Amazing Spider-Man #546
Brand New Day
Friday Night
Peter Parker is being kissed by a girl at a night club. Contrary to how things look, Peter Parker has been having one hell of a week. As this girl makes out with him, Peter thinks back 24 hours.
Thursday Night
The big item on the news that evening was the so-called Spider-Mugger, a thief who wears a Spider-Man mask while they commit robberies. One news report says that Jackpot, the new superhero in the neighborhood, has been assigned to hunt down this elusive thief. However, J. Jonah Jameson — who has been brought on for a guest editorial — blames the crimes of the Spider-Mugger on the real Spider-Man. Pointing out that Spider-Man Halloween masks outsell everything else. However, Jameson has nothing to say when the reporter asks about the flagging sales of the Daily Bugle without any regular Spider-Man coverage.
That Morning
Peter Parker is woken up by his Aunt May who tells Peter that he needs to get a job and reminds him that she will be volunteering her time at the FEAST Center all day.[1] A half-hour later, Peter us buying the Daily Bugle at a newsstand so he can check the want ads for job openings.[2] He then gets a call from Betty Brant who tells Peter that she was able to find him an apartment in his price range. Peter then went for his first job interview as a teacher at a local high school. Due to his track record at Midtown HIgh, Peter’s application is refused.[3]
That Afternoon
The job interviews continue to go poorly as Peter is rejected for a staff photographer job due to his poor quality photos, while a research and development job at Continu-Tech Industries is rejected because the interviewer doesn’t think Peter has done much with his science knowledge since.
That Evening
After all the bad interviews, Peter really starts taking an introspective look at his life and realizes that he has always gone about things the hard way. He failed as a photographer and a scientist. Even as Spider-Man he’s flunked out as other superheroes in the city have gone legit and registered, Peter was one of the few who refused to sign up after the superhero civil war.[4] That’s when he gets a phone call from Harry Osborn who wants to know if Peter wants to join him and his new girlfriend, Lily Hollister that evening when they go to Mulberry Club. Peter agrees to go and after, Lily then starts trying to convince her roommate, Carlie Cooper, to join them as she thinks Carlie and Peter would make a cute couple. Carlie tells them that she is busy increasing her knowledge on forensic odontology, but both Harry and Lily won’t let her waste her entire evening studying.
Later that Evening
At an abandoned building in Chinatown, Detective Willoby meets with the mobster known as Mister Negative and his minions. He was able to recover an item from the police evidence locker that Negative was seeking to obtain.[5] When Mister Negative’s goons fail to pay Detective Willoby, Mister Negative makes an example by slaying them all. After being paid, Willoby flees the scene as Mister Negative opens the suitcase revealing a black stone tablet with glowing runes. He is pleased, and now he requires an expert who can translate the tablet.
This is the point when Peter was being kissed by the woman at the night club. Pulling away, Peter asks who this woman is and she introduces herself as Mia Flores. When Peter returns to the table with all his friends, Peter tells them he has no idea who the woman was, or why she suddenly kissed him. Lily tells Peter that she should have gone after that girl since she looked like a model. That’s when Harry jokingly says that Peter has sworn off models after he almost married one.[6] Peter says he’s too young to get married and then jokes about Harry being married himself and asks how many wives has he had since getting back from Europe.[7] This leads to Peter asking how Harry met Lily, to begin with. Harry says that he met Lily through her father Bill Hollister a local public crusader. Harry had spent a million dollars exploring if Bill should run for the mayor of New York City. Peter can’t believe he and Harry live on the same planet, as Harry can spend a million dollars on a potential mayoral candidate while Peter can hardly afford his rent. Harry then gives Peter some money, but Peter insists that this is only a loan and he’ll pay Harry back.[8]
That’s when Harry spots Mia Flores heading their way. Not wanting anything to do with Mia, Peter flees into the men’s room. However, Mia — who wants to get in on Lily Hollister’s entourage — is unphased by this and goes in after him only to find nobody in the bathroom. This is because Peter used his spider-powers to climb out the window into the alley. That’s where he bumps into Carlie Cooper, who wasn’t into the scene inside the bar either. The two start to get flirty when suddenly, they are both ambushed by the Spider-Mugger who demands they hand over their money. Carlie tells Peter to let her handle this situation since she works for the NYPD. That’s when the mugger pulls a gun and makes his demands again. When Peter hands over his wallet, the mugger sees one of Peter’s web-shooters and thinking it’s a watch, orders Peter to hand it over as well. As the crook takes off, Peter tries to go after him by Carly stops him, saying it’s not safe. This does, however, allow Peter to tag the Spider-Mugger with a spider-tracer without being seen. When he still goes after the crook, Peter tells Carlie that he’s going to try and get a photo of the mugger for the Daily Bugle.
