Spider-Man #98
The Final Chapter
The Green Goblin announces that he has finally killed Spider-Man and goes into shrieks of laughter. In reality, Spider-Man is still alive and has webbed up the Green Goblin after a long battle out front of the Daily Bugle. As it turns out, the ceremony that Norman Osborn conducted to gain absolute power only drove him insane.[1] As the staff of the Daily Bugle watches this dramatic scene, Spider-Man can’t help but think about Norman Osborn’s mad scheme. Particularly the fact that he faked his Aunt May’s death with an imposter, and that May as an implant in the base of her skull. The implant is slowly killing her.[2] During the battle, the Goblin claimed that if the device was removed it would set off DNA bombs he planted all over the world that would kill billions of people. Now with the battle over, the wall-crawler wonders how much of this is true and how much of this is the raving of a madman.
That’s when Spider-Man notices that J. Jonah Jameson is among the gathered crowd and figures that Jameson will continue to make Spider-Man’s life miserable even tough he saw Jonah decide against killing Osborn a week earlier.[3] Jonah orders his staff to try and salvage whatever they can from the damaged Bugle building, saying they still have a job to do. That’s when Spider-Man’s spider-sense begins going off warning him of some unexploded pumpkin bombs hidden among the rubble. Telling everyone to get to safety, Spider-Man leaps towards the bomb in order to stop the blast.
Unfortunately, he is too late to stop the bomb from going off. This blast weakens one of the support pillars threatening to topple the whole building. Thankfully, Spider-Man manages to get in place and use is strength to keep the Bugle from collapsing. Spider-Man is beginning to buckle under the tremendous weight, wishing he could go since his Aunt May is due to undergo surgery soon. As police evacuate the building, J. Jonah Jameson blames Spider-Man for everything and as to be dragged away by the police.
As police take Norman Osborn away, a news reporter arrives on the scene to document this dramatic scene. Meanwhile, Spider-Man’s strength continues to ebb and he strongly considers giving up because this whole situation is just too much for him to handle. As Spider-Man continues to hold out, the reporter interviews witnesses and police to get their opinions of Spider-Man’s actions this day. They range from postive and negative, to the downright ignorant.[4] The loudest voice proves to be J. Jonah Jameson who uses the time on camera to go off on another tirade about Spider-Man, insisting this is proof that the wall-crawler is a menace. Soon an angry mob shows up to denounce Spider-Man as well. Among the angry mob is one person who still believes in Spider-Man, his wife, Mary Jane who prays for Peter to not give up and that she loves him.[5] Still Spider-Man continues to support the building, although he is buckling under the weight. He keeps reminding him of his life-long mantra: with great power comes great responsibility. However, he bitterly wonders what that has ever gotten him, considering those who have died, such as his Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy.[6] Even now, he thinks how Aunt May might be undergoing surgery and that the removal of the implant in her neck could be setting off Norman Osborn’s DNA bombs. He then thinks about how his wife is out there in that crowd and reminds himself she is the reason why he keeps on fighting in the face of impossible odds. He vows that Norman Osborn will never take anything away from him again. Then, in one last burst of strength, Spider-Man pushes himself back up to his feet. Grabbing a nearby girder, Spider-Man puts it in place of himself. He then unloads all of his web-cartridges to wrap the Daily Bugle building in order to keep it together. He tells the authorities to get people away because he doesn’t know how long the building will manage to hold up.
