Amazing Spider-Man Family #4
A Matter of Trust
Several Months Ago…[1]
While crashing on his own couch, Peter is awoken by a 7 am alarm set by his Aunt May so he can get an early start to job hunting. As he wakes up, he overhears news that Harry Osborn, who has long thought to be dead for years has turned up alive and, in an interview with the Daily Bugle, explains that he was actually in Europe working at his father’s company, Oscorp. As he rushes to get dressed, Aunt May enters the room to show him the front page news about Harry’s return. Peter doesn’t really want to believe it but he knows that, due to his career as Spider-Man, nobody really stays dead, especially if they’re an Osborn.[3] When he rushes to the front door of his apartment, he finds Harry waiting for him. Face-to-face with Harry for the first time all Peter can think about is how Harry — having become the Green Goblin like his father — once sent him a taunting Goblin themed jack-in-a-box with the words “GOTCHA!” written on it.[4]
As Harry is trying to explain that he wanted to come before Peter found out the news, Peter thinks he has come to threaten his family and angrily grabs Harry by the shirt and demands to know what he’s planning. Peter then stops and composes himself because his spider-sense is not going off and lets him go.[5] May decides to leave the pair alone so they can get reacquainted. Peter is very upset and Harry tries to explain to him the truth about his absence, saying his story about his working for Oscorp was only a cover story created by his father. When he can’t find the words, Peter is not surprised and Harry quickly leaves. When May comes back in with drinks, she learns that Harry left. She knows that Peter and Harry have had their differences in the past, but she reminds him that Harry at one point was Peter’s best friend.
Peter steps out to get some fresh air and thinks about what Harry’s return could mean. He remembers how Harry hasn’t been the picture of mental health. During periods in which his mental health was at their worst, he would take up the role of the Green Goblin and use his knowledge of Peter’s secret identity to attack him where it hurt the most.[6] Although Aunt May was right, he and Harry were best friends, it didn’t start this way. In fact, when Peter first met Harry at Empire State Univesity, Harry went out of his way to make fun of Peter.[7] He remembers how Harry one day, Harry pushed him too hard and Peter demanded to know why Harry had such a problem with him. Harry had convinced himself that Peter thought he was better than everyone else and wanted to teach him a lesson. Peter points out that he was just believing whatever Flash Thompson told him and after telling Osborn he didn’t think he was that stupid, Peter turns and walks away from him. This annoyed Harry even more, but even Gwen Stacy would point out that Peter’s right.
Finishing his recollection, Peter calls Betty Brant for not warning him about this ahead of time. Betty is annoyed that Peter is giving her attitude especially since she has given up her apartment so they had a place to stay while Peter and May got their lives together.[8] While Betty understands that Peter is just upset, she reminds him not to forget who her friends are and hangs up on him. That’s when Harry approaches Peter again and tries to explain himself. He explains that his father send him to Europe to get help for his additions because he had another break down and relapse.[9] Peter finds this hard to believe because he was there when Harry allegedly died. Harry insists that he’s not some impostor and points out he’s having a hard time getting his life back in order after the world has thought he was dead for over three years. He asks Peter to at least try, but all Peter can think about are all the ways that Harry — as the Goblin — toyed with his emotions.[10] Getting upset all over again, Peter tells Hary he can’t trust him and runs off.
Seeing how vulnerable Harry looks reminds Peter of their days at ESU and how one day he decided to listen to Harry’s concerns on a day he was visibly upset. After hearing how Harry’s father was pressuring him, Peter tells Harry that it could always be worse, as he doesn’t have any memories of having a father.[11] By this time, Peter has arrived at what he thought was Harry’s final resting place and thinks about how Harry’s father heaped misery, not only on his life, but Harry’s as well. He thinks how Norman was responsible for the death of his one true love, Gwen Stacy. How, this all sent Harry on the downward spiral that led to him following in his father’s footsteps. He then thinks about their final battle when Harry became himself and saved Peter, Mary Jane and his family from a bomb he set. As he died, Peter asked why Harry risked his life to save him after trying to hard to kill him. At the time Harry said he did it because Peter was his best friend.[12] Peter remembers how those words helped him get through the mourning process,[13] but wonders if this is all a lie or just another manipulation from Norman Osborn as Norman and Harry have used impostors against him in the past.[14]
Peter decides to get to the bottom of things as Spider-Man. As he swings across the city he thinks about yet another moments from when they were in university together. Peter was checking to see how Harry was doing after opening up to him the day before. But, because he was hanging out with Flash, Harry made fun of Peter and told him to get lost. Later that day, Harry showed up at Aunt May’s house to apologize for how he acted earlier admitting he was being a jerk because he was around Flash. Peter then invited Harry to come out and play basket ball with him, and it was from that moment that their friendship began to flourish. However, no matter how many times he tries to think about the good times, Peter also can’t get over the ways Harry used to torment him as well. Arriving at the Osborn Mansion, Spider-Man expects a fight but when he looks in Harry’s bedroom window he finds Osborn crying along at his desk. Peter manages to slip out of sight before Harry can see him and begins to wonder if maybe he can start to trust Harry again after all.
