Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #28
My Science Teacher is Spider-Man!!
This story follows the events of Civil War #2….
On the day it happened Jordan Harrison woke up thinking it was just going to be an ordinary story. He is up at 5:45 that morning so he can start his day by studying. Although he gets low grades in other classes, Jordan has found an affinity for biology. He has a lot of reasons for liking science class, like imagining that his father — who he never knew — was secretly a scientist working on secret projects for the government. He also has a love for science because they are classes that allow him to forget hawk awkward and scrawny he is for his age, something he is reminded of every gym class. The third reason is that he enjoyed his science teacher at Midtown High, Peter Parker. His thoughts are interrupted when his mother walks past his bedroom and sees that he is awake. She asks her son what he is studying and sees that he is studying another interest of his, an interest in aquatic animals like the octopus. She tells her son to start getting ready to school. When Jordan comes downstairs, his mother has him look at a new report from the night before of Spider-Man unmasking. She wants her son to look and confirm if that’s not his science teacher Peter Parker.[1]
As Jordan Harrison learns the truth, others are watching the news coverage as well. The Invisible Woman watches from the hospital where her brother the Human Torch is still recovering after being attacked by an angry mob.[2] Elsewhere, Doctor Octopus is lifting weights when he gets the news. When he hears that Spider-Man first started fighting crime when he was 15 years old, this causes Otto Octavius to pause. That’s when Madeline Daniels — Jordon’s school crush — calls to gossip about the news. As she talks, Jordan thinks about the secret he shared with Mister Parker. He remembers when Peter Parker first started teaching his biology class he approached his teacher after class. Jordan told Mister Parker how he wanted to become a marine biologist while growing up and was told by representatives at the University of Maimi — where he wants to go — told him he needed to get started learning about biology right away. Peter instantly understood that since his area of expertise was chemistry, that Peter wouldn’t be good at pushing him Jordan to do his best. But Peter assured Jordan that he would do whatever he can.
At that same moment, Doctor Octopus is storming across town, muttering under his breath the same thing over and over: That Spider-Man was only 15 when they first met.[3]
Meanwhile, Jordon agrees to meet Madeline out front of the school, as she wants to see all the reporters that will be there covering the Spider-Man story. Taking the subway to school, Jorden notices that the Daily Bugle with a front-page storytelling Peter Parker he’s fired. That’s when it finally sinks in, that his science teacher was really Spider-Man. Jordan tries to imagine the situation before Spider-Man revealed his identity to the world.[5] He figures that he must have been with the old woman in the pictures on his desk and the supermodel he married.[6] As Jordan gets off the subway, he thinks that his teacher revealing his secret identity to the world will put his education on the backseat. He can imagine arriving for a tutoring session only to learn Mister Parker left to fight Venom or his future university application when they find out that his teacher was Spider-Man. He is snapped back to reality as a flying mailbox goes whizzing past his head. He is grabbed by Madeline grabs him and tells Jordan to get to cover as one of Mister Parker’s foes just showed up and is on a rampage and Spider-Man has arrived to stop him.
As Spider-Man battles Doctor Octopus, Otto demands to know how long has the web-slinger and his Aunt have been laughing at him behind his back over the fact that they first met when Peter was still fifteen.[6] Spider-Man tries to get Otto to calm down so they can talk about it, but this only makes Octavius angrier. Watching this from the sidelines, Jordan thinks that there is something they can do to help. Meanwhile, Doctor Octopus demands to see Peter Parker’s face. Since he no longer has a secret identity, Peter obliges. This does little to quell Otto’s anger who remembers one of their earliest encounters. At the time, Doctor Octopus fought Spider-Man and defeated him easily. Unmasking the wall-crawler at the time, he dismissed the idea that Peter Parker was Spider-Man because he was too young and tossed him away.[7] Otto begins stewing again when he thinks about how he could have easily killed Spider-Man then and there but didn’t.
That’s when Jordan rushes up to Doctor Octopus and points out that he wouldn’t have killed Spider-Man, he would have killed a 15-year-old kid. He then points out that if he kills today, he wouldn’t have killed Spider-Man, he would have killed a guy. Someone with a name, a face, and a family at home, and people that love and depend on him. Amused by this, Otto asks if Jordan is one of those people who depend on Parker. Both he and Madeline (who reluctantly stand by Jordan’s side) admit that Peter Parker is their teacher. When he asks why they would put themselves in harm’s way for their teacher. By this point, Spider-Man has sneaked up on Doctor Octopus and whispers that they were creating a distraction in his ear. When Otto whirls around to face his foe he is struck with a knock out punch. With Doctor Octopus down, Spider-Man thanks Jordan for his help. Jordan, says that 98-pound weaklings like them need to help each other out and admits that he wanted to help because Doctor Octopus give mollusks a bad name. A year from now, Jordan will be awarded a scholarship in marine biology at the University of Maimi, where this incident has earned Jordan the nickname “Doctor Octopus”.[8]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, Jordan Harrison, Madeline Daniels, Human Torch, Invisible Woman
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man revealed his identity to the public in Civil War #2.
Johnny Storm was attacked by a mob that was angry at the New Warriors for causing the destruction of the town of Stamford, Connecticut. Check out Civil War #1.
In case you forgot, Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus first clashed in Amazing Spider-Man #3.
This story gives an abridged deliberation of Peter Parker agreeing to unmask. For more on this checkout Civil War #2 and Amazing Spider-Man #532-533.
Mary Jane is referred to as Peter Parker’s wife here. However, not long after this, Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage was erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the new timeline, they aren’t married but are engaged and considered a common-law couple.
Otto Octavius mentions Peter’s Aunt May because he has been involved in her life on more than a few occasions and has always had a fondness for her. They first met in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, when he kidnapped May along with Betty Brant. May, always oblivious to Otto’s criminal activities, later rented him a room in Amazing Spider-Man #54. He even attempted to mary May in Amazing Spider-Man #131.
That was in Amazing Spider-Man #12. Doctor Octopus challenged Spider-Man after kidnapping Betty Brant. Spider-Man faced him even though a cold had caused his powers to stop working. Thus he was easily defeated by Otto Octavius and unmasked. Peter’s powers came back later that same issue and he stopped Doctor Octopus later.
Post Amazing Spider-Man #545, virtually everyone had their memories of Spider-Man’s secret identity erased, Jordan’s included. In the altered timeline, Doctor Strange cast a spell that made people’s memories no longer connect Peter Parker to Spider-Man (as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #673. Amazing Spider-Man #546, and #640-641 goes on to explain that while the general public remembers that Spider-Man unmasked during the Civil War they can remember who he was. This would be the case with Jordan, who likely remembers knowing Spider-Man’s identity at that time, but no longer remembers who he is, hence how people can still remember his involvement here a year after this story.
