Web of Spider-Man #32
Resurrection
This story continues from Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #131…
In a white void, Peter Parker is tucked into the fetal position. He feels warm and safe. Suddenly, the silence is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Ned Leeds. Remembering who he is, Peter is horrified to see Ned as Leeds is dead. Saying this aloud makes Ned realize that he is dead and his body suddenly decomposes into nothingness. Consumed with fear, Peter tries to reclaimed the warm silence of the void. From the darkness, the eyes of Spider-Man stare out at him and tell Peter to get out. Suddenly, he starts thinking of his newly-wed wife Mary Jane. Not wanting to leave this comfortable place, he tries to push it out of his mind, but the incoming darkness forces him to accept the real world outside. That many of the people he loved are dead, that he is the immortal spider.
Totally embracing his animal nature, Peter then turns into a spider and begins crawling down a tunnel. On the other end, he can see the glowing red eyes and white fangs of creatures seeking to destroy him. Doubting who and what he is, Peter begins to doubt himself as the creature attacks him. Soon, his spider form is mauled to death. However, Peter sees that the spider is nothing more than a coffin trapping him and he needs to get out. Peter pulls himself out of the dead body of the spider, accepting that he is Peter Parker. Getting to his feet, Peter walks toward his attackers. He sees Spider-Man's face again, this time, the mask starts coming off, revealing Kraven the Hunter beneath. Reliving the moment when Kraven shot him over and over again. Each time, Kraven orders him to get out. Peter reaches the end of the tunnel and comes to a dead end. Thinking of his wife, Peter begins to frantically dig his way out. Proclaiming his love to Mary Jane, Peter makes the final push out from the grave that Kraven the Hunter buried him in.
Struggling to his feet in the middle of a raging storm and heads toward Kraven's mansion. He searches around the property and can't find a single soul. In the library, he finds a number of newspapers. The front page stories are about Spider-Man going berserk and Vermin's murder spree. Reading the dates on the papers, Spider-Man is horrified to discover that he had been buried underground for two weeks. This horror turns into rage when he processes the fact that Kraven left him for dead and spent two weeks perverting his identity. Entering Kraven's trophy room, the wall-crawler rips apart everything in sight. Stopping to rest, two of Kraven's aids enter the room. Before they can flee, Spider-Man turns around and lunges at them and demands to know where their master is. The two men are so terrified that they can't speak. Spider-Man drops them and decides to find Kraven by himself and leaps out the window into the storm. Elsewhere, Kraven the Hunter removes his Spider-Man mask, sensing that Spider-Man is free. While in an electrified cage, Vermin is filled with fear and tries to get out. Grabbing the cage, he is jolted back with a powerful blast of electricity.
While at their shared apartment, Mary Jane is up late watching the news. She fears that the man who has been posing as her husband may have killed him. She thinks about her encounter with this imposter, Kraven the Hunter, who saved her from some rapists and is horrified by the whole situation. Tossing her remote control to the floor, it is caught in a web. Looking at the window, she sees someone in a Spider-Man costume. When the wall-crawler removes his mask, Mary Jane is so happy to see that it is her husband Peter and the two embrace and crawl into bed together. After their romantic reunion, Peter wakes up from a troubled sleep and decides to go back out looking for Kraven and Vermin. Mary Jane tries to convince him to go back to bed because he needs to recover from his ordeal. Even though Peter wants to stay with her, his sense of responsibility prevents him from resting until the two violent criminals are brought to justice. Mary Jane tries to get her husband to talk about his ordeal, but he refuses to talk about it. He insists that he is going and after briefly holding her hand and putting it on his face and then leaves out the window.
As he swings the city looking for Kraven, his foe senses that he is coming. Suddenly, Spider-Man's spider-sense begins to go off, bringing him right to Kraven.
… This story continues in Amazing Spider-Man #294.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Kraven the Hunter, Vermin
Continuity Notes
Ned Leeds was murdered in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1, or so it seemed. Years later, a man claiming to be Ned Leeds has resurfaced, saying he survived thanks to exposure to the Goblin Formula. However, as of this writing (December, 2021) this has yet to be substantiated. See Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #68-69.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. They had just recently got married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, years later, the demon Mephisto erased their marriage from existence in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such, they should be considered a common-law couple here, as opposed to husband and wife.
Among the people that Peter lists as being dead are: His Uncle Ben (Amazing Fantasy #15), Ned Leeds (Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1), and Gwen Stacy (Amazing Spider-Man #121).
Mary Jane was almost raped by a gang of men in Amazing Spider-Man #293, only to be saved by Kraven.
