24/7 Part Two

After catching Aunt May in bed with her new boyfriend, Jay Jameson, Peter takes a shower in a futile attempt to scrub away the memories. As he scrubs, he thinks that this is his penance for being a pain in the ass to J. Jonah Jameson ever since learning that the former newspaperman was elected as mayor of New York City. As Peter is coming out of the shower, May comes knocking at the bathroom door and suggests that they have a talk. Putting on his Spider-Man costume under his street clothes, Peter goes downstairs. There he is introduced to Jay Jameson, and almost blows his secret identity when he remembers that Jameson has only met Spider-Man.[1] Jay and May explain that they have been dating for the past month, and May admits that she has been keeping this a secret from Peter because she is embarrassed considering how poorly Jay’s son has treated her nephew over the years. Catching a photo of Aunt May and Uncle Ben on the table, Peter tells May that he can’t deal with this at the moment and decides to leave.[2] Before he goes, May reminds Peter that no matter what, she loves him. This causes Peter to pause and he says he loves her too and decides he can say one thing about all of this: Whatever makes May happy, makes him happy. Seeing May happy gladdens him and when he leaves, Peter feels a new surge of energy.

A short time later, Spider-Man is back in the city with a bang as he takes out a subway mugger as he tries to flee the scene of his crime. However, as Spider-Man tries to leave he is ambushed by the Anti-Spider-Man Squad who blasts him with an ultrasonic cannon, which disorientates the web-slinger. Surprisingly, the people on the subway platform begin attacking the officers, pointing out how Spider-Man saved them from a mugger, allowing Spider-Man to recover and escape. Once he has gotten to safety, Spider-Man is surprised that the people of New York finally love him and continues on his campaign.

First, he webs the mouth of a man talking loudly on his cell-phone on the upper deck of a New York City tour bus. Then, in rain-drenched Chelsea, the wall-crawler weaves make-shift umbrellas for people caught in the downpour. In Forte Green, Spider-Man directs traffic through an intersection when the traffic lights go out. He paused in the Bronx for a moment so he can take a photo with some of his fans. This keeps Spider-Man in the news, much to the aggravation of J. Jonah Jameson. Watching the latest Spider-Man news, Jonah’s aid suggests that they focus their attention on the new Vulture that has been terrorizing the New York underworld. Jameson dismisses this, unconcerned about mobsters and gang bangers and formulates a new plan to catch Spider-Man.

By this point, Spider-Man is starting to feel tired for the first time during his whirlwind of activity. About to return to his apartment, Spider-Man is pulled back out into the city when he hears someone crying for help. As he leaves, the wall-crawler doesn’t notice as a woman in his apartment closes the window behind him. This turns out to be a trap set by the Anti-Spider-Man Squad, whom Spider-Man makes quick work of. Furious at all of the opposition from Jameson, Spider-Man tells them off for always going after him. While ranting about how Jameson is always down his throat, Spider-Man accidentally let’s slip what’s really bothering him: Norman Osborn.[3] Before he can explain himself to the webbed up officers, Spider-Man hears another scream and swings to its location.

Spider-Man is shocked to see the new Vulture has eviscerated a crook and attacks him. The Vulture grabs the wall-crawler and yanks him up into the sky. Thinking that this Vulture’s powers are artificial like those of the original Vulture, Spider-Man flips onto the new Vulture’s back and looks for a powerpack.[4] He is shocked, yet again, to discover that this Vulture’s wings are real. When demanding his eerily quiet opponent to say something, the Vulture opens his misshapen mouth and sprays acid in Spider-Man’s face. Falling onto a rooftop, Spider-Man pulls his mask off to get the burning chemicals off his face. As the Vulture comes swooping in for the kill, Spider-Man discovers that he’s blind.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Vulture, Aunt May, Jay Jameson, J. Jonah Jameson, Michele Gonzales

Continuity Notes

1. Spider-Man first met Jay Jameson in Amazing Spider-Man #578-579.

2. This is a vague reference to poor dead Uncle Ben, who was murdered in Amazing Fantasy #15.

3. J. Jonah Jameson has been anti-Spider-Man since pretty much the beginning back in Amazing Spider-Man #1. Norman Osborn — aka the Green Goblin — has been Spider-Man’s foe since Amazing Spider-Man #14. Recently, Osborn was put in charge of SHIELD (renaming it to HAMMER) after he killed Queen Veranke, the leader of a Skrull invasion of Earth in Secret Invasion #8.

4. Spider-Man makes a number of references to Adrian Toomes, the original Vulture, whom Spider-Man first fought in Amazing Spider-Man #2. They are:

• That this isn’t the only person to steal Adrian Toome’s shtick. There have been at least three occasions where others have taken on the identity of the Vulture. There was Blackie Drago who usurped the Vulture identity in Amazing Spider-Man #48. Clifton Shallot, an ESU scientist who accidentally turned himself into a Vulture-like creature that just happened to look like Adrian Toomes in Amazing Spider-Man #127. Lastly, there were the Vulturions a group of crooks who stole Toome’s design to make their own Vulture wings in Web of Spider-Man #1.

• Spider-Man states here that he defeated people calling themselves the Vulture 192 times. This is a bit of an exaggeration. Spider-Man has fought Vulture type foes a total of 49 times by this point. These battles took place in

  • Adrian Toomes: Amazing Spider-Man #2/Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #1.3, Amazing Spider-Man #7, Untold Tales of Spider-Man #5, 12, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, Amazing Spider-Man #18, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5, Amazing Spider-Man #63-64, Spider-Man/Human Torch #2, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #4-5, Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure #2, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #44-45, 56, Amazing Spider-Man #224, 240-241, Marvel: 1985 #6, Web of Spider-Man #3, 23-24, 45, Amazing Spider-Man #336-339, Spider-Man #18-23, Spectacular Spider-Man #186-188, Lethal Foes of Spider-Man #1-4, Amazing Spider-Man #386-388, 396, Spectacular Spider-Man #219, Spider-Man: Funeral for an Octopus #1-2, Spider-Man Unlimited #9, Spider-Man #62, Spider-Man Unlimited #10, Sensational Spider-Man #16-18, 27-28, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #12/Peter Parker: Spider-Man #12, Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #15-16, Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #11, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #37, Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #13, Spider-Man: Black & Blue & Read All Over #1, Spider-Man Unlimited (vol. 3) #3, Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #1-4, 10-11, Spider-Man Unlimited (vol. 3) #13, Spider-Man: Fever #1, Friendly Neighorhood Spider-Man Annual #1, and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #14-16 (45 Battles)

  • Blackie Dragon: Amazing Spider-Man #48-49, and 63 (2 battles)

  • Clifton Shallot: Amazing Spider-Man #127-128 (1 battle)

  • The Vulturions: Web of Spider-Man #1-3 (1 battle)