Synopsis:
Spider-Man is caught in between the events of a possible future: An older Peter Parker is being cornered by the police; his past: A teen-age Peter is about to be bitten by the radioactive spider; and the present: All of New York’s heroes lie dead at the hands of Dormammu. He has the ability to change it all, but for now he watches. The future Peter is confronted by Lt. William Lamont. The two talk, and we find that in this possible future, Lamont knows Spider-Man’s identity, Peter and Mary Jane have a son named Ben, Aunt May is dead, and Peter is charged with manslaughter. After the conversation, the future Spidey fights the police and is aware of the regular, present-day, Spider-Man’s presence. He tells him to “Tell MJ you love her every night, and every morning. And as gently as you can, make her understand... that we all fall, sooner or later. Nobody lives forever. Nobody gets a free pass. What matters is that you go down fighting…and you go down clean.” The future web-slinger fights the police until he is shot and killed.

As the Peter Parker of the past is about to be bitten, our present-Pete is about to deflect the spider, preventing the creation of Spider-Man, and Uncle Ben’s death. He then realizes that if he did prevent Spider-Man from ever existing, maybe people would die because he wasn’t there to save them. He lets the spider continue its path, and it bites the teen-version.

Dr. Strange manages to communicate to Spider-Man telepathically. He manages to slowly transfer Spider-Man back to the present, but the wall-crawler needs to re-fight almost every battle he’s ever been in! After hours of fighting, Spider-Man works his way up to the present, and Strange manages to teleport him back to before the heroes of New York opened the portal. Spidey prevents them from opening it and tells them what their fate will be. Thor senses that he is telling the truth, and so they all rush to defeat the Mindless Ones. Dr. Strange also arrives to help them and New York is saved! After the battle, the webbed one tells Strange how the Dr. Strange in an alternate future helped him to the present. Strange believes him, and reaches into his pocket. He finds that a golden ornament had mysteriously into his pocket, and he gives it to Spider-Man as a token of his appreciation. Peter remembers its his birthday, and returns to his apartment. Just as he leaves, Strange is attacked by Baron Mordo.

As Peter reaches his home, Aunt May and Mary Jane greet him with a surprise birthday party! After the gifts, cake, and celebration, Peter takes a stroll up on the roof and opens the token Dr. Strange had given him. Inside was a piece of paper that read, “You have five minutes. Spend them as you wish.” Unexpectedly, none other than Uncle Ben appears! He claims that he was walking and heard a gunshot, but now that doesn’t matter, he’s with his nephew. Peter asks Ben for forgiveness, for when he wasn’t there when he needed him. Ben replies, “We all mess up sometimes. It’s not only inevitable. I think maybe it’s even necessary. You know what would disappoint me? If you didn’t reach for the kind of life I wanted for you. If you settled for less because you were afraid of reaching for more. If you walked away from what you believe, even once. Have you done that?” Peter: “No. No, I haven’t.” Ben: “Then I taught you right, and your life has meaning.” Ben Parker left knowing his nephew was happy. Peter went to bed, telling his wife how much he loved her. Mary Jane responded with affectionate words herself, wishing Peter a happy birthday, brining a joyous end to this milestone issue.

Opinion:
The Bad: Apart from Uncle Ben’s words with Peter, nothing of a great significance occurred in this milestone. It was nice seeing all those villains, but they were only highlights of past turning points. All of those old battles weren’t that appropriate of such a milestone.

The Good: It was really nice seeing all of Spider-Man’s greatest foes battle him again; especially on John Romita Jr.’s double splash. But I thought the highlight of the issue, was Peter’s moments with Uncle Ben. It was all very touching, and I’m very glad John Romita Sr. was selected to pencil those last four pages. Very appropriate.

Rating: ***1/2 Three-and-half-star issue.

Reviewed by Willi Gerrard

Back Return to Reviews Home Return to the Homepage