Amazing Spider-Man #659
Fantastic Voyage Part One
The Future Foundation have been on a mission to patch rifts in the fabric of space-time across time and dimensions in order to prevent the collapse of all reality. They have now returned to their own universe off the coast of the Caribbean and Spider-Man is glad to be back home. The Invisible Woman is concerned because she keeps trying to contact the Baxter Building but the signal keeps dropping. Mister Fantastic is also having trouble getting satellite data and theorizes that they are at the epicenter of the disturbance. As the Thing prepares to land, Reed and Sue’s daughter Valeria manages to get through to them and warns them of the strange readings she has been picking up from the Baxter Building. Even though Valeria has a very serious warning to give, Sue is still upset that the little girl is up past her bed time. Unfortunately, before matters can be discussed any further the feed cuts out again.
The adults of the Future Foundation land on the island where the former members of the Fantastic Four remember they were here before during their first battle against Doctor Doom. They recount how Doom had captured Sue and sent Reed, Johnny, and Ben back in time to the eighteenth century to steal some magical gems that were in the possession of Blackbeard the pirate and how they tricked Doom by bringing back a treasure chest full of chains instead.[1] Hearing all of this, Spider-Man crosses his fingers and prays that they’ll encounter some pirates. They then wander into a local village where they are attacked by the residents until the town elder tells them to stop attacking, pointing out that these are the Fantastic Four.[2] While that’s accurate enough and he expresses his gratitude for the heroes coming as there has been a creature that has been terrorizing their village. He points to a nearby mountain with a skull carved into the side, much to the delight of Spider-Man.
Meanwhile, back in New York City, Peter Parker’s girlfriend Carlie Cooper is participating in a roller derby match. She is especially brutal in the rink and is called out on a penalty. While sitting with her teammates, Carlie is asked what’s her problem tonight. Carlie tells them that she is frustrated over dealing with two-faced people. She tells them how her friends Vin Gonzales and Lily Hollister turned out to be bad people, how she recently discovered that her father faked his death to cover up the fact he was a dirty cop and then, on top of all of this, she caught her boyfriend in a lie when he said he was out on business for Horizon Labs.[3] When she tells them that she doesn’t know who to trust anymore, her teammates try to cheer her up by saying that she can trust them and decide to take her out on a night of debauchery to make her forget about her worries.
Meanwhile, the Future Foundation is approaching skull mountain. Reed is picking up supernatural phenomenon and warns his team to be on the alert. When he asks Spider-Man about his spider-sense he chooses this moment to tell them that he recently lost that ability.[4] When Reed suggests coming up with a technological solution to this problem, Spider-Man accidentally triggers a secret panel which causes the mouth of the skull to open allowing them access to a cavern inside the mountain. That’s when they are attacked by what appears to be a swarm of zombie pirates. However, Reed finds something suspicious about all of this, but before he can use his scanner on the pirates, one of them smashes it with its cutlass.
While in New York, Valeria Richards has the rest of the children help her construct and attach a tachyon pack onto the back of Dragon Man.[5] This device will allow them to stabilize the dimensional breaches the grown-ups have been trying to contain. When Tong asks why they don’t call the adults, Valeria tells him that going in person and surprising them with their ingenuity will be more fun. At that same moment, the grown-ups have forced the zombie pirates back into the cave where they are shocked to discover a massive portal powered by Blackbeard’s gems. One of the zombies, which is wearing old diving gear, tells the Future Foundation that they used the magic of the gems to open this portal so they can seek out their master, the legendary pirate known as Blackbeard. Since the legend of Blackbeard was created by the Thing taking command of a pirate crew when the Fantastic Four were first sent back in time, Spider-Man suggests that Ben repraise his old role, pointing to a open trunk full with 18th century clothing.
At that moment, in the Bronx, Carlie Cooper and her friends stumble drunkenly out of a bar. As she continues complaining about Peter they happen by a tattoo parlor. Carlie decides that she is going to get one and her friends egg her on as they go inside. Inside they ask the tattoo artist what is a popular design and she shows them the Green Goblin tattoo has been quite popular recently.[6] Carlie figures it would be perfect since Peter hates Norman Osborn and takes off her shirt so she can get her tattoo done somewhere Peter will notice.
Back at the scene of the battle, the Thing tries to convince the zombie pirates that he is the real Blackbeard but the leader of the zombies orders his minions to kill them all. That’s when the Future Foundation children arrive. Although Sue is angry with them, Valeria tries to warn them that the portal is not what it appears to be. When Franklin comments about how this all seems like an episode of Scooby Doo, the adults can’t help but agree with the boy. With that in mind, the Invisible Woman uses her powers to make the leader of the zombie’s diving gear invisible, revealing that he is none other than Mysterio in disguise. That’s when the village elder arrives on the scene and reveals that he is the Chameleon and he intentionally led the Future Foundation into the trap. They are then joined by Doctor Octopus, the Rhino, Electro, and Sandman. Doctor Octopus orders his men to kill them all as such is the price to pay for defying the Sinister Six.
