Spider-Verse #1
Spider-Verse continues from Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #9…
Enter the Spider-Verse
Someone looks upon a world and remarks on how our lives are laid out by a tapestry that follows the same patterns again and again. However, some times there is a twist that weaves itself in wonderful new ways. Case in point, the Weaver is looking at a world where Peter Parker is joined by his Uncle Ben at a science expo. As the spider lowers into the radioactive beams, Ben tells Peter that he must have been bitten by the science bug, unaware of how his life is going to drastically change.[1]
This observer is the Master Weaver and he is viewing the myriad worlds across the multiverse through the Web of Life and Destiny. He sees all the lives that are trapped in this. Of particular interest are those who have been charged with the responsibility to spin new paths that change all our fates. They are the spiders and this is their Spider-Verse.
Recurring Characters
Master Weaver, Morlun, Daemos, Peter Parker-3145, Uncle Ben-3145, Peter Parker-70237, Spider-Woman-8545, Spider-311, Spider-Man (Morales), Scarlet Spider, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man-66115, Lady Spider, Spider-Man-7122, Spider-Man (Reilly), Spider-Woman (Barton), Spider-Woman (Drew), Spider-Man-51914
Continuity Notes
Reality numbers have been confirmed official in Secret Wars: The Official Guidebook to the Marvel Multiverse #1, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005, or Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1-5.
The Master Weaver shows off a multitude of alternate realities. They are:
The first reality seen is Earth-3145 where Ben Parker becomes Spider-Man. For more on this reality see Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #13.
One reality shows Morlun after he crushed the head of Peter Parker with Mary Jane’s tombstone. This is Reality-70237 seen in Spider-Man: Reign #1-4.
The next person Morlun is shown killing is the Mary Jane Watson, aka the Spider-Woman of Earth-8545. For more on this reality see Exiles #20-22, 34, and 66.
The third reality seen shows Peter Parker in Victorian-era dress. He is from the 1602 reality, aka Earth-311 first seen in Marvel 1602 #1.
The next section of the web shows various alternate worlds. Only three can be clearly identified: One is a version of Earth that is destroyed in a nuclear holocaust, it is Earth-3145 as well as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #13. A second one is a version of New York overrun by dinosaurs. It is Reality-8847 which will be visited in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #12. The third is Loomworld, aka Earth-001, the home of the Inheritors first seen in Superior Spider-Man #3.
Lastly, we have a grouping of various spiders from across the multiverse. from front to back they are Miles Morales the Spider-Man of Earth-1610 (first seen Ultimate Fallout #4), Spider-Gwen of Earth-64 (first seen Edge of Spider-Verse #2), a Spider-Man wearing his Future Foundation costume from Earth-66115, Lady Spider of Earth-803, the Mangaverse Spider-Man of Earth-7122 (first seen Spider-Man Family Featuring Spider-Clan #1), Spider-Woman of Earth-807128 (first seen Wolverine (vol. 3) #67), lastly we have Kaine, Spider-Man (Otto Octavius) and Spider-Woman of Earth-616, the Prime Marvel Universe.
Spider-Clan: The Many
Earth-2301
Peter Parker cradles the body of his Aunt May. Suddenly, her head lolls over and tells Peter to join the Many.[1] Suddenly, spiders begin pouring out of her empty eye sockets. This dream startles Peter out of his meditation and he crushes a spider that is in his hand. Opening it up, he wonders if the spider was sent by Venom. He then goes to his trunk to retrieve his Spider-Clan outfit. Mary Jane is surprised as she thought he gave this up long ago. Peter tells her that he saw something and he needs to return to the Spider-Clan.
When he arrives at the Spider-Clan’s temple he is shocked to see his Uncle Ben, who invites him in to join the many. He is then confronted by his brother, Venom, who tells Peter he warned him to stay away. Peter, on the other hand, asks why Venom sent a message if there wasn’t something wrong. Venom suddenly shifts into samurai armor and tells him to begon. When Peter insists on entering the temple, Venom attacks. He easily overpowers Peter, but before he can land a killing blow Venom is suddenly webbed up.
When Peter looks up he sees a bunch of Spider-Men and Women emerge from a portal from inside the temple. One of them asks Peter to join them.
Recurring Characters
Mangaverse Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Venom, Uncle Ben, Spider-UK, Old Man Spider, Spider-Ham, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Girl, Prince of Arachne, Kwaku Anansi, Captain Spider
Continuity Notes
May Parker was killed in Spider-Man Family Presents Spider-Clan #1
Steampunk Lady Spider
Earth-803
The year is 1895, and New York’s Lady May Reilly thinks she lives in the city of dreams, that is of course unless you are a woman. As her maid helps May into a corset she thinks about how her father kept many animals in his study. The one that struck her the most was the spider, which always looked sad in its cage, a feeling she knows all too well. This is because her mother is throwing a party to present their daughter to potential suitors. She is first approached by Lord Norman Osborn who asks her for a dance. She accepts but in her mind she rejects this whole life style, promising herself that — unlike the spider in her father’s study — she won’t allow herself to get caged.
