Peter Parker: Spider-Man #22
Days of Our Lives
Unable to keep his body together, the Sandman tries to write out a final will while the television is on.[1] However, the soap-opera is proving too much of a distraction and he angrily tosses a book through the screen.[2] At that same moment, Peter Parker has just gotten out of the shower and is looking for something to eat. Unfortunately, his side of the fridge still only has the lone hunch of cheese he named Kevin, and decides to steal some ice cream from Randy Robertson’s side. While singing Bohemian Rapsody by Queen, he is unaware that Randy has just returned home with his new girlfriend, Glory Grant because he is wearing headphones. They open the door just as Peter’s towel comes loose and bows to an invisible audience, unaware that he is mooning Randy and Glory in the process.[3] By this time, the Sandman has finished writing his final will — which is actually a letter to his mother — before going out and trying to eat concrete in a futile hope that this will cure him of his condition. Unfortunately, his body rejects the concrete throwing the Sandman into a new fit of rage. By this time, Spider-Man is web-slinging across the city with a stomach ache after all the mismatched food he’s eaten. His spider-sense is too late to warn him of an ambush from the Sandman, who blames Spider-Man for what happened to him.
Elsewhere in the city, Randy and Glory have gone out for coffee and are still laughing about Peter’s performance earlier that day. Meanwhile, Spider-Man is confused as to why the Sandman is blaming him for his condition since it was Venom who actually injured him. Not letting up on his attacks, the Sandman explains that he blames Spider-Man because the wall-crawler is always causes him nothing but trouble. Spider-Man’s attempt to distract the Sandman with jokes only anger the Sandman even further. As he pounds the web-slinger, he tells Spider-Man how he was planning on turning his life around and now he can’t. He then ranting about who he thinks Spider-Man is, accusing the wall-crawler of being a high school jock and a millionaire who is a superhero for kicks and has a wife and two children at home. He goes on to say that he tried hard all of his life to make something of himself, and then — just as suddenly as the fight started — it ends as the Sandman stops fighting his decomposition. His final words to Spider-Man are to tell his mother that he tried, saying that Flint Marko was the bad guy, and he always wanted to be William Baker.[4] Spider-Man can only helplessly watch as the Sandman crumbles to dust and get washed down a storm drain. Spider-Man feels bad for the Sandman, but his mourning proves short lived when police arrive on the scene and try to arrest the web-slinger prompting a hasty retreat.
Some time later, a middle aged couple are setting up a spot on the beach away from the younger people that are there. As her husband Ralph sets up their towels and chairs, Gloria is surprised to find that this stretch of beach has nicer sand than the last time they were there and wonders where it came from, unaware that this sand is what remains of the Sandman.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Sandman, Randy Robertson, Glory Grant
Continuity Notes
Sandman has been struggling to keep himself together since Venom bit a chunk out of him in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #16.
The Sandman is depicted watching Days of Our Lives a long running soap-opera that has been on the air since 1965. This, and the magazine on his coffee table promoting the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a photo of star Sarah Michelle Gellar should be considered topical. Partcularly the Buffy reference since the television show ended its run in 2003.
Peter is listening to the Queen song on an old Walkman. The use of these ancient tape players should be considered a topical reference, but you probably know that.
Sandman’s use of Flint Marko and William Baker is reference to some more complex nuances about the Sandman’s life.
According to Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual #1, William Baker started calling himself Flint Marko in high school when he reinvented himself as a tough guy, he started calling himself Flint after the elementary school teacher he had a crush on as a kid and to sound tough. The last name Marko was picked out of the blue when he ended up in the same jail as his Floyd Baker, his father, so his old man wouldn’t know who he really was. During his career as a criminal, William used the moniker Flint Marko even after he was turned into the Sandman in Amazing Spider-Man #4.
The Sandman started going by his birthname again after he decided to reform in Marvel Two-in-One #86. His reformation lasted until the Wizard used his ID Machine to make him evil again, as we saw in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #12. Following this treatment he started calling himself Flint Marko again.
Although not explained here, Sandman’s differentiating between Flint Marko and William Baker is a sign of his fracturing personality as we’ll see in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #43 & 56-57. If it’s not obvious already, the Sandman doesn’t actually die here like the story suggests.
