The Strange Case Of… Part Two

Six Days Ago

Spider-Man has tracked down another young person who has been given spider-powers by some mysterious benefactor. Like all others before him, this young man has begun mutating into a man-spider. Thinking the real Spider-Man is jealous, the man-spider tries to fight back, but Spider-Man convinces the youth to stop, convincing him that his condition could be fatal if he doesn’t get immediate medical attention. Spider-Man then turns over the young man to Curt Connors, one of the scientists tasked with learning the secrets of this formula. Connors thanks Spider-Man for giving him a live subject as it will allow him to learn the nature of the formula much after and that an antidote is possible in the near future. Having a moment alone, Curt tells Peter that if there is anything he needs he just needs ask. Peter knows Connors is talking about his Aunt May who is now clinging to life after being shot by an assassin.[1] Spider-Man tells Curt to pray for her, saying May is a strong woman and she’ll pull through this. Spider-Man then says these Spider-Man imitators are his responsibility.

Now

Over the next few days, Spider-Man turns over each imitator to the police where Detective Jonas Fogg tries to build a case. So far, all he can determine is that each one is a young homeless boy between the ages of 13 and 18 who were approached by a mystery man who offered to give them powers similar to Spider-Man, and some of them have ended up transforming into spider-monsters. However, they have no idea who is doing this or why. Thanks to Spider-Man, the police now have an additional nine youths in custody.[2] As Spider-Man continues to round up youths given spider-powers, Curt Connors has developed a cure. When he arrives at the prison to administer it, he warns the youths that while they are enjoying spider-powers now, the formula that has been used will eventually cause them to change into spider-creatures and die slow painful deaths. Surprisingly, some of these young men don’t want to be cured as the man who gave them their powers actually gave them something to be, unlike the rest of society that has all but cast them away. However, Connors refuses to accept this answer, saying that he is not going to allow any of them to die. He then offers the young men two options: either they volunteer for injection or the officers will shoot them with dart guns. That’s when Detective Jonas Fogg is told that Spider-Man has delivered yet another young man, making the detective wonder just how many kids there are out there.

At that moment, Jordan Peterson has been locked in a mock-up bedroom in the sewer hideout of Calvin Zabo, the mad scientist also known as Mister Hyde. Jordan tries to break out of his glass enclosure, but the chair he uses breaks against the solid material. Jordan pleads with his captor but it falls on deaf ears. Watching from the shadows, Calvin Zabo believes Jordan is exactly like Peter Parker and is therefore an ideal control subject for his experiment.

The Next Day

Peter Parker meets with Reed Richards at a Mexican restaurant in Times Square, not far from where the superhero civil war ended.[3] Reed tells Peter that he got Curt Connor’s antidote and used it to cure Ethan Meyers, the first young man transformed by the mysterious spider-formula. Upon examining the boy, Reed was able to find a tracking device that was planted on his body. Peter can use this information and gets up to leave. That’s when Reed says that he’s there to help him through this situation. Peter takes this moment to remind him that Reed and Tony Stark are responsible for his being in this situation in the first place.[4] However, the bits his lip and thanks Reed for his help instead. Before Peter leaves, Reed tells Parker that he knows where Spider-Man can begin his search.

Thanks to a dirt sample, Reed Richards was able to pinpoint the location where Ethan Meyers was held to an abandoned subway tunnel. Spider-Man goes there and begins using a device that can locate the tracking device that was being used to keep track of all the young Spider-Man imitators. Not far away, in his secret lab, Calvin Zabo records the latest notes on his experiment. He has decided that the best way to figure out how a foe like Spider-Man works he must recreate the factors that turned Peter Parker into Spider-Man in a controlled scientific environment. Most importantly, he wants to know how a 15-year-old boy get such enormous power and not abuse it. He theorizes that it is a case of nature versus nurture and started by recruiting homeless youths, “adopting” them much like Peter Parker was adopted and raised by his Aunt May.[5] After giving them powers and costumes he set them loose in the wild for observation. Unfortunately, someone has been rounding them all up before he can draw a conclusion. That’s when Calvin spots the real Spider-Man is approaching his lair and he admits that he is hardly surprised. Grabbing a formula filled flask, Calvin Zabo decides that this situation warrants the attention of his “associate”, Mister Hyde.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mister Hyde, Curt Connors, Mister Fantastic, Jordan Peterson, Jonas Fogg

Continuity Notes

1. May was shot by an assassin hired by the Kingpin to eliminate Spider-Man and/or any family member that gets into his sights. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man #538 she has been in the hospital since. May won’t get better until Peter makes a literal deal with the devil in Amazing Spider-Man #545.

2. The different “Spider-Men” in the jail are wearing various versions of costumes that Spider-Man has worn over the years. These include:

   • Three of the “Spider-Men” are wearing Spider-Man’s classic read-and-blue costume that he’s worn almost consistently since Amazing Fantasy #15.

   • Two are wearing black-and-white costumes inspired by the alien symbiote that Spider-Man wore as a costume from Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 until Amazing Spider-Man #258. Spider-Man has since occasionally worn a cloth version of the costume first made for him by the Black Cat in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #99.

   • One is dressed like the Spider-Hulk. Peter first became a Spider-Hulk for a brief period after he was exposed to Gamma Rays in Web of Spider-Man #70.

   • Another one is wearing the Spider-Armor that Peter Parker briefly wore in Web of Spider-Man #100.

   • The 8th Spider-Man impersonator is dressed in the Scarlet Spider costume that was worn by Peter’s clone, Ben Reilly, from Web of Spider-Man #118 until Spectacular Spider-Man #229.

   • Lastly, we have one imitator wearing a Ricochet costume. During the Spiderhunt event (Sensational Spider-Man #25/Amazing Spider-Man #432/Spider-Man #89/Spectacular Spider-Man #255), Norman Osborn put a bounty on Spider-Man’s head leading into the Identity Crisis arc in which Spider-Man took on various alternate costumed identity. One of which was the Ricochet costume which he wore from Amazing Spider-Man #434-435.

3. The final battle of the Civil War was depicted in Civil War #7.

4. Peter holds a grudge against Reed and Tony because they are supporters of the Super-Human Registration Act. Tony Stark convinced Peter to support to SHRA and reveal his identity to the public in a show of solidarity in Civil War #2/Amazing Spider-Man #532-533. Peter eventually had a change of heart and renounced the SHRA in Civil War #4/Amazing SpiderMan #534-535. This made him an outlaw and while hiding from the authorities, Aunt May was shot by an assassin’s bullet in Amazing Spider-Man #538.

5. Peter was raised by his Aunt and Uncle Ben since he was a baby after his parents were killed while away on a mission for the government as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5.

Topical References

• Peter meets with Reed Richards at Chevy’s Fresh Mex. This is a real-world chain restaurant with locations in New York and New Jersey.

• Calvin Zabo is depicted using a pocket tape recorder to record his thoughts. This should be considered topical as these devices are considered obsolete.