That’s when the criminal known as Electro — one of the Six Men of Sinistry — crashed the party to kidnap the mayor. While everyone is distracted, May slips away and changes into Lady Spider, finally feeling free by doing so. As she chases after Electro she thinks about how her father was an automobile mechanic. When he died, her mother closed the garage, deciding that it wasn’t work for a woman. May secretly built her Lady Spider equipment, finally putting her three university degrees to work. Although she is knocked for a loop by one of Electro’s blasts, she manages to incapacitate him with her webbing.
That’s when the rest of the Six Men of Sinistry arrive: Kraven the Hunter, Doctor Octopus, and their leader the Green Goblin arrive. Acting on instinct, Lady Spider uses her webbing to pull down a water tower on her foes. That’s when the sixth member, Mysterio, appears and obscures Lady Spider’s field of view with his smoke. He asks Electro if he recovered the plans from the mayor. While he did, they were burned beyond recognition. Mysterio decides this round belongs to Lady Spider and covers his teammate’s escape.
The mayor thanks his savior, saying the city is in her debt. However, when he calls her miss, she corrects him by saying her name is Lady Spider. As she web-slings away, Lady Spider thinks that with this mask on her face, the sky is the limit.
Recurring Characters
Lady Spider, Six Men of Sinistry (Green Goblin, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Mysterio)
Late for a Date!
Spider-Man is running late for a date with Mary Jane and races up the side of a building with flowers and a bag of treats.[1] He is suddenly knocked off the side of the building by Morlun. Spider-Man quickly tries to defeat his enemy by throwing a bunch of Mostest Cackies as this tasty snack usually distracts his foes long enough to web them up. Unfortunately, this has no effect on Morlun who promptly grabs Spider-Man by the throat and drains his life force. With this spider-totem dead, Morlun decides to indulge himself with a Mostest Cackie treat.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Morlun
Continuity Notes
This story takes place in Reality-51914. It is a parody of the old Hostess comic book ads of the 70s and 80s which featured a superhero defeating a wacky enemy with a Hostess product. This is not to be confused with the reality where those ads existed (if it can truly be indexed as part of the multiverse) The name change is obviously because Marvel doesn’t have the licensing to use Hostess products in one of their comics.
Penelope Parker
Earth-11
Penelope Parker and her classmates are on a field trip to Osborn Labs where a demonstration on radioactivity is being given. Just like in many realities before, a spider is irradiated by the experiment. When the spider looks for someone to bite, the children freak out and try to squish it. During the commotion, Penelope is picking up her class notes which had been dumped on the floor.
As fate would have it, she is bitten by the spider. Suddenly, her papers begin sticking to her hands and she keeps shooting webbing from her wrists, making a huge mess. Nobody notices this, because this story is fucking stupid. Anyway, outside Flash Thompson climbs up on a sculpture and is at risk of falling. Quick thinking, Penelope rushes behind some bushes where she puts on a make-shift disguise, using her lunch bag as a mask, and saves Flash with her spider-powers.
Returning home, Penelope tells her Aunt May all about what happened and is upset because now she is more of a freak than ever. May convinces Penelope that she has been given great power and tells the young girl that she will love her no matter what. Back up in her room, Penelope decides to use her powers to help people and designs a costume. Now the Amazing Spider-Girl, Penelope goes out web-slinging to see what her “gross” spider side can do.
Spider-Man
Peter Parker and Mary Jane are enjoying a picnic in the park when suddenly Morlun appears before them.[1] Morlun is confused when Peter and Mary Jane keep repeating what is going on, over and over. This begins to annoy him as it appears that nobody has long term memory in this reality. However, before he can put this spider-totem out of its misery, the entire reality disappears.
Back on Loomworld, Morlun asks the Master Weaver what happened. He tells his master that the reality he was in was unstable and it suddenly ceased to exist. This satisfies Morlun who looks for another spider-totem to feast upon. In reality, the Master Weaver risked an act of rebellion to save this world of innocense. He has placed it in its own pocket reality where it will be safe from the dangers of the Spider-Verse.
Recurring Characters
Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Morlun
Continuity Notes
This story takes place primarily on Reality-77013, which is the designation of the Spider-Man newspaper strips that ran from 1977 to 2015. These stories were serialized and printed over the course of weeks. Often the first panel of each daily story acted as a brief recap of what happened the day before. Reading them all at once often leads to a lot of repetition as the story is recapped every few panels.
… Spider-Verse continues in Spider-Verse Team-Up #1.