Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #2
Prelude
In a room with no windows, a woman decides what to eat as well as which recording of a Spider-Man battle to watch. She chooses chicken marsala and Spider-Man’s second battle with Electro.[1] This is her favorite battle to watch and tells “Mr. Parker” to show her all his best moves.[2]
Now
Peter Parker has returned home from web-slinging to find Anna Maria Marconi waiting for him. She has just discovered that Peter is Spider-Man. Peter admits it and also gives her the unfortunate news that the Peter Parker she had been dating was actually Doctor Octopus, who mind-swapped with Peter before they “met”.[3] Trying to process this, Anna Maria decides that she needs to cook, as it helps her think. Lending Anna Maria a hand, Peter tells her that despite Octavius being a mad scientist, he knows he truly cared about her. This whole time she just repeats what Peter is telling her. After getting Peter to taste test the batter for her cookies, she puts them in the oven and tells him to take them out in 22 minutes, and then leaves to take a walk and process everything she has just heard. As Peter wonders what other surprises that Otto left for him, he gets a call from the Avengers asking him to come in for a talk.
Meanwhile, in the West Village, Electro calls on Francine Frye, a groupie that has a thing for super-villains. After his botched attempt to break criminals out of the Conway Correctional Facility he’s needed a place to lay low, and she is the only person willing to take him in. His fluctuating powers have a minor magnetic effect on Francine’s facial piercings and he warns her to keep her distance because he is having a hard time controlling his powers. However, Francine isn’t phased since she likes to live life dangerously.
By this time, Spider-Man has arrived at Avengers Tower. After twelve security scans, Captain America has two questions for him: Why was he 28 minutes late, and why is he wearing pants. Spider-Man explains he was late because there was a batch of cookies in the oven. The second question is more embarrassing: He tells them that his body was taken over by Doctor Octopus and during that time, Doc Ock altered the formula of his web-fluid so it doesn’t dissolve after an hour. Not knowing this, Spider-Man webbed up his privates when his costume was unravelled in battle. Now the pants he is wearing are stuck to his butt. Still, Captain America orders a full medical scan. After a full examination, Iron Man concludes that this is Spider-Man. Still, Cap isn’t quick to accept this, recounting how Spider-Man had previously blamed his strange behavior on the Venom symbiote.[4] Spider-Man remembers this, because his consciousness was there to help Otto fight it off. That’s when he learns that Flash Thompson was the host for the symbiote. He is furious to learn that Captain America knew the truth and decks him in the face.
Captain America tells the others to stand down because he deserved this. Spider-Man demands to know why Steve kept this a secret. Cap explains that Flash was a soldier doing his duty and his identity had to be kept secret, reminding Spider-Man that he himself has his own secret identity. Spider-Man decides to accept this and then learns that Venom has since gone into space after joining up with the Guardians of the Galaxy.[5] Spider-Man is amazed to hear this and asks what else he missed while he was gone. He is told about the recent jailbreak and asked to help search from escapees.[6]
Spider-Man heads to Parker Industries in the hopes of finding a solution to dissolve Otto’s webbing. Changing out of costume, he finds Sajani Jaffrey who is upset that he still hasn’t figured out the problems with their new nanite delivery system. Peter promises to fix it, even though he has no experience in cybernetics, as this was something Otto was working on when he controlled Peter’s body. Peter is preying for help when suddenly Anna Maria Marconi comes barging in and tells Sajani that she and Peter need to talk in private. Sajani refuses to put business aside for their relationship, but Anna Maria shuts this down by telling Jaffrey that she is pregnant. Anna Maria reveals that she only said this to get Sajani out of the room and reveals that this was a ruise to help him fix the nanite problem, since she knows Otto’s work better than himself.
While back in the East Village, Electro tells Francine that his apparent reformation into a hero was forced upon him by Spider-Man, who also experimented on him, hence why his powers are screwed up.[7] Francine is turned on by all of this and begins making out with him. Tragically, as Electro gets aroused his powers flare out of control, blowing all the lights and electrocuting Francine to death.[8]
Back at Parker Industries, Anna Maria and Peter try to make the best of an awkward situation. Peter insists that she continue working at Parker Industries and to stay at his apartment until she can find a place of her own again. Anna Maria agrees, but insists that Peter take the couch. That’s when the power goes out and after seeing a bolt of electricity arc in the sky, Spider-Man figures that Electro is on the loose again. Anna Maria tells him to go, promising to make an excuse for his absence. Before he leaves, she also tells him where to find the solvent to get his pants unstuck.
