Amazing Spider-Man #568
Back With a Vengeance
Thinking back to his humble beginnings, Peter Parker recalls how he became Spider-Man when he was bitten by a radioactive spider when he was a teenager. At first, he used his newly acquired powers to become a showbiz sensation. However, that all changed on the day he refused to stop a burglar. Later, his Uncle Ben was murdered in a botch home invasion and Peter went after the killer as Spider-Man. He discovered that the killer was the same man he refused to stop days earlier. This taught Peter a very harsh lesson that with great power comes great responsibility. From then, Peter used his powers to fight crime as Spider-Man. From then, his life of Peter Parker often took a back seat to his responsibilities as Spider-Man which soon became a full-time job.[2] He still used his powers to make money, however, by selling photos of Spider-Man’s exploits to the Daily Bugle, even though published J. Jonah Jameson usually used the photos to make Spider-Man look bad.[3]
However, things have changed since those early days. Now the Daily Bugle — rebranded as the DB —is run by Dexter Bennett,[4] who fired Peter when he refused to be reduced to being a paparazzi.[5] Since then he has been scrambling to find a new job under the mounting pressure of his new roommate Vin Gonzales.[6] Even his friends have been helping him try and find something. When Lily Hollister suggests that Harry Osborn employ him at the Coffee Bean, Harry knows that there is no way Peter would be able to follow a normal nine-to-five job. Peter can totally see things Harry’s way, especially since his life as Spider-Man has been complicated by a surge of new foes.[7]
Case in point, at this very moment, one of these new foes — The Menace — is attacking a FEAST Center delivery truck with an advertisement for mayoral candidate Bill Hollister. After webbing up the falling truck, Spider-Man attacks Menace. The villain has developed a new arsenal of weapons, but Spider-Man points out that they are all derivative of past Goblins and finds this all very boring.[8] Ultimately, Spider-Man is caught off guard when Menace sets off a number of projectiles and buries him under debris. As Spider-Man struggles to get free, the Menace gets away, adding insult to injury nobody comes to the wall-crawler’s aid because of accusations that Spider-Man is a serial killer.[9] That’s when he notices a large group of Chinese individuals fleeing from the building that was damaged. Something about it seems out of the ordinary so Spider-Man decides to snap a photo of it before fleeing the scene himself. He later places a call to Harry Osborn to try and get one of his Coffee Bean employees to sell the photos to the DB for a cut of the money. Harry points out that this is absurd and that Peter should take his photos to one of the competing newspapers in the city.
A moment later, at Ben Urich’s fledgling Front Line newspaper, Urich struggles to organize a hectic newsroom, cursing his situation since he wants to be out as a reporter.[10] That’s when Joe Robertson comes in and tells Ben to step aside since he’s got plenty of experience running a newspaper from his time as editor-in-chief at the Daily Bugle.[11] That’s when Peter Parker shows up with is exclusive photos of the large number of Asians fleeing the building. Ben Urich is shocked to hear about a sweatshop being operated in the city. That’s when reporter Sally Floyd tells him that she just learned that the building was owned by mayoral candidate Russell Crowne. This story, with Peter’s photos, end up the front page in the latest edition of the Front Line. When Crowne sees this, he calls in his old friend Norman Osborn and asks him for his help. After Crowne agrees to grant Osborn some favors, Norman agrees to do something about it.[12]
Later, at the Thunderbolt’s headquarters in Colorado, there is a training session involving Songbird, Radioactive Man, Bullseye, and Venom. Radioactive Man and Songbird are particularly disturbed by Venom who is attacking dummies of all super-heroes instead of the mock-ups of heroes who have refused to register under the Super-Human Registration Act.[13] After the session is over, they are instructed that they are heading to New York City. When they wonder what could be waiting for them, Venom knows that this will eventually lead to them going after Spider-Man. While at the offices of the DB, Dexter Bennett finishes a phone call with Randall Crowne and calls in Betty Brant. In order to counter the story in the Front Line, Dexter sends Betty Brant to investigate Martin Li, a supporter of Bill Hollister, despite the fact that Li is a well-regarded pillar of the community.
When Betty arrives at the FEAST Center to do her investigation, Peter Parker’s Aunt May is disappointed to see Betty trying to dig up dirt on Martin Li. Li, on the other hand, has nothing to hide and agrees to answer whatever questions Brant may have. Betty insists on learning more about the so-called miracle cures that have been happening at the FEAST Center.[14] However, Li doesn’t have any explanation for it, suggesting that it may be God’s work. That’s when Betty Brant is surprised to see that Eddie Brock is among the patrons, as she thought he was dying of cancer.[15] Martin Li explains that Eddie Brock was one of his success stories. Li found Brock while he was praying in church and discovered that he was dying of cancer. With his resources, Martin then hired lawyer Matt Murdock who had Brock exonerated for all of the crimes he committed as Venom because he was under the control of the symbiote. As Martin puts his hand on Eddie’s shoulder —unseen by everyone else — his touch begins affecting Eddie’s body, causing alien particles in his blood to start glowing. Suddenly, black tendrils come out of his capillaries and begin enveloping the glowing particles.
