Venomous Part Four

Angelo Fortunato is the newest host for the Venom symbiote and he has just crashed Peter Parker’s high school reunion and killed a number of his former classmates.[1] Their fight takes them into the shower room in the gym. As he puts on his costume between blows, Peter becomes angrier and angrier because the old Venom would never have pulled such a callous stunt as this. At that same moment, Mary Jane is dealing with one of the reunion attendees who is trying to convince her that he is really Spider-Man, naturally, she isn’t buying it. That’s when the real Spider-Man and Venom come crashing through the wall. Seeing this, Mary Jane orders Liz Osborn to hit the alarm and begins trying to get everyone out of harm’s way. Spider-Man then fires a web-line at Venom, who instinctively catches the webbing and yanks Spider-Man outside, damaging one of his web-shooters in the process. There, Spider-Man finds himself between a speeding fuel truck and Venom with a dog yapping at them all. Quick moving, Spider-Man leaps out of the way of the truck, grabbing the dog as he goes. As he hands the pet over to the little girl that owns it, the truck hits Venom. However, his foe shrugs off the blow from the vehicle. Venom can’t believe that Spider-Man is a school teacher, thinking he would have been a cop of a Navy Seal and tosses a delivery truck at the web-slinger.[2] As there is a passenger inside, Spider-Man leaps at the vehicle and pulls the driver out before it crashes into something. Venom takes the opportunity to make an escape.

Spider-Man follows Venom up on to the rooftop, but the symbiote uses its ability to camouflage itself to obscure himself from Spider-Man’s site. He calls out to Angelo, warning him that the symbiote feeds on hate and it’ll chew him up and spit him out just like it did Eddie Brock. He asks if Brock looked happy when he sold the symbiote and if he feels great about killing an innocent man. That’s when Venom appears behind him and attacks, saying he doesn’t care as long as he is known as the man who killed Spider-Man and rams his fist through the wall-crawler’s back. Venom then begins to gloat that he managed to do what so many others failed to do, kill Spider-Man. However, it turns out that Angelo was wrong, in actuality, he killed another would-be fortune seeker posing as Spider-Man to claim the Daily Bugle’s reward for revealing Spider-Man’s identity.[3] Deciding that Angelo has run out of chances, Spider-Man ambushes him and begins laying in to his foe with a non-stop rain of blows. Eventually, Angelo becomes afraid and tells Spider-Man to stop beating. As he tries to retreat, the symbiote protests asking him to turn back as he is twice as strong as Spider-Man really is. When it looks like Fortunato isn’t going to return to the fight, the symbiote decides to abandon him mid-leap across a building. As it slips away, the symbiote tells Angelo that he just doesn’t have what it takes to be Venom. Seeing this, Spider-Man leaps to the edge of the building and tries to catch Angelo with a web-line. Unfortunately, he is falling too fast and fatally strikes the pavement.

In the aftermath of the battle, Spider-Man watches as Don Fortunato comes with the rest of his crime family to collect Angelo’s body. Although Angelo’s death seals his fate, the Don is somehow proud of his son. Spider-Man later learns that after he sold the Venom symbiote, Eddie Brock cut his wrists.[4] Worse, the Spider-Man impersonator that was killed by Venom was only the third person to die that night because of J. Jonah Jameson’s reward and Spider-Man decides to do something about it.

The next morning, Peter Parker goes into the Daily Bugle and tells Jonah that he has come up with irrefutable proof that he knows who Spider-Man really is. However, Peter insists that Jonah and only Jonah should see the photos as Parker insists that once Jameson sees them he probably won’t want to run the story. Jonah complies and after getting everyone out of his office, Jonah is almost giddy to know all the details. Peter then pulls out a series of photos that prove that Spider-Man is actually Jonah’s son, John Jameson. Peter explains that he has known for years, given that he and Spider-Man had a deal going for years that allowed Peter to get all the great photos of Spider-Man.[5] Shocked, Jonah tries to dismiss it, pointing out that Spider-Man saved John from a space-shuttle accident and that they later fought Spider-Man a few times when John was having his “little problem”.[6] Peter then points out that these were all deceptions to protect his secret identity over the years, saying that this is exactly why Spider-Man has been playing gags on his “old man” all these years. Thoroughly convinced, Jameson agrees with Peter that the best thing to do is end the competition and not publish the photos to save himself humiliation. Given this set of circumstances, Jonah decides that he can’t give Peter the full five million dollar reward that the private donor gave him. Instead, he gives Peter half a million — despite his protests — and says he’ll put the rest in a bank account in case the doner ever comes around to reclaim the money. He then kicks Parker out of his office, telling Peter that he has a lot of thinking to do.

