Spectacular Spider-Man #186
Settling Scores
The Vulture has tracked down Frankie Fillmore, a petty crook who snitched on him five years earlier and drops him to his death. This is the first of many he seeks to get final revenge on. Flying to another part of the city, the Vulture finds another one of his targets. He swoops down to strike but decides to spare the woman for now. As he pulls up, the updraft wrecks the woman's umbrella. This woman is none other than Peter Parker's Aunt May, who is quickly joined by Peter's wife Mary Jane, who provides cover with her own umbrella.[1]
Elsewhere in the city, Spider-Man continues to search for the Green Goblin.[2] Arriving at one of the Goblin's hideouts, Spider-Man finds it covered in cobwebs and unused for months. This is yet another dead end, and this worries the wall-crawler as he doesn't know what the villain might be doing, especially since he knows that Peter Parker is really Spider-Man.[3] However, it's not just his own safety that the wall-crawler is afraid for, but that of Mary Jane and his Aunt May. While at the Vulture's secret hideout, the elderly villain has kidnapped his former business partner, Gregory Bestman.[4] Bestman begs for his life, but this time nothing can stop Adrian Toomes from wanting to end Bestman's life. The Vulture explains that the power-pack that gives him his ability to fly has given him terminal cancer. Now he has come to get final revenge against Bestman who financially ruined him years ago, leading to his criminal career. As Bestman pleads for his life, Toomes snaps Gregory's neck, killing him instantly.
Back at Aunt May's place in Queens, Mary Jane asks why May was out in the rain getting groceries when she could have had them delivered. May explains that they always manage to forget something or break eggs. Watching how May is fussing over the meal that she wants to prepare for Peter when he gets in, Mary Jane makes May sit down she can slow down. The pair get to talking, Mary Jane asks about May's current boyfriend Willie Lumpkin.[5] May insists that there is nothing serious going on, saying that she just enjoys his company. That's when May asks if Mary Jane has an announcement of her own to make. Mary Jane reads between the lines, and assures May that she is not pregnant as she and Peter are not ready to have children yet.[6] May warns Mary Jane not to put it off too long, saying that she and Ben were too busy to have children and life has a habit of passing you by.[7] Mary Jane assures May that she and Peter will bring her a child one day as May gets up to straighten a photo of her family.[8] That's when Mary Jane asks how May was able to keep going after all the tragedies she suffered over the years. May tells her that she does what she has to in order to survive.[9] It's then that she switches back to her usual doting personality, sending May out for milk but reminding her to put on a raincoat and keep dry.
By this point, the Vulture has returned to New York City and purched himself on the side of a building. Thinking about his own impending mortality, he calls out to the indifferent city, saying that he doesn't want to die. That's when he sees Spider-Man swinging by and flies at him at full speed. Spider-Man dodges out of the way, and realizes that this time the Vulture is not pulling his punches. Struck by his foe, Spider-Man falls, but manages to grab the side of a building to break his fall. The Vulture then speeds off, warning Spider-Man to watch his back. Needing to get to Aunt May's, the wall-crawler leaves before the Vulture can come and delay him further. Meanwhile, the Vulture has come up with a new plan. As much as he will relish killing Spider-Man, but wants to eliminate all his other targets so he can enjoy torturing Spider-Man slowly before killing him. Later that evening, Peter and Mary Jane have just finished eating dinner with May and are leaving for the night. After they are gone, May goes upstairs to her bedroom where she finds the Vulture waiting for her by the window.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, Vulture, Gregory Bestman
Continuity Notes
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.
Spider-Man has been hunting for the Green Goblin since the villain escaped him in The Spectacular Spider-Man #183.
Harry has known that Peter was Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #135. This knowledge was buried after Harry got psychiatric help, but his memory of Peter's double-identity had recently resurfaced in Web of Spider-Man #67.
Adrian Toomes and Bestman's business career together was first explored in Amazing Spider-Man #241.
May had started dating the Fantastic Four's former mailman starting in Amazing Spider-Man #341.
Peter and Mary Jane made a decision not to have a child right away in Spider-Man #12.
This is accurate at all, May and Ben Parker actually did try and have a child but May suffered a miscarriage. This was revealed in Amazing Spider-Man Family #7. However, May was keeping this a secret at the time.
One of these photos is of Peter and Mary Jane's wedding day, which occurred in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. In the altered timeline post-Amazing Spider-Man #545 one could assume that instead of a wedding photo, a different photo of Peter and Mary Jane hangs in its place.
The specific losses that Aunt May had suffered were the loss of her in-laws Richard and Mary Parker leaving Peter in her care (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5), the murder of her husband Ben (Amazing Fantasy #15), and the death of her former fiancee Nathan Lubenski in Amazing Spider-Man #336.
