Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual 1999
Song of the Man-Thing
Deep in the Florida Everglades emerges what appears to be the Man-Thing. In reality, this is not the famed muck monster but the current form of K’ad-Mon the first soul to exist on planet Earth.[1] Very few know of his existence in this world but one who does seek his destruction. When that entering his swamp, K’ad-Mon hides in the muck of the swamp.
Meanwhile, it’s a beautiful day in New York City. Peter Parker is having lunch at the World Trade Center with his wife Gwen, their daughter, his Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and his father-in-law George Stacy. They are all celebrating Peter’s promotion to vice-president of the Powerchip Corporation. Suddenly there is an explosion and everyone begins to panic. Peter tells Gwen to get their family to safety and he will follow after them soon. Rushing to the bathroom, Peter undoes his shirt and is surprised to discover he is not wearing his Spider-Man costume under his street clothes. Still, lives are at risk and Peter decides that he still needs to do something. Rushing to the roof of the first tower, Peter tries to leap to the other but discovers that he doesn’t have spider-powers either and begins to plummet to his death.[2]
That’s when Peter wakes up and discovers that this was all a dream. As the dream fades from his memory, he begins recounting the facts of his life as he knows them.[3] When he gets out of bed and greets his Aunt May, she talks about having a strange dream that she can’t remember and feels like something just isn’t right to her, but she can’t put her finger on it. Neither could be aware of the fact that this feeling is rooted in some strange ripples that are moving across the Nexus of All Realities. Although the Nexus has recently been saved when the souls of Ted Sallis and his wife Ellaine were merged together. Sensing that K’ad-Mon is in danger, the essence of Ted Sallis leaves his wife and the Nexus to see what he can do to help.He tells her to remain in the Nexus to preserve it while he is away, however, he warns her that if harm comes to K’ad-Mon it could threaten all of creation, even the creator himself.[4]
In New York, Peter has heard others talking about having unsettling dreams and tries to wrap his head around it. When he learns that the Brotherhood of Scriers has arranged a meeting in New York, he looks forward to the distraction of dealing with them as Spider-Man.[5] Inside a multi-million dollar mansion, the Scriers meet but are paranoid about gathering in such numbers. They quickly realize none of the members present were responsible for calling them together. They fear that they have been lured into a trap by a rebel faction their ramblings are interrupted by a man they immediately recognize as the true Scrier, the founder of their organization who has ruled over them for thousands of years. While most of the Scrier’s believe this is their founder one of them openly scoffs at this. In response, the true Scrier project eye beams that send this unbeliever shooting down the evolutionary ladder until he has been reduced to a primal gaseous state. The true Scrier goes on to explain that they merely worship the distorted history of the Scrier, and know nothing about who he really is and what he truly believes. Even his appearance before them is what their simple minds perceive him to appear as. He tells them that he is the architect of Earth’s past and its future and he has slept for thousands of years until he was recently awoken by an apparent silver angel.[6] Now that he is back he intends to reshape the Earth in his image and that one of his loyal subjects will be chosen to be his Earthly agent. One of the Scrier’s steps forward to accept this honor and is transformed into the Outrider. The true Scrier tells the Outrider that he will venture to the Nexus of Realities and use it to shape all creation to suit his purposes. That’s when Spider-Man comes crashing in through the skylight and begins attacking the gathered Scriers. Their master tells them that he will handle things and with a glance he makes Spider-Man forget everything he has seen and leave because he is suddenly hungry. The true Scrier and the Outrider teleport away, with the Scrier telling his followers that he will call to them when he needs them next.
By this time, the spirit of Ted Sallis emerges from the Nexus and discovers the remains of the Man-Thing and at first, he thinks K’ad-Mon has been destroyed. He then hears K’ad-Mon’s song and realizes that the spirit of the first man abandoned the Man-Thing’s body and merged with the Nexus in order to avoid detection. The song tells him that the Scrier has returned and has managed to tapped into the power of the staff of the creator and intends to use it to reshape all reality. Ted quickly realizes that inescapable fact that the only way he can stop the Scrier from destroying the Nexus he must become the Man-Thing once more and resigns to this fate.[7] At the same time, the Scrier has taken the Outrider to his temple located atop the Himalayan Mountains. The Scrier explains that in order to reshape reality they need to defeat the guardians of the Nexus. He has already orchestrated events for the male aspect to re-enter the physical world so he can be destroyed. However, he warns the Outrider against killing the female aspect still inside the Nexus but forced into another reality so that the Outrider can take her place giving Scrier the power he needs to alter all reality to suit his image.
