Spider-Man #57
Aftershocks, Part One
This story continues from Amazing Spider-Man #400...
Following the arrest of Peter Parker, the Scarlet Spider has come to Mary Jane to offer his help in freeing husband.[1] In response to this, Mary Jane slaps Ben Reilly across the face. This is the first time she has met the Scarlet Spider, the clone of Peter Parker, and she blames him for Peter's arrest and tells him to get out of her home. Putting his mask back on, Ben tells Mary Jane that he is going to help free Peter with or without her help and leaves. Meanwhile, Peter Parker finds himself before an arrangement hearing. He cannot hear what the woman is saying, because he can't help but think about how he got himself into this situation. He remembers how he was arrested shortly after Aunt May's funeral.[2] According to the arresting officers, Peter has been accused of murdering a police detective in Salt Lake City.[3] Unfortunately, instead of paying bail and going back home to Mary Jane, Peter Parker is remanded into custody until trial.
Later, in a cell, Peter is confronted by Jacob Raven, who is confused why "Ben Reilly" didn't run from Raven when he showed up at his door. Peter legitimately doesn't know who Raven is, or who his partner was, as he has never been to Salt Lake City in his life. However, Raven isn't buying this but assures Peter that he will get Parker familiar with his "crimes" when he is shipped back to Utah to answer for his crimes. Peter Parker isn't the only person who finds this recent development impossible to believe. The staff at the Daily Bugle is reeling from the news that Peter has been arrested for murder. As Peter has been a freelance photographer at the Daily Bugle for many years, Joe Robertson sits down for a private meeting with J. Jonah Jameson to determine how the Bugle will report this story.[4] Jonah callously says they are going to do nothing about it, pointing out to Joe that if Peter is guilty, he will get what he deserves. After sending Joe out of his office, Jonah answers a phone call the lawyer representing Peter Parker. After being reassured that Peter is going to get the best legal representation possible, Jameson reminds the lawyer that the legal fees are not coming from the Daily Bugle, but his own pockets.
Time passes....
A man who resembles Peter Parker walks through Queens trying to determine why this neighborhood seems so familiar.[5] While at One Police Plaza, Peter Parker, and Mary Jane meet with Peter's lawyer in the hopes that he help prove that Peter is innocent. While at the hotel room of Jacob Raven, the seasoned police detective finally finds himself doubting himself. After confronting Peter Parker face-to-face, he wonders if he arrested the right man. While elsewhere in the city, Kaine is haunted by another precognitive vision of Mary Jane getting murdered by some unseen assailant.[6] To get his mind off the pain of these visions, he uses his wall-crawling abilities to rip down the side of a building. Later, back at the Parker home, Mary Jane cries over her recent miseries. She suddenly begins to worry about the baby growing inside her.[7] For the first time, she considers what Peter's radioactive blood may have done to their unborn child. Starting to panic, Mary Jane runs out into the rain in order to get some fresh air and clear her mind. While at Ravencroft Institute, the Jackal is in a session with Doctor Ashley Kafka.[8] After talking about Gwen Stacy for a moment, John Jameson and the security forces come in and tell Ashley that the session is over.[9] He wants to get the Jackal back to his cell, wanting to avoid yet another break out at the facility.
Back in Queens, the man who looks like Peter Parker happens upon a thief running away with a briefcase he stole from a man on the street. Finding this familiar, this Peter Parker leaps in the way and stops the thief, knocking him out and giving back the stolen responsibility. Fleeing the scene, something this Parker said to the thief about having power and using it responsibly also strikes a chord in him.[10] While in Manhattan, Mary Jane runs down the street trying to get her mind off of the thoughts in her head. She is unaware that the Scarlet Spider is swinging overhead keeping an eye on her. While wondering how to convince Mary Jane to accept his help, the Spider spots Judas Traveller and his minions lurking in a nearby alley. Judas tells his Host to wait in the alley and he approaches Mary Jane. He tries to convince her to talk to him as he is curious about how she views Spider-Man. Before he can get any answers out of Mary Jane, Judas Traveller is ambushed by the Scarlet Spider.
At that same moment, Jacob Raven has arrived outside the Parker home only to discover that Mary Jane is not home. Before he can leave, he is ambushed by Kaine who tells Raven that he has arrested the wrong person. Jacob refuses to believe a costumed madman without proof. Deciding to give Jacob the proof he needs, Kaine gives him a non-lethal version of his Mark of Kaine, leaving a horrible burn pattern on the side of Jacob's face.[11] At that moment, Judas Traveller keeps the Scarlet Spider at bay by appearing to will the very streets around him to explode. This comes as a surprise to the Scarlet Spider who didn't realize how powerful Traveller was during their last encounter.[12] Watching as the Scarlet Spider dodges all of the dangers put in his path by Traveller, she begins to wonder if he truly does care about the fate of her husband. When the Scarlet Spider makes it to Mary Jane, Judas is satisfied with the results of his latest test and leaves without further incident.
