The Rock of Life

The Past

Vincent Stegron had traveled to the arctic circle where he exiled himself following his last defeat at the hands of Spider-Man.[1] He thought that he went there seeking death, but instead, he found the rock of life in this frozen wasteland in a crater teeming with plant life. Realizing what he had found, Stegron arranged to have the rock brought back to New York City, thinking that he has finally achieved the means of bringing back his beloved dinosaurs. Along the way, his continued exposure to the rock had caused Stegron to revert back to his dinosaur form. He sent the rock to Doctor Richard Treyman at the Museum of Natural history to use as a trojan horse to unleash on the unsuspecting world. All he had to do was wait for things to unfold.

Now

Seeing that Stegron has brought dinosaurs back from the grave, Spider-Man calls Stegron a lunatic and hits him. Stegron recovers from the blow easily and asks Spider-Man to imagine a world where everyone has reverted back to reptiles. As Spider-Man evades attacks from Stegron and his army of dinosaurs, outside of the museum the battle between the Lizard and Vermin rages on. They are observed by the Black Cat and Puma who have just arrived on the scene. They both agree on their targets and while the Cat seeks a rematch with the Lizard, the Puma focuses on Vermin. At first, the Black Cat tries to reason with the Lizard’s humanity, and when that fails she tricks him into running headfirst into a tree, knocking him out. At the same time, the Puma has just knocked out the Vermin.

Back inside, Spider-Man hunts for Stegron in the insect exhibit. There he comes upon a member of the museum staff who has de-evolved into a more primitive state. When he attacks, Spider-Man quickly webs him to a wall and hopes that after this is all over they can find some way to return him to normal. This serves as a distraction for Stegron who attempts to ambush the web-slinger, but Spider-Man’s spider-sense warns him of the danger and he easily evades it. It’s then that Mister Fantastic calls Spider-Man on his new costume’s com-system. He is racing to the scene with the Invisible Woman in the Fantasti-Car. He tells Spider-Man that Stegron is not the problem and to stop wasting his time fighting him. At first, the web-slinger doesn’t know how to get rid of his opponent until Reed reminds him that his new costume has the ability to camouflage itself. When this works, Reed instructs Spider-Man to go down three floors where there is an object that is radiating the energies that are causing the changes all over the city

When he finds the Rock of Life, he then wills part of his costume to wrap itself around the rock in the hopes it will cut off the radiation. Sure enough, he gets confirmation when Stegron comes barging in demanding to know what the web-slinger has done. When Stegron calls the rock by name, Spider-Man realizes that Stegron had brought it here to New York City and realizes that Vincent Stegron has gone insane. Summoning his new stingers, Spider-Man — his anger growing — threatens to kill Stegron, telling him Earth doesn’t belong to mammals or reptiles, but to spiders, but spares his foe at the last minute telling Stegron that killing is not his style. Cut off from the radiation form the stone, Stegron starts turning back to normal, pleading for Spider-Man to release the stone. That’s when the Puma and Black Cat arrive and tell Spider-Man that they are back to normal.

With the crisis over, the Fantastic Four contains the Rock of Life in their headquarters. John Jameson is given a clean bill of health and is released from isolation. That evening, the Black Cat and Puma enjoy an evening of romance. While the Vermin contemplates his newest prison. Lastly, Curt Connors has returned to normal and he and his son are reunited. Meanwhile, Mary Jane and Peter Parker are enjoying the evening outside. Mary Jane congratulates Peter for saving the city, but Peter can’t help but feel that something isn’t right. At that moment, Madame Web sees this through her clairvoyant visions and seeing the future she muses that Spider-Man’s life is about to get much more complicated.[2]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Stegron the Dinosaur Man, the Lizard, Black Cat, Puma, Mary Jane Watson, Vermin, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing), John Jameson, Billy Connors, Madame Web

Continuity Notes

1. Chronologically, the last time Stegron fought Spider-Man was in Spider-Man Family #7

2. Madame Web is alluding to the fact that Spider-Man is going to publicly reveal his secret identity in Civil War #2.