Spectacular Spider-Man #197
Power Play!
Gazing upon statues of the original X-Men in their original costumes, Professor Power thinks about how the sins of the father are suffered upon the children, before smashing the statues.
Meanwhile, in Manhattan, Spider-Man is running late for an important date. Swinging into a nearby alley, he quickly begins to change into Peter Parker. His spider-sense warns him that someone is coming. It turns out to be an elderly woman who begins to berate him for being half naked man in the alley below her apartment. He then rushes to the restaurant where he is to meet his parents for lunch. Peter can hardly believe that his parents are alive after believing they are dead for so long.[1] Incidentally, in the restaurant next door, Warren Worthington III, Bobby Drake, and Hank McCoy are reminiscing about the good old days, when they used to come out to the city as teenagers. That's when they are joined by Scott Summers, who tells them that Jean won't be joining their reunion lunch as she wanted to do some shopping.[2] Next door, Peter has dinner with his parents. He finds himself nervous the whole time, despite his parents trying to break the ice with him. Suddenly, Peter's spider-sense begins to go off, alerting him of a bank robbery happening across the street.
While elsewhere, Professor Power emerges from beneath his son's grave, vowing to get revenge against Professor Xavier by going after his students, the X-Men.[3]
Back in Manhattan, the bank robbers try to escape in their getaway car only for it to be stopped by Spider-Man. The thieves try to make a break for it, only to run into Archangel, Iceman, and the Beast. They manage to nab all the crooks except for two who try to escape down an alley. The two are quickly captured by Cyclops with an assist from Spider-Man. Soon the crooks are taken away by the police, while Spider-Man and the X-Men are delighted over the fact that they stopped a simple bank robbery. When the Beast asks if Spider-Man wants to hang out for the afternoon, Spider-Man politely declines in order to get back to his parents. However, before Spider-Man can get away, his spider-sense begins to go off like crazy. That's when he and the X-Men are ambushed by Professor Power. In Power's opening salvo, he knocks out all the X-Men. Seeing a piece of debris falling toward his parents, Spider-Man catches it in a web-line and uses it to beat down Professor Power. However, the villain is not out as he blasts Spider-Man with eye-beams. By this point, the X-Men have recovered, and the Beast catches the wall-crawler. Professor Power grabs the Beast by the throat. When the rest of the X-Men try to free their teammate.[4] As Spider-Man recovers, Cyclops steps into the fight Professor Power.[5]
Cyclops and Professor Power begins to match their eye beams against each other. Unfortunately, Cyclops' optic blast is not powerful enough and he is soon knocked out. Spider-Man then tries to leap in to help, only to be struck down with a single blow. With Spider-Man and the X-Men all defeated at his feet, Professor Power begins to laugh.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, X-Men (Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Archangel), Professor Power, “Richard and Mary Parker”
Continuity Notes
The couple claiming to be Richard and Mary Parker appeared in Peter Parker's life in Amazing Spider-Man #365. The real Richard and Mary died decades earlier on a mission for the US government in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5. This pair are exposed as impostors in Amazing Spider-Man #388.
Bobby refers to Scott as "Slim", which is the nickname that Scott has had since X-Men #1.
Professor Power's son Matthew died in Marvel Team-Up #118, then merged his mind with the body of his son in Marvel Team-Up #124. Although the years are partially obscured, Matthew's tombstone states that he was born and died sometime in the 20th Century. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
Professor Power recognizes Iceman and Archangel from their last encounter in Defenders #130.
Cyclops mentions the times that Professor Power seemingly perished. These events happened in Captain America #358 and Iron Man Annual #13.
