Coming Out

At the Southern New York Nuclear Power Plant, Spider-Man is working hard to mix some radioactive isotopes together as quickly as possible. This is because he can sense Morlun getting closer and needs to be ready for him. As his foe forces his way through the facility walls and takes out security, Spider-Man prepares to inject himself with a high does of radioactivity. Hoping for the best, Peter injects himself and screams with agony and passes out from the pain. His final thoughts are wondering if he made a terrible mistake. When Morlun comes crashing into the facility, he finds Spider-Man passed out on the ground and takes advantage of the situation.

However, when he tries to absorb Spider-Man’s life force the radiation in his body causes him a great deal of pain. He pushes Spider-Man aside not knowing what is happening. Waking up, Spider-Man tells Morlun that he has been too busy hunting him down thinking he was a pure source of totemistic power when there is one thing Morlun never considered. Punching Morlun across the face, Spider-Man tells Morlun he’s not pure. Each blow staggers his opponent and as he lays into Morlun, Spider-Man explains how he’s managed to outsmart his enemy. He explains that the explanation for how he got his spider-powers doesn’t negate the fact that the spider that bit him received a massive dose of radiation.[1] While Morlun can consume the power of the spider, his body cannot handle the radiation that also played part in turning Peter Parker into Spider-Man. Until now, Peter always wondered if he could handle another dose of radiation, but until Morlun came after him he had no reason to try. He then congratulates Morlun for reaping the whirlwind.

Spider-Man beats Morlun into submission, the radiation causing the animal DNA in Morlun to come to the surface. He pleads with Spider-Man to let him live, promising to leave and never both him the wall-crawler again. Spider-Man debates with himself if he can trust him but can’t bring himself to kill Morlun either. That’s when Dex, Morlun’s slave, appears and shoots his master with a gun. Morlun causing him to dissolve into nothingness.[2] With the police arriving on the scene, Spider-Man flees the scene after warning Dex to leave and not come back. After stopping to rest and make a futile prayer to not have to fight for his life again for a while, Spider-Man pays a visit to Ezekiel Sims’ office and discovers and discovers the place has been deserted. Looking around he finds a rubber spider was left behind. Spotting footprints on the window where it was left, Peter realizes that Ezekiel is still alive and screams his name. Down on the street below, Ezekiel’s assistant asks if he heard something. Getting into his limo, he says he didn’t hear a thing and tells her that they have places to go and people to help.

Realizing that he’s still alive, Spider-Man swings across the city to celebrate his survival. When Peter arrives at his apartment he strips off his Spider-Man costume and thinks how he is too keyed up to sleep but tries to rest anyway. He then falls immediately to sleep. A few hours later, his Aunt May comes by to pick up Peter’s dirty laundry and is shocked to find Peter’s Spider-Man costume.

This story is continued in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #37…

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Morlun, Ezekiel Sims, Aunt May, Dex

Continuity Notes

1. There are two schools of thought when it comes to Spider-Man’s power. The main one, first posited in Amazing Fantasy #15, is that Peter got his powers because the spider that bit him was bombarded with radiation. Recently, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #30, Ezekiel Sims has suggested the spider passed on is abilities through mystical means.

2. Although Morlun dies here, he returns alive and well in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1. Although his survival remains unexplained, it is later revealed in Superior Spider-Man #33 that Morlun is a member of the Inheritors a family that feeds on animal totems — particularly spiders — across the multiverse. Per Scarlet Spiders #1-3, whenever an Inheritor is killed their mind is transferred into a newly cloned body on Earth-001.