In the aftermath of the battle, Mary Jane decides to take the Spider's offer for aid but asks him to leave his mask off because the most unsettling thing about him to her is his face. At that same moment, Peter Parker's nightmare continues as he is being transferred to a new prison cell on Ryker's Island. While at Ravencroft, the Jackal is alone in his cell gloating about how his plan is going smoothly. While in Queens, the other Peter Parker sits on a rooftop vows to find out who he is and thinks he knows where to start looking.
... Aftershocks concludes in The Spectacular Spider-Man #223.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider. Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Peter Parker (clone), Jackal, Host (Judas Traveller, Medea, Mister Nacht, Boone), Kaine, Jacob Raven, Connor Trevane, John Jameson
Continuity Notes
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.
Aunt May believed to have died in Amazing Spider-Man #400. However, this woman was an impostor who took the real May's place sometime in Amazing Spider-Man #392. This is revealed in Spider-Man #97.
Peter is being accused of the murder of Louise Kennedy, who was murdered years earlier by Kaine, although Ben Reilly was accused of it. How this all came about is explored in Spider-Man: The Lost Years #1-3.
Peter has worked for the Daily Bugle since Amazing Spider-Man #2.
This man was released from one of the Jackal's cloning chambers in The Spectacular Spider-Man #222. It has been suggested that this might be the real Peter Parker. However, as revealed in Spider-Man: The Jackal Files #1, this is yet another Spider-Clone.
Kaine started getting these visions in Spider-Man #55.
Mary Jane revealed that she was pregnant in The Spectacular Spider-Man #220.
The Jackal was incarcerated following Web of Spider-Man #123.
The Jackal mentions how Gwen Stacy was killed by Spider-Man. That is a jaundiced view of events, as she was actually murdered by the Green Goblin Amazing Spider-Man #121.
This scene reminds the Spider-Clone of the time that Spider-Man let a thief run past him early on his career. This act of ignorance led to Peter Parker's Uncle Ben getting murdered by the same thief, as seen in Amazing Fantasy #15.
This is important because of Kaine's victims, including Louise Kennedy, as seen in Spider-Man: The Lost Years #3.
The Scarlet Spider last faced Judas Traveller during the Power and Responsibility story arc.However, this show of power is yet another deception. Although he appears all-powerful, Judas Traveller is a telepath who suffers from delusions following a nervous breakdown as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #417.
Whose Life is it Anyway?
This story continues from Amazing Spider-Man #400...
Five Years Ago[1]
May Parker is busy doing dishes in her kitchen when suddenly she feels a presence of someone familiar standing at her front door. Going out to look, she finds nobody waiting outside and goes back to her housework. No sooner as she is gone, the clone of Peter Parker leaps out of the nearby tree to the ground below. With his borrowed memories of Peter Parker's life, the clone can't help but cry to himself. He recalls how Aunt May was always there to help Peter Parker deal with his problems and give him advice. Unfortunately, this is not going to be one of those times because he is not really Peter Parker, but a clone.[2] His sadness quickly changes to anger and he leaps over the fence, vowing never to come back again.
Later, the clone of Peter Parker finds himself at Grand Central Station in Manhattan. There he buys a ticket to San Francisco in order to get as far away from New York as possible. As he works his way through the crowds to catch his bus, he thinks how he was only created to be the plaything of Miles Warren, the Jackal, to use against the real Spider-Man. On the bus, the clone finds himself sitting next to a portly man who won't stop talking about his life. Since he is not the real Peter Parker, the clone decides that he has no reason to be polite and tells the man to shut up. The man quiets quickly, allowing the clone to fall asleep. Unfortunately, his dream is very unpleasant. In it, he is dressed up as Spider-Man and is surrounded by Kraven the Hunter, Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, and Electro. Although he defeats these foes, he is confronted by the Jackal. The mad scientist reminds the Spider-Clone that he is nothing more than a puppet he created and that it has no identity of its own. To demonstrate this, the Jackal then removes the Spider-Man mask and then shreds off the face of Peter Parker, leaving a blank face behind it.
The dream ends with the Parker clone falling down a pit. His fall is witnessed by Ben and May Parker. His pleas for their help go unheard as he spirals down the bottomless void. Suddenly, the Parker clone wakes up to discover that the rainy conditions have caused his bus to skid out of control. With everyone's life in jeopardy, the clone contemplates using his powers to save everyone on board the bus.
... The Parker Legacy continues in The Spectacular Spider-Man #223.
Recurring Characters
Ben Reilly, Clifford Gross, Aunt May
Continuity Notes
This story takes place shortly after the events of Amazing Spider-Man #151. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, it has been roughly five years.
This is the clone that Spider-Man fought in Amazing Spider-Man #149 that seemingly perished. How the Spider-Clone survived is revealed in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1.
At the time of this story, the Spider-Clone had not yet named himself Ben Reilly. He does not do so until the next chapter of this story in The Spectacular Spider-Man #223