Recurring Characters
Future Foundation (Spider-Man, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Dragon Man, Alex Power, Bentley-23, Tong, Mik, Turg, Vil, Wu), Sinister Six (Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Electro, Chameleon, Sandman, Rhino), Carlie Cooper
Continuity Notes
This classic tale took place back in Fantastic Four #5.
The village elder is mostly right about who these heroes are:
He calls them the Fantastic Four. However, the FF disbanded following the apparent death of the Human Torch in Fantastic Four #587. They reformed as a Future Foundation in FF #1.
He refers to Susan Richards as the Invisible Girl here and she corrects him by saying she calls herself the Invisible Woman. The Invisible Girl is what Sue called herself at first when she got her powers in Fantastic Four #1. However, she later updated her name to Invisible Woman in Fantastic Four #284.
When Reed is called “Mister Elongated Man” he responds with “I hope you have good lawyers.” this is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that the DC Comics character known as the Elongated Man has similar powers.
The reason why the Thing is insulted when he is called the Hulk is because the pair have had a long running rivalry over the years which started in Fantastic Four #12.
Carlie Cooper is not wrong to feel as though she can’t trust anybody. The facts:
Vin Gonzales was a friend to Carlie on the NYPD who also had a thing for her since Amazing Spider-Man #546. At the same time, Carlie was raised by the Hollister family after her father faked his death.
In Amazing Spider-Man #584-588, Carlie not only learned that Vin was one of many dirty cops involved in the “Spider-Tracer Killer” conspiracy, but also learned that Lily was operating in secret as the super-villain known as Menace. Because of Carlie’s discovery, about Vin, he went to jail.
Lily discovered her father faked his death in Amazing Spider-Man #618-620. Instead of helping her father flee the country, Carlie had him arrested.
Spider-Man sacrificed his own spider-sense activating a device that nullified similar abilities of the Spider-Slayer’s Slayer Swarm who were targeting members of the Jameson family. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man #654.
Dragon Man warns the children that his inventor planted boobytraps in his body to prevent tampering. This would be Gregson Gilbert who invented the Dragon Man android in Fantastic Four #35.
Since Norman Osborn was incarcerated following a failed coup of Asgard in Siege #1-4, he has become the subject of worship among criminals. Those who has pledged their allegiance to Osborn have this tattoo as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #647.
Topical References
Date pop-culture references: “Hey you guys!” (The Goonies), “Booty” by Jennifer Lopez
Bug Time
Miles Warren has been a very busy man. His recent experiments have been on insects, particularly bed bugs. After he has completed altering the pests he unleashes the creatures as part of a massive infestation of New York City. As the altered bed bugs spread, reproduce and feed on people across the city, the Jackal congratulates the entire island of Manhattan on becoming his latest experiment.
Recurring Characters
Jackal
Topical References
The Jackal claims ownership of the diminishing bee population. This should be a topical reference because this is a real-world ecological problem that may become dated as science comes up with way to help the waning bee population recover
Can’t Get the Service Part Two
With the Ghost Rider absorbed by the demon calling itself the Servicer, Spider-Man has fled from the creature on the Ghost Rider’s demonic motorcycle. As they speed through the streets of the city, Spider-Man uses the opportunity to stop a mugging in process, frightening the thieves away on just the appearance of the motorcycle alone.
Unfortunately, the Servicer manages to get around Spider-Man and block his path. The Ghost Rider manages to pull himself free enough to warn Spider-Man not to let the demon get his motorcycle before being absorbed again. As Spider-Man turns the bike around and tries to get away, the Servicer fires hooked chains to snare the haunted bike and prevent it from fleeing the scene. When the Servicer orders Spider-Man to hand over the motorcycle, Spider-Man decides to grant the demon his wish by running him over with it.[1]
Spider-Man tries to play chicken with Servicer but bails off the motorcycle moments before impact. As the motorcycle hits the Servicer, the Ghost Rider is freed. The Spirit of Vengeance is furious that Spider-Man let the demon get his motorcycle. When Spider-Man asks what the problem is, Ghost Rider turns his head and makes Spider-Man see that the Servicer and Ghost Rider’s motorcycle have merged together to become a massive demonic force on wheels.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Servicer
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man states here that he’s actually starting to miss his old Spider-Mobile. This laughably bad concept was the brainchild of an advertising firm trying to promote a new pollution-free motor. Spider-Man built the vehicle in Amazing Spider-Man #130 and promptly crashed it in issue #159. Ownership has changed hands over the years and, as of Amazing Spider-Man #600, the vehicle has been on display at the Smithsonian.
Topical References
Dated references: Toyota Prius, “Bat Out of Hell” by Meatloaf