Spoilers on! Influenced by Tony Stark, Peter Parker revealed his secret identity to the world in support of the Superhuman Registration Act during CIVIL WAR. But when he turned against Tony, Spider-Man found himself on the run with no protection from the villains who now know who he really is. The Kingpin hired a sniper to subtly take Peter off the board having followed him to the motel where he was hiding with his wife Mary Jane Watson-Parker and aunt May Parker. But May ended up being the one who took the bullet. With his beloved aunt on death's door, a more sombre and angry Spider-Man dons his black costume again and desperately looks for a way to save May, have his revenge and not end up in Prison 42 for betraying Iron Man...
The two Spider-Man Family issues take place earlier in Spidey's career, but if you read them like flashback stories in the points where I placed them, you'll be fine. They actually have next to nothing to do with the main story, anyway.
Events leading up to this storyline:
- Amazing Spider-Man #539-542 *
- Spider-Man Family #1[1/9]
- Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #17-23
- Sensational Spider-Man #35-37
- Spider-Man Family #2[1/5]
- Sensational Spider-Man #38-40
- Amazing Spider-Man #543 *
Amazing Spider-Man #539 *
Amazing Spider-Man #540 *
Spider-Man employs a little detective work to track the sniper Jake Martino at a train station, but is gunned down during questioning. Spidey throws a tracer at this new gunman and calls an ambulance for Martino. Mary Jane lets Peter know that May is going to die just as the second gunman shows up to finish off Martino. When he calls his employer with an update, Peter grabs the phone off him and learns that the Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) ordered the hit...
Amazing Spider-Man #541 *
Peter Parker tells the Kingpin he's coming for him, knowing he's jailed at Ryker's Island. Peter gives May a sneaky blood transfusion to prolong her life. Jumping back into his black costume, he breaks into Ryker's where the Kingpin has paid off the guards and set a trap. He's even managed to dress up for the occasion...
Amazing Spider-Man #542 *
The centre of the prison has been transformed into an arena with Spider-Man and the Kingpin in the centre, surrounded by the freed prisoners. Pete strips down to his leggings and gives the Kingpin the pounding of his life. With Fisk on his knees, bloodier than hell, Peter promises to come back and kill him the moment May dies. The prisoners have seen that the Kingpin is no longer untouchable, weakening his position at Ryker's. Peter returns to the hospital and Mary Jane warns Peter that they're about to run out of money to pay for May's care...
Spider-Man Family #1[1/9]
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #17
By night, Spider-Man is pursued by SHIELD's Cape-Killers who seem to be more focused on unregistered heroes than actual criminals. By day, Peter Parker's back at Midtown High School working as a support teacher for the school's coach, Flash Thompson. Peter goes by the name Ben Reilly and uses an image-inducer to hide his identity which still seems like an unnecessarily risky move. The Sandman tracks Peter down in the apartment building he's staying in to ask for his help springing his dad from jail. Floyd Baker was charged with the murder of a man who looks exactly like Peter's long-dead uncle Ben Parker. But this only took place a few weeks ago...
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #18
A trip to Manhattan's 13th Police Precinct backfires when Peter's Jamie Madrox disguise fails him when the charge on his image-inducer runs out and the Sandman gives himself away. The outlaw duo find a witness who saw 'Uncle Ben' shooting the Spider-Man of 2211 (a future Spidey from Earth-9500) and keeping his helmet when the rest of the corpse disintegrated. The helmet recorded future Spidey's last moments and proved Ben was the killer. Meanwhile, when Flash Thompson and Betty Brant go out to dinner, Betty's attacked by a swarm of spiders secretly controlled by Flash's fellow Midtown teacher Miss Arrow.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #19
Betty distracts Flash on the drive home and he crashes into a police car. Betty and Flash are arrested and the cause of the distraction is revealed to be tiny spiders. Spider-Man and the Sandman use Spider-Man 2211's helmet to track Uncle Ben to the school where they're greeted by Principal Harrington who transforms into the Sandman, then Spider-Man 2211. It turns out the janitor murdered the real Principal Harrington months ago. They realise this new Ben Parker is from an alternate Earth (specifically Earth-6078) while the one they've been chasing is the shape-shifting Chameleon of Earth-9500. At the prison, Floyd Baker is rushed onto death row as time begins to run out. Spider-Man uses Spider-Man 2211's high-tech helmet to switch Chameleon 2211 and Floyd Baker's places via teleportation, so Floyd is saved and the Chameleon is electrocuted.
