Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #43
Cold Arms
With Midtown High going on a break, Peter intends to use his time off to try and fix things with his wife, Mary Jane.[1]
At that same moment, in Los Angeles, Doctor Otto Octavius has been brought on board at Nexus Industries by Doctor Carlyle who wants to invest in and improve on the technologies in Otto’s mechanical arms so they can be used in practical cybernetics.[2] Carlyle asks for a demonstration and Otto commands his mechanical arms to free themselves from the locked case they are sealed inside. He explains that the mechanical arms respond to his mental command almost instantly, although those commands are delayed if the further the arms are away from him. This impresses Carlyle and the other investors at Nexus who ask Otto to wait while they make their final decision about hiring him on. Left alone, Otto looks forward to the opportunity to be able to work legitimately again. However, outside of the boardroom, Carlyle dismisses the “board of directors” who were all actors he hired. Pressing a button on the wall causes the board room to fill with knock out gas, incapacitating Doctor Octopus before he can command his arms to free him.
Back in New York, Peter tries in vain to get ahold of Mary Jane to apologize. This is because Mary Jane’s receptionist has been ordered to deflect his calls by telling him she’s busy because Mary Jane wants Peter to stew over the fact that he was a no show when she went to New York to see him.[3]
Five days later, Doctor Octopus wakes up a prisoner of Carlyle, who tells him his scheme. Carlyle is a con-man who managed to convince Nexus Industries to hire him on as a mouthpiece to help boost the company’s profile and market value. Carlyle did that, but through crooked means and embezzled money from the company. When the CEO of Nexus found out about Carlyle’s criminal past forcing him to kill the CEO. With everything in escrow, the only thing he had access to was theoretical work. So before he made his exit from the company he arranged for Otto’s capture so Nexus engineers could reverse engineer his mechanical arms so they can build new arms for Carlyle to use in his next criminal endeavors.[4]
While back in New York, Peter tells his Aunt May that Mary Jane is screening her calls but knows he can get her to understand what happened if she could just talk to her. Aunt May then suggests that they go to California to see her since Peter is on vacation, saying that she’s always wanted to see how a movie is made. Soon they are at the airport where they are stopped by security when they find Peter’s web-shooters in his luggage. When they ask what they are, Aunt May says they are gynecological devices prompting no further questions and they are sent on their way.[5] While the Parkers are flying to California, Carlyle uses his new mechanical arms are used to rob a local bank. The mechanical appendages and their built-in devices and weapons allow Carlyle to knock out the guards and take everyone inside hostage. He then demands all the money in the bank vault. Back at Carlyle’s lab, Otto begins shaking off the effects of the drugs used to incapacitate him and begins sending mental commands to his mechanical arms ordering them to free themselves from the steel container they have been contained in. He then orders them to free him and take him to safety while he plans to get revenge against Carlyle.
While at a nearby movie studio, Mary Jane asks the director more about her film. He tells her that the script is being kept under wraps to prevent leaks online and tells her that she is playing the love interest of her co-star Rick Turk, who is portraying a super-hero who is avenging the death of his lover. Hearing this, Mary Jane tells the director that she is certain she can portray the character without any problems. After the director leaves, Mary Jane hears a familiar voice and sees Peter and Aunt May at the security gate. Peter is trying to use his press credentials with the Daily Bugle to get through when she confronts him. She is not happy to see Peter and gives him two minutes to explain himself.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus (Octavius), Doctor Octopus (Carlyle), Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May
Continuity Notes
Peter and Mary Jane have been going through a separation since Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2001. They will eventually get back together in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #51. 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 an engaged couple here (they are no longer common-law couple because they have spent an extended period of time apart)
Doctor Carlyle’s full name is not revealed. A lot of people presume that his first name is Luke based on a similar-looking character who appears in the Spider-Man 3 video game (which is based on the third Spider-Man film). Since video games are notoriously non-canonical and subsequent Marvel handbooks have not identified his full name I’m going to call this a case where amateur fans making an assumption with no real basis of fact. Happens all the time over at Fandom (which is why they are an unreliable source). In this story, Carlyle is revealed to be a conman and a good conman doesn’t usually give his real name. More to the point, while I’m sure the designers who made Spider-Man 3 intended this character to have the same name, the likelihood of Marvel using that name seems highly unlikely. Even the Unofficial Appendix doesn’t acknowledge the video game and those guys are usually hired to write the official handbooks so I think that should say a lot on the matter even in an “unofficial” capacity.
Peter missed his meeting with Mary Jane last issue because he was in the astral plane rescuing kidnapped street children. Time on Earth passed faster while Peter was in that plane of reality and missed Mary Jane completely.
Carlyle scoffs at the design of Otto’s mechanical arms saying they look like they were built in the 1960s. This is a nod to the fact that Doctor Octopus’ first appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man #3, which was printed in 1963. However, per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, Otto invented his mechanical arms roughly 11 years prior to this story.
One of the TSA agents chastises Peter for bringing nail clippers on his carryon luggage. As this story was published shortly after 9/11 when travel restrictions were that strict, this should be considered a topical reference. The restriction on bringing nail clippers onto an aircraft was lifted in 2011.
