Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1
Its winter in Manhattan and Spider-Man is busting up a gang of crooks while also checking in on his wife, Mary Jane Watson, who is auditioning for a play.[1][2] He is glad to hear that she passed the audition for a role in Macbeth. As he wraps things up he agrees to get some Cuban take-out for dinner so they can spend a quiet evening alone together.
At that same moment, Senator Thomas and Reilly, his assistant, are pulling up in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Thomas is disappointed that there isn’t more photographers on-site to record their arrival. That’s when Reilly informs him that the “other” thing has been filtered through his “squishy fund”, assuring Thomas that nobody will be able to trace the money back to him or the source. This upsets Thomas who has regrets all the sordid things he’s had to do in politics to get re-elected. He decides that he is sick of being a puppet and wants Reilly to tell his backers to forget it. However, as the exit the limo and smile for the cameras, Reilly the Senator that this is a discussion for later. Inside the museum, the Senator is greeted by J. Jonah Jameson, owner of the Daily Bugle, who wants to get a one-on-one interview with Thomas for his paper. Reilly thinks this is a good idea, and the Senator passively agrees as his attention has been drawn to a strange necklace in one of the display cases. Going up for a closer look he is greeted by Professor Jones, the curator at the museum who hopes he can have a few words with him also. Thomas instead asks about the necklace and Jones decides to open the display case in order to let the Senator get a closer look. Once the display case is opened, the Senator picks up the necklace and begins putting it on, ignoring the Professor’s requests to not do so, as another voice — this one from inside the necklace — is calling out to him and telling him to put it on. The voice tells the Senator to surrender so that it can usher in a new age. As soon as he has the necklace on, Senator Thomas screams as a spell is complete and the spirit of Kulan Gath is freed from the necklace.[3]
At that same moment, Spider-Man is heading to the Daily Bugle hoping that he can catch Joe Robertson and get paid for the photos he took earlier. That’s when his spider-sense begins to blare painfully. As Spider-Man falls to the ground, the world around him suddenly changes from modern-day Manhattan to a village out of the Hyborian age. Falling off the side of a building, Spider-Man ends up landing in a wooden fruit cart. The sudden change comes as a complete shock to everyone in the city as they all collectively wonder what just happened to New York.[4]
Back at what used to be the Metropolitan Art Museum, J. Jonah Jameson asks Kulan Gath what happened to Senator Thomas. The sorcerer orders Jameson to silence himself, saying that the Senator is now acting as a vessel for Kulan Gath’s spirit so that he may walk the Earth again. Kulan Gath then claims this world as his own, saying it is ripe for his dark sorceries. As Gath casts a spell, J. Jonah Jameson notices a strange blue portal of mystical energy open up above the temple that was once a museum. This then spreads across Manhattan, transforming the entire island into something out of the Hyborian era. The only one unaffected turns out to be Spider-Man, who tries to call his wife but discovers his cell phone has been transformed into a sack of gold coins. When he hears people on the street crying for help he sees a familiar sight, a gang of thieves trying to rob innocent people, even though these thieves are wearing armor and carrying swords. Swinging down to the street level, Spider-Man quickly deals with them.
Back at that temple, Kulan Gath looks for someone to be his scribe, and settles on J. Jonah Jameson, who cowardly accepts the job after Gath ejects everyone else who denies him. Even though Jameson is in awe of the power that Kulan Gath wields he tries to warn the sorcerer that this city is filled with heroes who will resist his attempt to conquer the island. Kulan Gath mystically chokes Jonah, telling him not to give his personal thoughts unless he is asked for them. Kulan Gath is well aware of the opposition, remembering that last time he came to this era when he was opposed by Spider-Man and the red tressed warrior from his own era known as Red Sonja.[5] However, this time he will prevent their modeling by pitting one against the other. With the wave of a hand, Kulan Gath sends a sword flying out of the palace. Sensing a connection between Spider-Man’s woman, Mary Jane, and Red Sonja, Kulan Gath uses his magic to summon her to the sword. Meanwhile, Spider-Man finishes taking down the thieves but is called a demon by the people and chased away with rocks. The web-slinger decides that the best thing to do is gather up Mary Jane and Aunt May and get them to safety before figuring out how to undo everything that’s been done to the city. That’s when he spots Mary Jane climbing up the side of the palace to reach a sword that is suspended in the air. He swings in to try and stop her but is too late. Upon grabbing the sword, Mary Jane is transformed into Red Sonja. When Spider-Man reaches out for the woman he still thinks is his wife, Red Sonja slices the web-slinger with her sword, proclaiming that no man may touch her.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Red Sonja, Kulan Gath, Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson
Continuity Notes
The narrative to this story states that the events of this series take place before Civil War. That’s an understatement. As seen in issue #2, this story has to take place while the Venom symbiote was still possessed by Eddie Brock. Per the Marvel Chronology Project, this series takes place between Spider-Man’s appearances in She-Hulk #3 and Spider-Man Unlimited (vol. 3) #5
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife in this story. However, not long after this, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the new timeline, the couple never gets married.
As explained in Avengers (vol. 3) #29, Kulan Gath transferred his essence into the necklace seen here in order to cheat death after maxing out his ability to naturally prolong his life. Speaking of Kul-y G, according to Savage Avengers #4, this is not the original Gath, but a slave child owned by Kulan Gath. The boy murdered him and then usurped his name and stole all his magic books.
This is not the first time Kulan Gath used his magic to transform Manhattan into a Hyborian themed realm. He did it in Uncanny X-Men #190-191. However, this spell was undone using a combination of time travel and magic to prevent it from happening, hence nobody remembers that time Manhattan turned into something out of a Conan story.
The time Spider-Man and Red Sonja teamed up to battle Kulan Gath happened in Marvel Team-Up #79.
On Continuity
It’s interesting to note here that while Kulan Gath remembers the last time Spider-Man and Red Sonja opposed him in Marvel Team-Up #79, neither Spider-Man nor Red Sonja remembers their previous encounters. Some people out there believe that the Red Sonja seen in Marvel Team-Up #79 is a contemporary spirit. This is based on some very flimsy assumptions. In Marvel Team-Up #79, Kulan Gath says “So warrior-woman even after centuries of sleep we two meet again!” Whereas the end of Spider-Man/Red Sonja shows Red Sonja waking up in the Hyborian era after he adventure in New York, indicating that her soul was pulled forward in time through mystical means.
However, the statement in Marvel Team-Up #79 is pretty vague and not a flat out statement. Kulan Gath could be referring to the time he was trapped in the amulet and not that Red Sonja’s spirit has been dormant for thousands of years. It could be that her soul was pulled forward in time just like in this series. At any rate, that doesn’t eliminate the fact that both Spider-Man and Red Sonja react to each other like they’re meeting for the first time in both stories. At the very least, if Marvel Team-Up #79 she would have remembered meeting Spider-Man before.
This series ends with Red Sonja waking up on an altar of Kulan Gath and is confused by the bullet in her arm (spoilers, she gets shot in this series) she dismisses it as a “strange reminder of an even stranger battle” I’d like to think that Red Sonja’s memories of the future would fade from her mind like a dream, explaining why she wouldn’t have met Spider-Man more than once. It’s a little harder to explain how Spider-Man could forget Mary Jane being possessed by Red Sonja on two occasions. While I could usually excuse Spider-Man for forgetting meeting someone before due to all the battles he has on a given month but this seems like something too specific to forget.
I think the simplest explanation is provided by Kulan Gath himself in this story, he states that he is setting his enemies against each other. One could assume that he was using his magic to cloud the memories of both Red Sonja and Spider-Man, hence why they don’t remember their last encounter.
