Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #12
Perchance to Dream
After the Chameleon jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his seeming death, Peter Parker tries to convince himself that it is not his fault.[1] But no matter how hard he tries he cannot convince himself of this. Instead, this recent death leads him to think about how his life is a sea of misery and he spends his time waiting for the next tragedy to happen. Wondering if the next one will be his wife, Mary Jane.[2] When he comes home, Aunt May is worried when she sees that Peter is soaking wet. He fakes a smile and tells May that he’ll sit down to dinner once he has had time to freshen up. Aunt May follows him upstairs assuring his dinner won’t be ready for a half-hour but stops talking when she sees that Peter has collapsed on his bed and fallen asleep.
Peter sleeps deeply and begins to dream. In his dream, he wakes up to find himself gaged and webbed to a wall covered with comic book pages. That’s when some of his foes begin coming out of the shadows. Struggling to get free, Peter merely dislodges one of the comic book pages causing it to whip into his face. On the page are panels that detail the day when George Stacy died.[3] The scenes on the page come to life as Peter relives that tragic day. He was busy battling Doctor Octopus when one of his mechanical arms smashed a nearby chimney. The falling debris would have crushed a child if George Stacy had not been there to push the boy out of the way. Although George died a hero, this did little to stop Peter from blaming himself for George’s death. He remembers carrying George away from the scene of the battle. There, on a nearby rooftop, George’s dying words were the revelation that he knew Peter Parker was really Spider-Man and then getting Peter to promise to look after his daughter, Gwen.[4] This was a promise that Peter feels he failed to keep.
As he struggles to get free from the webbing his villains surround him as more pages come lose each one showing him other times that people died on his watch. Harry Osborn, Kraven the Hunter, Norman Osborn, his unborn child, and his clone Ben Reilly all died because he couldn’t save their lives.[5] By this time, Peter has managed to break free from the webbing and his foes begin to back off. Knowing something big is coming, Peter cannot stop the last page from flying into his field of view. This one details the day that Gwen Stacy died.[6] He is then forced to remember what happened on that tragic day. The Green Goblin, knowing Peter’s secret identity, had kidnapped Gwen and taken her to the top of the George Washington Bridge.[7] During the battle, the Goblin knocked Gwen over the side of the bridge. Trying to save her, Peter caught her let in a web-line but the sudden stop from the fall snapped her neck. Peter remembers pulling up Gwen’s lifeless body and ignoring the truth until he could deny it anymore, Gwen was dead and it was all his fault.
Although this death cuts deep, this is not the last vision he sees in his dreams, as there is still one more death that Peter feels guilty over that overshadows them all. The pages that come fluttering Peter show him images that detail how Peter got his powers and how his inactivity to catch a crook led to the death of his beloved Uncle Ben by that same burglar during a botched home robbery.[8] He thinks how the death of Uncle Ben hit his Aunt May so hard and how he learned a painful lesson, that with great power comes great responsibility. Accepting the price of becoming Spider-Man, Peter remembers why he continues to fight and breaks free from the webbing that has pinned him down. As his enemies —the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and the Vulture — emerge from the shadows, Peter is ready for them and tells them to bring it on. As they fight, Peter remembers some of his earliest battles against these foes and how he bested them time and time again.[9] Unable to match Spider-Man’s skills and strength, these foes suddenly dematerialize leaving Peter alone on the rooftop. As he mourns the many losses he has faced over the years, Gwen Stacy comes up and comforts Peter, telling him that it’s okay now. Peter asks why he can’t stay with her and she reminds him that he has to move and this is all a dream.
That’s when Peter wakes up, his Aunt May is standing by his bed trying to wake him. When she asks Peter if he had a bad dream. Peter suddenly smiles and tells her that he did not.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Aunt May
Continuity Notes
Although the Chameleon is believed to have died he will turn up alive again in Get Kraven #1. Also, this scene features the original twin towers of the World Trade Center as part of the New York City skyline. This should be considered a topical reference because 9/11 happened like 20 years ago.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.
George Stacy died in Amazing Spider-Man #90.
As revealed in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1, George Stacy began privately investigating Spider-Man after a visit from the novice hero early on in his career.
There’s a lot to unpack here with the people who Peter believes are dead. Some of these deaths were either faked or undone such as…
Harry Osborn seemingly died in Spectacular Spider-Man #200 due to a side effect caused by the Goblin Formula he ingested. However, Harry survived and was spirited away by his father, Norman Osborn, who led the world to believe Harry had been dead for years, as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #581.
Kraven the Hunter committed suicide in Amazing Spider-Man #294. However, he will be resurrected years later in Amazing Spider-Man #635.
Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin, was seemingly killed when impaled by his own Goblin Glider in Amazing Spider-Man #122. However, Norman was saved thanks to the regenerative properties of his Goblin Formula. As revealed in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1, Norman went into hiding for years before resurfacing again in Amazing Spider-Man #412.
Baby May Paker is the only person in Peter’s recollections that has actually remained dead. The baby was stillborn in Amazing Spider-Man #418.
Lastly, Peter Parker’s clone Ben Reilly was killed when he was impaled on a Goblin Glider in Spider-Man #75. However, he was later resurrected by his creator, the Jackal, who discovered a means of using his cloning technology to bring the dead back to life, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 4) #22.
Gwen Stacy died in Amazing Spider-Man #121.
The Green Goblin learned Spider-Man’s secret identity in Amazing Spider-Man #39-40.
You should already know that Peter’s origins and the death of poor Uncle Ben all happened in Amazing Fantasy #15.
The scenes that are shown here are:
Spider-Man’s battle with the Green Goblin from Amazing Spider-Man #17
Spider-Man’s battle with Doctor Octopus in Amazing Spider-Man #12
Spider-Man’s battle with the Vulture from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
Spider-Man’s first battle with Doctor Octopus from Amazing Spider-Man #3
Spider-Man’s first battle with the Sandman from Amazing Spider-Man #4
Lastly, Spider-Man’s first battle with the Green Goblin from Amazing Spider-Man #14