A trip to Manhattan's 13th Police Precinct backfires when Peter's Jamie Madrox disguise fails him when the charge on his image-inducer runs out and the Sandman gives himself away. The outlaw duo find a witness who saw 'Uncle Ben' shooting the Spider-Man of 2211 (a future Spidey from Earth-9500) and keeping his helmet when the rest of the corpse disintegrated. The helmet recorded future Spidey's last moments and proved Ben was the killer. Meanwhile, when Flash Thompson and Betty Brant go out to dinner, Betty's attacked by a swarm of spiders secretly controlled by Flash's fellow Midtown teacher Miss Arrow.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #19
Betty distracts Flash on the drive home and he crashes into a police car. Betty and Flash are arrested and the cause of the distraction is revealed to be tiny spiders. Spider-Man and the Sandman use Spider-Man 2211's helmet to track Uncle Ben to the school where they're greeted by Principal Harrington who transforms into the Sandman, then Spider-Man 2211. It turns out the janitor murdered the real Principal Harrington months ago. They realise this new Ben Parker is from an alternate Earth (specifically Earth-6078) while the one they've been chasing is the shape-shifting Chameleon of Earth-9500. At the prison, Floyd Baker is rushed onto death row as time begins to run out. Spider-Man uses Spider-Man 2211's high-tech helmet to switch Chameleon 2211 and Floyd Baker's places via teleportation, so Floyd is saved and the Chameleon is electrocuted.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #20
Betty Brant makes bail and is starting to realise Miss Arrow is behind her woes. She's also figured that 'Ben Reilly' is actually Peter Parker and the two of them talk about their shared history now that she knows he's Spider-Man. Miss Arrow has chosen Flash Thompson as a mate and sees any other woman he talks to as a threat, so she tracks him to a bowling alley and attacks his friend Kelly Kulick by shooting spiders out of her mouth at her. She then takes Flash by force before Spider-Man can stop her...
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #21
Spidey finally figures Arrow is really Ero, aka the totemic spider-deity The Other. She's planning on using Flash as a host for her spider offspring, a process that will kill him. When Spider-Man tracks down the Other at a church in Manhattan, his wrist spikes pop out and the two of 'em go at it. Arrow stuns Spider-Man with her stingers and decides to use him as a host instead. Over at the Daily Bugle, J Jonah Jameson receives footage of Spider-Man confronting the police over his unregistered status and considers releasing it to screw with him. Joe 'Robbie' Robertson tears into Jonah in front of the rest of the Bugle staff for constantly attacking Peter, even now that he's on the run with his aunt in hospital and his life in tatters. So Jonah fires him...
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #22
Sensational Spider-Man #37When Peter Parker went public, Calvin Zabo investigated his origins and emulated the experiment that gave him his spider powers. Zabo empowered outsiders who'd suffered terrible loss to see if they'd also decide to become heroes. Mister Hyde interrupts Spidey's efforts to break Jordan free. The conflict ends in Hyde ripping off his own eyelids to get Spider-Man's webbing off his face. Jordan frees himself and Spider-Man stops him using acid on Mister Hyde to avenge the death of his mother. The Black Cat about the whole experience. She discovers Jordan's mother is still alive.