Back in New York, Spider-Man is surprised to see the Man-Thing suddenly appear before him.[8] Through the Song of K’ad-Mon, the Man-Thing explains that the Scrier’s are threatening all reality. With a touch, the Man-Thing clears Spider-Man’s memories and he instantly remembers his earlier encounter with the Brotherhood and what they are planning. Spider-Man doesn’t understand why the Man-Thing is seeking him out since something like this is out of his league but doesn’t have time to protest as the Man-Thing teleports him away. At that same moment, the Outrider pushes through the Nexus of Realities to find his prey. In order to keep his sanity this agent of the Scrier keeps trying to focus on his old life as Martin Zantz. How his thirst for knowledge as a mortal man led him to read everything he could about philosophy and religion. His quest for knowledge led to the discovery and his admission into the Brotherhood of Scriers. Recalling his transformation by the Scrier, he realizes that Martin Zantz is now dead and he is nothing more than a slave of the Scrier. As he comes to this realization he reaches the essence of Elaine Sallis, the female aspect of the Nexus of Realities. At this same time, Spider-Man makes his own way through the Nexus and struggles with is own sanity as well. He instantly regrets agreeing to help and even begins to question the Man-Thing’s motivations in all of this. That’s when the Outrider ambushes him.
The impact throws him through the Nexus and Spider-Man suddenly finds himself in a reality where he never gave up show business and has become a late-night talk show host. After finishing the taping of his latest episode, Peter goes backstage where he starts ordering his staff around. When Flash Thompson tells him that his Uncle Ben is coming to LA to visit him, Peter orders him to tell Ben that he will be out of town for the rest of the year. Looking in the mirror, Peter sees an image of himself earlier that day having breakfast with Aunt May and realizes that something isn’t right. Suddenly, Peter remembers who he really is and that he has somehow ended up in an alternate reality. Noticing how much a dick his counterpart is, Peter, wonders if this is really what would happen if Uncle Ben never got murdered. Passing through a portal through the Nexus, Peter arrives in a reality where he arrives at home just as the burglar is about to shoot Uncle Ben. In this reality, Peter is just in time to stop Uncle Ben from getting shot, but takes the bullet himself and dies in Ben’s arms.
Back in Peter’s home reality, the Scrier detects the presence of the Man-Thing and warns the creature that it does not have the power to stop him. As a show of his power, the Scrier transforms the barren wasteland of the Himalayans to a lush forest teeming with life. He says that the Man-Thing can try to stop him but it will end in failure. He finds it arrogant that the Man-Thing would assume that he would use his power only for destruction. However, he is amused by this resistance and decides that this should be left up to mortals. The Scrier will do as he will if the Outrider wins the battle being waged in the Nexus, and he will leave reality unmolested if Spider-Man is to win. With no other choice, the Man-Thing agrees to the terms of this wager. Back in the alternate reality where Peter Parker is shot instead of his Uncle Ben, Peter is glad that at least in one reality he could make things right. As this body dies, Peter Parker is sent back into the Nexus again. There he discovers that the Outrider has pushed Ellene out of the Nexus and has become the Nexus itself. He is soon joined by the essence of Spider-Man. As the two battle it out in the Nexus, Spider-Man realizes that he is not only risking his own existence but the existence of every Peter Parker in every reality. He reaches deep into the wellspring of reality to draw on the love, loyalty compassion, and inspiration he gets from his family and loved ones. The Outrider is soon flooded by these emotions and gives up his mad quest. With the Outrider’s defeat, all the damage is undone to the Nexus and the essence of Ellene returns to her rightful place.
