The Time Before Part 1

On an alien world, an elder has gathered the youth of his tribe together to tell them a story by the fire. It is a tale is about a dark time in their history when they were under the yoke of a tyrant. The story involves the madman known as Carnage, the other-worldly hero Spider-Man, Dusk the champion of their people, and their former ruler Blastaar…..

The tale begins on Earth, where Cletus Kasady is still imprisoned in a maximum-security cell despite the fact that his Carnage symbiote was taken from him.[1] However, he suddenly beings to smile as he hears a voice calling out to him from an impossibly distant place. At that same moment, in a Manhattan alley, a portal way opens. Elsewhere, Peter Parker can’t sleep as he is still dealing with the grief of losing his wife recently and decides to go out web-slinging.[2] By this time, Cletus Kasady has managed to break out of his cell and is racing to the portal in a stolen van. He is certain that the voice is going to make him Carnage again. Spotting the portal in the alley, Cletus speeds toward. However, before he can pass through, Spider-Man lands on the hood and tries to yank Kasady out of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the van has enough momentum left that they go through the portal anyway. After the van passes through the portal closes. On the other side, Spider-Man recognizes the Distortion Area and realizes that he and Cletus have somehow been transported to the Negative Zone. They are caught in a debris storm and separated. As he is tossed around in the maelstrom, Spider-Man’s costume is ripped to shreds when he spots a swirl of energy and sense that reaching it will be the key to his survival.

When he reaches out and touches the energy his mind is suddenly flooded with images of the High Evolutionary’s New Men and Knights of Wundagore, and strangely, himself. When the images vanish he is shocked to see that he is wearing a different costume. Although he has never seen this costume before, it feels familiar.[3] He dismisses this situation so he can resume his search for Kasady in the maelstrom. Spotting an resident of the Negative Zone causing the maelstrom, Spider-Man is surprised to discover that his new costume helps him navigate the storm making the rescue much easier.[4] As he grabs the alien the pair are struck by a blast of energy and crash on a nearby planet. There they are confronted by Blastaar the Living Bombburst. Blastaar is wired into a machine that will amplify his powers and allow him to breach the barrier to Earth as part of an invasion plan and orders his minions to capture the intruders. That’s when he recognizes one of them and at first, Spider-Man thinks it’s him when the alien explains that Blastaar is speaking of him.[5] When Blastaar tries to obliterate them, Spider-Man gets them to safety. The alien then shows him an escape route where which leads them to the people who are resisting Blastaar’s rule.

There the aliens recognize the man that Spider-Man has saved. When he puts on an all-black costume they all cheer the man as Dusk. Dusk then asks Spider-Man to join his cause.[6] Confused by this whole situation, Spider-Man agrees. Meanwhile, on the surface, Blastaar stands in the smoldering ruins caused by his attempt to destroy Spider-Man and Dusk when he comes across Cletus Kasady.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Cletus Kasady, Blastaar, Dusk

Continuity Notes

1. The Carnage symbiote was consumed by Venom in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #10.

2. At the time of this story, everyone thought Mary Jane had died in a plane crash in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13. She survived and will turn up alive in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #29. Mary Jane is referred to as Peter’s wife here and he is depicted wearing a wedding band on his left hand. However, years later, their marriage is erased by Mephisto from existence in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the new reality, Peter would be wearing an engagement ring instead of a wedding band.

3. Spider-Man has a brush with Reality-751263 which is the designation for the Spider-Man: Unlimited cartoon which aired for a season from 1999 to 2001. It was a spin-off of the popular Spider-Man animated series of the 1990s and featured a plot about Spider-Man getting stranded on the High Evolutionary’s Counter-Earth. He spent the series battling various criminal New Men and trying to find his way home, although the series was canceled before the story could be concluded. The narration here refers readers to Spider-Man Unlimited (vol. 2) #1. The second volume of Spider-Man Unlimited spent the first three issues adapting episodes of the series before moving on to its own original stories inspired by the cartoon series. While there is no official statement one way or the other, the second volume of Spider-Man Unlimited takes place in an alternate version of the cartoon universe. As yet, there is not a reality number officially designated to these stories but I’d hazard a guess that they took place on Reality-7831 which was seen in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #7.

4. Spider-Man remarks that this new costume makes him feel uneasy because it reminds him of Venom. This is a reference to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 when Peter replaced his damaged costume with the alien symbiote that would later become part of Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #299.

5. Blastaar last fought Spider-Man back in Spider-Man #90.

6. Spider-Man is confused because the man who knew as Dusk was killed in Spider-Man #90, forgetting that Dusk said he wasn’t the only person to carry the mantle. In fact, next issue we learn that this is the original Dusk who went mission prior to Spider-Man #90.