No Place Like Home

At a press conference, J. Jonah Jameson tries to convince the gathered reporters that Spider-Man was working with Doctor Octopus when the villain threw the entire city into chaos. This leads to Jameson getting grilled by the press, who keep on pointing out that Jameson’s grudge against Spider-Man is clouding his judgment. When he is asked if he has investigated who is under the web-slinger’s mask but Jameson tells them that he is beyond caring who Spider-Man really is, that he only wants him to be stopped.[1]

At that same moment, Peter Parker is waking up with a massive hang-over following the party after Aunt May’s wedding. As he tries to remember what happened the night before, he remembers that Mary Jane showed up just in time to catch the bouquet. Although Mary Jane said hi to Peter, he couldn’t bring himself to talk to her that evening until he had eleven glasses of champagne. After trying to remember what they talked about it Peter suddenly realizes that he is not alone in the bed. At first, he thinks it’s Mary Jane but he’s shocked to discover that it’s actually his roommate Michele Gonzales causing Peter to audibly scream, starting the morning off on the wrong foot. When Peter admits that he doesn’t remember what happened the night before, Michele gets angry and storms off to the bathroom to shower and tells Peter that he better be gone before she gets out.[2] Quickly changing into Spider-Man, Peter goes web-slinging to collect his thoughts. He blames last night's indiscretions to anxiety caused by seeing Mary Jane after so long.[3] Spider-Man quips that he was less surprised that Mary Jane appeared at the wedding than when Mysterio came back from the dead.[4] That’s when he begins remembering what he and Mary Jane walked about the night before. Apparently, they had made plans to meet up but, he can’t remember the details. As he tries to figure out how to get a hold of Mary Jane he is delighted when a jewel story robbery presents him with a distraction from his personal problems. However, when Spider-Man webs the thief to the side of a newspaper stand he manages to not only get the crook mad at him but the police and newspaper vendor as well.

While wondering where he is going to spend the night, Peter remembers that Aunt May’s home in Queens should be available, especially with May and her new husband Jay Jameson on their honeymoon. However, when he arrives at his old childhood home Peter’s spider-sense begins going off. To his surprise, the entire Reilly family has been invited to stay at May’s home for a short vacation while May and Jay are gone, spoiling Peter’s plans to stay there.[5] Peter then returns to Manhattan to see if he can crash at Harry Osborn’s place. However, when he arrives outside Harry’s building, the doorman informs Peter that Harry no longer lives there and his condo went on the market two days ago. Leaving, Peter wonders if Harry’s sudden financial woes have anything to do with his recent falling out with his father, Norman Osborn.[6] He then goes to the DB to explain his situation to Betty Brant. Unfortunately, Betty has no room either due to the fact that the DB is not doing well financially. The resulting pay cuts forced Betty and Glory Grant to become roommates. That’s when Betty teases Peter by suggesting he spend the night with Mary Jane. That’s when Peter tells her he can’t remember the plans he made with her. Before she can give any insight into what they are when Dexter Bennett suddenly storms into the bullpen and begins shouting at everyone to get over to the Empire State Building where a fire has started.

Peter rushes to the scene as Spider-Man and races inside to save the people trapped inside. After getting all the people to safety, Spider-Man learns that the fire was caused by some freak accident involving the building’s generator and that similar issues have been happening all over the city. When Peter jokingly asks one of the firefighters if they are hiring, he responds by saying the job is busier than Grand Central Station. This makes Peter remember that he is supposed to wait for Mary Jane at 8 pm under the giant clock at Grand Central Station. Rushing there, Peter manages to arrive early for once and waits for Mary Jane. He wonders how to talk about what’s going on with his life when Mary Jane never arrives. Realizing he’s been stood up, Peter leaves, figuring Mary Jane is off doing something more fun than hanging out with him. At that same moment, Mary Jane wakes up realizing that she has slept for fifteen straight hours. Realizing that she is an hour and a half late to meet Peter she hopes that he found some way to fill his evening. Turning on the news and seeing the coverage of Spider-Man helping with the evacuation of the Empire State Building convinces her that he did.

Deciding to bite the bullet, Peter Parker returns to his apartment and discovers no sigh of Michele anywhere. To his surprise, she has left him a plate of cookies and he begins to devour them, realizing he hasn’t eaten all day. As he begins to get thirsty and thinks about getting a glass of milk he is unaware that Michele has chained up the refrigerator in order to keep him out of it.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Betty Brant, Michele Gonzales, Glory Grant, Dexter Bennett

Continuity Notes

1. The reporter questioning Jonah says that Spider-Man has played tricks with his identity before. Some facts about Spider-Man’s identity here:

   • The reporter is referring to when Spider-Man unmasked himself to the public in Civil War #2. However, when Mephisto altered reality in Amazing Spider-Man #545, people remember that Spider-Man unmasked but they don’t remember who he is.

