Amazing Spider-Man #700.1
Frost Part One
It’s a cold November night as Spider-Man begins his patrol.[1] He climbs up the side of Rockefeller Plaza to get a good view of the city. As the night progresses he stops a mugging, a drunk driver. The following night he stops a beat down in Stuy Town, an armored car robbery in the Financial District, and saves passengers when the tram on the 59th Street Bridge comes loose from the guidewire. At the end of the night, Peter Parker returns to his apartment and takes a hot shower but still can’t shake the cold from his bones.
The next day, a bundled up Peter Parker arrives at the Daily Bugle and is called into J. Jonah Jameson’s office. Jonah has developed a new conspiracy about Spider-Man’s acts of heroism. This time he complains about the cost to the city whenever Spider-Man gets involved. When Peter points out recent rescues on the subway and the 59th Street Bridge, Jonah suggests that Spider-Man is actually causing acts of sabotage in order to save people and get attention in some kind of Munchausen Syndrome type scenario. As he tries to explain this theory he notices that Peter is all bundled up and asks what’s wrong. Peter says he can’t seem to get warm and Jonah immediately backs away from Parker, afraid that the photographer is sick and might spread her germs. He then tells Parker to get out of his office and get some photos that prove that Spider-Man is intentionally causing the accidents that he saves people from.
Instead, Peter pays a visit to his Aunt May in Queens. Seeing her nephew all bundled up and his lack of appetite confirms to May that Peter is not feeling well. When she can’t feel a fever, Peter admits that it feels like something is sucking the heat right out of his body. Peter makes an analogy about how spiders rebuild or repair their webs every day and wonders if they die in the winter because of exhaustion instead of the cold. May tells Peter not to talk about dying and reminds her son that everyone feels tired at this time a year. She tells him a story about how his Uncle Ben loved to garden. He had the opinion that November was nature’s way of telling people to rest. To him the saddest day of the year was when the first frost hit, but he believed that nature felt sorry for killing the flowers and made it up by the blooms of frost that would form on the windows in the winter. May is looking forward for the forecasted blizzard, as it will keep people inside and Peter won’t have to work as hard getting photos for the Daily Bugle.
Peter gets his appetite after this and after a meal he heads back to his apartment. He decides to get some rest before going out on patrol but eventually hits the snooze button on his alarm and sleeps through the night. While Peter sleeps the blizzard hits the city. People scramble to pick up last minute supplies before the entire city shuts down. When Peter eventually wakes up he discovers the city is covered in a blanket of snow. Listening to the news he hears about how the entire city has grinded to a halt and is relieved that nobody needs Spider-Man for a change. The snow keeps on pouring and the snow gets so thick that fire crews have trouble responding to an apartment fire.
Eventually, the storm knocks out the power and the phone lines. Becoming concerned about Aunt May, Peter tries to call her on his cell phone but gets no signal. Meanwhile, May discovers that without power her furnace isn’t working. When she goes looking for a candle a tree branch smashes through the window letting the elements in. As May shivers by a candle, Peter’s spider-sense begins tingling and he becomes more and more concerned about his Aunt May. He thinks about how the city is totally shut down and realizes that the only person who can make it to Aunt May to check on her is Spider-Man. Without a moments hesitation, Peter changes into his costume and goes out into the winter storm.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, Aunt May, Uncle Ben (flashback)
Continuity Notes
This story was part of the Spider-Man 50th anniversary celebration. To date, the Marvel Chronology Project has tentatively placed this story as happening between Thing #5 and Amazing Spider-Man #242. I disagree. See below.
Where does this story fit in continuity?
Once again, I find myself at odds with what the Marvel Chronology Project suggests. At least in this case they haven’t made an concrete assessment. This is an odd story. It depicts Peter as working for the Daily Bugle and living alone at his apartment in Chelsea.
The hallucination with Venom really sticks out. One could assume that Peter is hallucinating the symbiote and not someone wearing it (like Eddie Brock). In my opinion, this story could fit sometime not long after Amazing Spider-Man #258 since, around that time, Walter Simonson was doing his Ragnarok and Roll story arc in Thor. That story features the Casket of Ancient Winters being opened causing massive blizzards all over the globe. It could easily fit better there.