Peter contemplates changing into Spider-Man, but when he sees a discarded front page of the Daily Bugle, he decides against it since he doesn’t want to see Jameson earning money from him again.[9] Peter chases after the thief without putting on his costume, losing his shoes in the chase in order to wall-crawl. Peter manages to catch the thief without his mask on, but he flees into the FEAST Center, the homeless shelter that Aunt May volunteers her time. When Peter runs in after the mugger, he is stopped by Aunt May who is surprised to see him. She then introduces him to Martin Li, the man who runs the FEAST Center. At first, Martin thinks Peter is homeless, but he explains he was mugged. Seeing that he lost his shoes, Martin and Aunt May insist that Peter take a pair from the donations. While they are busy with him, the mugger manages to escape out the back door and get catch a tab, putting the spider-tracer out of range. After the evening’s trouble, May tells Peter that he can stay at home as long as he needs to get back on his feet.
After seeing the Daily Bugle meeting while standing outside the FEAST Center, Peter decides to go in an collect on some royalties on photos of Spider-Man the Bugle has been running recently. However, when he arrives, Betty Brant tells him that J. Jonah Jameson has frozen all of the Bugle’s assets in an attempt to have money to prevent Dexter Bennett from buying the newspaper. Peter really needs the money and storms into Jonah’s office to demand the money he is owed. This angers Jameson who takes this as an insult. Peter isn’t happy either and after the night he has had, Peter loses his temper and finally tells Jonah off, reminding him that if it wasn’t for his photos of Spider-Man there wouldn’t be a Daily Bugle. This gets Jonah even angrier and as he tries to shout Peter’s name Jameson suddenly suffers a heart attack and collapses to the ground.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mister Negative, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Joe Robertson, Aunt May, Harry Osborn, Lily Hollister, Carlie Cooper, Spider-Mugger, Mia Flores, Jackpot
Continuity Notes
Aunt May states that Peter isn’t a teenager anymore. She’s not wrong. Civil War #2 states that Peter was 15 when he got his powers. Per the Sliding Timescale that would make Peter rough 27 years old at the time of this story.
The owner of the newsstand says that the Daily Bugle isn’t worth it without Peter’s pictures of Spider-Man. Peter worked at the Daily Bugle for years starting in Amazing Spider-Man #2. He quit working for the Bugle around Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #31.
Peter got a job at Midtown High in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #31. However, the constant demand of being Spider-Man and later a member of the New Avengers resulted into frequent absences. The last time he was depicted teaching classes was in Amazing Spider-Man #515.
The Civil War event ran primarily through Civil War #1-7, while Peter’s personal journey ran from Amazing Spider-Man #532-538. Peter initially supporting the Super-Human Registration Act until he saw the conditions of those who were arrested and defected in Amazing Spider-Man #536. After a publicly denouncing the SHRA in the following issue, Spider-Man had become an outlaw.
We learn that this is the Tablet of Death and Entropy next issue. Mister Negative had his minion Overdrive steal it in Free Comic Book Day 2007: Amazing Spider-Man, but was busted by the wall-crawler.
This is a reference to Mary Jane Watson. Originally the pair did get married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, their marriage was erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #638-639, Peter ended up missing his wedding day and the pair decided not to get married but remain engaged. At the time of this story, Mary Jane ended her long relationship with Peter after she had enough of his frequent absences as Spider-Man, as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man #605.
Harry was originally married to Liz Allan the pair eloped back in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #63. Harry’s “trip to Europe” is complicated. For some time everyone thought Harry died in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. However, as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #581-582, Harry was taken to Europe by his father who perpetuated the idea that he died. Harry was actually in rehab this whole time and it was only recently that he came back. It was also during this period that Liz found out Harry was still alive and the pair divorced.
Peter states that Harry lent him plenty of money when they were in college. Peter and Harry both attended Empire State University in Amazing Spider-Man #31. The pair were even roommates for a while until Harry went nuts for the first time in Amazing Spider-Man #136.
The newspaper headline says that Spider-Man has not been seen for 100 days. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale. Based on the 4:1 ratio of time compression it would probably be closer to 25 days without Spider-Man.
Continuity Errors
The people interviewing Peter Parker are some pretty critical assholes when you consider some of the facts.
The photographer is pretty snooty about Peter’s photos. Although it’s a running gag that Peter’s photos aren’t the best they could be, everyone seems to forget that Peter’s Spider-Man photos got him a book deal once upon a time in Amazing Spider-Man #304.
The Continu-Tech interviewer seems pretty critical by only mentioning Peter’s high school achievements. Peter attended Empire State Unversity on three different occasions from Amazing Spider-Man #31 to Amazing Spider-Man #243, Amazing Spider-Man #310 to 350, and lastly from Spider-Man #76 until Spider-Man #92. By this point, Peter was working on his post-graduate studies.