With the battle over, Spider-Man is returned to his New York City in his native reality and swings away second-guessing every aspect of his life. Back on the Himalayans, the Scrier accuses the Man-Thing of cheating to win his wager. That when the Man-Thing reveals that it was K’ad-Mon who made the wager with the Scrier while Ted Sallis was not bound by their agreement. In reality, Ted didn’t just return Ellene to the Nexus, he actually drew the Nexus and merged it with the Man-Thing’s body. They then challenge the Scrier to enter the Man-Thing’s body to try and reclaim the Nexus. Recalling the Outrider, the Scrier does not admit defeat, instead he suggests that perhaps this was his outcome all along and teleports himself and the Outrider away. Back in New York City, Peter is happily reunited with Mary Jane and Aunt May and feels that everything has been set right. Watching from the window outside is the Man-Thing who thinks that Peter Parker deserves this happiness and that it is the so-called imperfections in Parker’s life which make it the very best of all possible worlds.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Man-Thing, Aunt May, Ellen Brandt, Brotherhood of Scriers, K’ad-Mon, Mary Jane Watson
Continuity Notes
The current status of Man-Thing at this point is kind of convoluted. In Strange Tales (vol. 4) #2, K’ad-Mon merged with Ted Sallis (the original Man-Thing) and his wife, Ellen Sallis together. The 4th volume of Strange Tales was canned before J.M. DeMatties could finish his story. In the unpublished stories, K’ad-Mon used the souls of Ted and Ellen to save the Nexus of Realities from destruction leaving only K’ad-Mon in control of the Man-Thing’s body. Although these stories were never published they are summarized in the Man-Thing entry of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #7, and as such should be considered canonical.
Although this is sequence is a dream, but often dreams are considered to have actually happened in an alternate reality. This should be especially true about Peter’s dream here since this story involves the Nexus of All Realities which can access any reality in the multiverse. However, at the time of this writing, this reality has not been given an official designation by Marvel. For the fun of it, let’s talk about some of the differences between this dream and the events of Earth-616.
The big thing is that Peter and his family are having dinner in one of the original twin towers of the World Trade Center. These towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack on 9/11 and since then the Freedom Tower has been built in their place. Usually, I’d say this is a topical reference per the Sliding TImescale of Earth-616. However, since this dream is supposed to be an idyllic life for Peter Parker one could assume that this is a world where September 11th never happened either.
The next elephant in the room is the fact that Peteris having lunch with three people who are dead on Earth-616. Peter’s Uncle Ben was murdered by a burglar back in Amazing Fantasy #15, George Stacy was killed by falling rubble in Amazing Spider-Man #90, and lastly Gwen was murdered by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121. Obviously Peter and Gwen were never married and never had a child on Earth-616.
Peter goes over the facts I described above as well as the fact that he is married to Mary Jane Watson. That was true until their marriage was erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the altered timeline, Mary Jane is only Peter’s fiancee and they should be considered a common-law couple here.
The identity of this “creator” is left vague. However, J.M DeMatties has specified that he intended K’ad-Mon to be Adam from the book of Genesis. However, the aforementioned Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe makes no such claim, merely that K’ad-Mon knows the secrets to the lineage of men. At any rate, the suggestion here is that since K’ad-Mon is the Biblical Adam then the “creator” should be the Christian God. In the Marvel Universe the creator of everything is the One Above All and I’ve had countless and increasingly pointless debates and exercises in semantics with people who insist that the One-Above-All is the Christian God. I call that bullshit. Every other man-made religion has pantheons in the Marvel Universe and they are all classified as creations of Gaea at the dawn of time or coming from extra-dimensional sources. Everyone has a creation story that contradicts the others. So why isn’t Catholicism treated the same way? I think that anyone arguing that Christianity in the Marvel Universe is the “correct” religion and that the OAA is the Christian God are usually hardcore Christians or people’s upbringing was heavily influenced by it. They are also the most obnoxious people you can ever discuss this issue with, so fuck them. They’re wrong. End of story. (Also if you are going to e-mail me to debate this, I won’t bother reading them. I don’t have time to waste on you idiots.)
The narration mentions how the Brotherhood of Scriers were involved with Norman Osborn. Osborn used his considerable influence to gain membership and take full control of the Brotherhood, as revealed in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1. The Scriers were instrumental in facilitating Norman Osborn’s manipulations of Peter Parker and Ben Reilly during the Clone Saga. Most recently, the Scrier’s recovered Norman Osborn after the Gathering of Five drove him mad and he was defeated by Spider-Man as seen in Spider-Man #98.
The “silver angel” that awoke the Scrier was the Silver Surfer (obviously) and that event happened in Silver Surfer Annual 1997.
Sallis thinks about how long he has been trapped in the body of the Man-Thing in the past. He became the Man-Thing in Savage Tales #1 and remained trapped in the Man-Thing almost consistently until Strange Tales (vol. 4) #2.
The editor’s note states that Spider-Man has encountered the Man-Thing many times in the past. The first time he met the Man-Thing was back in Giant-Size Spider-Man #5
