Nick Peron

View Original

Web of Spider-Man #47

Nick Peron

The Face in the Mirror

Credits

This story continues from the Spectacular Spider-Man #146...

The Hobgoblin is frantically searching something in the ruins of an Oscorp facility when he is interrupted by the arrival of Spider-Man. The wall-crawler had noticed the villain casing the place earlier when the factor strangely started attacking the workers. As the two fight in the ruins, some of the rubble takes on a humanoid form and grabs the wall-crawler. The masked hero cannot believe what is happening. While the wall-crawler is occupied, the Hobgoblin gives up on his search and heads off, leaving Spider-Man to his fate. Using every ounce of his strength, Peter breaks free before he passes out. This is another in a series of inanimate objects coming to life and attacking him. What really disturbs him is that his spider-sense has failed to warn him of these dangers. Thinking the entire city is going crazy, Spider-Man web-slings back to Manhattan.

Elsewhere, Glory Grant is out on a date with Eduardo Lobo, and the two are falling in love with each other even though they had only met the day before. They walk past a local cafe where Glory's co-workers Ben Urich and Joy Mercado are having lunch. Ben Urich recognizes Eduardo Lobo as a member of the Lobo gang. Suddenly, the entire mall begins to shake and the escalator comes to life and tries to attack the patrons. As everyone runs for cover, Glory is carried to safety by Eduardo. Meanwhile, Ben and Joy are trying to make sense of the situation, realizing that whatever the story is, they're living it. At that moment, Spider-Man arrives at his Aunt May's boarding house in Queens. Changing back to Peter Parker, he meets with his Aunt May, his wife Mary Jane, and her cousin Kristy. As they sit down for breakfast, Kristy is introduced to the rest of Aunt May's borders.

When they begin discussing how busy Peter and Mary Jane are, Nathan Lubenski points out that they might not be the ideal people to keep an eye on a teenaged girl. That's when Mary Jane asks May if Kristy can stay in Queens while her parents are away. Although Kristy doesn't like the idea, Aunt May is delighted to have a child in her home again. Later, Peter and Mary Jane are doing the dishes. They are relieved to have the Kristy situation sorted out, but Peter wishes it was that easy to deal with. He explains that Harry has been having nightmares ever since he moved back into his family home. This has been compounded by the strange attack at Oscorp as well as the appearance of the Hobgoblin. This raises concerns about Harry remembering that he briefly operated as the Green Goblin. Soon, Peter and Mary Jane are on their way out, Mary Jane offers to drive Peter to Empire State University, however, Peter decides to go check up on Harry and see how he is doing.

Changing into Spider-Man, Peter swings over to the Osborn property and changes back into his civilian guise. When he comes up behind Liz Osborn, he startles her. She apologizes, saying that she has been on edge recently. He learns that Harry is up in the attic when suddenly his spider-sense goes off. This is because the Hobgoblin is lurking around in the trees, but Peter doesn't see him. Peter goes up to the attic to talk to Harry, who is looking for something. Harry responds to this interruption with an outburst of anger. However, they soon hear the cries of Harry's son Normie. As Harry runs downstairs to see what's going on, Peter looks out the window and sees the Hobgoblin terrorizing Liz and her son. The Hobgoblin demands to know where Harry is when suddenly Osborn arrives and attacks the villain with a rake. The Hobgoblin begins making demands of Osborn, but he is ambushed by Spider-Man. Seeing that Harry is cracking up, the wall-crawler tells Osborn to go to his wife and child and get them to safety. Seeking cover in the shed, Harry tells his wife that the Hobgoblin has come looking for his father's formula. As Spider-Man and Hobgoblin duke it out, the hero is knocked into the pool. With their safety being compromised once again, Harry relents and tells the Hobgoblin that he will give him what he wants. Harry tells the Hobgoblin that the formula can be found in a safe at his office. The villain warns Harry that he will be back if he is lying and flies away. Harry then confesses to his wife that he doesn't know what the Hobgoblin wanted and that he tricked him in order to get him away.

As Spider-Man recovers from the attack, Harry tells him where the Hobgoblin had gone. Harry upset that he couldn't protect his family, like his father. With no time to lose, Spider-Man swings into the city on the Hobgoblin's trail. As he swings into the city, Spider-Man notices that Manhattan is undergoing a strange transformation. Of these changes is the Empire State Building is growing taller and taller. Watching from his office window, J. Jonah Jameson is interrupted by Ben Urich who comes in with reports of demons running wild in the city. Jameson thinks that this is doomsday and that they may be witnessing the end of humanity. While back at the Osborn home, Harry is back up in the attic searching for something. Suddenly, he remembers what it is and begins breaking open the floorboards. He then pulls out a Green Goblin costume from its hiding place.

This story is continued in Amazing Spider-Man #312...

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Hobgoblin, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn, Liz Osborn, Normie Osborn, Aunt May, Kristy Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, Eduardo Lobo, Ben Urich, Joy Mercado, Glory Grant, Nathan Lubensky, Victor Palermo, Rose Palermo, Sophie Lund, Martha Lund

Continuity Notes

  • This is a result of the Inferno spell affecting all of New York City, as seen in The Spectacular Spider-Man #146.

  • Glory and Eduardo first met in The Spectacular Spider-Man #146. Ben Urich thinks about his brush with death at the hands of Elektra. That was in Daredevil #179.

  • Peter and Mary Jane are identified as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple as opposed to husband and wife. Mary Jane's cousin Kristy came to visit in the Spectacular Spider-Man #145.

  • Sophie and Martha Lund are identified as former tenants of Aunt May. After a home invasion in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #113, they no longer felt safe and moved out in Web of Spider-Man #19. Aunt May states that they used to live with her "a few years ago". Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, the Lundt sisters lived at Aunt May's house just over a year. It has been roughly a year since they moved out and this story.

  • Harry's father, Norman, was the original Green Goblin. At the time of this story, Norman is believed to be dead in Amazing Spider-Man #122. However, Norman secretly survived as explained in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1, he will resurface in Amazing Spider-Man #412. Unaware of this, Norman's "death" pushed Harry over the edge becoming the Green Goblin for a brief time in Amazing Spider-Man #136-137. Harry underwent psychological help and his memories of being the Goblin had been submerged as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #180.

  • The Hobgoblin gloats about killing Ned Leeds, the man he thinks was the original Hobgoblin. Ned Leeds was murdered in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1, Macendale's involvement in the killing was revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #289. However, Ned Leeds was not the original Hobgoblin, it was actually Roderick Kingsley. As explained in Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #3, Kingsley brainwashed Leeds into thinking he was the Hobgoblin. Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #67-68 has recently revealed that Ned Leeds was apparently alive this whole time thanks to the regenerative properties of the goblin formula. The full details of this revelation have yet to be explained at the time of this writing (September 2021).

  • Jameson states that he was a young man when the United States dropped the atomic bomb. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timesceale of Earth-616. Jonah's life before the modern age also moves forward with the rest of the timescale.

Inferno Reading Order