Post Mortum

This story continues from Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #22…

After his recent rejuvenation, Peter Parker is being examined by Tony Stark so they can understand the full scope of his sudden return from the dead. Peter admits that he doesn’t remember anything after his apparent death, the last thing he remembers hearing was the screams of Morlun after feeding upon him.[1] However, Tony wants to be sure that everything is fine, pointing out that this is the first time they’ve seen someone being reborn out of their own skin. He just wants to be sure that this is the real Peter Parker and not an impostor, especially since the husk of the “original” Peter Parker has since disappeared from the Avenger’s morgue.[2] However, Tony’s dealt with his share of imposters and he is convinced that this is really Peter Parker and tells Peter that he’s blessed to have this second chance. Leaving the lab, Peter and Tony are joined by Mary Jane who has come to give Peter his Spider-Man costume, telling him that she sewed it up the best she could. Tony then leaves to continue working on the surprise he has for Peter. When Mary Jane asks if everything is okay, Peter tells her that everything is fine, but when he looks in the mirror the reflection of the spider-monster from his dreams looks back at him.

When Spider-Man goes out on patrol. the costume starts to come apart and he decides to pay a visit to Leo Zelinsky and call in that favor that Leo owes him.[3] Leo agrees to see Spider-Man even though it’s Thursday a day he usually sees his super-villain clients. After sending away his current customer. Leo gets to work on repairing Spider-Man’s costume when suddenly they hear an explosion.[4].

Even though he is not without his shirt, Spider-Man goes to investigate and sees that a nearby apartment building collapses. He lifts a bunch of rubble so people getaway, one of the women tells Spider-Man that her daughter is still trapped inside. Then webbing things in place goes crawling into the rubble to see if there are any other survivors. Inside, the web-slinger is surprised to discover that he can see perfectly in the dark. He comes across a man and helps him out, but there is no sign of the missing girl. Feeling vibrations in his webbing, Spider-Man decides to fill the room with webbing to see if he can feel any vibrations from the elsewhere in the building. He hears her scraping a rock against a wall nearby and comes to the girl’s aid.

Remembering how spider’s carry their young on their backs, Spider-Man tries to carry the child on his back and impressed when she sticks on his back. Spider-Man finds his way out the rubble just moments before the building completely collapses. Later that evening as Peter and Mary Jane are watching the news about his rescue, Peter admits that his new powers had him scared at first that he was afraid he was going to turn into some kind of spider-monster. Mary Jane thinks that she should consider his rebirth on another level that he can now finally let go of the guilt he feels over the death of his Uncle Ben.[5] The pair tell themselves that they love each other. This is enough for Tony Stark, who has been listening in on their conversation, and he is convinced that this is the real Peter Parker and continues working on a new costume for Peter.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Leo Zelinsky, Tony Stark

Continuity Notes

1. Peter Parker fed upon Morlun and seemingly died in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #21, Peter rejuvenated himself last issue.

2. Spider-Man’s husk was consumed by The Other in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4.

3. Leo Zelinsky owes Spider-Man a favor after the wall-crawler prevented a criminal named Killshot from assassinating the district attorney in Amazing Spider-Man #502.

4. When Leo mocks the work done on Spider-Man’s costume, Peter almost lets loose that his wife did the work. Although Peter and Mary Jane are identified as being married in this story, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such he would have referred to Mary Jane as his fiancee instead of his wife.

5. It’s wishful thinking on Mary Jane’s part, because this isn’t the last we hear of poor Uncle Ben (Amazing Fantasy #15).