When Spider-Man arrives at the scene where Electro is on the rampage, he tries to get his old foe to calm down. However, Electro blames him for the fact that his powers are out of control and the web-slinger quickly realizes that this is another lovely surprise left by Doctor Octopus. Spider-Man tries to change gears by offering to try and fix the problem.
As the battle rages, two people watch from the sidelines. One of them is Johnny Storm, who tells the others in the crowd that he can’t help Spider-Man out because he recently lost his powers.[9] The other is a mystery woman who is interested to hear this. Meanwhile, Spider-Man realizes that he has to change tactics and fight Electro, who doesn’t want to be experimented on again. Spider-Man tries to break open a fire hydrant, but water doesn’t come out until Spider-Man sticks his face in its path to see what is going on. Then water begins spraying out. This was somehow caused by the mystery woman watching from the sidelines. She did this to thank Electro for busting her out of prison and now considers them even, and leaves to plot her own revenge against Spider-Man.[10] The water is painful to Electro and he decides to escape. That’s when Spider-Man gets a text from the Human Torch asking him to meet at their usual place.
When Spider-Man arrives atop the Empire State Building he hears Johnny shouting at him from the ground below.[11] He quickly learns that Johnny recently lost his powers. Johnny has called because he learned about the Doc Ock situation and wanted to offer his own advice, since he went through something different when everyone thought he died in the Negative Zone.[12] To help Peter get back up to speed on all the things he missed, Johnny gives him a storage device containing all the TV shows, movies, and music he missed while he was gone.[13] This gets Peter to thinking about how the Raft was converted to Spider-Man’s hideout when Otto was in charge and now that the city doesn’t have a prison, suddenly gets some inspiration.[14]
Peter then calls a meeting with his staff at Parker Industries. He announces that their work on cybernetics are being put on hold while they focus on a new task: capturing and de-powering Electro. This is something Peter expects to be the first step toward Parker Industries creating the best super-villain prison that ever existed.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Electro, Black Cat, Anna Maria Marconi, Sajani Jaffrey, Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Woman), Human Torch, Cindy Moon (unidentified), Francine Frye
Continuity Notes
Barring any new flashback tales, this would be the time he fought Electro in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #7.
Unidentified here, this woman is revealed to be Cindy Moon, the woman who was bitten by the same spider that gave Peter Parker his powers, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #1. We’ll learn more about her in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #4-5.
Otto Octavius escaped his own dying body and took over Peter Parker’s life in Amazing Spider-Man #698, Peter eventually reclaimed his life in Superior Spider-Man #31.
For more on Otto’s possession by the Venom symbiote see Superior Spider-Man #22-25.
Flash joined the Guardians in Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 3) #14.
Captain America can relate to Peter’s feeling like a man out of time because he experienced something similar when he was in trapped in suspended animation from 1944 until he was revived in Avengers #4.
Electro was captured by the Otto Octavius Spider-Man in Avenging Spider-Man #18. He was later forced to be part of Otto’s Superior Six, as seen in Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #5-7.
This isn’t the end of Francine Frye (that last name!! LOL!) She is later resurrected by the Jackal, becoming all-new all-female Electro in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 4) #17.
Johnny lost his powers in Fantastic Four (vol. 5) #2. He gets his powers back in Fantastic Four #645.
Electro’s jailbreak was in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #1. The woman who was broken out was revealed to be the Black Cat.
Spider-Man and the Human Torch have been meeting at the Statue of Liberty since Strange Tales Annual #2.
Johnny was seemingly killed preventing an Negative Zone invasion of Earth in Fantastic Four #586. However, he survived and resurfaced again in Fantastic Four #600.
Johnny knows Peter Paker is Spider-Man since Peter revealed his identity to the Fantastic Four in Amazing Spider-Man #591.
Doctor Octopus blackmailed J. Jonah Jameson into allowing him to convert the Raft into his base of operations in Superior Spider-Man #11-14. It was later destroyed when the Goblin Nation attacked the city in Superior Spider-Man #27-31.
Topical References
A lot of the aspects of Cindy’s secret home should be considered topical. Primary of these is the fact that all the recordings of Spider-Man’s battles are recorded on VHS tapes. There are also movie posters for The Matrix, American Beauty, and Fight Club. This is supposed to represent how long Cindy had been locked away, which per the Sliding Timescale, is about 13 years. Based on the date of publication (2014) 13 years would make it 2001. These movies are an odd choice since they all came out in 1999, but whatever, they’re topical.
Other dated technology: Johnny hands Peter a USB drive.
Dated pop-culture references: Spider-Man looks forward to seeing the third season of Smash (which nobody remembers anymore, so yeah, topical)