The next day, as Harry leaves his home, Peter tosses a basketball and says they should play a game, just like last time. The two quickly patch things up over this peace offering and as they head off to go play a game, Peter officially welcomes Harry back home.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Harry Osborn, Aunt May, Betty Brant, (in flashback) Gwen Stacy, Flash Thompson
Continuity Notes
This story takes place shortly before the “Brand New Day” portion of Amazing Spider-Man #545 (the moment after Mephisto alters reality)
Harry was believed to have died due to complications caused by exposing himself to the Goblin Formula in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #581-582, Harry survived. His father covered this up, leaving everyone to believe he was dead. Per the Sliding Timescale, Harry had been “dead” for almost four years at the time of this story.
Norman Osborn cheated death himself in the past. He was seemingly killed when impaled by his own goblin glider in Amazing Spider-Man #122. He survived and went into hiding for years as we learned in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1, he would later resurface in Amazing Spider-Man #412.
This is a fairly complicated reference. The details: During the period when Harry became the Green Goblin he once mailed Peter and Mary Jane this jack-in-the-box in Spectacular Spider-Man #189 in order to torment the couple.
Peter seems to forget that even if Harry was a threat, he wouldn’t remember that Peter was Spider-Man. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #640-641, after Peter’s publicly revealing his face during the Civil War blew up in his face he had Doctor Strange cast a spell to erase everyone’s memory of his identity, this would have also included Harry. Given how upset Peter is here, it’s understandable how this could escape his mind in the heat of the moment.
Harry witnessed his father’s “death” in Amazing Spider-Man #122 and this caused him to become unhinged. He later discovered that Peter was Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #135 and first became the Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #136. Like his father before him, Harry had selective amnesia about Peter’s true identity until his final relapse into the Goblin identity in Spectacular Spider-Man #179-183.
Peter and Harry first met in Amazing Spider-Man #31.
At the time of this story, both Peter and May are homeless and the reason is very complicated. May’s home was destroyed by Charlie Weiderman in Amazing Spider-Man #518. Peter and his family moved into Avengers Tower shortly after, however when Peter rescinded his support of the Super-Human Registration Act in Amazing Spider-Man #535 forced them to move out. They were living in a cheap motel until the aforementioned memory wipe allowed Peter to get hepl from his friends.
Harry has struggled with drug addiction since Amazing Spider-Man #96.
The flashback shows Spider-Man in front of a row of televisions of the Green Goblin saying “GOTCHA!” over and over again. This takes some explaining:
Before his “death”, Harry had created simulacrums of Peter’s parents, RIchard and Mary Parker, tricking Peter into thinking his parents were still alive. When Peter revealed his secret to them they were then programmed to reveal their true nature and kill him. (See Amazing Spider-Man #363 to 388)
Thinking the Chameleon was responsible, Peter hunted him down only to discover that this was a scheme that was organized by the Goblin. See the Pursuit story arc (Spider-Man #45, Spectacular Spider-Man #211, Web of Spider-Man #112, and Amazing Spider-Man #389)
If the footnote above wasn’t clear enough, Peter’s parents died when he was still very young. See Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5.
This two page spread is rife with flashbacks. The ones I haven’t already covered above are:
Norman Osborn learning Peter’s secret identity. The pair learned each other’s identities in Amazing Spider-Man #39-40.
