Homeward Bound!

Washing dishes in a Midtown diner, Peter Parker wonders how his life can get any worse. He got no money, no apartment, no real job, Venom is on the loose attempting to kill the Sinister Six, J. Jonah Jameson stopped buying Spider-Man photos and Peter wonders if Jameson peaked under his mask a while back, worse his wife Mary Jane is believed to be dead even though he is certain she is still alive. Still, despite all of his problems,[1] Peter hopes things turn around soon. First he needs a hot shower and a hot meal and spotting a payphone he calls Aunt May and asks if he can come home. Changing into Spider-Man, Peter swings to Queens thinking everything will be fine as soon as he finds Mary Jane.

Meanwhile, Liz Osborn finishes her day as CEO for Osborn Industries and goes home in a limo. She thinks about how her life has been drastically changed due to her marriage to Harry Osborn. She curses how his father, Norman, tainted her family and how she can’t run because Norman would come after her. She pushes all of these thoughts out of her head, deciding to focus on how happy she’ll be when she gets home to her son Normie.[2] That’s when she sees someone dressed as the Green Goblin flying by on a goblin glider. She tells the driver to step on it but the Goblin is closing in on the limo.[3]

By this time, Peter Parker arrives at his old family home in Queens. Seeing how wet he is, Aunt May tells him to take a shower and put on some dry clothes. After he comes back downstairs he is greeted by Aunt Anna who hasn’t seen Peter since Mary Jane supposedly died. This is a tearful reunion, but Peter assures Anna that everything will eventually be all right. Later, after Anna has left, Aunt May tries to get Peter to talk about what happened to Mary Jane but he assures her that everything is fine. He turns down an offer to move back in assuring her that he has a new job and apartment lined up. Still, she refuses to let him leave without taking some money first. As he leaves, doesn’t know what he’d do without his aunt.

While on FDR Drive, Liz Osborn’s limo has crashed and as she tries to flee she trips and falls. As the Goblin approaches her, she asks who he is and what he wants. At the same time, Peter Parker arrives at the Daily Bugle and wonders why he can’t go to his friends for help and is kicking himself for turning down Joe Robertson’s offer for help.[4] He comes across Joe Robertson with his son Randy again. Joe offers Peter the bonus again but he again declines but apologizes for snapping at him the day before. Joe understands as Peter has been under a considerable amount of stress recently. When Joe starts talking to Peter, Randy gets upset and decides to leave. After suggesting Peter try getting photos of something other than Spider-Man, Peter leaves in the same elevator as Randy. Peter asks Randy what’s wrong and he tells him that his father is disappointed in him again now that he is trying to make as an actor.[5]

The two decide to go out for coffee together and the talk about their current woes. Randy apologizes for whining about his problems, saying that he just gets worked up when his father constantly reminds him how he did things when he was Randy’s age. He also hears how Randy is struggling to pay rent and get by. Their discussion is soon interrupted by Betty Brant who is looking for Peter. She tells him how Liz Osborn is being targeted by the Green Goblin. This makes Peter think about all the things that the Goblin has taken away from him and briefly considers the idea that the Green Goblin could be behind Mary Jane’s disappearance but pushes it away.[6]

Soon Peter and Betty arrive on the scene and they witness as the Green Goblin blasts through a police cordon to try and get at Liz.[7] Peter tries to hang back because he needs photos of something other than Spider-Man if he is going to be able to sell his pictures to the Daily Bugle. Unfortunately, the Green Goblin gets to Liz and starts roughing her up, prompting Peter to slip away and change into Spider-Man and save her. The two trade blows until the Goblin summons his glider, striking both of them and sending them flying across the city. When they approach the tram to the Roosevelt Island the Goblin tosses a razor bat at the cables. This forces Spider-Man to hold the cables together until the tram passengers can get to safety, and allows the Green Goblin to escape.

Later, back in his civilian identity, Peter calls his Aunt May from a payphone to check in with Aunt May. He assures her that everything is going fine and that he has a line on an apartment. After he hangs up he wonders why he can’t tell Aunt May the truth but he can’t bare going back home if it means having to face Anna Watson again. He also wishes he got Randy Robertson’s phone number as he could have called to see if he had a couch to crash on. With nowhere to go, Peter takes his chances and sleeps in an alley. The following morning, Peter wakes up and discovers that someone stole his backpack and that his costume and web-shooters are gone with it.[8]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Green Goblin, Liz Osborn, Aunt May, Anna Watson, Joe Robertson, Randy Robertson, Betty Brant

Recurring Characters

1. Holy shit is this a laundry list of problems, let’s get into all of Peter’s current woes this issue:

   • Peter Parker has been struggling to find a job after TriCorp fired him in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #16, the Daily Bugle also stopped accepting photos of Spider-Man in that same issue. He was also evicted from his 5th Avenue apartment in that same issue.

   • Venom returned in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #9. He briefly joined up with the Sinister Six in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #12 and Peter Parker: Spider-Man #12 and has been hunting down his one-time teammates since.

   • Spider-Man fears that J. Jonah Jameson looked under his mask in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #10. We’ll find out that Jameson punked out and didn’t as seen in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #20.

   • Everyone but Peter thinks Mary Jane died in a plane crash in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13. She survived as we’ll see in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #29.

2. Speaking of a shitload of exposition, Liz Osborn glosses over a lot of Osborn/Goblin history here. The details:

   • Her father-in-law is Norman Osborn who has been the original Green Goblin since Amazing Spider-Man #14. At the time of this story, everyone thinks that Norman Osborn is institutionalized after his last battle with Spider-Man in Spider-Man #98. Nobody knows that he was secretly freed by the Brotherhood of Scriers. He’ll resurface again in Spider-Man: Return of the Green Goblin #1.

   • Liz married Norman’s son Harry Osborn. The couple eloped as explained in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #63. She gave birth to Normie in Amazing Spider-Man #263.

   • Harry fell into madness starting in Spectacular Spider-Man #179 and became the Green Goblin again. This led to his supposed death in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. However, nobody is aware of the fact that Harry is still alive and has been hidden away by his father as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #581.

   • Norman Osborn has been passively controlling Liz’s life since he publicly revealed he was still alive in Spectacular Spider-Man #250.

3. This Green Goblin’s identity is not revealed here. This is the same Goblin that was active during the Spiderhunt storyline (Sensational Spider-Man #25, Amazing Spider-Man #432, Spider-Man #89, Spectacular Spider-Man #255). It is revealed to be a construct created by Norman Osborn in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #19.

4. Joe Robertson tried to give Peter money in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #17, but Peter politely declined the offer.

5. Randy mentions how recently got divorced. Randy had married Amanda Batavides as explained in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #112. His divorce was first mentioned in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #17.

6. Peter thinks about how the Green Goblin murdered Gwen Stacy. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man #121.

7. Peter wonders if this has anything to do with his recent encounter with a hologram of Harry Osborn. This is a reference to Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2000.

8. The original twin towers of the World Trade Center is seen as part of the New York City skyline here. However, this should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. These towers were destroyed in a terror attack on September 11, 2001 and have since been replaced with the new Freedom Tower.