Coming of the Thousand Part 2

Peter Parker has been invited along to a fashion awards and at the after-party, he is ditched by his date, a model named Skye, and finds that he sticks out like a sore thumb among all the fashion models.[1] Later on in the evening, Skye gets upset because Peter is not enjoying himself. He promises to try harder to mingle but makes the mistake of saying something negative about her friends and is kicked out of the party. Walking home in the rain, Peter runs into what appears to be his co-worker Jess Patton, unaware that she her body has been possessed by his old elementary school bully, Carl King. “Jess” asks Peter for help, saying that he is the only one who can. “Patton” then gives Peter a sob story about how she was kicked out of her place by her boyfriend and has nowhere to go. Falling for this deception, Peter invites “Jess’ back to his apartment. King muses how easy it was to trick Peter, thinking back to how he used to bully Peter when they were kids. He remembers one particular incident when they were still in high school when he got a D on a physics paper and took out his anger on Peter. Kicking Parker in the groin, Carl reminded Peter that nobody will believe him if he tells, reminding Peter of the time in kindergarten when he tries telling and nobody would back up his story.

Eventually, they get back to Peter’s apartment and there, “Jess” asks Peter when he will change into Spider-Man. This is a small shock to Peter compared to the one he gets when Jess Patton’s head suddenly swivels completely around. That’s when Carl reveals that the real Jess Patton is dead and attacks. When Spider-Man tries to fight back, he is shocked when his attacker doesn’t appear to have any substance under their skin. King then kicks Peter out his apartment window. Thankfully, Parker is wearing his web-shooters and uses them to break his fall. By the time he gets up to the roof, Peter has changed into Spider-Man. There, Carl King attacks him. Spider-Man is on the defensive because King is able to twist and turn the body of Jess Patton in ways that are impossible for a normal person. Calling himself the Thousand, King continues to taunt Spider-Man prompting the web-slinger to demand how his attacker knows so much about him. In their struggle, the man wearing Jess Patton’s skin bites Spider-Man causing him to blackout.

When Spider-Man wakes up he is tied up to a chair, a prisoner of the “woman” who beat him. When Peter asks who “she” is, Carl drops enough hints to make him realize that he is somehow talking to his old childhood bully. King reveals that he knows all of Peter’s secrets because he followed Peter to the demonstration on radiation that irradiated the spider that gave Peter his spider-powers.[2] After Peter got bit and wander out of the building, Carl followed after him intending to bully Peter and witnessed as Peter began exhibiting his newly acquired abilities. He witnessed as Peter used his powers in the ring to fight wrestler Crusher Hogan, and also saw Peter on the day he first went out in costume as Spider-Man. Carl became determined to get the same powers, but what he got instead was something very different. Suddenly, the skin of Jess Patton begins to bubble and burst as thousands of spiders crawl out of him. All under control of King’s consciousness, the spiders call themselves the Thousand. The largest of the spiders leads the others as they begin crawling up Peter’s leg. Carl King says that he was the one who should have become Spider-Man and vows that he will get his revenge. That’s when Spider-Man stars screaming…

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, The Thousand

Continuity Notes

1. Peter isn’t attending the fashion awards with Mary Jane because this story takes place shortly after she left him to sort out her life following Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2001.

2. Wow, a reference to Amazing Fantasy #15 that isn’t Peter whining about the death of Uncle Ben. It’s a Christmas miracle!