The death of Gwen Stacy. Gwen was murdered by Norman Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man #121.
In the years leading up to his “death”, Harry married Liz Allan (Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #63) and had a son, named after his father (Amazing Spider-Man #263)
Harry’s funeral was in Spider-Man Unlimited #1, as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #581-582, Norman faked Harry’s death by purchasing a bio-duplicate from Mysterio to help sell the delusion.
Peter mentions the times the Osborn’s manipulated him in the past. The only instance not already covered above is the time that Norman Osborn faked Aunt May’s death. When May suffered a stroke in Amazing Spider-Man #392, Norman secretly replaced her with an elderly actress who wanted one final performance before her death in Amazing Spider-Man #400. Peter learned the truth and rescued the real May during the Final Chapter story arc (Amazing Spider-Man #441, Spider-Man #97-98, and Spectacular Spider-Man #263)
Career Paths!
Peter Parker has taken up a job working at the lab at Empire State University. Mary Jane is concerned about Peter overworking himself between this, his studies, and working as a photographer for the Daily Bugle. However, Peter insists that it is necessary because he needs to support his family. When Mary Jane suggests getting back into modeling, Peter doesn’t want her to have to go back to work beause it will mean spending even less time with their daughter and Peter is concerned about always asking Anna Watson to watch the baby all the time.
Suddenly, Peter’s spider-sense goes off and, moments later, a guy comes falling through the ceiling tiles and lands in the middle of the lab. Mary Jane instinctively tries to go to the man’s aid, but Peter tells her to stay back because he notices the guy has a gun. This man, Angelo Cantano by name, pulls his gun and demands Peter hand over all the drugs. However, Peter points out that if he was trying to rob the school pharmacy he’s in the wrong building. Angelo can’t believe the luck and then asks i they have anything worth stealing. Peter tells him that they’d be lucky if they have 10 dollars between the two of them. The only thing of value in the biophysics lab are the machines, but Cantano would need a truck to haul them away. Angelo becomes frustrated and decides to rob them of their money anyway.
Since Peter’s spider-sense isn’t going off he quickly deduces that the gun Angelo is holding isn’t even loaded and quickly snatches it out of his hand. Trying to get up, Angelo realizes that he injured his knee in the fall and Mary Jane suggests that they get him medical help. Peter doesn’t think this is a good idea since the guy just tried to rob them, but Angelo gets the sympathy from the Parkers when he says he was only stealing to feed his baby. When the campus security guard arrives to find out what’s going on, Angelo suddenly turns on them, saying Peter and Mary Jane tried to mug him and have a gun. Peter and Mary Jane explain themselves, and the guard decies to let the police sort things out.
Later, after Angelo has been arrested, Detective Vinnie Drasco takes the Parker’s statement as the CSI unit collects evidence. After hearing their statement, Drasco tells the Parker’s that the only “baby” in Angelo’s life is a stripped in Staten Island. At that same moment, Angelo is being locked in the cell and — proving Draco right — tells his cell mate how he got busted by Spider-Man, unaware of the fact that he kind of did. After Detective Drasco leaves, one of the CSI technicians named Carlie Cooper notices that Peter is a smart scientist and hands her his business card, telling him that the NYPD is always looking for good scientists. After Cooper and her partner leaves, Peter and Mary Jane think about this new job opportunity.[2]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson-Parker, May Parker, Anna Watson, Vinnie Drasco
Continuity Notes
This story takes place in the MC2 Universe, identified as Reality-982 by Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005. This reality diverges from Earth-616 circa Amazing Spider-Man #418. On Earth-616, Mary Jane has a miscarriage, while on Earth-982 she gives birth to May Parker. In this reality, Peter and Mary Jane are still married and raising their child together.
Peter does end up taking Carlie Cooper’s suggestion and begins working as a police scientist as seen in Spider-Girl #1.
Canine Commotion
Peter Parker is helping his Aunt May with her garden, which she hopes will put her their street in the running for the “Greenest Block in Queens” competition. However, she is concerned about Edna Blackquill who May is certain is intentionally sabotaging the competition by allowing her dog to rip up people’s gardens. Peter offers to say something but admits that Blackquill is a difficult woman. May assures Peter that she’ll handle it her own way.
