Nick Peron

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Peter Parker: Spider-Man #11

Nick Peron

An Exemplary Day

This story continues Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #11). Eighth Day continues from Iron Man (vol. 3) #22…

In the jungles of of Thailand a young man named Ultima Somchart is fleeing from authorities after he was caught tagging an ancient temple with spray paint. Fleeing into the nearby jungle, Somchart figures he can make his escape because he knows the terrain like the back of his hand. That’s when he spots a strange temple he has never seen before and decides to hide inside. He manages to lose his pursers but he notices a strange light coming from further inside. Going to the light he sees that it is coming from a gem that is floating above stone pillar. A voice from within calls out to him and Ultima reaches out to the gem. Upon touching it he proclaims “we are one!” before being enveloped in a blazing flash of light.

Back in New York City, Spider-Man is swinging across the city with Mary Jane in his arms. She tells him to put her down before he get them both killed. They land on a nearby rooftop where Peter pulls off his mask to show that it is really him.[1] Mary Jane already knows this, and is disappointed in him. Not because he decided to become Spider-Man again — she can understand that — but because he lied to her all this time.[2] Peter then points out that he’s not the only one with secrets and asks her why she has been keeping her stalker a secret from him.[3] Mary Jane explains that she thought it was one of Spider-Man’s enemies that knows his secret identity harassing them and didn’t want to tell him for fear it would get him back in costume again.[4] That’s when Mary Jane realizes they left Jill Stacy at the scene of the stalker’s explosions. They then rush to the Stacy house in Queens as they know that’s where Jill will go. When they arrive, Jill tells them that her father is nowhere to be found and that his gun is missing as well. Peter tells Jill that he’ll see if someone at the Daily Bugle knows how to get ahold of Spider-Man so the hero can search for her father. As they are discussing this, they are unaware that Mary Jane’s stalker is waiting idiling outside in a taxi cab.

Later, Spider-Man is riding back into Manhattan stop a subway train. Along the way, he wonders why he’s going after Arthur Stacy when his wife is being terrorized by a stalker, but still goes nonetheless.[5] As he arrives at the Daily Bugle, Peter thinks about how he always seems to fail those he loves, but promises that this time that’s not going to happen.[6] Inside, Peter Parker discovers that the Daily Bugle is in bedlam because the power keeps on going out. This is a let down for Peter since Betty Brant and Ben Urich will be too distracted to be much help. Suddenly, the building begins to shake, causing Peter’s spider-sense to go into overdirve and decides to check it out. Sneaking into the stairwell, Peter changes into Spider-Man and follows his spider-sense in the basement of the Bugle Building. His spider-sense leads him to a door marked “no tresspassing” and he rips it open, on the other side he is shocked to discover some massive machinery hidden in the bowels of the Bugle.[7]

Spotting a strange looking man sitting in the middle of the machinery, Spider-Man tries to fire webbing at him. However a second entity redirects his webbing telling the wall-crawler that Stonecutter’s construction of the God-Engine cannot be interrupted. This second being is a gaseous being Tempest. Spider-Man is then ambushed by a third being calling himself Carnivore. Knocked down the floor, Spider-Man is soon surrounded by the beings who call themselves the Exemplars. One of their number Spider-Man recognizes, the Juggernaut, who introdcues Spider-Man to Bedlam, Decay, and Inferno. When the Juggernaut orders the other Exemplars to attack, Spider-Man makes a run out of it. Realizing that he is out of his league, Spider-Man wonders if he still has his Avengers ID card with him.[8] Unfortunately, Spider-Man doesn’t have access to Avengers Mansion and he has to fight through the automated defenses to get to the front door. He is welcomed inside by Jarvis, the Avengers butler, who takes him to Iron Man and Thor, the only two Avengers present. After Spider-Man tells the two Avengers about his encounter with the Exemplars, he learns that Iron Man and Thor both had their own encounters with the Exemplars.[9] When the Iron Man and Thor prepare to head off to face the Exemplars, they tell Spider-Man to stay behind. He is left behind with Doctor J. Vernon an archeologist who had an opportunity to examine the Exemplars up close. He thinks that Iron Man and Thor don’t fully understand the threat the God Engine poses and rushes off after them leaving Spider-Man alone again. Thinking about his past encounters with the Juggernaut, Spider-Man figures the two Avengers have a run for their money, but upon thinkin about the X-Men’s old foe Spider-Man gets a stroke of inspiration and decides to call in a wildcard.[10]

Spider-Man rushes back to the Daily Bugle which is now shaking violently as police evacuate the building. Finding a phone, the wall-crawler places a quick call to Westchester County. He gets in touch with the Juggernaut’s step-brother, Charles Xavier of the X-Men, who soon joins Spider-Man via astral projection.[11] Along the way down to the god engine, Spider-Man asks why Xavier didn’t send the rest of the X-Men. The Professor informs Spider-Man that the X-Men have been disbanded.[12] When they arrive at the God Engine they discover Iron Man and Thor in the middle of a battle with the Exemplars with Doctor Vernon caught in the middle. When the two Avengers tell Vernon to get to safety, he tells them that destroying the God Engine is more important because the machine is almost complete and that humanity will be exterminated if they succeed. Professor X tells Spider-Man to destroy the God Machine while he distracts his step-brother and the two leap into action. While Iron Man, Thor, and Professor X keep the other Exemplars busy, Spider-Man tries to find a way to destroy the God Engine. Spider-Man manages to slow down his pursers long enough to snatch the device that Stonecutter is using to complete the God Engine. Decay manages to catch up with Spider-Man but when he reaches out to touch the wall-crawler, Spider-Man throws the pilfered device into his grasp causing it to decay into dust. However, Spider-Man is quickly blasted from behind and knocked out.

