Spider-Man/Marrow #1
Bad to the Bone
In the middle of the a heavy storm, Spider-Man holds the arm of the mutant known as Marrow as they dangle over the edge of the George Washington Bridge. Marrow tells Spider-Man to let go, but he refuses to drop her to what he’s certain will be her death. However, she doesn’t care and slashes Spider-Man’s arm, forcing him to leg go. As Spider-Man watches her fall into the water below his mind drifts back to how all this began….
24 Hours Earlier
Randy Robertson had dragged Peter Parker out to one of the trendiest night clubs in New York City in an attempt to encourage him to move on now that Mary Jane is dead, telling Peter that this is what she’d want him to do.[1] However, Peter can’t get into the mood because this night club is the type of place that Mary Jane like to frequent. hat’s when Randy is pulled onto the dance floor by a woman who wants him to dance with her, leaving Peter to pay for their over priced drinks. When Peter asks if the price in US dollars, it amuses the server enough that she decides the drinks are on her. As it turns out, she is Sarah Rushman, who attends ESU And remember Peter when he gave a guest lecture on transbio-genetive microtoxoicology. Although he doesn’t remember her, she tells him that she just wanted to say thanks for the lecture. Deciding that this is probably the only shot he’s going to get, Peter catches up with Sarah and figuring what he’s going to ask her, she tells him that she gets off work at 10:30 and agrees to go out for coffee with him.
Peter waits outside for Sarah to get off and when a limo pulls up outside the club he Veronica Crandle exiting the club. He decides to snap some photos of her for the Daily Bugle when something in her limo causes her to scream.[2] Rushing to the scene, Peter looks inside and is horrified to see a dead man who had been gored to death with sharp daggers made out of bone. Carved into his chest are the words “two left.” He also recognizes the bone daggers as he’s seen them before.[3] That’s when people spot Marrow on the roof and, even though it means standing Sarah up, Peter slips into a nearby alley to change into Spider-Man and confront Marrow. The mutant lashes out at Spider-Man, telling him to leave her alone.
As the two battle on the rooftops, Spider-Man realizes two things very quickly: That Marrow is playing for keeps and that she doesn’t seem to remember their previous encounters. She easily cuts through his webbing and, no longer wanting the hero to interfere with her plans, she tries to push a water tower down on the crowd below. Not wanting anyone to die, Spider-Man rushes to the edge of the building and tris to stop the tower from falling on the people below. While Spider-Man is busy, Marrow makes her escape. Peter then changes back into his street clothes and waits outside the club again, however after a half-hour of waiting, Peter presumes he’s missed Sarah and heads home.
The following day, Peter is giving another lecture at ESU and after classes, he is approached by Sarah who apologizes for standing him up the night before, telling him that she ran for cover when the craziness happened and couldn’t find him. Peter tells her that all is forgiven and then invites her to join him for some hot chocolate. The pair hit it off and spend the evening getting to know each other. At the end of the night, Sarah invited Peter up to her apartment to spend the night, but Peter is can only think about Mary Jane and she suggests that maybe they do it another time. However, as Peter walks away he hears Sarah suddenly scream. He changes into Spider-Man and attacks the two men who are trying to kidnap her. As he tries to get Sarah out of the area, the pair are attacked by SHIELD agents led by Sharon Carter.
Carter tells Spider-Man that they need to take Sarah into custody. Suddenly, Sarah transforms into Marrow and tosses bone daggers and tries to flee. Spider-Man saves Sharon’s life and asks what’s going on. Carter tells him that there is no Sarah Rushman and that they recently found Marrow alone and disorientated in the sewers and presumed she had cut ties with the X-Men.[4] Marrow was then taken into SHIELD custody and given implanted memories of the Sarah Rushman identity. Although Sharon insists they were trying to be human, Spider-Man accuses SHIELD of manipulating her into doing their wetwork for them. Carter doesn’t appreciate Spider-Man’s judgement, explaining that Marrow was only being used to hunt down and eliminate rogue Life Model Decoys. She concludes by explaining that they were giving Marrow injections to keep her under control and now that she hasn’t gotten her recent booster one of the most dangerous women in the world are on the loose.
As they pass over the George Washington Bridge, Marrow ambushes the SHIELD craft, causing it to crash. This leads to Spider-Man’s battle with Marrow on the bridge. There he tries to reach the side of her personality that is Sarah Rushman, trying to convince Marrow that she has an inner beauty that wasn’t created by SHIELD. When the web-slinger is at her mercy, Marrow can’t bring herself to land the killing blow. That’s when she threw herself off the bridge.
In the aftermath of the battle, Spider-Man wonders if he was trying to stop her from freeing herself.
One Week Later
Peter Parker has packed up all of Sarah things in her dorm room so they can be put in storage. He wonders why, but looking at Rushman’s student ID he’s confident that the love inside Marrow can’t stay buried together and figures that she’ll eventually find it. He jokes that this is what he gets for a first date after losing Mary Jane. As he leaves the dorm room, Peter turns out the light and wishes Sarah Rushman a good night. At that same moment, Marrow is sleeping in the sewers where she is found by her old ally, Hemingway who welcomes her home and that things have not been the same without her.[5]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Marrow, SHIELD (Sharon Carter), Hemingway, Randy Robertson
Continuity Notes
At the time of this story, everyone believes that Mary Jane died in a plane crash in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13. In reality, she survived and has been the prisoner of a deranged stalker as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #29.
Peter mentions how he made enough money selling photos of a recent battle with Doctor Octopus. At the time of this story the last time Spider-Man fought Doctor Octopus was Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #12/Peter Parker: Spider-Man #12.
Spider-Man has previously encountered Marrow on two previous occasions in Uncanny X-Men #346 and Peter Parker: Spider-Man #4.
Marrow abruptly left the team between X-Men (vol. 2) #99 and 100. This story serves as an explanation for her sudden departure.
Although this story ends with Marrow being found by Hemingway, whatever the intended follow up story never materializes. When we see Marrow again it’s in Weapon X: Marrow #1. We won’t see Hemingway again until Weapon X (vol. 2) #19-21.
Topical References
A pint of beer and a glass of ginger ale in this club costs thirteen dollars in this story. Which is cute for back then. Drinking at one of New York’s trendy night clubs will set you back a lot more these days, so the cost here should be considered topical.