As Peter Parker leaves the Daily Bugle, Peter finds himself in a moral dilemma about the money. Even though he could use the money to clear up his financial problems he doesn’t feel that he deserves it. Peter ultimately decides that he can’t keep the money, resolving that he was too well raised. Instead, he goes to the Millar Cafe, Ramona — the mother of the Vulture’s grandson — arrives for work and is told by her boss that his business isn’t a post office box for his son. Asking what he’s talking about, he points her to a metal briefcase addressed to her son. When she asks who brought it in, Paolo tells her that some guy came in saying a man named Adrian Toomes asked him to deliver it. Looking inside and seeing the money inside, Ramona begins to shed tears of joy.

Later, Peter Parker is at the police station with Mary Jane giving a statement about Venom’s attack on Midtown High. Peter feels bad having to lie to police, particularly since Seymour O’Reilly was murdered. While giving this statement he is interrupted by a call on his cell phone. Answering it, he is shocked to be speaking with the man who kidnapped Aunt May.[7] He mocks Peter for how he used the reward money and sarcastically offers sympathy for what happened to Eddie Brock but says that Eddie had no place for what he had in store for Spider-Man’s new and improved rogues gallery. When Peter threatens this stranger, he tells him not to get so hasty, saying this is only the tip of the iceberg. He asks Peter what the police were doing to Doctor Octopus?[8] Why is Norman Osborn afraid for his life?[9] And what does the kidnapping of Aunt May have to do with all of this? He tells Peter that he’ll reveal everything if he meets up with him for lunch the following day.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Venom, Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, Scorpion (unidentified), Liz Osborn, Joe Robertson, Eddie Brock, Don Fortunato

Continuity Notes

1. Peter Parker graduated from high school in Amazing Spider-Man #28. Per the Sliding Timescale, he would have graduated about 11 years prior to this story.

2. Venom states that he can’t believe that Spider-Man is a school teacher. Peter Parker became a science teacher at Midtown High in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #31.

3. J. Jonah Jameson offered this reward in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #4.

4. Although Spider-Man states here that he doesn’t think Eddie Brock will survive this suicide attempt he does and we’ll see him again in Amazing Spider-Man #533

5. Peter made up the cover story that Spider-Man gets a cut of the money Peter makes from his photos in Amazing Spider-Man #46.

6. Jameson references the various times Spider-Man either saved or fought John Jameson.

   • Spider-Man saved John Jameson’s life when his space capsule went haywire in Amazing Spider-Man #1.

   • John once briefly was granted superhuman strength leading to a battle with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #42, although these powers proved short-lived.

   • The “little problem” that Jameson is talking about is when John was transformed into the Man-Wolf. Spider-Man battled the Man-Wolf on a few occasions in Amazing Spider-Man #124-125, Giant-Size Super-Heroes #1, and Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #3.

7. Aunt May was kidnapped in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #1, the identity of her kidnapper is revealed next issue. Spoilers: It’s the Scorpion.

8. Spider-Man recently encountered a drugged up Doctor Octopus going on a rampage through the city before he was re-captured by the NYPD. They mentioned that Octavius was undergoing some kind of testing. See Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #3-4.

9. Norman Osborn states that since he was incarcerated in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #1 he has been concerned over his own safety and that of his business as seen in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #6.

Topical References

• Banners for the high school reunion have the year obscured but you can still see the first two digits which are 19. This should be considered topical as the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age forward it will make it becomes impossible for Peter to have graduated in the 20th Century.