Not long after this, Iron Man and Thor are also defeated by the Exemplars. Finally, Bedlam uses their powers to pull Charles Xavier’s form across the astral plane to their location. Although they saved the city, a new plan is being initiated, as they are being teleported to the North Pole, Professor X learns that this battle will determine the fate of the world.

This story concludes in Juggernaut (vol. 2) #1…

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Professor X, Exemplars (Juggernaut, Stonecutter, Tempest, Carnivore, Bedlam, Decay, Inferno, Conquest), Mary Jane Watson, Jill Stacy, Stewart Ward, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Ben Urich, Glory Grant, Betty Brant, Venom, Doctor J. Vernon

Continuity Notes

  1. At the time of this story, Peter had promised to retire as Spider-Man during the Final Chapter story arc. However, he started wearing the webs again in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #2 but kept it a secret from Mary Jane.

  2. Mary Jane isn’t stupid she figured out Peter was going out as Spider-Man again as soon as she saw one of his Spider-Man photos in the Daily Bugle and recognized the technique he used to take pictures of himself in action. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #10.

  3. Mary Jane has been getting harassing phone calls since Peter Parker: Spider-Man #6. The stalker upped his game to attempted kidnapping in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #11, forcing Mary Jane to go to the police and let Peter know what’s going on.

  4. Actually, at the time of this story anyone who know Peter Parker is Spider-Man has been taken off the game board, so to speak. These invdividuals are:

    • Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin, who learned Peter Parker’s identity in Amazing Spider-Man #39-40. He’s MIA since Peter defeated him last in Spider-Man #98. At the time Norman went mad and is deemed not a threat. The Parkers are unaware that Norman was later kidnapped by the Brotherhood of Scriers. He’s the only foe that actively knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man at this time.

    • There’s Norman’s son Harry, who learned Peter’s identity in Amazing Spider-Man #135. He seemingly died in Spectauclar Spider-Man #200. However, when he resurfaces alive again in Amazing Spider-Man #545, he has no memory of Peter’s secret identity.

    • Kraven the Hunter unmasked Spider-Man during Kraven’s Last Hunt but blew his brains out not long after in Amazing Spider-Man #294.

    • Venom has known Spider-Man’s secret identity from the alien symbiote he bonded with, as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #300. However a blow to the head in Spider-Man: The Venom Agenda #1 has made Eddie Brock forget the truth and the symbiote is apparently not squealing a second time around.

    • Doctor Octopus discovered Peter’s secret identity in Spectacular Spider-Man #220 but he was murdered the following issue. Although he was resurrected in Amazing Spider-Man #427, the method used a copy of Otto’s memories that were recorded prior to this reveal.

    • Lastly, there is the Chameleon who learned Peter’s identity in Spectacular Spider-Man #242. At the time of this story, the Chameleon is believed to be dead after he took a noser off the George Washington Bridge in Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #11. When he turns up alive again in Get Kraven #1, he no longer remembers Peter Parker’s secret because selective amnesia is a common side-effect for characters in the Marvel Universe, apparently.

  5. Peter mentions how Arthur Stacy has helped him in the past. the most recent during the Identity Crisis story arc when Spider-Man was framed for the murder of Joey Z.

  6. The people Peter mentions here are his Uncle Ben who was shot by a burglar in Amazing Fantasy #15 and Gwen Stacy who was murdered by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121.

  7. Peter mentions how the Daily Bugle underwent renovations recently. The building was heavily damaged in a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin in Spider-Man #98.

  8. Spider-Man was given an Avengers ID card when he was given reserve status on the team back in Avengers #329. It’s never gotten much use since Spider-Man hasn’t really helped the group on official Avengers business. The most recent time he did (at the time of this story) would have been during the Morgan le Fay crisis that occurred from Avengers (vol. 3) #1-3. This story reveals that Spider-Man resigned as an Avenger, that was probably after the team reformed in Avengers (vol. 3) #4.

  9. Iron Man and Thor encountered the Exemplars in Iron Man (vol. 3) #22, and Thor (vol. 2) #17 respectively.

  10. By this time Spider-Man has faced the Juggernaut on three separate occasions in Amazing Spider-Man #229-230, Marvel Team-Up #150, and Spider-Man #84.

  11. The familial relationship between Charles Xavier and the Juggernaut was first detailed in X-Men #12.

  12. This story takes place during the Shattering event which saw Professor X disband the X-Men to route out an imposter among their ranks. The event took place in Uncanny X-Men #372-375, X-Men (vol. 2) #92-95, Gambit (vol. 3) #8-9 and Astonishing X-Men (vol. 2) #1-3. The team was brought back together after the impostoer (a Skrull disguised as Wolverine) was finally rooted out.

Continuity Errors

  1. Professor X is depicted as mind probing the Juggernaut when he is wearing his helmet. However as established in X-Men #12-13, the Juggernaut’s helmet shields him from telepathic attacks, one of his few weaknesses. As such, it should be impossible for Xavier to mentally attack him and he should know that here. One could assume that his telepathic attack is just a reflexive action and that he figured out that the Juggernaut is under some kind of spell by mere observation.