Rage

This story continues from Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #19…

Years ago, May Parker had to make the hard decision to turn off life support on her mother whose health had deteriorated to the point where only machines were keeping her alive. When may turn off the oxygen, she is suddenly attacked by her mother who has sprung back to life. May’s mother says that she is not afraid of death and that you never resign to its fate and to always fight. May suddenly wakes up and discovers that it was all a dream. Looking out her bedroom window at Stark Towers, May sees that city is under siege and knows that Peter is out there as Spider-Man. She curses the fact that Peter has devoted his life to being Spider-Man after the death of her husband, Ben, and wishes that Peter could have his freedom back.[1] Leaving her room, May walks into Peter and Mary Jane arguing about Peter going out. Mary Jane tells Peter to stay home and let the other Avengers deal with it. May sees Peter is upset and asks him what’s wrong, but he says there is nothing.[2] May wonders if she should believe him after he kept his double-identity a secret from her for years, but decides she can.[3]

Going to the kitchen for a glass of milk, May decides to have a “conversation” with Ben about her recent romance with Jarvis. She starts speaking aloud saying that Jarvis is the first man that she has had deep feelings for after a while.[4] Her thoughts are interrupted by Tracer, who has broken into Avengers headquarters. He convinces May that he is a reserve Avenger who has been called in to assist, saying the electronics all over town have gone haywire.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man falls down in an alley and as he recovers she is confronted by Morlun, who is a shock to him because he thought Morlun was dead.[5] Morlun explains that he is interested in Spider-Man’s deterioration and that they’ll meet later and leaves. When Spider-Man tries to follow after him but trips over his own feet and lands right into Wolverine’s arms. Logan says that Captain America sent him to look for Spider-Man after he was attacked by a rogue robot to make sure he is okay. When Spider-Man asks if Wolverine saw Morlun, the mutant says they’re the only ones there. This upsets Peter since he now thinks he is hallucinating. Wolverine tells him to bo back to Stark Towers since they need him to live and fight another day.

Back at Stark Towers, May is making sandwiches and making small talk with Tracer. Asking him what his powers are, Tracer tells her that he is a god and that machines worship him. When May asks why he’s not out helping the others with his unique abilities, Tracer says that Captain America wants him on back-up as a last resort. May finds this hard to believe, and Tracer almost has her convinced when he tells her about how she shut off the life support on her mother, then admits that he put it together passing by her room and hearing her shouting when she woke up from her dream. He then asks her to talk about it, suggesting they can straighten things out. May admits that she’s been troubled about doing the right thing even though it makes her feel dirty. She keeps on thinking about shutting off the life support on her mother and put on a brave face. She figures that’s why her nephew wears a mask, to hide his fear in the face of death. Before Tracer can get her to reveal who her nephew is, Spider-Man catches him in the kitchen. He kicks Tracer across the room, and May quickly realizes that Tracer is a villain and the one responsible for the machines going haywire in the city.

As the two fight each other, Tracer decides to find out what has May so worried about. With metallic wires, Tracer tests Spider-Man’s DNA And is shocked that a dying man is spending his last moments fighting him. Tracer is upset that everyone else before him got to fight Spider-Man in his prime. Furious, Spider-Man webs up Tracer and threatens to strangle him to death. May pleads to Peter to stop, saying he’s not a killer. Tracer, on the other hand, says that all humans are nothing more than animals and decides that he’s not going to kick a wounded animal. Suddenly, Tracer’s skin begins to melt, leaving behind a robotic form underneath. He claims he’s shuffling off the mortal coil and releasing his mechanical followers from his control.[6] That’s when Mary Jane and Jarvis enter the kitchen to see what all the commotion is. Seeing the intert remains of Tracer on the floor, Jarvis realizes that he has a big mess to clean up. With the danger passed, May demands that Peter tell her what’s wrong, saying that she can handle the truth.[7] Taking off his mask, Peter admits that makes one of them.

…The Other continues in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Morlun, Tracer, Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson, Wolverine, “Edwin Jarvis”, Ben Parker (flashback)

Continuity Notes

1. Been a while since they made a reference to Uncle Ben’s murder. Amazing Fantasy #15.

2. Spider-Man was told that he has a mysterious health condition that was killing him in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #19.

3. Peter kept his double-identity a secret from May for years until May accidentally discovered Peter was Spider-Man back in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #35

4. May has been pursuing a romance with a man she thinks is Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers’ butler since Amazing Spider-Man #522. In reality, this is actually a Skrull spy as we’ll learn in Secret Invasion #1. The real Jarvis was swapped out in New Avengers #3 as we learned in New Avengers #42. May mentions her failed romance with Doctor Octopus. May was romanced by Doc Ock from Amazing Spider-Man # 112-131. She almost ended up marrying him had Spider-Man not interfered.

5. Morlun seemed to perish during his battle with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #35. In reality, Morlun is a member of the Inheritors who hunts various animal totems across the multiverse, particularly spider totems. When one of the Inheritors dies, their minds are transferred to a new clone body as we’ll learn in Scarlet Spiders #1-3.

6. According to the Spider-Man: Back in Black Handbook #1, Tracer was actually mechanical being the whole time!

7. Aunt May refers to Peter as Mary Jane’s husband here. However, not long after this, Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the new timeline, May would be referring to Pete

Continuity Errors

1. May says that “Jarvis” is the only man she has ever loved since Ben other than Doctor Octopus. This is just flat out wrong. May has had two romances between Octavius and “Jarvis”. The first was Nathan Lubensky from Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #47 until his death in Spectacular Spider-Man #187. She later dated Willie Lumpkin from Amazing Spider-Man #342 to Web of Spider-Man #84.