Betty Brant makes bail and is starting to realise Miss Arrow is behind her woes. She's also figured that 'Ben Reilly' is actually Peter Parker and the two of them talk about their shared history now that she knows he's Spider-Man. Miss Arrow has chosen Flash Thompson as a mate and sees any other woman he talks to as a threat, so she tracks him to a bowling alley and attacks his friend Kelly Kulick by shooting spiders out of her mouth at her. She then takes Flash by force before Spider-Man can stop her...
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #21
Spidey finally figures Arrow is really Ero, aka the totemic spider-deity The Other. She's planning on using Flash as a host for her spider offspring, a process that will kill him. When Spider-Man tracks down the Other at a church in Manhattan, his wrist spikes pop out and the two of 'em go at it. Arrow stuns Spider-Man with her stingers and decides to use him as a host instead. Over at the Daily Bugle, J Jonah Jameson receives footage of Spider-Man confronting the police over his unregistered status and considers releasing it to screw with him. Joe 'Robbie' Robertson tears into Jonah in front of the rest of the Bugle staff for constantly attacking Peter, even now that he's on the run with his aunt in hospital and his life in tatters. So Jonah fires him...
Betty Brant arrives at the church and fires numerous shotgun shells at Miss Arrow until the remaining spiders that make up her form escape out of a window. Spider-Man gives chase and their fight continues over the streets of New York and into an aviary where she's eaten by birds.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #23
Spider-Man learns about Robbie Robertson being fired and leaves a message in J Jonah Jameson's office asking to meet him at Lieber's Gym. Spidey orders Jonah to rehire Robbie, but Jonah makes him choose between that and dropping the lawsuit against Peter Parker for deceiving him all these years. Peter chooses the lawsuit, believing Jonah will rehire Robbie anyway. When Jonah accuses Spider-Man of being selfish, he unmasks and goads JJJ into hitting him. Jonah only stops punching Peter when he's too tired to carry on. Peter then gives Jonah a film from a camera that just recorded the whole thing and would make Jonah more money than the court case. Later, Jonah smashes the film and gets hit in the face with a door when he passes the ladies' toilets. He visits Robbie and rehires him. Robbie figures Peter actually did all of that to receive the beating he feels he deserves.
Sensational Spider-Man #35
The NYPD set a trap for Spider-Man but end up capturing Ethan Myers, a young man who gained his powers and knock-off 'Spider-Man' costume from an mysterious benefactor. The real Spide7 visits Ethan at the window of his jail cell and rips the wall off to get to him when he suddenly mutantes. Spider-Man takes Ethan to Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four and a set of samples to Dr Kurt Conners (the former Lizard). Another 'Spider-Man' soon shows up and accidentally kills himself while web-slinging. As the subject of his next experiment, the mystery benefactor chooses Jordan Harrison - a kid Peter Parker used to teach at Midtown High...
The NYPD set a trap for Spider-Man but end up capturing Ethan Myers, a young man who gained his powers and knock-off 'Spider-Man' costume from an mysterious benefactor. The real Spide7 visits Ethan at the window of his jail cell and rips the wall off to get to him when he suddenly mutantes. Spider-Man takes Ethan to Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four and a set of samples to Dr Kurt Conners (the former Lizard). Another 'Spider-Man' soon shows up and accidentally kills himself while web-slinging. As the subject of his next experiment, the mystery benefactor chooses Jordan Harrison - a kid Peter Parker used to teach at Midtown High...
Sensational Spider-Man #36
Spidey takes another Spider-Man knock-off to Conners. Detective Jonas Fogg of the NYPD has a whole batch of them in his cells, rounded up and dropped off by the real Spider-Man. Despite being at odds over registration, Mister Fantastic continues to help Peter, giving him a tracer he found under Ethan Myers' skin which Spider-Man uses to locate the benefactor, Dr Calvin Zabo. In the sewers, Jordan desperately tries to escape Dr Zabo who claims to have killed his mother. Realising Spider-Man has found him, Zabo swallows the formula that transforms him into the deadly Mister Hyde...
