Peter Parker: The Fantastic Spider-Man

Peter Parker and Carlie Cooper are making the next big step in their relationship by spending the night together for the first time. While they both reassure each other that the time is right, Peter suddenly sees the new Fantastic Four signal flare up in the sky, meaning his new teammates need him.[1] Peter debates on what to do when Carlie gets a call on her phone asking her to come down to a crime scene. Peter is releaved and doesn’t act upset when Carlie says she has to go. Peter tells her that he can go and get some work done at Horizon Labs.

When Peter arrives at Horizon Labs he is called into a meeting with Max Modell and his colleagues Grady Scraps and Sajani Jaffrey. The pair are upset that Peter’s new sound cancelling headphones derives a lot of its design from their work. Peter tells them that they can also take mutual credit for their invention. When this pleases them, Peter races into his lab. Once locked inside, Peter puts on the costume he prepared for his first adventure with the Future Foundation.

Later, at the Baxter Building, the Future Foundation is waiting for Spider-Man to arrive. Mister Fantastic wonders what could be keeping him when Valeria points out that Spider-Man is also on the Avengers and his time is stretched thin.[2] Everyone is in for a shock when Spider-Man arrives in a costume patterned after the Fantastic Four’s costumes. Both Ben and Sue take offense because they decided to disband the Fantastic Four and stop wearing their trademark black and blue costumes out of respect for Johnny. Reed quickly diffuses the situation by handing Spider-Man the Future Foundation costume they made specially for him. Spider-Man complains about the costume’s black and white design, saying it makes him look like Anti-Venom. However, he quickly changes his tune when Artie, Leech and Bentley-23 begin thinking he is acting like a baby.

Leaving the children in the care of Dragon Man, the adults of the Future Foundation leave in the Fantasti-Car on their first mission. Along the way Reed explains that there are rifts in the space-time continuum that have opened on Earth, the Microverse, and in the distant future and if they don’t find a way to close them it could cause a all reality to collapse on itself. Spider-Man is surprised they’re tackling something this big but is disappointed to learn that their first stop is France. When they arrive they discover breasts from Polemachus have appeared on Earth and with the help of Aarkon, get these creatures back to the world where they belong. With the battle over and with Reed cleaning things up with Aarkon the rest of the team get to take in some of the local flavor. When a mime begins making fun of the Thing, the Invisible Woman traps him in an invisible box a prank that Spider-Man says would have made Johnny proud. Their next stop is the Microverse but Spider-Man tries to call his girlfriend before they are out of range.

However, Carlie Cooper isn’t able to answer the phone because a man is literally yelling a murder confession in her face. This is the latest killer to confess to his crimes, scared into making a confession by a new vigilante calling herself the Wraith. While Carlie is collecting a strange purple dust from the crime scene she misses a call from Peter. When she checks her voice mail he tells her he’ll be out of town for a few days on business and they’ll get together once he is back. While Carlie wonders what kind of business would send Peter out of town in the middle of the night, Spider-Man is in a Microverse with the Future Foundation trying to stabilize Super-Ego, a living atom that is the source of the rifts. While Spider-Man feels a little out of his depth, when the danger is over Reed tells him he did well and starts giving him a lesson on meta-science.[3] Sue and Ben decide to keep themselves occupied but Ben feels like something is amiss, unaware that they are being stalked by the Psycho-Man. As the Future Foundation heads off into the distant future, Psycho-Man takes a reading of their travel, allowing him to escape from the Microverse and into the world above.

Back on present day Earth, while Dragon Man and Alex Power try to get the children to bed, Bentley-23 and Valeria Richards pick up a strange disturbance coming from the Caribbean. Cross-referencing this with the computer records they learn that this is the location where the Fantastic Four first fought Doctor Doom and made their first trip through time.[4]

Meanwhile(?) the adults arrive in the distant year of 3141592653 where they are greeted by the Baxter/Retxab space station, a sentient palindromical structure that serves as the headquarters for the Future Foundation of this era.[5] There they meet with that era’s roster which includes Mega-Storm, Supremo, Xandar, Yancy, can Captain Wakanda. As it turns out they need the help from the Future Foundation from the past because the technology that is causing the disturbance in this distant era is ancient and they have no knowledge on how to fix it. As Peter helps Reed make the repairs he muses over what he could do with this technology at Horizon Labs. This causes Reed to pause and get Spider-Man to swear to never use the knowledge he gleans from alien worlds or other timelines to advance Earth science, telling him that it needs to advance at its own pace. Peter agrees, but is disappointed that he’ll have nothing to show for his trip.