Later that day, Peter Parker and Ben Urich part after, but not before Peter tells Ben that it’s great to be working for the Front Line, as the price of working for the DB was too high. Entering his apartment, Peter’s spider-sense begins going off and as he entered the darkened apartment armed men try to ambush him. Reflexively, Peter defends himself but reminds himself that he could expose his secret identity and allows himself to be subdued. That’s when Norman Osborn turns on the lights revealing that he and the Thunderbolts have been waiting for him.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Menace, Harry Osborn, Vin Gonzales, Carlie Cooper, Ben Urich, Joe Robertson, Sally Floyd, Randall Crowne, Thunderbolts (Norman Osborn, Songbird, Radioactive Man, Bullseye, Venom), Dexter Bennett, Betty Brant, Aunt May, Martin Li, Eddie Brock
Continuity Notes
It’s been a while but here’s a reference to Spider-Man’s origins from Amazing Fantasy #15. Poor dead Uncle Ben and all!
One particular battle that is depicted here is Spider-Man’s first battle with Electro, which happened in Amazing Spider-Man #9.
Peter originally started selling his photos to the Daily Bugle way back in Amazing Spider-Man #2, where he worked for on a consistent basis.
After J. Jonah Jameson suffered a heart attack in Amazing Spider-Man #546 his wife, Marla Madison, sold the Daily Bugle to Bennett in issue #547.
Dexter Bennett convinced Peter to try and get photos of actor Bobby Carr in Amazing Spider-Man #559. Peter drew a line after Bennett wanted photos of Carr’s mystery girlfriend in Amazing Spider-Man #561 and was fired.
Peter had recently been forced to move back in with his Aunt May after he and Mary Jane broke up circa Amazing Spider-Man #545. He just recently moved in with Vin Gonzales in Amazing Spider-Man #561.
These new villains include Overdrive, Mister Negative, the Freak, Screwball, Screwball, Ana Kravinoff, and (to a lesser extent) the Bookie. Spider-Man faced these foes in Free Comic Book Day 2007: Amazing Spider-Man #1 and Amazing Spider-Man #564 (Overdrive), Amazing Spider-Man #546-548 (Mister Negative), Amazing Spider-Man #552-554 and 558 (Freak), Amazing Spider-Man #559 and 562 (Screwball), Amazing Spider-Man #560-561 (Paper Doll), and Amazing Spider-Man #565-567 (Ana Kravinoff). Spider-Man had to bail the Bookie out of trouble in Amazing Spider-Man #562-563.
Spider-Man lists all the different Goblins he has faced over the years. At the time of this story, they are:
He states that he has fought four different Green Goblins. Those Goblins include:
Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin who first fought Spider-Man back in Amazing Spider-Man #14, Norman is still currently active as the Goblin.
The second Goblin was Norman’s son Harry, who first became the Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #136. Harry became the Goblin on and off for years until his last defeat at Spider-Man’s hands in Spectacular Spider-Man #200.
Bart Hamilton was the third Goblin, a crooked psychologist who usurped the role after learning the Goblin’s secrets while treating Harry. Hamilton was the Goblin from Amazing Spider-Man #176 until his death in Amazing Spider-Man #180.
Lastly, Peter fought an artificially made Green Goblin that was created by Norman Osborn to convince people he wasn’t the Green Goblin. Peter first faced this Goblin in Spider-Man #88. This Goblin was later destroyed in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #18.
However, he doesn’t mention the heroic Green Goblin, Phil Urich, who was active from Green Goblin #1 to 13.
He also states that he fought two Hobgoblins. That’s not entirely correct, he technically fought five by this time:
The original Hobgoblin was Roderick Kingsley, who took on the mantle of the Hobgoblin in Amazing Spider-Man #238. He is still active. Roderick was also notorious for having others act as the Hobgoblin in his place such as….
Left Donovan, who the Kingsley used as a guinea pig for the Goblin formula. He posed as the Hobgoblin in Amazing Spider-Man #246. He died during that outing due to complications from the Goblin Formula.
As explained in Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1-3, Kingsley also brainwashed reporter Ned Leeds into acting as the Hobgoblin. Leeds first operated as the Hobgoblin in Web of Spider-Man #30. Leeds fell victim to a hit put on the Hobgoblin and was murdered in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1.
The hit on Ned Leeds was placed by Jason Macendale — aka Jack O’Lantern — who then usurped the Hobgoblin identity in Amazing Spider-Man #289. Macendale was later murdered by Roderick Kingsley in Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1.
Lastly, Spider-Man fought a fifth unidentified Hobgoblin in Secret War #3. Nothing much is known about this Goblin, which might explain why Spider-Man doesn’t specify him, perhaps he thought this was Kingsley.
Spider-Man also face what he calls “three fembot Goblins”. These were robotic goblins created by Harry Osborn during his stint as the Green Goblin. When everyone thought Harry was dead these robotic Goblins sought to expose Harry’s son, Normie, to the Goblin Formula in order to take up the Goblin legacy. They were later destroyed by Spider-Man. This all happened in Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil #1.