Spidey takes another Spider-Man knock-off to Conners. Detective Jonas Fogg of the NYPD has a whole batch of them in his cells, rounded up and dropped off by the real Spider-Man. Despite being at odds over registration, Mister Fantastic continues to help Peter, giving him a tracer he found under Ethan Myers' skin which Spider-Man uses to locate the benefactor, Dr Calvin Zabo. In the sewers, Jordan desperately tries to escape Dr Zabo who claims to have killed his mother. Realising Spider-Man has found him, Zabo swallows the formula that transforms him into the deadly Mister Hyde...
Spider-Man Family #2[1/5]
In the not-so-distant past, Venom (Eddie Brock, still hosting the Symbiote at this point) returned to New York to threaten a businesswoman. Spider-Man saved her. On further investigation in his civilian guise, Peter Parker learned Venom was hunting a group of corrupt business people who experimented on the homeless to rush through a hair-growth serum. Spider-Man saved the last of the corrupt corporate execs from Venom but left him with the police.
Sensational Spider-Man #38Not long ago, Eddie Brock sold his Symbiote after discovering he has cancer. Brock is spending his earnings on his health care, but his subconscious has begun to manifest as a secondary 'Venom' persona which encourages him to seek revenge on Peter Parker. When he discovers Peter's aunt is in the same hospital he is, 'Venom' convinces him that fate has landed this opportunity on his doorstep. Meanwhile, Spider-Man approaches the psychic Madame Web and asks her to help him psychically communicate with May Parker in her unconscious state...
In the not-so-distant past, Venom (Eddie Brock, still hosting the Symbiote at this point) returned to New York to threaten a businesswoman. Spider-Man saved her. On further investigation in his civilian guise, Peter Parker learned Venom was hunting a group of corrupt business people who experimented on the homeless to rush through a hair-growth serum. Spider-Man saved the last of the corrupt corporate execs from Venom but left him with the police.
Sensational Spider-Man #39
Sensational Spider-Man #40Peter Parker recalls his origin and all the people's he's lost when he's visited by God who tries to convince him to stop feeling sorry for himself by showing him a representation of all the lives he's saved. Peter still begs God not to let May die and God tells him to have faith. In a possible future, a greying Peter Parker spends quality time with his wife, Mary Jane, and his two kids, Benjamin and Mary (though his is apparently the future Earth-7140, so don't get your hopes up, Pete.)
Peter, Madame Web, Mary Jane Watson-Parker and Anna Watson (MJ's aunt) gather for the seance in one of the hospital's waiting rooms. Peter makes contact with May and she seems ready to die. But Peter's not ready to let go. Eddie Brock's arrival by May's hospital bed manifests on the psychic plain as May being in some form of trouble. Peter arrives in her room and finds Eddie sat on the ledge of a broken window. He beat 'Venom' back by cutting himself. He asks for forgiveness and throws himself out of the window. When he wakes up, he's in a hospital bed. Peter Parker saved his life. Now he has something else to hate him for. And 'Venom' is still telling him who to kill...
Amazing Spider-Man #543 *
Not even a second infusion of Peter's irradiated spider-blood is helping May Parker, now. The police finally investigate the unreported shooting and other illegal activity surrounding the mysterious 'May Reilly'. When Lieutenant Detective Robert Delint comes looking for answers, Peter punches him out and webs him up. He gets Mary Jane to steal some transfer forms and wheels May out of the hospital disguised as a corpse. He steals an ambulance, then signs her into another hospital. Peter's fully aware that he's breaking numerous laws, but Aunt May's dying which clearly justifies it all. If you think this is the worst day in Peter Parker's life, just remember there's always one more day...
Fallout from the Spider-Man Family tie-ins...
Amazing Spider-Man #258 (1984)
Spider-Man learns his costume is a living alien Symbiote, has it forcibly removed by Mister Fantastic and returns to his original costume during THE SURTUR SAGA.
Peter Parker, Spider-Man #12 (1999)
The Wizard brainwashes the Sandman into being a villain again.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual #1 (2007)
A story set just after the Sandman's first appearance reveals more about his relationship with his father.
