Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2
Bargaining
This story continues from Amazing Spider-Man #526….
Aunt May is looking over the medical reports that suggest that her nephew Peter is going to die. When May learned that Peter hasn’t gotten a second opinion she gets upset that none of his fellow Avengers are doing anything to get him one and storms into Tony Stark’s office. Luke Cage and Spider-Woman watch May go in and they speculate what they are talking about.[1] When May and Mary Jane leave Tony’s office he promises to keep this discreet, leaving the two Avengers to wonder if the tabloids reporting an affair between Tony and Mary Jane are true.[2]
Tony then takes Spider-Man on a tour to see every expert they can find. First, Spider-Man is examined by Mister Fantastic, Goliath, and Yellowjacket.[3] They can determine that the wall-crawler is suffering from cellular degeneration and that it might be caused by the radiation that fist gave him his powers.[4] However, none of them are that big of experts on the subject and suggest that they seek out Bruce Banner. They all pile into an Avengers Quinjet and track down the Hulk in the wilderness. The Hulk orders them to leave him alone, but before he can get angry enough to attack they spray the brute with tranquilizing gas. However, despite this, and Iron Man’s attempt to hypnotize the Hulk with his armor, the man-monster gets angry and starts attacking them all. When everyone is knocked out, Spider-Man begins distracting the Hulk, but soon the gas finally takes effect. As her reverts back to Bruce Banner and passes out.
Returning to the Baxter Building, Bruce Banner looks over the data collected by Mister Fantastic and the others. The Thing is on hand in case Banner turns into the Hulk again, and he’s pretty grumpy about it. All Banner can say is that the deterioration is accelerating rapidly, but further study is out of his scope, but he knows someone they can call on. Three hours later, Spider-Man is in Wakanda meeting with the Black Panther. As he is being escorted to the palace, the web-head can’t help but notice the locals all looking at him. T’Challa tells him that his people remember Anansi, the Spider-God of African folklore, and they believe that Spider-Man is his representative. After examining Peter, T’Challa can only offer him a bowl of the heart-shaped herbs that is unique to Wakanda and only eaten by warriors who have proven themselves to be king. Since results won’t happen for about a day, the Black Panther decides to take Spider-Man out to a temple his people built to worship Anansi. When Spider-Man mentions a reluctance to go in, considering the last time he was in a temple like this one, he almost became a human sacrifice.[5] The Panther admits that could happen here as well. The web-slinger then settles for a quick photo and suggests they go. As they leave, nobody is aware that they are being observed by Morlun. The following morning, as Peter is getting some ill-advised cornrows put in his hair, the Black Panther comes back with the results, and they’re not good.
Back in New York City, Spider-Man goes out on patrol and tries to process that despite all of his efforts he’s still going to die. He thinks of all the things he hasn’t done yet because he has been too busy using his powers responsibly.[6] His frustrations find an outlet when he finds the Ox mugging someone in an alley. However, instead of his usual jokes and snappy patter, Spider-Man silently attacks the Ox without mercy. Suddenly, the Ox turns into Morlun who tells Spider-Man to get his affairs into order because he will be coming after the web-slinger soon and then he will die. Spider-Man then lays into the man he thinks is Morlun until Daredevil arrives to stop him. Daredevil figures the Ox deserves a beating, but Spider-Man should stop unless he wants to kill him. Realizing the image of Morlun was all in his head. After being told to get his head together, Spider-Man decides to pay a visit to Doctor Strange. The mystic scans Spider-Man with the Eye of Agamotto and determines that the web-slinger’s illness is mystical in nature. Unfortunately, forces beyond his control prevent him from removing the curse. All he can do is tell Spider-Man that he’s lived a good life and he should prepare for the end.
This story is continued in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #20…..
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, New Avengers (Iron Man, Luke Cage, “Spider-Woman”) Ox, Mister Fantastic, Thing, Goliath, “Yellowjacket”, Hulk, Black Panther, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson, Morlun
Continuity Notes
The woman who appears to be Spider-Woman here is actually a Skrull spy as revealed in Secret Invasion #3. She took the real Spider-Woman’s place in Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.
A tabloid first suggested the possibility of an affair when Mary Jane was spotted by a paparazzi returning home to Stark Tower. Tony then used his influence to force a retraction as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #519-524.
The man who appears to be Yellowjacket here is also a Skrull spy as revealed in Secret Invasion #1. The real Hank Pym was replaced prior to Beyond! #1.
You remember the radioactive spider from Amazing Fantasy #15, right?
Spider-Man is referring to when Ezekiel Sims attempted to sacrifice him to a spider-totem in Amazing Spider-Man #506-508.
A few things here about Peter’s internal monologue:
He says that he hasn’t done anything nice for his wife. At the time of this story, he and Mary Jane are married. However, not long after this, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As a result, in the new timeline, he’d refer to as his fianceé instead of his wife.
Peter mentions that he doesn’t have any children. Not for a lack of trying. Mary Jane got pregnant back in Spectacular Spider-Man #221. Tragically, she had a miscarriage in Amazing Spider-Man #418.
Topical References
Spider-Man says the Sopranos are on television that evening. This is a topical reference considering the fact that the Sopranos ended their television run in 2007.