Furthermore, Peter has also worked a number of jobs in the fields of science. His first job was a shortlived stint at On-Line Research in Kansas from Amazing Spider-Man #301-302. He later worked for GARID for Spider-Man: The Final Adventure #1-4, and lastly he worked for TriCorp in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #1-16. Still, Peter either quit or was fired from those jobs, but you’d think that would have been brought up in this interview.
Spider-Man: The New Status Quo
A two-page feature that reiterates the status quo of Brand New Day. It says that Peter Parker’s double-identity is a secret that nobody remembers who he is Spider-Man[1] That he uses web-shooters again instead of organic webbing, his friend Harry Osborn has just returned after time spent in Europe. Mary Jane and Peter used to date for years but they recently broke up and Mary Jane is now in California pursuing her acting career. Peter lives with his Aunt May and is flat broke.
Continuity Notes
That’s not entirely accurate, Mary Jane still remembers that Peter Parker is Spider-Man as we learn in Amazing Spider-Man #605.
Park Avenue Interlude
Jackpot discovers that her recent purchase of a police scanner has paid off as she just learned about someone who has stolen an armored car full of explosives and is now on the trail of the stolen vehicle.[1] Racing across the rooftops, Jackpot manages to catch up with the vehicle and lands on the roof of the armored truck. When she looks in through the windshield she is shocked to discover that nobody is driving the vehicle. She smashes through the windshield to get control of the vehicle. Once the vehicle is stopped someone on a glider bursts out of the back and flies away. Seeing the thief making their escape, Jackpot thinks that whoever is responsible is a real menace.[2]
Recurring Characters
Jackpot, Menace
Continuity Notes
Jackpot says that the scanner cost the amount she usually gets from a modeling gig. This is a red herring to trick readers into thinking that Jackpot is Mary Jane Watson. In reality, she is Alana Jobson as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #35.
Incidentally, this goblin-esque villain is eventually called the Menace when they resurface in Amazing Spider-Man #550.
The Astonishing Aunt May!
Aunt May is preparing meals for the homeless at the FEAST Center when she notices one of the patrons is snorting sugar off one of the tables. The young man, nicknamed Freak because of his mismatched eye colors, tells May it’s not his fault he’s a drug addict it’s because everyone makes fun of him. When he asks May for some money, she refuses to give him any as he will only spend it on drugs. That’s when he notices a drug dealer named Ramon enter FEAST and tells May to help. She tells Freak to hide under the table and when Ramon asks her where he can kind Freak, she pretends not to understand all of his street terminology for drugs. She then guilts him into making a donation to the center, which Ramon does because all the patrons are watching him very closely. As Ramon leaves, Freak notices the donation box and decides that he’ll be able to get his next fix after he steals the money inside.[1] Bill still finds it suspicious that Harry has been spending money on investigating if Bill should run for mayor of New York. Harry explains that Lily was the one who suggested it and both think that Bill should run as they believe he would win. Still, Hollister is suspicious of Harry, which is something Osborn understands given his family history.
That’s when Lily comes in after a day out shopping. Harry tells Bill that he is not the same as his father. Hollister resigns to allow the exploratory committee but warns Harry that his family money doesn’t buy him any favors if Hollister runs and wins. Harry assures him that he has no such ideas because Harry Osborn doesn’t ask anyone for anything.
Recurring Characters
Aunt May, Freak
Continuity Notes
Freak ends up trying to steal the money in Amazing Spider-Man #552.
Harry and the Hollisters
Harry Osborn is meeting with Bill Hollister who has just learned that Harry has started dating his daughter, Lily. He remarks that Osborn is not a name he’s heard in some time, which Harry jokes is a good thing since Bill is one of the toughest District Attorneys in the city.[1] When asked about where he was over the past few years, Harry says he was in Europe helping run a company. Bill hopes that Harry's operation of Oscorp will lead to less super-villains being created than during his father’s tenure.[2]
Recurring Characters
Harry Osborn, Bill Hollister, Lily Hollister
Continuity Notes
This is a thinly-veiled reference to the fact that Harry’s father, Norman Osborn, who at times has been known as the criminal known as the Green Goblin since Amazing Spider-Man #14. At the time of this story, Norman Osborn has been forced into being the leader of the Thunderbolts in Thunderbolts #110.
Ignoring the Green Goblin, Oscorp hasn’t created that many super-villains. There was Nels Van Adder, the so-called Proto-Goblin seen in Spider-Man #-1; Mendel Stromm, the Robot Master, Norman Osborn’s former partner, first appearing in Amazing Spider-Man #37; Cleavon Twain the Headsman in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #8, and lastly David Lowell, aka Sundown in Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual 1997
