Freak the Third

Peter Parker is awoken from a nightmare about the Freak unmasking him by his Aunt May. After telling May that it was too weird to explain, Peter fears that the dream was brought on by his concerns that he is not going to be able to find the Freak before he emerges from his cocoon.[1] Going downstairs for breakfast, Peter confirms that he’ll be photographing the announcement by the mayoral candidate at Bill Hollister at the FEAST Center that afternoon. He then brings up how Dexter Bennett is giving Peter a hard time about living in Queens and that he has decided to start looking for an apartment in the city again.[2] While Peter thinks May is hurt by the fact that Peter is planning on moving out, in reality, she is secretly glad to finally get her home to herself again.

Later, Spider-Man pays a visit to Curt Connors to update him on his search for the Freak. Connors blames himself for this happening and begins cursing his disability. Spider-Man tells Curt not to go down that road, reminding him that’s what lead to his becoming the Lizard.[3] Connors has gotten the quick lime they need to keep the Freak in stasis and can mobilize a transport in minutes. Spider-Man figures it’s only a matter of time before they track down where the debris from the fire was disposed of and gives Connor’s his cell number so he can be informed once the debris has been found. Connors tries to convince Spider-Man that in the worst-case scenario, he may have to kill the Freak. Even though the Freak will just evolve into a new form, Spider-Man won’t bring himself to cross that line and departs to meet his other obligations while Connors continues trying to track down the rubble.

Meanwhile, at the Upper East Side, J. Jonah Jameson finally returns home from the hospital following a series of heart attacks.He is furious with is wife, Marla Madison, over the fact that she sold the Daily Bugle to Dexter Bennett.[4] Instead he finds a recording left by Marla telling Jonah that she has left and won’t come back until he has finally calmed down and his blood pressure has returned to normal. Jonah instantly loses his temper and is about to smash the television on the ground when he realizes that his wife is right. At that same moment, at the press conference outside the FEAST Center, Martin Li announces his support for Bill Hollister as mayor. Watching this announcement on the news is Hollister’s opponent, Randall Crowne. Crown tells his assistant to put Martin Li on his list. Peter Parker is there photographing the event and hopes nobody notices him taking intentionally unflattering photos of Hollister as the DB supports Randal Crowne. After saying hello to Vin Gonzalez, who is among the police officers guarding the event, Peter gets a call from Curt Connors. Connors informs Peter that he managed to track the fire debris to a salvage yard in Brooklyn and for Spider-Man to hurry to the scene.

As Peter prepares to leave, the press conference is attacked by the Menace.[5] Unable to leave now, Peter gets Aunt May to safety and then sneaks off to change into Spider-Man. The battle between Spider-Man and Menace is short-lived when Vin Gonzalez announces to the two combatants that snipers are getting into position. Menace decides to leave, daring Spider-Man to follow them. However, the wall-crawler has no time to waste on Menace and leaves the scene, making everyone think that Spider-Man is a coward. Since Menace was promoting Randall Crowne during its attack, Crowne is furious and orders his assistant to find out who Menace is as well.

Spider-Man soon arrives at the Brooklyn salvage yard just as Freak emerges from his cocoon. He is now massive in size and covered with armored plating and is spoiling for a fight with the wall-crawler. As Spider-Man tries to stop the Freak, Curt Connors arrives on the scene. When the Freak wonders who this is, Spider-Man quickly tells Connor’s to get the “drugs” away before the Freak can get them. A drug addict, the Freak rips open the trunk of Connor’s car and finds the two bags of quick lime. Thinking that it is cocaine, Freak tries to snort the powder knocking himself out in the process. Once he has passed out, the Freak is sealed in another cocoon which Spider-Man quickly covers with more quick lime so he remains inert. In the aftermath of the day’s excitement, Randall Crowne denounces the Menace’s support and offers a reward for the villain’s capture. Meanwhile, the Hollisters refuse to be intimidated by the Menace, with Lily daring the villain to bring it on. Watching this on television at the Coffee Bean are Peter Parker and Harry Osborn. Peter asks Harry if he’s concerned for their safety, but Harry assures him that they will be able to handle the Menace, making Peter wonder if Harry is somehow involved. While back at the salvage yard, a hazardous material crew loads the Freak’s cocoon into the back of a truck. Once the creature is secured, the remove the NYPD signage from the truck revealing that it actually belongs to Oscorp.[6]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Freak, Menace, Aunt May, Curt Connors, J. Jonah Jameson, Marla Madison (video), Randall Crowne, Bill Hollister, Martin Li, Vin Gonzalez, Alan O’Neil, Harry Osborn

Continuity Notes

1. The Freak is an evolutionary nightmare that happened when a drug dealer shot himself up with materials from a stem cell project in Amazing Spider-Man #552. Every time the Freak is killed his body evolves him in a way to ensure he cannot be killed the same way again. When last Spider-Man saw him, the Freak seemingly perished in a meth lab fire in Amazing Spider-Man #554 and has bee searching for the body before it emerges from its cocoon. However, a massive blizzard that hit from Amazing Spider-Man #555-557 has delayed that search.

2. Peter was forced to move back in with Aunt May after he and Mary Jane broke up in Amazing Spider-Man #545.

3. Curt Connors lost his arm in an explosion during his time in the military. He attempted to grow a new one and accidentally transformed himself into the Lizard in Amazing Spider-Man #6. Connor’s has struggled with these transformations for quite some time. The last time Connors became the Lizard was in White Tiger #4-6.

4. J. Jonah Jameson suffered a heart attack that landed him in the hospital in Amazing Spider-Man #546, Marla later sold the Bugle to Dexter Bennett in the following issue.

5. One of the bystanders comments that Menace must hate politicians. This is a reference to the fact that Menace previously attacked a debate between Randall Crowne and Lisa Parfrey which ended in the death of Parfrey in Amazing Spider-Man #550-551. The reason why Menace is attacking these political debates is revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #586. Menace is actually Bill Hollister’s daughter who stumbled upon a cache of Norman Osborn’s Goblin equipment. Exposed to the Goblin Formula, she decided to use her newfound powers to attack mayoral candidates so she can manipulate voters to elect her father.

6. This is alluding to the fact that Norman Osborn is interested in the Freak as we’ll see in Amazing Spider-Man #572.