Amazing Spider-Man #504
The Coming of Chaos
With the world imperiled by Morwen the Sorceress of Chaos, Spider-Man has made an uneasy alliance with the Asgardian trickster god, Loki. While the pair eat hotdogs while waiting for Morwen to show up, Spider-Man remarks about how he’s been dealing with a lot more mystical threats than usual lately, like he’s being set up for something.[1] That’s when Morwen appears and asks Spider-Man if he will accept her gift or refuse and face destruction. Finally face-to-face with Morwen, Loki recognizes her host as Tess Black, one of the many daughters that Loki has spawned over the centuries. Hearing this makes Morwen realize why she was drawn to this body. When Loki orders Morwen to let his daughter go, the sorceress refuses and warns Loki from forcing her out of Tess’s body as it could drive her mad. Spider-Man pulls Loki aside and asks if Tess’s mix heritage might make it possible to free her without driving her mad, Loki thinks it is possible. Loki then suggests that Morwen give him the gift that Spider-Man is rejecting, suggesting that the aid of a god would be more befitting. Unfortunately, Morwen refuses, saying that she serves only chaos and that Spider-Man is a born agent of chaos, due to his connection to the spider, nature’s trickster.[2] Morwen says that Loki is not a suitable candidate as, despite his role as a trickster, he only has one goal, creating a universe where he is in charge and that is the opposite to chaos.
A battle soon breaks out, and Loki maintains the a mystical connection with Spider-Man so they can communicate telepathically during the battle. As they fail to subdue Morwen, Spider-Man makes a deduction about her choice of host. He points out that Morwen was unaware of Tess Black’s godly bloodline until after she possessed the body and that perhaps it was Tess who called out to Morwen, attracting her essence. He suggests that Loki try to reach out to his daughter’s mind telepathically like he is doing now. While Spider-Man keeps Morwen busy, Loki reaches into her mind in order to contact Tess. He wakes Tess up and commands her to fight back against Morwen before she has a chance to destroy Spider-Man. Learning that Loki is her father gives Tess the strength to fight back. By this point, Morwen has Spider-Man bound in mystical energies and is about to stab him in the chest with a mystical dagger when something inside makes her stop. That’s when Loki unleashes a powerful mystical blasts that banish Morwen back to where she was previously exiled. This leaves the sleeping body of Tess in her place. Loki scoops up his daughter and thanks Spider-Man for his help, saying that he is in debt to the wall-crawler before teleporting away.
After his encounter, Spider-Man is curious about Tess Black and Morwen and decides to investigate things further. As Peter Parker, he goes to the local library to access the internet and finds nothing online about Morwen but is able to track down Tess Black’s address. When he shows up that night as Spider-Man, Peter is shocked to discover that her home is up for sale. He is then visited by Loki again who tells Spider-Man that he has moved Tess and erased all knowledge of her lineage so that she remains safe from those who might go after her to get through to Loki. He then gives Spider-Man a rune that keeps track of where Tess is and asks Spider-Man to check in on her periodically, saying that if she is ever in trouble he can use the rune to call on him. Spider-Man agrees to do so and Loki departs. As Spider-Man swings home, he thinks it’s pretty cool to have a god on his side.[3]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Loki, Morwen, Tess Black
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man specifically mentions his recent encounters with Dormammu in Amazing Spider-Man (vol.2) #57-58/Amazing Spider-Man #500 and Morwen last issue. However, he has been dealing with other mystical threats such as Morlun (Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2) #30-35), Shade (Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #40-42), and Shanthra. (Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #46-48)
Spider-Man makes a joke that this argument is a supernatural version of American Idol. American Idol is a singing competition that ran on the Fox Network from 2002 to 2016 and is experiencing a revival on ABC that began in 2018. It’s use here should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
At the time of this writing, Spider-Man has yet to be depicted looking in on Tess Black or call in his marker to Loki.
