Mary Jane

Thinking about his wife, Mary Jane, Peter Parker can remember the exact moment that he fell in love with her.[1] She has been missing and presumed dead for months but Peter has never really thought she was dead.[2] Now while this feeling of certainty is strong he vows to continue his search for her and never give up until he learns the truth.[3] Elsewhere in the city, the Stalker who has been keeping Mary Jane prisoner for months senses that Spider-Man is close and that the time is almost right to finally get peace. As Spider-Man swings across the city to begin searching, the Stalker feels the pain in his head subsiding. That’s when Mary Jane begins asking for her captor to speak with her, something the Stalker can hear from the rooftop because of a walkie-talkie he’s got set up to listen to what’s going on in the room. When she says she’s hungry, the Stalker slides her a cooked meal through a slot on the bottom of the door to her room. She once again pleads with him to talk to her. The Stalker actually responds this time but refuses to let her out of the room saying he’d be forced to hurt her before its time to get what he wants.

By this time, Peter has returned to his apartment to get some rest when Jill Stacy comes to visit. Seeing that he’s still obsessing about Mary Jane she tells him to let go and accept the fact that she is dead. Peter tells her that he’s certain she’s still alive that he can sense it somehow, almost like she’s in the next room begging him to free her. Back at the Stalker’s hideout, Mary Jane tells her captor that it’s not too late to let her go, warning him that her husband will find her. The Stalker doesn’t think so since everyone thinks she is dead and that he needed to fake her death because he needed to establish a link. When Mary Jane asks why “guys like him” always speak in riddles, but the Stalker assures her that he is no like any of Spider-Man’s previous foes. While back at Peter’s apartment, Jill leaves the room to make something for him to eat. Suddenly, Peter hears a voice in his head say “it’s time” and he quickly changes into Spider-Man and leaves before Jill comes back.

Meanwhile, the Stalker begins ranting and raving about how he wouldn’t abandon Mary Jane or constantly leave her alone at night. That’s when he reveals that he knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, telling her that he knows a lot of things. Not understanding any of this, she asks him to explain himself so she can understand. Sensing that Spider-Man is on his way as they speak, the Stalker decides to tell her what he knows. The Stalker explains a year ago he would have been dismissed as one of the many crazies that wander the streets of the city. This is because somehow he knew everybody’s story. Every single detail of the lives of everyone he came into contact with flooded his head all at once, driving him mad. These voices have crowded his mind since puberty and no amount of psychology or medications could quiet them. That all changed one day he went outside and suddenly all the voices stopped. He soon discovered everyone was focused on a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin.[4] Transfixed by this silence, the Stalker was in danger of being struck by falling debris when Spider-Man shoved him to safety. That moment of contact established a link that he never felt before. Not only did her suddenly learn all of Spider-Man’s memories but for the first time, he also began feeling the emotions attached to those memories. He felt the feelings that Peter Parker he had for his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, he felt the pain on the day Peter was bitten by the radioactive spider that turned him into Spider-Man. He felt the sadness and guilt that Peter feels about the murder of his Uncle Ben.[5] Most of all, the Stalker felt all of Peter’s feelings towards his friends and family, most importantly the love he felt for Mary Jane.[6] From there he became determined to make Mary Jane his.

When Mary Jane tells him that it will never happen, the Stalker begins detailing how he put his plan together. He explains that the harassing phone calls were only a means to unsettle both Mary Jane and Peter. He then disguised himself as the kindly old man Mary Jane met on her flight and after giving her a drugged lollipop, nobody noticed when he pretended she was an ill niece and had her ushered off the plane. That’s when Mary Jane remembers that the Stalker blew up the plane and calls him sick for killing all the innocent people on board. The Stalker explains that it was all a necessary evil as he needed to convince the world that Mary Jane was dead. With that, the Stalker says it’s now time and goes silent. When Mary Jane begins begging for him to come back, she discovers that the door to her room has suddenly been unlocked. While she is rushing to get free, Spider-Man arrives outside the hideout, which turns out to be an old diner. The two soon cross paths and Peter pulls off his mask when he rushes to hug his wife, happy to see he is alive.

While Mary Jane tries to explain what happens the Stalker comes out of the shadows with glowing eyes. Mary Jane tries to warn him but Peter is too slow to react because, somehow, the Stalker has negated his spider-sense. When Peter turns to face Mary Jane’s captor the Stalker headbutts him so hard it knocks him out. As Mary Jane rushes to Peter’s side, the Stalker proclaims he needs it all — he needs Peter Parker’s life.

This story is continued in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #29…

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, the Stalker, Jill Stacy

Continuity Notes

1. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.

2. Mary Jane was believed to have died in a plane crash since Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13. This whole time she’s been a prisoner of a deranged stalker who started harassing Mary Jane back in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #5.

3. A lot of critics (particularly one overly critical reviewer at spiderfan.org) point out that Peter has done a complete 360 on his position regarding Mary Jane for “no apparent reason”. However, it’s a pretty simple explanation. As last issue points out, Spider-Man and the Stalker have been mentally linked for some time and that link is growing stronger. Peter’s sudden and renewed motivation to search for Mary Jane is due to that link, duh.

4. The battle between Spider-Man the Green Goblin referenced here was the conflict between the two foes during the Final Chapter story arc. Specifically, the Stalker was saved by Spider-Man during the events of Spectacular Spider-Man #263.

5. Naturally, the origins of Spider-Man and the death of Uncle Ben are a reference to Amazing Fantasy #15. It should be noted that this is the first time the original origin of Spider-Man is told since John Byrne tried to reboot Spider-Man’s origins with Spider-Man: Chapter One. That retcon having been delegated to an alternate reality.

6. The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story in one of the flashback panels. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. These towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and have since been replaced with the Freedom Tower.