Web of Spider-Man Annual #6
Up From Slavery
This story continues from The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #10...
Spider-Man has been brought to the Microverse by the Psycho-Man to be part of the maniac's zoo. However, before imprisoning the hero, he hopes to drain the Uni-Power from Spider-Man the last person to have been endowed with the power of Captain Universe.[1] However, despite the painful extraction process, he finds no trace of the Uni-Power in the hero. Since Spider-Man no longer has this power, the Psycho-Man decides he is of no use to him and renders the hero unconscious. Psycho-Man begins to rant about how he was exiled from his homeworld of Sub-Atomica thanks to the Fantastic Four.[2] However, he hopes to regain his kingdom by obtaining the Uni-Power. He then has his machines contain the wall-crawler in one of his cages along with the other prisoners.
With the wall-crawler locked up, Psycho-Man goes to a hovering globe which contains the secret that will allow him to contain ultimate power. Spider-Man is later revived by one of the other prisoners, who explains that all those confined here were former recipients of the Uni-Power and kidnapped by the Psycho-Man to steal his powers. Quickly thinking of a way out, Spider-Man has one of the tentacled aliens recover his web-shooters, which Psycho-Man placed out of Spider-Man's reach as a form of torture. With his web-shooters in hand, Spider-Man manages to snare the release levers, freeing himself and the others. The escape sets off the alarms, and Psycho-Man tries to subdue the prisoners with a psychedelic gas. Spider-Man manages to swing above the gas and escapes through a vent. He finds himself in the Psycho-Man's inner sanctum. There, unaware that his foe is watching him, Spider-Man opens the floating sphere and discovers that it contains a miniature universe. The Psycho-Man tries to attack the wall-crawler, his spider-sense warns him of the danger. As the two battle it out, Psycho-Man explains that he shrank this micro-universe in size to allow him to contain it in his ship. When the inhabitants of that world agreed to make him their master, he realized that he did not have enough power to restore this universe to its natural size, hence why he sought out the Uni-Power.
Spider-Man points out that Psycho-Man could have just shrunk himself down in size, something that didn't occur to the genius. Their struggle slams them into Psycho-Man's shrinking machine, shrinking both down in size. However, Psycho-Man still has his personal size changing device to try and increase his size relative to Spider-Man. However, the aliens that Psycho-Man have been attempting to enslave use their own growth device to increase Spider-Man's size. The hero ends up smashing the Psycho-Man's emotion caster leaving him powerless. The aliens then blast Psycho-Man shrinking him even smaller while restoring Spider-Man to his natural size and back to his own universe. He reappears in the laboratory of Harry Osborn, and after telling him a brief explanation of what happened, the wall-crawler leaves a confused man. Spider-Man returns home where he is reunited with his wife Mary Jane.[3] After making sure he has returned to his full size, Peter and Mary Jane decide to celebrate his return. Meanwhile, back in the Microverse, Psycho-Man's former captors see no reason to restore the stolen universe to its normal size, since size is relative, as long as peace, justice and freedom prevails.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Harry Osborn, Mary Jane Watson, Psycho-Man
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man was endowed with the Uni-Power of Captain Universe from Amazing Spider-Man #326-329, The Spectacular Spider-Man #158-160, and Web of Spider-Man #59-61.
The Psycho-Man was exiled from Sub-Atomica thanks to the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #282-284.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to 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 here.
Continuity Errors
The Psycho-Man's flashback of his battle with the Fantastic Four includes the Thing among the members of the team. However, their battle occurred during a period where the Thing was not a member of the team following the events of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12 and Fantastic Four #300.
Salesday for a Shootout
Aunt May and her daughter-in-law, Mary Jane, are out shopping at the Long Island City Mall.[1] However, their shopping trip is interrupted by an attack by a group of Eastern European terrorists who have come to murder innocents.[2] As they open fire upon the shoppers, Mary Jane pulls Aunt May to safety.
As soon as they are under cover, the Punisher drops out from a ventilation shaft right next to Aunt May. May witnesses as the Punisher begins mowing down the terrorists. However, the leader of the terrorists have been trying to shake the Punisher for weeks and have prepared for his interference. The leader of the group reveals that she has strapped herself with plastic explosives intending to blow up the entire mall to make a statement to her countrymen back home. Hearing all this, Aunt May fakes a heart attack, causing the terrorists to pause with uncertainty long enough for the Punisher to ambush them and gun them all down. When the Punisher checks to see if May is okay, she assures him not to worry and that he should leave before the police arrive on the scene. After giving their statement to the police, Mary Jane asks why May faked a heart attack. She explains that once she determined the Punisher couldn't act until he knew they were safe, she created the distraction he needed. Considering his Aunt May a hero, Peter has her record her account of events.7
Recurring Characters
Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson, Punisher
Continuity Notes
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to 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 here.
