Spectacular Spider-Man #229
No More The Hero
This story continues from Spider-Man #63...
Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider crash a chop shop in an attempt to learn more about the new Doctor Octopus that has recently surfaced.[1] The crooks quickly fold, but they don't know anything about Doctor Octopus. When one of the thugs begs to be let go, telling Spider-Man that he has a wife and child at home. As he has a wife and child of his own, Spider-Man loses his temper and asks rhetorically asks him who would look after his family if he goes to jail.[2] Meanwhile, Mary Jane is modeling more maternity clothing for a photo shoot. After it is finished, she suddenly faints, prompting the staff to call for an ambulance.
On his way home, Spider-Man thinks about how his life has changed since it was revealed that he is the clone and the Scarlet Spider is the original.[3] The Scarlet Spider breaks up the silence by asking Peter if his lecture to the crook was more about himself than anyone. They go in through the skylight of Parker's home to discover that Mary Jane is not back yet. That's when the phone rings, it is the hospital telling them they have Mary Jane prompting both Peter and Ben to rush there as quickly as possible. It's there that the doctors tell Peter that Mary Jane has microscopic traces of radiation that are having an adverse effect on her pregnancy. They promise Peter to do whatever they can to help her. That's when Seward Trainer enters the room and offers his expertise to help. After examining Mary Jane, Seward tells Peter and Ben that this was one of the complications that he expected and had an antidote prepared for such a situation. He pulls out his cell phone so he can have it delivered, unaware that this call is being monitored by Doctor Octopus. She and her digitized assistant, the Master Programmer, she plans on stealing the antidote. THis is so she can blackmail Seward into giving her the decryption requests to access his stolen files so she can complete her attempts of merging reality with virtual reality.[4]
Later, when a messenger heads for the hospital with the antidote, he is jumped by Doctor Octopus' minions. In the hospital, Peter watches over his wife and fears what will happen to her. He also can't believe that he struck her recently and vows to stop creating grief in her life.[5] Outside, in the waiting room, Seward gets a call from his daughter who demands his decryption codes in exchange for the antidote. When he tells Peter what happened, Parker refuses to do nothing while his wife is in danger. After convincing Mary Jane that he has to go, Peter changes into Spider-Man and joins Seward and the Scarlet Spider to make the exchange. The two Spiders hide out while Seward waits for the drop off at the pier. When the minions of Doctor Octopus arrive, they figure out that the wall-crawlers will follow they find and destroy the spider-tracer planted on Seward. The feedback briefly stuns the two heroes. Quickly recovering, they notice the van Seward has been taken in hasn't moved from its spot. Checking inside, they find the vehicle empty. Realizing that their foe's hideout is underwater they dive in after him. While inside the secret underwater base, Doctor Octopus takes the opportunity to gloat before the Master Programmer reminds her of the task at hand.
As Seward begins decrypting his data, Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider crash into the lab and begin fighting off her minions. While they are busy, Octopus flees with Seward. Noticing that she is gone, the two Spiders split up to search for Seward and the antidote. Back at the hospital, Mary Jane waits for Peter to return home and wonders how many times she will have to endure Peter putting his life into jeopardy. Back in the Doctor Octopus' lair, Spider-Man finds the antidote but is ambushed by Doctor Octopus. While in another room, the Scarlet Spider finds Seward Trainer only to be ambushed by the Master Programmer's automated defense systems. As Spider-Man battles Doctor Octopus, she rants and raves about how her father abandoned him when she was younger. This strikes a chord with Spider-Man, making him think about his own impending fatherhood. Spider-Man then overpowers her and hurls her out of the facility, causing it the ceiling to collapse on him. The flooding hideout begins causing the computer systems to short out. With his existence at risk, the Master Programmer escapes into cyberspace. With the death traps to shut down allowing him to free Seward. In the other room, Spider-Man struggles to get out of the rubble he is buried under.[6] With the room flooding, Spider-Man thinks about how Aunt May taught him everything he knows about responsibility and how he owes it to Mary Jane to free himself.
Unfortunately, all of his efforts, Spider-Man can't free himself and is at risk of drowning. However, he was rescued by the Scarlet Spider who helps lift the rubble off of him. They recover the antidote and rush it back to the hospital where it is used to cure Mary Jane. After being reunited with his wife, Peter tells her that he has made an important decision and goes out into the waiting room to talk to Ben. There he tells Ben that he recounts how he learned with great power comes great responsibility and has decided that his responsibilities have changed. Since he is an expecting father, he has decided that it is time to retire as Spider-Man and offers to give Ben his Spider-Man costume. Ben is flattered but tells Peter to keep the costume saying that he earned the right to keep it, even suggests that maybe he can make a baby blanket out of it. Peter walks away looking forward to living happily ever after with Mary Jane, satisfied that Ben Reilly will be a suitable replacement for Spider-Man.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, Mary Jane Watson, Seward Trainer, Doctor Octopus, Master Programmer, Tom Privetire
Continuity Notes
This current Doctor Octopus surfaced in Amazing Spider-Man #405, she replaces her predecessor who was murdered in The Spectacular Spider-Man #221.
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. Mary Jane revealed that she was pregnant in The Spectacular Spider-Man #220.
Peter and Ben were told this in The Spectacular Spider-Man #226. However, this was all a deception created by the Green Goblin as revealed in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1.
Doctor Octopus stole this data in Spider-Man #63.
Peter struck Mary Jane in a fit of rage in The Spectacular Spider-Man #226.
This scene is a homage to Amazing Spider-Man #33, when Spider-Man found himself in a similar situation after battling the original Doctor Octopus.