   • The reason why this is explained in Amazing Spider-Man #591, 641, and 673. Simply put: in the altered reality, Spider-Man convinced Doctor Strange to cast a spell that not only made everyone forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, but also scrubbed all reference to his identity from everywhere. As an extra bit of security, anyone who tries to figure out who Spider-Man’s identity always hits a dead-end unless Peter Parker unmasks himself. This may also go to explain why Jameson, who has always been curious about Spider-Man’s identity, suddenly no longer cares who he is under the mask.

2. Michele mentions how she moved in to the apartment while her brother is on trial. Her brother is Vin Gonzales, a NYPD police officer who took Peter in as a roommate in Amazing Spider-Man #561. Following Amazing Spider-Man #584-588 and Extra #3, Vin was exposed as one of the NYPD officers involved in the spider-tracer killer conspiracy against Spider-Man. Vin agreed to name-names in order to get a shorter prison term and his sister Michele has been acting as his lawyer. While in New York she has been living in Vin’s apartment, as Peter learned in Amazing Spider-Man #594. The two have not been getting along that well.

3. So we’ve got to explain the new normal about Peter and Mary Jane’s relationship status.

   • Firstly, Peter says here that he hasn’t seen Mary Jane in a year. Peter and Mary Jane last saw each other in Amazing Spider-Man #545. Peter’s assessment that it was a year ago is a measurement between publications and should be considered topical. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, Peter hasn’t seen Mary Jane for about four months.

   • Peter states here that he thought he’d marry Mary Jane Watson. As you should know by now, Peter and Mary Jane actually did get married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, they made a deal with Mephisto to erase their marriage from existence in order to save the life of Aunt May in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In this new reality, Peter still proposed to Mary Jane, but was a no-show on their wedding day. The pair decided to remain together so basically everything that happened after Annual #21 is virtually the same. Check out Amazing Spider-Man #638-641 for all the details.

4. Speaking of complicated relationships, Spider-Man mentions how Mysterio has cheated death at least nine times. This, of course, is an exaggeration. Mysterio has actually only faked his death once and has actually died (allegedly) once:

   • The first time Mysterio faked his death after teaching his skills to Daniel Burkhart, who took over as Mysterio in Amazing Spider-Man #141. He took on a new identity and ran a nursing home from Amazing Spider-Man #193-200 when he was exposed by Spider-Man.

   • Beck actually died in following the events of Daredevil (vol. 2) #1-7. After he was diagnosed with terminal cancer he attempted to ruin the life of Daredevil but ultimately committed suicide. Although he did indeed die, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #1 reveals that he was resurrected by the demon calling itself Kindred, hence his return from the grave in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #12

5. Peter met the Reilly family in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36. His joke about this gathering being called Reillycon ‘09 should be considered a topical reference.

6. Harry finally stood up to his father who tried to manipulate him into becoming his newest Avenger, the American Son, in Amazing Spider-Man #595-599.

The Best Version of Myself

Spider-Man arrives at the New Avengers hideout in Brooklyn to find the only person there is Jessica Jones who is nursing her daughter, Dani Cage. When Jessica refers to Peter by his real name, he reminds her that he has a secret identity to maintain.[1] Jessica apologizes, saying that she still can’t believe that Spider-Man is Peter Parker, since they used to go to high school together.[2] She then tells him that seeing Spider-Man in action had a profound effect on her. When Peter asks when that was, she says it was the time that the Sandman attacked the school.[3] Having just got her own powers at the time, it was an inspirational moment to use her powers for good but can’t think of the words for it. That’s when Peter uses the phrase “with great power comes great responsibility.” She finds this motto impressive and said she needed one like that when she was younger. She admits that when she first became the super-heroine named Jewel her costume was inspired by Spider-Man’s.

When she asks if she can pass this advice on to her daughter, Spider-Man picks up Dani Cage and gives Jessica his blessing. Handing Jessica back her daughter, Peter takes off his mask and suggests to Jessica that she should teach her daughter by example, suggesting that she become a superhero again. Considering this, Jessica smiles, and Peter smiles back. He puts his mask on just as the rest of the New Avengers arrive. As Peter walks away, Jessica thanks him for reminding her about the best part of herself.[4]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Dani Cage, New Avengers (Captain America, Ronin, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine)

Continuity Notes

1. Spider-Man revealed his identity to his fellow New Avengers, including Jessica Jones, in New Avengers #51.

2. There are a few facts about Jessica Jones made in this story: The she briefly attended Midtown High, that she got in an accident that gave her powers that also killed her parents and put her in a coma for a short period of time. She also goes over her brief career as Jewel. That was all detailed in Alias #22-23.

3. Sandman attacked Midtown High deciding to steal himself a high school diploma in Amazing Spider-Man #4.

4. Jessica will eventually return to heroics by joining the New Avengers in New Avengers (vol. 2) #7.