The terrorists state that they are rebels that support the "Eastern Bloc" of nations that were aligned with the USSR during the Cold War. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Particularly since the Eastern Bloc was dissolved in 1989.
Eleven Angry Men... And One Angry Woman
A jury has been sequestered until they can all reach a complete verdict on a crime. However, there is one person holding out with a not guilty vote, Mary Jane Watson-Parker. The rest of the jury are frustrated with Mary Jane as she refuses to change her position. As deliberations continue, Mary Jane thinks back to how she found herself in this situation....
It all began when she was called to carry out jury duty for a jewelry heist case. However, things were off to a slow start when the jury selection is dragged out because the defense attorney, Mister Mosley, wants to make sure that all the jurors are fit to be part of the trial. They focus their questions on Mary Jane, asking her about her career as an actress on television and confirming the fact that her husband, Peter Parker, is a photographer for the Daily Bugle.[1] She is surprised when they ask what her opinion of Spider-Man is, causing her to pause. She answers that she has no opinion one way or another. Although the defense presses the issue, the judge has had enough and deems Mary Jane sufficient to be a juror.
... Her mind snaps back when the other jurors become upset that she continues to be the only hold out on the verdict. She insists that they go over the court transcript one more time, saying that there is a flaw in the testimony of the accused, Bill Treadway...
When called up to the stand, Bill Treadway tells them of the night of the robbery at Klein's Jewelry on the night in question. Treadway explains that he was walking down the street, minding his own business. Suddenly, he saw Spider-Man dart out of the alley with stolen loot from the store. When Spider-Man is spotted, the wall-crawler allegedly decided to frame Treadway by webbing him up to a lamp post for the authorities with the stolen loot.
... Mary Jane points out the flaws in this testimony, stating that the police determined whoever broke into the jewelry store used a crowbar to jimmy open a door. The first flaw is the fact that while there were no finger-prints on the scene, both Spider-Man and Treadway were wearing gloves. She also reminds them that Spider-Man is stronger than the average person and wouldn't have needed a crowbar to break into the facility. They still point out that there is too much reasonable doubt and that they should just agree on a not guilty verdict so they can all go home. This upsets Mary Jane, who asks them how this will reflect on Spider-Man. She says that despite the editorials written by J. Jonah Jameson that demonized the wall-crawler for years, he has always been a selfless hero that helped people for no reward. She tries to appeal to them that the web-slinger is a true hero and they should all recognize it.
After some thoughts, another vote is taken, and everyone votes not guilty, except for Mary Jane. Eventually, the judge calls them back into the courtroom and asks if a final verdict has been made. The jury foreman states that they are still hung by one vote, and that it seems unlikely that it will be changed. Frustraited over the whole thing, the judge concedes and calls a mistrial. After the jury is released, Mary Jane calls to tell Peter everything that happened and how she is disappointed in the other jurors and he agrees to meet her at the court house. Later, as a plea bargan is being made, Spider-Man shows up and waves at Bill Treadway in from the window, unseen by both lawyers. Frightened by this site, Bill tells his lawyer to take the deals.
When Peter meets up with his wife, she expresses her frustration, but he tells her not to worry. She is surprised when she watches Bill Treadway being put into a prisoner's truck. Mary Jane tells her husband that the next time he catches somebody in the middle of a crime with no witneses to consult a lawyer.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson
Continuity Notes
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. 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.
Child Star
Dabbling in the occult, Roger and Jane Price have completed a ritual ceremony to summon two demons to do their bidding. As they celebrate, not far away a young toddler named Eddie Price begins crying in his crib, sensing that something is wrong. Unaware of the real danger happening on their street, figure their son has an upset stomach and try to calm the child. Suddenly, the area is struck with an earthquake, causing a crack to form on the Price's living room form, breaking the protective pentagram keeping the two demons in their thrall.
As soon as their free, the demons -- Gort and Rath -- use their magical powers to torture the two humans that summoned them. That's when Eddie's mother looks out the window and sees that the entire neighborhood has undergone a strange transformation and that everyone is in a panic. Suddenly, their young child is transformed into Captain Universe by the Uni-Power. The toddler uses his newfound powers to shrink his parents down in size and put them in the crib where they will be safe.
The child also uses his new abilities to increase the size of two of his toy monsters to battle Gort and Rath. Seeing that the child is responsible, the two demons tried to attack Eddie, but he uses his powers to obliterate the monsters. With the crisis over, everything turns back to normal. In the aftermath of the battle, Roger and Jane begin scrubbing the pentagram off their floor, vowing never to deal with magic ever again. Eddie returns to his room, where he restores his parents back to normal. His parents aren't sure what happened but they feel they should be proud of their son.
Recurring Characters
Captain Universe