The Gray Goblin he is referring to is Gabriel Stacy, the bastard son of Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy. Peter fought the so-called Gray Goblin from Amazing Spider-Man #509-514. At the time of this story, Gabriel is suffering from amnesia.
Demogoblin was a demonic entity that was bonded to Jason Macendale in Spectacular Spider-Man #147. The creature later separated itself from Macendale in Web of Spider-Man #86. It became a regular antagonist of Spider-Man until the demon’s death in Spider-Man #48.
Lastly, he mentions how he fought a “future Goblin”. He is referring to the Hobgoblin of the year 2211. This Goblin exists on Reality-9500. Spider-Man first encountered this future Goblin in Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man #1.
Spider-Man has been accused of the so-called spider-tracer killings that begun in Amazing Spider-Man #547.
Ben Urich was a long time reporter for the Daily Bugle until in investigation into who is profiting from the recent superhero Civil War was quashed by J. Jonah Jameson. Urich then quit the Bugle to start the Front Line in Civil War: Front Line #11.
Joe Robertson was another regular at the Daily Bugle, he quit due to Dexter Bennett’s shady journalism tactics in Amazing Spider-Man #560.
Crowne refers to Norman as “Mister law-and-order” this is a reference to his recent appointment as leader of the Thunderbolts in Thunderbolts #110. The Thunderbolts have been instrumental in rounding up those who refuse to register under the Super-Human Registration Act since Civil War #1-7.
Radioactive Man goes out of his way to say a mock-up of Thor is his target. That’s because Thor was the first opponent he faced when he Chen first became the Radioactive Man back in Journey into Mystery #93.
The first of these so-called miracle cures was first seen in Amazing Spider-Man #564 when Martin Li’s touch healed an injured man’s leg.
Eddie Brock is identified as the former criminal called Venom. Brock first became Venom when he bonded with the alien symbiote that once acted as Spider-Man’s costume, as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #300. Eddie Brock believed he had been diagnosed with cancer in Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #4. He later decided to auction off the symbiote in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #5. The symbiote ultimately bonded with Mac Gargan, aka the Scorpion, in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #8. As it turns out, the cancer diagnosis was all a manipulation of the symbiote part of a really piss poor attempt to prevent Brock from abandoning him, as revealed in Venom (vol. 4) #11.
Fifth Stage
Eddie Brock is in a meeting with his insurance broker at Osborn where he is told that his insurance claim for some new experimental cancer treatments are denied. Brock tries to plead for her to reconsider by explaining the pain that he is constantly in, but these pleas are ignored. Through the interview, Eddie fights back the images of Venom choking the woman in his head. This is the constant struggle that he deals with every day, even though he is finally rid of the Venom symbiote, part of it still remains in its mind and it tells him to do terrible things. As he leaves the Oscorp offices he recounts his time as Venom and his constant battles with Spider-Man. It seems that he can’t escape from Venom as that’s who looks back at him whenever he looks in the mirror instead of his own face.
However, he clings on to his faith and intends to use his last remaining good days trying to earn his way back into heaven by volunteering at the FEAST Center. There he works side-by-side with owner Martin Li, and May Parker one of the other volunteers.[1] Most days, Eddie enjoyed working at the FEAST Center, with the exception of the days when a homeless person named Mike came in. For whatever reasons, nothing Eddie did was good enough for Mike, an attitude that reminds Eddie of his father.[2] One day, Mike threw a food tray back in Eddie’s face and he snapped. Giving in to his inner-Venom, Brock started beating on Mike until he was stopped by Eddie Brock. Although the others say Eddie acted in self-defense, Brock was ashamed of what he did and fled the FEAST Center.
Later, Eddie went to a doctors appointment and was about ready to give in to despair when his doctor tells him to look in the mirror. When Eddie looks this time he is shocked to discover that he can see his own face looking back at him. The doctor then tells him that — somehow — he is now cancer-free. When the doctor asks Eddie how he plans on spending his second chance, Eddie tells him he’ll spend it reflecting.
Recurring Characters
Eddie Brock, Martin Li, Aunt May
Continuity Notes
Back when Eddie Brock first became Venom, he became privy to all of Spider-Man’s secrets, including his secret identity and family members, as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #300. He actually met May in Amazing Spider-Man #317, while attempting to intimidate Peter Parker. Ultimately, Brock lost memory of Spider-Man’s identity in Spider-Man: The Venom Agenda #1. He later learned Peter’s secret identity again in Amazing Spider-Man #533 when Peter Parker revealed his identity to the world during the Civil War. Brock later attempted to murder May Parker while she was in a coma after suffering a gunshot wound in Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #38-39. Eddie doesn’t remember any of this because he, like virtually everyone else on Earth, had the memory of Peter Parker’s identity (and all associations thereof) erased by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545.
Eddie Brock’s father, Carl, was a stern and abusive man as we learned in Amazing Spider-Man #375. More detail into the Eddie’s early life Venom: Dark Origin #1-5. However, some of these memories are suspect due to the symbiote’s tampering of Eddie’s memories that was revealed in Venom (vol. 4) #11.