That’s wen J. Jonah Jameson orders the police to arrest Spider-Man. When nobody moves to arrest him, Jonah vows to go after the wall-crawler even worse than before, making the previous bounty on his head seem small by comparison.[7] Exhausted, Spider-Man tells Jonah he doesn’t care and walks away, ignoring the newsreporter’s request for an interview. Walking through the crowd, the wall-crawler passes by Mary Jane and tells her to meet him at the hospital. Spider-Man now races against time as Reed Richards and a team of doctors are preparing for surgery to remove the implant from Aunt May’s skull. Exhausted from his ordeal, Spider-Man wonders if this was another deception, but still pushes on.[8] Spider-Man arrives just before they begin the surgery, warning them of the danger just in time. Later, having changed out of his Spider-Man costume, Peter Parker waits with Mary Jane to learn the outcome of the surgery. There, the couple get serious about their situation in life. Peter assures her that they won’t have Norman Osborn to worry about anymore. This is good news, as Mary Jane figures her modelling job will allow them to finally get a place of their own, look after Aunt May, and Peter will be able to focus on school and being Spider-Man. That’s when Peter shocks Mary Jane by telling her that he’s finished being Spider-Man. After everything they have been through and the fact that the public hates his alter-ego more than ever before, he has decided that the public doesn’t need him, so he as decided to stop punishing himself.[9]
That’s when Reed Richards enters the room and tells them the surgery was a complete success. Thanks to information provided to them by Spider-Man they were able to deactivate the implant and save her life without setting off the DNA bombs. He then tells them that she is in relatively good healt, given her age, and that May has many years ahead of her. They are then allowed to see May and when Peter enters her room, May wakes up. Seeing his aunt alive and well brings Peter to tears. Later, in a nearby alley, Peter and Mary Jane stand in front of a burning barrel. Mary Jane asks Peter if he’s sure. With Norman Osborn finally defeated for good, Peter doesn’t see a reasonto continue being Spider-Man and that the costume is the only thing keeping him from having a normal life. With that, he tosses his Spider-Man costume into the flames and they leave for home. While at a secure facility, the Green Goblin as been restrained in a secure room. When a doctor goes to look in on him he orders the guards to take the mask off his face. When they finally remove it they are shocked by what they see under the mask.[10] Before they can react further, a group of men ambush the doctor and the guards. They claim Norman Osborn belongs to the Scriers and drags him away.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Green Goblin, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, Scriers, J. Jonah Jameson, Ben Urich, Betty Brant, Glory Grant, Phil Urich, Mister Fantastic
Continuity Notes
This happened during the Gathering of Five story arc. This opening exposition reveals that the appearent defeat of Spider-Man at the hands of the Green Goblin in Spectacular Spider-Man #263 was nothing more than a delusion of Norman’s disturbed mind.
Until Spider-Man #97, Peter was led to believe that his Aunt May had died in Amazing Spider-Man #400. As revealed in Spectacular Spider-Man #263, it was revealed that May was replaced by a terminally ill actor that was genetically altered to stand in for her.
Jameson has been under Norman Osborn’s thumb since Norman hired Jack O’Lantern to threaten his family starting in Spectacular Spider-Man #241, this led to Jameson being forced into selling part ownership of the Bugle to Osborn in Spectacular Spider-Man #249. Jameson reached his breaking point in Spider-Man #96 and almost shot Norman until ultimately deciding against it.
One of the police officers interviewed states that the “Joey Z thing still stinks"!” He is referring to the murder of Joey Z, a criminal, in Spider-Man #88. Norman Osborn hired the Trapster to kill Joey in an effort to frame Spider-Man. Ultimately, Spider-Man convinced the Trapster into making a confession in Spider-Man #92.
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.
Peter learned his mantra the hard way when a moment inaction to stop a burglar led to that same burglar murdering his Uncle Ben in Amazing Fantasy #15. Years later, Spider-Man failed to stop the Green Goblin from murdering his then-girlfriend Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man #121.
The bounty on Spider-Man’s head was placed on him during the Spiderhunt event due to the aformentioned murder frame job of Joey Z as well as the kidnapping of Normie Osborn. Spider-Man saved Normie, but it wasn’t until the end of the Identity Crisis story arc that Spider-Man cleared his name and had the bounty lifted.
Spider-Man says that the whole Aunt May imposter scheme was a deception that lasted for years. Per the Sliding Timescale this measurement of time should not be taken at face value as it denotes the length of time between Amazing Spider-Man #400 and this story (about 3 years in real time). Per the Sliding Timescale only about a year has passed between these two stories.
Peter’s "retirement” here doesn’t last long as we’ll see in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #2.
This story suggests that something happened to Norman Osborn’s face, however when he resurfaces again in Spider-Man: Return of the Green Goblin #1 his face is the same as always. One could assume that they are shocked to discover that it is Norman Osborn is under the mask. Although Norman was publicly outed as the Goblin in Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil #1, however, Norman Osborn used is co-ownership of the Bugle to discredit these revelations.
Norman Osborn’s association with the Brotherhood of Scrier’s goes back to time hiding out when the world thought him dead (between Amazing Spider-Man #122 to 412) as explained in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1.
