’t sure she wants to take on work if it means splitting them up again.[2] When police cars speed by the restaurant, Peter answers Mary Jane with a question: would she wait for him while he went after the police cars as Spider-Man? When she says she would wait for him, he tells her it’s the same for him and then excuses himself to go after the police cars as Spider-Man.
Watching Spider-Man swing by from the street is a Jewish tailor named Leo Zelinsky, who calls Spider-Man a meshugge before returning to his shop with a smile on his face. Inside, a villain called Killshot is on the phone with his employer, taking on a hit. Zelinsky assures Killshot that the police weren’t coming for him and that they are still safe. When Killshot asks if his suit is ready, Leo assures him that it is and when he shows off his work, Killshot is very pleased.
Later that day, Leo Zelinsky is having dinner with his grandson, Mikey, who asks him what he is going to do after he overheard Killshot taking a hit order. Leo tells his grandson that there is nothing he can do as he guarantees his customer’s absolute privacy. If word got out that he spoke to the authorities he would go out of business immediately. Worse, if Killshot managed to evade capture, it would put Leo and his family at risk. That’s when Mikey reminds him of the family history and how a relative of their lives in one of the concentration camps in Poland during World War II and wishes that any of the people passing him by on a daily basis would get involved.[3] He then reminds Leo of his own maxim regarding that part of family history: the most cowardly man is the one who does not get involved when something wrong is being done to someone. Leo remembers how own words and also knows that this is something his son would have told Mikey, but he reminds the boy that was the very thing that got his father — a police officer — killed in the line of duty. As he is the only family the boy has left, Leo has to do whatever it takes to make sure his grandson is safe.
That evening, Leo Zelinsky tires to sleep but can’t stop tossing and turning because he is thinking about what his son had said. Giving up, he puts on some clothes and goes out for a walk. At that same moment, Spider-Man is on patrol and is surprised how quiet it is in the city. As he is debating on going home early Leo Zelinsky calls to him from down on the street. He tells Spider-Man that he knows that Sam Whitehall, the district attorney, is slated to be murdered tomorrow while giving an award to the Boys and Girl’s Club. However, it’s cold outside and Leo asks Spider-Man to take him someplace private so they can talk, thinking Spider-Man has a base somewhere. Instead, they end up at Katz’s Deli. Leo is worried that they are too out of the open but Spider-Man sets his mind at ease by demonstrating that the owner thinks that the wall-crawler is a crazy person who thinks he’s Spider-Man. Before they get into what Leo knows, he can’t help but critique Spider-Man’s costume pointing out the various impracticalities of the design. For example, the web-slinger needs to pull up his mask in order to eat or drink. The other thing is that it’s made of spandex and that he’s probably prone to overheating and is at risk for getting athlete’s foot. When he asks again who designed his costume, Spider-Man gratingly says that he did.
That’s when Leo Zelinsky says Spider-Man should get his costumes made by a professional, saying that he is a tailor himself. He tells Spider-Man about his shop down on 23rd street that didn’t get a whole lot of walk-in traffic until about six years ago when the Thing of the Fantastic Four came in after a battle that left him running around in the nude and in need of a new pair of shorts.[4] After that, word got around and soon Leo got repeat business from superheroes who were looking for new costumes. His clients included everyone from the original Captain Marvel to Captain America himself. He gives his customers complete privacy so there is no danger of their secret identities being exposed. He even started making design suggestions. Word continued to get out and he’d soon start getting supervillains coming into his shop for new costumes as well. When Spider-Man asks Leo how he could design costumes for criminals as well, Leo points out that someone goes into a restaurant they get served regardless of who they are, and it is the same thing with a tailor. Eventually, after explaining how his business works, he tells Spider-Man how the other day he overheard Killshot, one of his clients, on the phone taking on a hit on the district attorney. Unable to sit by and let an innocent man get murdered, Leo decided to tell someone about it. Not able to go to his police or one of his regular clients, he decided to try and get Spider-Man’s help since he doesn’t use Leo’s shop and it’d be easy to maintain plausible deniability. He also picked Spider-Man because the hero also grew up in the neighborhood. When Spider-Man asks how Leo knows that, the tailor points out that the wall-crawler’s accent gives away the fact that he grew up in Queens.[5] After hearing all this, Spider-Man decides to look into it and as he departs, Leo tells the wall-crawler not to screw up. When Spider-Man heads back to his apartment for the night, he looks in the mirror, considering what Leo said about designing an opening on his mask so he can eat and drink. However, the idea only gets him thinking about Venom and he decides to go to bed.[6]
The next morning, Spider-Man is right on time to stop Killshot from trying to assassinate the district attorney. However, the villain manages to escape when he shoots the wires on a nearby scaffold holding up some window washers, forcing Spider-Man to save them. Killshot deduces that Leo Zelinsky is responsible and comes barging into Leo’s tailor shop. He demands to know who else Leo told and when he threatens to shoot Leo’s grandson, Zelinsky dives in the way, getting shot in the arm. That’s when Spider-Man comes crashing through the shop window and quickly webs up Killshot before anyone else can get hurt. In the aftermath of the battle, the authorities take Killshot away and the district attorney comes by to personally thank Spider-Man and Leo for preventing his assassination. He decides to ignore Killshot’s claims of what Leo does in his business after hours as thanks. After Mike thanks Spider-Man for saving his life, Leo hands the wall-crawler a redesign idea that he had for Spider-Man’s costume for him to look over. Later that evening, Spider-Man takes a look. The design, titled “Spider-Man of the Future “. This costume features a collared button-up jacket that looks very familiar.[7]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Leo Zelinsky, (in flashback) Thing, Captain Marvel, Captain America, Doctor Doom, Blob, Thor
Continuity Notes
Peter thinks they have had to deal with this waiter before. He’s not wrong. They encountered the same waiter in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #51.
Peter and Mary Jane had just recently gone through a separation that lasted from Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2001 to Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #50. They refer to each other as husband and wife here, however soon after this story their marriage will be erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As a result, they should be considered a common-law couple here.
This family member is identified as Leo Zelinsky’s father. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as it becomes increasingly impossible for a normal character who is alive in the Modern Age to have an immediate relative who was alive during World War II.
Leo’s assessment that the Thing came into his shop six years ago is accurate. The Marvel Chronology Project (who is a semi-official source as their work ends up being used in the Official Marvel Index to chart appearances) places the Thing’s appearance in this flashback as taking place after his appearance in Incredible Hulk #250, published in 1980. Per the Sliding Timescale, comics published in 1980 take place during the 5th year of the Modern Age while this story takes place during the 11th. You do the math.
Leo complains that people who move to New York City all try to sound like Tony Soprano. Tony Soprano was the main character on the HBO series The Sopranos which aired from 1999 to 2007. This comparison should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding TImescale of Earth-616.
Peter has some very legitimate issues about looking like Venom considering the fact that for a time, Spider-Man wore the alien symbiote that is now owned by Eddie Brock between Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 and Amazing Spider-Man #258. However, the symbiote never developed a mouth until after Brock started wearing it as depicted in Amazing Spider-Man #299.
Peter saw his future self wearing this exact same costume during the events of Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #58/Amazing Spider-Man #500. The Spider-Geddon Handbook #1 states that this happens in Reality-312500.
