Amazing Spider-Man #700.2
Frost Part Two
With a massive blizzard pounding New York City, Peter Parker has grown concerned for his Aunt May’s safety. With the phone lines down and the city in a lock down, the only way for Peter to check is to venture through the blizzard as Spider-Man. The moment he steps upside his body instantly begins to feel the cold as the wind cuts through the thin fabric of his costume. Still, he swings off even though his body is already starting to feel numb.
In Queens, Aunt May is trying to keep warm after a blackout. Waking up on the couch, May discovers her candle has burned out. Because her furnace isn’t running her house has grown cold enough for her to see her own breath.
As Spider-Man swings across the city he happens upon an apartment fire. Fire crews are having a hard time rescuing the people trapped inside. For a moment, Spider-Man considers leaving the people trapped inside to their fate, but his sense of responsibility overrides his immediate concern for Aunt May. First, Spider-Man uses his strength to help open the valve on a fire-hydrent that has been frozen shut. This allows the firefighters to begin using their hoses to fight the flames. Spider-Man then starts pulling people out of the burning building. However, there is not enough cover from the elements, so Spider-Man rips open the gates of a nearby subway station and orders the fire crews to bring people down there to get out of the elements.
Eventually, the cold starts getting to the web-slinger and his hands begin to have trouble holding onto his web-lines. Eventually the firefighters get control of the blaze. Spider-Man decides to continue heading for Queens certain that his Aunt May is in trouble. At that same moment, May struggles to keep warm and eventually collapses on the floor.
Unfortunately, Spider-Man is delayed again when he spots an ambulance struck on the Queensborough Bridge. Inside is a pregnant woman who needs immediate medical attention or she and her child will die. Spider-Man uses a street sign to shovel the snow out of the way of so the ambulance can get moving again. The situation becomes more dangerous when a snowplow shows up and the driver, who has been working all night, falls asleep on the wheel. The plow strikes the ambulance. It almost falls over the edge of the bridge if not for the quick actions of Spider-Man. The web-slinger is thanked for his help and he goes into the cab of the snowplow to try and get warm. Unfortunately, he needs to get back out because the plow isn’t going anywhere near Queens.
Spider-Man continues his trek on foot and the cold makes him start to hallucinate that his foes are having a snowball fight around him. He rushes through this attack and runs into his Uncle Ben who encourages Peter to keep going. Eventually, Peter makes it to Aunt May’s house. Peter quickly lights up the house with more candles and puts on some tea for May to drink. He then carries her to bed when suddenly, the power comes back on. The news says how the blizzard is blowing over and Peter stays by May’s bed all night. When she wakes up, she is delighted to see that Peter is waiting by her bed.
After telling her how he hitched a ride in a snowplow, Peter refuses to rest until he makes May some soup, fixes the broken window, chops some firewood, and shovels May’s walkway. Exhausted after all of this work, Peter collapses in his old bed and goes to sleep. He dreams of his Uncle Ben working in a garden untouched by the winter weather.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Aunt May
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 my summary of the previous issue for more details.
