Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4
Pirate Booty
This story continues from Amazing Spider-Man #527….
Following Peter Parker’s miraculous resurrection, Tony Stark is running Peter through a battery of tests. According to the initial readings, Tony tells Peter that since shedding his old skin was just part of a larger metamorphosis. In fact, all of Peter’s old scars and ulcers are gone and his tonsils have grown back.[1] That’s when Henry Pym and Mister Fantastic arrive to examine Peter themselves.[2] When Reed asks how Peter feels he admits that he feels like Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvius man, and tries to draw a parallel between Vitruvius — who was an architect — and spiders. Richards thinks Peter is reaching, but Peter tells Reed to try and build something out of webbing that comes out of his backside. He then asks to make sure that this isn’t one of the changes his body has gone through. The gathered scientists assure Peter that he won’t be shooting webbing out of his ass anytime soon. At that same moment, another team of scientists is examining Peter’s shed skin, unaware that an army of spiders is descending down from the ceiling.
Meanwhile, at Midtown High, Principal Roger Harrington interview Flash Thompson for the open gym teacher position. Harrington is concerned since Flash’s record mentions how he got into a car accident and was in a coma until recently.[3] Flash assures Roger that the only effect the coma had on him was making his memory spotty. Flash asks to be given a chance pointing out that the school has nothing to lose since its sports teams haven’t won any trophies in a very long time. Harrington decides to give Flash a chance and tells Thompson that he’s not the only alumni working at the school, saying that Peter Parker teaches science there now.[4] Flash is surprised to hear this as he doesn’t think he’s seen Peter since high school.[5]
Back at Stark Tower, Mary Jane kisses Logan on the cheek as thanks. She realizes that he made a pass at her after Peter’s death in order to make her work through her grief. She admits that in the light of day, Logan would never really hit on her knowing that she’d rather cut off her own head than do that. Thanking Logan, once again she leaves the kitchen. Logan isn’t sure if that was a compliment or an insult. Having overheard the conversation, Jarvis — the Avengers butler — remarks that you can’t know with young people these days.[6]
Back in the lab, Peter is allowed to come down from the scanner and get dressed, but Tony and the other scientists are still trying to puzzle over the changes that Peter has undergone. Peter has had enough for one day and attempts to leave. However, when Tony tries to stop him, Peter suddenly leaps behind Stark so quickly that Tony falls over. As it turns out, this reaction was completely by instinct as his spider-sense warned him that Tony was reaching for his shoulder. As Peter explains the sensation, Aunt May enters the lab and asks the scientists to let her nephew out to play. When they insist that there are other tests that need to be run, May tells them that Peter has been gifted with a second chance at life and their tests can wait. When they let Peter go, May then tells them that she is going to church to thank the Lord for bringing Peter back. Outside the lab, Peter comes up and picks up Mary Jane and as they pass by Luke Cage and Jessica Drew, they ask what they are doing.[7] When Mary Jane says Peter is taking her for a ride, Luke thinks that this is a double-entendre. In reality, Peter has put on his Spider-Man costume and taken Mary Jane out web-slinging.
While they are out, the swarm of spiders have webbed all the scientists to the wall and have begun consuming Peter’s shedded skin. Meanwhile, Peter and Mary Jane are talking about their feelings following Peter’s brief death. Mary Jane admits that she always feared that she wouldn’t have a life left after Peter died because a lot of her life is about being Spider-Man’s wife.[8] Now that she has experienced Peter dying first hand, she discovers that she can survive it. While they are discussing this, Peter nabs a purse snatcher and they swing past the daily Bugle where J. Jonah Jameson waves his fist at the passing web-slinger. As they pass by, Mary Jane gives Jameson the finger causing him to completely lose his temper so badly that Joe Robertson has to drag him away from the window. Suddenly, Peter is struck by a massive jolt from his spider-sense. He quickly breaks their fall, and tells Mary Jane that there is trouble at Stark Tower, telling her that it is spider related. When they head back they are shocked to discover the upper floors of the building wrapped in webbing. Leaving Mary Jane on the ground, Spider-Man goes inside to search for his teammates. He finds no trace of the New Avengers, but their headquarters is full of webbing. He follows the trail up to the lab where his old skin is being kept. There he finds a strange humanoid made entirely out of spiders.[9] Suddenly, stingers erupt from Spider-Man’s wrist, something he didn’t know he could do. When he tries to impale this spider creature, it evades his lunge and then escapes out a hole in the wall out into the city.
This story continues in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #22…..
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, The Other, New Avengers (Iron Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, “Spider-Woman”), “Henry Pym”, Mister Fantastic, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, Flash Thompson, Roger Harrington, “Edwin Jarvis”, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson
Continuity Notes
Peter Parker has had an ulcer since Amazing Spider-Man #113.
The man who appears to be Hank Pym here is actually a Skrull impostor, as we’ll learn in Secret Invasion #1. The real Pym was swapped out prior to Beyond! #1.
Flash Thompson was put in a coma by the Green Goblin in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #44-47. He was in a catatonic state until now. It’s interesting to note that nobody seems to remember that the official cause of the accident was drunk driving.
Peter has been teaching science at Midtown High since Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #31.
Both Peter and Flash graduated from Midtown High in Amazing Spider-Man #28. However, Flash’s recollection that he hasn’t seen Peter since is not correct and is a product of his recent memory loss. The pair continued associating with each other for years after that even becoming friends.
This isn’t Jarvis, but another Skrull spy also revealed in Secret Invasion #1. He took the place of the real Jarvis prior to New Avengers #1.
This isn’t Spider-Woman either and yet another Skrull spy. We find that out in Secret Invasion #3. She took the real Spider-Woman’s place in Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.
Mary Jane refers to herself as “Mrs. Spider-Man” here. At the time of this story, the pair are married. However, not long after this, Mephisto erases their marriage from existence in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the new timeline, Mary Jane would probably refer to herself as something other than “Mrs. Spider-Man” as they are engaged instead of married.
At first, Spider-Man thinks this is the gatekeeper he encountered with Ezekiel Sims. It’s not. That creature was seen during the course of Amazing Spider-Man #506-508.
