The Box

Having settled in to his new apartment with roommate Randy Robertson, Peter Parker spends some quiet time in his room sewing a new Spider-Man costume, forgetting how peaceful the process used to be.[1] Looking at a photo of his wife, Peter vows to find out who kidnapped her and faked her death and then move on to capturing his various foes and then recover his stolen costume.[2] He has to quickly scramble to hide all of his Spider-Man gear when Randy comes knocking to invite Peter to meet the people he invited over. When Randy comes walking in the room, Peter reminds himself to get a lock.[3] Once he is dressed, Peter comes out and is introduced to everyone. Each person offers their condolences about Mary Jane, prompting Peter to try to convince people that she is not dead. The last on the list of party-goers is Shea Tinker a hacker who is currently working on Randy’s computer.[4] Peter then excuses himself, telling Randy that he’s running late for dinner at Aunt Mays.[5] Before he leaves, Randy asks Peter to try and set him up on a date with Glory Grant. Peter agrees to try after Randy offers to pay that month’s electrical bill.

Meanwhile, Aunt May and Anna Watson are trying to get through to Peter but the line is busy. Anna wonders if they should just open Mary Jane’s trunk that was recovered from the crash site, but May insists that they should wait until Peter gets there.

At that moment, Peter is on a rooftop changing into Spider-Man after being unable to find a working payphone to call Aunt May and tell her that he is running late. He is spotted by a man in a building across the street who mistakes Spider-Man for a peeping tom, prompting a hasty retreat before the cops show up. By this time, Joe Robertson has arrived at Peter and Randy’s apartment looking for Peter. When he learns that Peter still isn’t accepting the fact that Mary Jane is dead and that he is heading to Queens, he rushes off to stop Peter before everything hits the fan. Sending his father’s sense of urgency, Randy ditches his own party to tag along.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man witnesses a carjacking and saves the victim when a city bus can’t brake long fast enough to avoid crushing the man.[6] When the carjacking victim tells Spider-Man that his daughter was in the back seat, the web-slinger realizes he can’t just leave the scene without rescuing the child. While Spider-MAn is sidetracked, Aunt May answers the door as visitors come having heard the news. First its Jill and Arthur Stacy, followed by Glory Grant, Betty Brant, and Ben Urich from the Bugle. Next comes Joe Robertson and his family, followed by J. Jonah Jameson and his wife Marla Madison. They have all come to lend support when Peter finally shows up and looks what is inside the box.

By this time, the car thieves have discovered that there is a young child in the back seat and are arguing with each other over what they should do when Spider-Man webs up the crooks. The man is quickly reunited with his daughter. As the authorities arrive, Spider-Man listens in on the man’s conversation with his daughter. As it turns out, the man has to break the news to his daughter that his wife — her mother — is not expected to get over her illness and is going to die in the hospital. He gently tells his daughter that this is just how things turn out sometimes and that they will continue to love her even after she is gone. This all hits home for Spider-Man who rushes the rest of the way back to Queens. When Peter arrives at his Aunt’s house he is surprised to find all of his friends and family gathered. When Aunt May tells Peter that the airline had delivered Mary Jane’s luggage that was recovered from the crash he becomes upset. That’s when Mary Jane’s sister, her children, and her niece arrive. Peter tells everyone gathered that Mary Jane is not dead and he refuses to believe it, telling them that he’s already lost his parents and his Uncle Ben.[7] He then tells them that nothing in the box or anywhere else will convince him that she is dead.

When Peter goes into the kitchen, Aunt May follows him and tells him that he has to accept the truth and look in that box because it has to be done. However, she won’t have him do it alone. With that, Peter and Aunt May open the tunk and while looking inside, Peter admits to his Aunt that he’s going to miss Mary Jane. May tells her nephew that they all will.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Aunt May, Randy Robertson, Joe Robertson, Anna Watson, Jill Stacy, Arthur Stacy, Glory Grant, Betty Brant, Ben Urich, Martha Robertson, J. Jonah Jameson, Marla Madison, Gayle Byrnes, Kevin Byrnes, Tommy Byrnes, Kristy Watson, Shea Tinker

Continuity Notes

1. Peter is making a new Spider-Man costume after his last one was stolen while he was sleeping in an alley in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #18.

2. Some facts about Peter and Mary Jane in this story:

• Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.

• Everyone but Peter thinks Mary Jane died in a plane crash in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13. In reality, she survived as we’ll see in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #29.

3. Peter tells Randy that he was listening to a cassette tape to which Randy tells Peter he should get with the times and listen to MP3s. Randy should get with the times since even his format of choice is dated these days. Do I need to tell you these are topical references? Well, they are, stupid.

4. The whole scene with Shea the hacker is to plug a feature on the Marvel.com website. Whatever they were plugging is certainly long gone. What was it? I couldn’t tell you. Researching the Wayback Machine shows that the Marvel website really sucked back then.

5. Randy tells Peter he can’t use the phone because Shea is on the internet. Yes, a dial-up internet reference. Fuck this comic is old. Yes, this is another topical reference you shouldn’t take literally.

6. There is an anti-smoking billboard featuring Mary Jane hanging on one of the buildings. It’s the same one that Peter saw in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #2.

7. Peter’s parents were spies who were killed on a mission for the government when Peter was still a toddler, that was in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5. Uncle Ben, Amazing Fantasy #15. You. Know. This.