Daredevil #93 (2007)
The Kingpin is released from prison, but has his US citizenship revoked and is forced to leave the country.
Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1 (2007)
Mary Jane Parker received an offer from an ex-boyfriend to leave her dangerous life with Peter Parker behind her.
Amazing Spider-Man #544-545 (2008)
Spider-Man goes back to wearing his red and blue costume; ignoring May Parker's wishes, Peter & Mary Jane Parker make a deal with Mephisto that results in her being magically healed; the deal also erases Peter & MJ's wedding from history, makes Spider-Man lose his augmented powers received from the spider-deity called the Great Weaver and seemingly causes everyone to forget Peter is Spider-Man; Harry Osborn is revealed to be alive; Peter and Mary Jane are revealed to have split up during ONE MORE DAY.
Amazing Spider-Man #568-569 (2008)
Eddie Brock returns, apparently having been rehabilitated; Mister Negative cures Eddie's cancer, but accidentally infuses the remaining Symbiote cells in his system with enough power to create a new hybrid symbiote, turning Eddie Brock in to Anti-Venom during NEW WAYS TO DIE!
What If? Spider-Man: Back in Black #1 (2009)
An alternate universe (Earth-90213) is revealed in which Mary Jane Parker is shot instead of May Parker; May disowns Peter Parker when Spider-Man kills the Kingpin.
Amazing Spider-Man #615-617 (2010)
Spider-Man and the Sandman go back to being enemies, with the Sandman no longer knowing Spider-Man's secret identity during THE GAUNTLET.
Amazing Spider-Man #635-637 (2010)
Kraven the Hunter is resurrected; Spider-Man dons the black costume again when he has his showdown with Kraven during GRIM HUNT.
Amazing Spider-Man #639 (2010)
It's revealed that it was actually Doctor Strange and not Mephisto who erased everyone's memory of Spider-Man's secret identity.
Shadowland #5 (2011)
The Kingpin gains control of the Hand and starts to rebuild his criminal empire in America during SHADOWLAND.
Amazing Spider-Man #671-672 (2011)
Eddie Brock sacrifices the Anti-Venom Symbiote to cure the New Yorkers who have been transformed into giant spiders by the Jackal; Kaine (Spider-Man's only surviving clone) beings displaying the augmented totemic spider-powers Peter lost during SPIDER-ISLAND.
Venom #17 (2011)
Eddie Brock gains the Toxin Symbiote and becomes the new Toxin, giving in to his more psychotic tendencies again.
Scarlet Spider #14-15 (2013)
Ero returns and resurrects Kaine (now calling himself the Scarlet Spider) when he embraces The Other.
Amazing Spider-Man #9-10 (2015)
Spider-Man 2211 returns; Kaine learns the nature of the Other from 'Old Man Spider' (the Spider-Man of Earth-4) during SPIDER-VERSE.
Venom #6 (2017)
Eddie Brock is reunited with the Venom Symbiote once more, resuming his Venom identity during MARVEL NOW!
Amazing Spider-Man #796 (2018)
Peter Parker and Mary Jane get back together.
See how this story fits into the wider Marvel Universe continuity with these reading orders:
Spider-Man: Back in Black
Amazing Spider-Man #539-543
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #17-23
Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man Annual #1
Peter Parker, Spider-Man: Back in Black
Marvel Spotlight: Spider-Man (2007)
Sensational Spider-Man #35-40
Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1
Spider-Man: Back in Black Handbook #1
Spider-Man Family #1-2
Amazing Spider-Man by J Michael Straczynski Omnibus vol.2
Amazing Spider-Man by J Michael Straczynski: Ultimate Collection vol.5
Amazing Spider-Man by J Michael Straczynski: Ultimate Collection vol.5
Include... Amazing Spider-Man #539-543
One of my favorite stories of Spider-man and so little talked about and remembered.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame it was completely overshadowed by One More Day. Any excuse for Spidey to get back in the black costume is good with me!
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