Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24
The Other Side of Darkness
This story continues from Amazing Spider-Man #544….
Thanks to an anonymous donation from Edwin Jarvis, the Avenger’s butler, Aunt May can be moved from the charity ward and continue to be kept alive on life support.[1] This buys Spider-Man extra time to go out and seek additional help from the superhero community. His first stop is the Sanctum Sanctorum of Doctor Strange.[2] When he rings the doorbell, Doctor Strange contacts him telepathically saying he has been expecting the web-slinger and invites him inside.
There, Peter explains the situation with his Aunt May and asks for Doctor Strange’s help to cure her. Instead, Strange tells the tale about how he used to be a surgeon whose hands were rendered useless in a car accident. Seeking a cure for his condition he traveled to the Himalayan mountains to seek out the Ancient One, a powerful mystic that was rumored to be able to heal people.[3] He eventually became the Ancient One’s student and was told that some things — such as healing Stephen Strange’s hands — were beyond the power of even the Sorcerer Supreme because he was destined for bigger things. Had the Ancient One healed Strange’s hands, he would never succeed him as Sorcerer Supreme and there would be nobody to defend the Earth from the forces of darkness. Peter catches what Strange is saying between the lines and refuses to allow Aunt May to die. When Strange points out that everyone dies, Peter is willing to accept it if May dies of old age years from now, but refuses to allow her to die from the bullet that was meant for him. Breaking down, Peter tearfully pleads for Stephen to help him.
Although Strange doesn’t think anyone can help save May Parker’s life he decides to help anyway. He brings forth the Hands of the Dead, telling Peter that it can allow an individual to travel the tides of time and space in the blink of an eye saying that they could even be used to send someone to many places at once. When Peter suggests using them to go back in time and preventing May from getting shot to begin with, Doctor Strange warns that the Hands offer great power but also great temptation and warns against their use in this fashion. Strange then casts the necessary spell to send Spider-Man to many places at once so he can seek the help of others to save May Parker’s life. Spider-Man uses this opportunity to not only seek the aid of allies who, but even various villains that would rather see him dead.[4] Despite his efforts, Spider-Man returns empty-handed as every person he visited was unable to help.
Spider-Man is weak and disorientated after his ordeal and is told that human consciousness can only stretch so far before it snaps. When Peter confirms that nobody could help, Strange offers one last bit of advice — that the cycle of life is essential to the very core of existence. To fight that cycle is to fight the very fabric of the universe, something that neither of them have the power to accomplish. The Doctor then leaves the room to get Spider-Man something to drink after his travels. As the mystic leaves, Spider-Man recalls what Stephen said about the Hands of Death and decides to use the recites the same incantation the Strange made before. Seeing the sudden flash of bright light, Doctor Strange rushes back into the room to try and stop Peter, but it is too late as he is already gone.
Spider-Man suddenly appears in the room where the sniper that shot Aunt May was waiting to make his hit. Think this is the opportunity he needed the web-slinger tries to punch Jake Martino in the head but his fist passes harmlessly through him. He realizes that only his astral form was sent in the past and feels that it isn’t fair, that he didn’t come this far just to fail. He then tries a different tactic and floats out the window. There he sees his past self coming up to the motel room that he, Aunt May, and Mary Jane had been staying at. Peter remembers this moment vividly and recalls how he sensed that there was something wrong. That’s when Spider-Man’s astral form is attacked by strange demonic creatures. One of them manages to slash his arm but he holds them off with some webbing. He then rushes after his past self who has already gone inside the motel room. He tries telling everyone in the room that there is danger, but unfortunately, none of them can see or hear him. Spider-Man can only watch in horror as his past self senses danger, pushes Mary Jane out of the way and the sniper’s bullet passing through the window and hitting Aunt May. That’s when the creatures return and swarm Spider-Man. However, before they can kill him, Doctor Strange arrives and banishes them with a spell.
Doctor Strange assesses Peter and determines that he is seriously wounded. What he needs to heal the web-slinger is back at his Sanctum Sanctirum but he can’t return to the present because his past self is still there and it could create a damaging time paradox. Instead, he goes back further into the past to a time he knows that his home is not occupied. When they arrive in the past, Doctor Strange casts a spell that will slowly heal Peter and warns him not to leave this room or he will become immaterial again. That’s when Strange hears a knock at the door and he decides to investigate to make sure they are not interrupted. He tells Peter to stay put, but Spider-Man can’t help but get up and listen to what’s going on. Hearing the conversation, Spider-Man hears his past-self asking Doctor Strange for help and remembers when this conversation happened.[5] Just as last time, Doctor Strange tells Peter’s past self that he cannot help because he has an appointment with death. Peter, still defiant, tries to leave the room and warn his past self but realizes he’ll just become immaterial again. Strange then returns and deduces that Peter is fully healed Peter still asks why Doctor Strange can heal him but not Aunt May. Strange explains that mystical injuries require mystical cures and that it is also not Spider-Man’s ordained time to die. He hopes that this whole experience will finally convince Peter that there is nothing he can do to prevent Aunt May’s impending death. However, this does little to appease Peter.
When they return to the present, Doctor Strange gives Peter some advice outside of his experience as a doctor. He tells him that the longer Aunt May is kept alive on life support the longer her soul is trapped in a prison that she cannot escape. He tells her that for the good of his Aunt May to let her finally receive the peace she has earned. He also tells him to be by May’s side, since the last thing he wants is to not be there when she finally passes on. He tells Peter goodbye, put Spider-Man doesn’t go very far, sitting outside the stoop out front. There he thinks about what Doctor Strange said about the creatures he faced in the astral plane, that they are creatures that prevent people from changing destiny and how they don’t have the power to change that. As these words echo in his head he spots a red pigeon fly by and decides to follow it. He follows it around the corner into an alley where he runs into a little girl who tells Peter that she can help Peter save his Aunt May.
This story is continued in Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #41…
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, Night Nurse, “Yellowjacket”, Mister Hyde, Beast, Black Panther, Beast, Curt Connors, Morbius the Living Vampire, Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic, Doctor Doom, Dead Girl, the Wizard, Jake Martino
Continuity Notes
There is a lot going on here off the top the facts:
After Peter Parker publicly revealed his identity in Civil War #2, Aunt May was shot by a bullet that was meant for Peter in Amazing Spider-Man #538. Aunt May had been on life support ever since.
Aunt May was going to be brought to the charity ward since the Parkers were running out of money, this was prevented thanks to a donation of money from Tony Stark vis-a-vie Jarvis in Amazing Spider-Man #544.
However, the man everyone thinks is Jarvis is really a Skrull spy, as revealed in Secret Invasion #1. He took the place of the real Jarvis prior to New Avengers #1.
Doctor Strange’s Sanctum appears boarded up due to a spell cast by Doctor Strange to hide the location of his home from others after declining to participate in the super-hero civil war in Civil War #3.
This is basically a recounting of Doctor Strange’s origins which were originally told in Strange Tales #115.
One of the people Spider-Man visits is someone who appears to be Yellowjacket. However, this is another Skrull spy as revealed in Secret Invasion #1. He replaced the real Hank Pym prior to Beyond! #1.
This occurred back in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #42 when Spider-Man sought Doctor Strange’s help to stop Shade from abducting children.
Topical References
The banner outside Doctor Strange’s home says that it is the future location of a new Starbucks Coffee. This should be considered topical as Starbucks is a real-world corporation.