Back on present day Earth, Carlie Cooper goes to Horizon Labs with a box of snickerdoodles to figure out where to send them. When she tells the secretary that Peter told her that he was on a business trip, the secretary has no idea what she is talking about.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Future Foundation (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Dragon Man, Alex Power, Leech, Artie Maddicks, Bentley-23, Turg, Tong, Korr, Mik, Wu, Vil) Psycho-Man, Carlie Cooper, Max Modell, Grady Scraps, Sajani Jaffrey, Arkon, Tiberius Stone, HERBIE robots

Continuity Notes

1. So a few things to get out of the way here:

   • The Fantastic Four have often employed a signal flare to summon the team together dating back to Fantastic Four #1. Traditionally, the flare took the shape of the number 4 in a circle. Here it has been changed to the symbol representing the Future Foundation, about that…

   • Not long prior to this story, the Human Torch seemingly sacrificed his life to save the world from invasion from the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four #587. The Fantastic Four decided to reform as the Future Foundation. In his will, seen last issue, Johnny Storm asked that Spider-Man take his place on the team.

   • The Torch is not really dead however, and will turn up alive again in Fantastic Four #600.

2. Actually, Spider-Man is part of two teams of Avengers. He has been a long standing member of the New Avengers since New Avengers #1, and has been a part of the current roster of the original team in Avengers (vol. 4) #1. The Thing doesn’t think this is a big deal, pointing out that he is an Avenger as well. At the time of this story, the Thing is also a member of the New Avengers since New Avengers (vol. 2) #1.

3. Reed explains that the reason why Galactus appears as a giant Caucasian humanoid is becuse his real form is beyond the comprehension of mortals and as such they view the world devourer as closely resembling something of their own species. This concept was first explored in Fantastic Four #262.

4. This happened waaaay back in Fantastic Four #4.

5. This distant version of the future, like all possible future, are considered as existing in as an alternate reality. However, as I write this in September 2020, there has yet to be a reality number assigned to this future.

Can’t Get the Service

It’s nearing midnight as Spider-Man goes on patrol in the city. He soon comes upon a crowd of people fleeing a local bar. There he finds a flaming motorcycle outside and the Ghost Rider ordering a shot of whiskey at the bar. The Spirit of Vengeance asks Spider-Man to pull up a seat and share a drink for him. However, instead of alcohol, Spider-Man orders a glass of milk. When Spider-Man expresses his concern about Ghost Rider drinking responsibly, he points out that alcohol has no effect on him in that form. When Spider-Man asks what the point is, Johnny Blaze realizes he has a point and reverts back to human form.

He tells the web-slinger that he has come out to drink in order to celebrate the fact that after years of being manipulated by the demonic forces he’s finally free.[1] Johnny tells Spider-Man that he needs to figure out what to do with his life from here and asks the web-head what he would do if their roles were reversed. That’s when a patron with a flaming eyes and a demonic voice enters the bar to claim the Ghost Rider’s motorcycle to use it for the purpose it now screams to fullfill. This man tells them that a demon called the Servicer has come to claim the motorcycle.

Johnny and Spider-Man rush outside and find a flaming demon standing before the motorcycle. The possessed man in the bar follows them outside and soon other are possessed and join the chorus, telling Spider-Man and Ghost Rider that the motorcycle’s purpose is to assist in collecting the souls of the damned. When the Servicer moves to take the motorcycle, Ghost Rider and Spider-Man attack it. Unfortunately, when the Ghost Rider tries to strike Servicer with his chain he gets sucked into the creature. Before he is completely absorbed, Ghost Rider tells Spider-Man to take the motorcycle and run for it.

With no other choice, Spider-Man hops on the demonic motorcycle and is completely caught off guard when the bike speeds off while he is in mid speech.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Service

Continuity Notes

1. Ghost Rider was freed from his curse but retained his powers following Shadowland: Ghost Rider #1.

Topical References

• Dated pop-culture references: Russell Crowe, Don Draper, Mad Men,