As if summoned by mention by her name, Edna arrives to brag about her prized petunia and to gloat about how her block always wins the competition. She also shows off her latest editorial in the Queens Bugle, where she talks about how Spider-Man has been menacing the neighborhood as well. When Edna comments about how she saw Spider-Man in the area recently, Peter becomes nervous and excuses himself. Going back inside, May complains about Edna and Peter wonders how Spider-Man was seen in the neighborhood when he’s usually pretty careful about his comings and goings. Since she recently put on Peter’s costume to scare away some would-be thieves, May changes the subject by offering her nephew some pie.[2]
After Peter leaves, May overhears Edna telling the gardeners she hired to step on it, so May goes out and gives them lemonade when she leaves. Later, when working on her own garden, May overhears Edna return home and tells her job Bon-Bon how she plans to rip up other people’s gardens while they sleep at night and warns the dog that if he makes any noise, she’ll force him to wear a muzzle. May finds this awful and decides to do something about it. Going down into the basement, she fiddles with Peter’s spider-fluid and fashions a perfume spray bottle that can fire webbing.
That evening, May goes out in one of Peter’s spare costumes. That evening she uses the perfume bottle to spray webbing around the fence that separates May’s yard from Edna’s. When Edna tries to set her dog loose in May’s garden, both Blackthorn and her Bon-Bon get caught in the webbing. As Spider-Ma’am, May confronts Edna and tells her that she won’t be cheating this year. The following morning, May’s block wins the contest and are awarded with a first prize ribbon. While, Peter, as Spider-Man is forced to ride the subway to get into the city because he is suddenly out of web-fluid.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Ma’am, Spider-Man
Continuity Notes
This story takes place in an alternate reality designated Earth-8121 by the Unofficial Appendix to the Marvel Universe.
That was last issue.
The Secret Origin of Swiney-Girl!
Prologue
In one universe, Peter Porker was bitten by a radioactive spider and became the a costume hero known as the Spectacular Spider-Ham. However, after years of fighting for truth and justice, Spider-Ham lost a leg during a battle with his mortal enemy, the Green Gobbler. Luckily, Spider-Ham was friends with Mister Furtastic of the Furtastic Four who constructed a cybernetic leg for Peter to use as Spider-Ham. Unfortunately, it the cybernetic appendage made it hard to fight crime, forcing Spider-Ham to retire.
Later, Peter and his wife, Mary Crane Watsow, had a daughter, Mayday Porker. As the child grew up, it became apparent that she inherited the powers of her father. Once May got old enough, Peter and Mary Crane revealed the truth of her heritage and had her promise to keep her own spider-powers a secret. However, May still used her powers to excell in the basketball court and to help out her classmates whenever they were bullied.
Now
Harry Osbird has decided to avenge his father’s death by becoming the new Green Gobbler. His rampage forces Peter to go back out as Spider-Ham but he is quickly captured. May and Mary Crane try to go to the Furtastic Four for help, only to discover that the group is away on a mission. With no other choice, May Porker returns home and puts on one of her father’s spare costumes to rescue him on her own.
By this point, the new Green Gobbler is about to kill Spider-Ham, calling him responislbe for his father’s death. When Spider-Ham explains how Norman Osbird was responsible for his own death when he crashed his gobbler glider into a brick wall, it falls on deaf ears and the new Gobbler tosses Spider-Ham over the side of a building bound in chains. Luckily, his daughter is there to rescue him. She tells her father to keep back while she fights the Gobbler. She she battles her foe, May tires to come up with a suitable name for herself and decides to go with Swiney-Girl. She makes short work of the Green Gobbler and leaves him webbed up for the authorities.
When she and her father head for home, Spider-Ham tries to get his daughter to swear she won’t become a superhero until she’s grown up, but the newly christened Swiney Girl doesn’t reply.
Recurring Characters
Swiney-Girl, Spider-Ham, Mary Crane Watsow
Continuity Notes
Needless to say, this story takes place in an alternate reality of anthropomorphic animals. However, I should point out that this Spider-Ham is not the original who first appeared in Marvel Tailes Starring Peter Proker the Spectacular Spider-Ham #1, that one exists on Earth-8311. This story happens in Reality-94024. Not sure where this reality number was originally indexed but it appears to be official as the Appendix does not list in quotations.