Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #31
Coming Home
Peter Parker is visiting his Aunt May but he can’t get his mind off his encounter with the mystery man named Ezekiel the night before. Ezekiel had turned his world upside down by questioning if Peter got his powers from a spider due to its exposure to radiation, or if the spider was passing on those abilities before it died. Aunt May notices that Peter is not listening and when he finally responds to her offer of more eggs, she tells him that she’s an old-pro whenever her favorite nephew gets that far off look on his face. When she asks what he was thinking about, Peter can’t tell her about his encounter with Ezekiel, so he decides to tell her about the other surreal experience he had when he went back to Midtown High. When she asks what that was like, he tells her how it brought all sorts of memories back from his high school days.[1] In some ways, it was both the best and worst times of his life. When May asks how the school is now, Peter tells her that it’s a little run down and covered with graffiti and the most vulnerable students are left alone to deal with their problems. That’s when May recalls one of her neighbors saying her son was a substitute teacher at the school last year and how the school is trying to hire professionals in a various fields to teach a class once or twice a week. When Peter asks if she is suggesting he get a job at the school, she says that Peter’s sense of fairness is telling him that those kids aren’t getting the same breaks he did when he was their age and that he could be giving back to the very school that gave him so much. This gets Peter thinking again, much to Aunt May’s delight.
Peter Parker is not the only person who is lost in thought. Across town, Ezekiel Sims is looking out the office window in the middle of a shareholders meeting. He manages to start paying attention to the value of his business but loses interest when he spots Spider-Man swinging across the city. After dismissing everyone but his assistant, Ezekiel is warned that he’s the only one at risk and that going out of his way to contact Spider-Man, against recommendations. She thinks that the wall-crawler is expendable, but Ezekiel isn’t convinced.
Meanwhile, Morlun and his assistant Dex are out having a meal on a patio. Morlun muses over how pastries are delicately made by bakers who know full well that their creations will be consumed without really appreciating the beauty. That’s when he spots Spider-Man swinging by and his eyes suddenly glow. This causes the wall-crawler’s spider-sense to suddenly go off stronger than ever before can’t resist the sudden urge to hide under the shadows of a building cornice. Spider-Man has no idea what has caused his spider-sense to go off as it did and seeing no immediate danger tries to psyche himself up to start web-slinging again but opts to slink away instead. Amused, Morlin continues his speech about pastries. When Dex interrupts long enough to ask Morlun to kill him, his master says he won’t today and might soon.[2]
Later, at the administration office at Midtown High, the secretary spots a spider and tries to kill it but it gets away. That’s when Peter Parker arrives to apply for a job under the work experience teaching credential. As the secretary goes to get the paperwork, Peter spots the spider and helps it getaway. That’s when his spider-sense goes off and he spots someone coming into the school with an automatic weapon. Quick thinking, Peter alerts everyone and helps the students nearby get to the safety of a nearby science lab. Once everyone is safely hiding behind their desks, Peter notices Joey Gladstone — the boy he met the day before — is still being bullied by one of his classmates despite the fact that there is an active shooter in the school. Peter decides to get the boy to help. Seeing that he is interested in science, Peter asks Joey to make use of some chemicals that can help provide cover when he tries to tackle the shooter. Joey begins mixing the chemicals and dumps them into the ventilation system while Peter rushes outside. The chemicals create smoke that fills the hallways allowing Peter to change into Spider-Man. He quickly finds the shooter and disarms him and is shocked to discover that the shooter is one of the students. The boy, his nose bloody, tells the wall-crawler that he was tired of being bullied and curls up on a ball on the floor. Spider-Man is horrified to discover that this kid was bullied to the point where he snapped like this.
Soon the police arrive on the scene and take the shooter into custody. Peter meets with Kyle Jacoby, the school gym teacher again, and he remarks on how the kid was a straight-A student. When Peter learns that the kid was bullied for three years straight, he asks Jacoby why he didn’t do anything. Kyle dismisses it as the way things around. He can’t stop the bullies from going after the weird kids any more than he can get the weird kids to stop being weird. Peter can’t help but think that had circumstances been different he could have been like this kid, and someone like Joey could too unless he has the proper guidance. That’s when the science teacher quits, having hit his wit’s end with teaching at the school. That’s when Jacoby asks who Peter is and why he is at the school. Pulling his resume out of his briefcase, Peter introduces himself and says he’s going to be the new science teacher.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Ezekiel Simms, Morlun, Aunt May, Dex, Joey Gladstone, Kyle Jacoby
Continuity Notes
Peter attended Midtown High from Amazing Fantasy #15 to Amazing Spider-Man #28. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, Peter would have graduated from high school roughly 10 years prior to this story.
There is a lot about Ezekiel Simms and Morlun that is left a mystery here. It’s later revealed during the Spider-Verse event that Morlun is part of the Inheritors, interdimensional beings that go to various realities to feed on the animal totems of each reality, particularly spider totems. Ezekiel, on the other hand, gets Spider-Man involved to protect Cindy Moon, Morlun’s real target. See Superior Spider-Man #32-33, Edge of Spider-Verse #1-5, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #8-15, Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #5-8, Spider-Verse #1-2, Spider-Verse Team-Up #1-3, Spider-Woman (vol. 5) #1-4, and Scarlet Spiders #1-3.
Continuity Errors
Among the memories of Peter’s high school years include an image of Gwen Stacy. However, Peter didn’t meet Gwen Stacy until Amazing Spider-Man #31, after he graduated from high school. Her inclusion here is an error.
