Amazing Spider-Man (Digital) #2
The Private Life of Peter Parker Part Two
On an assignment for Dexter Bennett in order to make mayor J. Jonah Jameson look bad, Peter Parker went to Union Park to goad the Anti-Spider-Man Squad to come out so he can deliver them a humiliating defeat. Instead, a new villain named Spectrum used his powers to alter the spectrum of the surrounding area causing the people in the park to panic.[1] As Spider-Man tries to figure out what to do, Spectrum (who is now invisible) tells Spider-Man that he’ll fail if he tries to find him and recommends the wall-crawler either flee the scene or wait and see what unfolds. Spider-Man calls out to his new foe and asks for his name. Spectrum introduces himself and boldly tells him that his real name is Joe Biden. Moving around the area, Spider-Man deduces that Spectrum’s powers are proximity based and gets far enough away to not be affected by these abilities. Unfortunately, before the web-slinger can figure anything else out the Anti-Spider-Man Squad arrives in an armored car.
While dealing with these armed officers, Spider-Man notices that J. Jonah Jameson had also alerted Robin Jones, a local news anchor. Deciding to use this to his advantage, Spider-Man borrows her microphone so he can address the viewing audience and tell them how J. Jonah Jameson is wasting their tax dollars with the Anti-Spider-Man Squad. He quickly evades their weapons fire, pointing out how the Squad is causing more damage than he is. He then leaps up onto a nearby lamp post and reveals that Jameson has also been spending tax dollars on secret cameras used to track him. After his impromptu public service announcement, Spider-Man flees the scene and reminds himself that he’ll have to recover his camera later on top of figuring out how to earn the money he owes his roommate, Michele Gonzales.
Watching this latest news coverage is reality TV star, Teri Hillman, who is not happy with this latest coverage since her agent just arranged for J. Jonah Jameson to promote her company. Instead of being a PR boost, this incident is making Teri less popular by proxy of the fact that Jameson is making himself look like a fool trying to capture Spider-Man. Jimmy, her agent, assures Teri that he’ll think of something to repair the damage done.
Meanwhile, Lelia, Becky, and Emma are at the Coffee Bean trying to figure out what they can do to boost their popularity at school. Lelia suggests they do something to humiliate Meg, the popular girl at school, but they decide that getting revenge is a lot harder to pull off than movies would have them believe. They soon leave the coffee shop with no answers to their conundrum. As they walk down the street, Lelia suddenly gets some inspiration, telling them that she has just the thing to get them popular and also get revenge, pointing to a massive billboard of J. Jonah Jameson offering a reward for information that leads to the capture of Spider-Man.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Spectrum, Teri Hillman, Leila Goldberg, Becky, Emma Paley
Continuity Notes
One of the people in the park asks his wife if she’s a Skrull again. This is a reference to Secret Invasion #1-8, which revealed a massive Skrull invasion plot that saw many people on Earth (mostly superhumans) replaced by Skrulls.
Topical References
Teri Hillman is depicted using an iPod Classic. These models are obsolete. The iPod used to be the most popular portable music player but are less ubiquitous since most smartphones have replaced the need for a separate music player.
Teri tells her agent that she’s not doing a tanning salon promotion again, telling him that the “ultra violet” thing is for actress Milla Jovovich. This is a really bad pun on the fact that Jovovich starred in a film called Ultraviolet in 2006. You can understand why this is a dated reference because who the hell still talks about Ultraviolet?
