Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #24
Sins Remembered: Sarah’s Story Part 2
Peter Parker can’t believe that he is in the study of Norman Osborn’s private estate in Paris, France. Peter briefly considers the idea that money solves everything, however, he remembers how much his friend Harry Osborn suffered despite his family fortune. He recalls one night when Harry invited him to one of his father’s banquets. Norman made a point to tell Peter that he is trying to teach Harry that the world is a banquet and all you need to do is take the first bite. Peter tried to convince Norman that there was more to his son Harry than meets the eye, but it fell on deaf ears as Norman insists that he knows his son better than anybody. At the end of the party, Peter tried to assure Harry that his father didn’t mean what he said and is just trying to be hard on his son, however, Harry insists that he’ll prove his father wrong. Peter remembers how Harry ended up getting into drugs to try and dull the pain he felt for never pleasing his father. Lastly, he remembers how this ended with Harry trying to be like his father, something that claimed his life.[1] Although he failed to save Harry from himself, he refuses to let history repeat itself with Sarah Stacy.[2]
Speaking of Sarah, she soon comes up to see how Peter is doing and reminisces how her father didn’t allow the children up there and that the maid would frequently get upset whenever she and Gabriel used to play there. She admits that Norman wasn’t around often and they never knew when he’d be back and for how long he would stay. The staff that looked after the children were afraid of them, particularly since they were growing up so quickly, but they were more afraid of Osborn that they tolerated the children and their horrible pranks. She says that she never had friends, just her brother and this is the first time she has been apart from him. Peter assures her that now that he is a part of her life that he’ll be there for her from now on. Continuing her recollection, Sarah remembers how she and her brother would still sneak into Norman’s study to play. She remembers Norman was mostly nice to them, often talking to the twins together but sometimes he wanted to talk to them alone. She remembers on time when Sarah was in one of these private conversations with Norman. Her father wanted to know why she continues to defy him. This was back when he had convinced them that Peter Parker was their father and that he abandoned them. Norman would coach Sarah to keep an eye on her brother as he was unpredictable without the proper guidance. Most importantly of all, he drilled into the young minds that eventually they were to hunt down and kill both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. She doesn’t tell Peter any of this, only about the nice things Norman would do, and suggests that they go to a spot where Norman used to take them for picnics. She insists that they need a day of fun and promises that Peter won’t regret it.
Later, alone in her room, Sarah is on the phone while packing stacks of money in paper bags. She tells the man on the other line that she doesn’t care what her brother owed a Monsieur Dupres and doesn’t want to know what their business will be. She assures Yves, the man she is speaking with, that she will have his money. When asked who is with her, she tells Yves the man is named Peter Parker and that he is with her. After getting off the phone, Sarah takes more pills and looks at herself in the mirror. She chastises herself, saying that Peter only cared about her mother and not her. After shattering the mirror, she then storms out of the room.
Back in New York City, Mary Jane Watson is visiting Aunt May and is telling her about Peter’s trip to Paris. Mary Jane voices her concern, pointing out that Sarah Stacy is the daughter of Norman Osborn. May understands Mary Jane’s concern but reminds her that Sarah is also the daughter of her friend, Gwen Stacy. Still, Mary Jane thinks that Peter might be in some kind of trouble. As she talks it out with May, the real reason Mary Jane is concerned is that her husband is alone with a young woman who is the spitting image of Gwen Stacy.[3] Aunt May tries to assure Mary Jane that Peter is fine but Mary Jane manages to convince herself that she can help Peter for a change for traveling out to Paris to meet him.
Meanwhile, Peter and Sarah are at a cafe having a wonderful time. When Sarah gets up to get Peter another coffee, she stops to talk to a man at the bar. As Peter leans back in his chair he is unaware that he is being observed by a man who, after watching Parker fall backward in his chair, figures that the American will not be a problem to deal with. When Sarah gets back, Peter asks who the guy she was talking to at the bar was. She dismisses him as nobody, saying the men in Paris are a lot more forward, and assumes that Peter was asking because he was jealous. Peter corrects her, saying he was just concerned as he wants to know about her life. She decides to take him someplace else. She then takes him to the crossroads to tell him about the death of Philip Gaston in 1777. She says that Gaston was known as “the giant” because of his size. The day of his funeral was a rainy day and the weight of his coffin caused the wagon to take him to the cemetery got stuck in the mud. Suddenly, the wagon collapsed under the weight and unable to move the body in the sinking mud, they decided to bury him right there on the corner of Chemin de L’Arbre and Rue Lafayette.
Eventually, Sarah’s tour of Paris takes them to the Chemin de fer Metropolitain where they go down to wait for the subway. She convinces Peter to wait on the deserted platform with her bag while she goes up to try and get a signal on her cell phone as well as ask someone when the next train is coming. In reality, she is meeting with Yves to buy more drugs. She tells him that she’s going to need twice as much next time but he tells her that the quantity is too dangerous to be carrying around. When he warns her that Dupres is looking for her in regards to her brother’s debts, she tells him that she isn’t concerned. That’s when members of Dupres gang show up to collect. In the ensuing struggle, the bag of drugs is ripped open and they spill all over the floor. They say that she is going to be cut off from any drugs until her brother pays off his debt. Thinking she’ll see Gabriel before they do, the leader of the gang takes out a knife and decides to send a message to him. At that moment, people run past Peter talking of a fight and he decides to go back and make sure Sarah was still safe. However, when he arrives he sees that Sarah was quite capable of defending herself. Thinking he hears their ride, Peter grabs Sarah and web slings away from the gang members so they can catch the train. When Peter asks who those thugs were, Sarah makes up a story about how they were trying to rob them for their picnic basket. Peter, however, is growing more suspicious of Sarah’s explanations. Sitting on the train, Sarah begins hallucinating that everyone on the train are judging her and saying she isn’t worth of Peter Parker’s love. She grabs Peter’s hand and suggests they leave, telling him that she doesn’t like the way a little girl is looking at him.
Once they are off the train, Sarah takes them to a nearby cemetery to have their picnic. Peter is a little disturbed at the choice of location. She shows him a number of famous graves before they stop at the graves of Abelard and Heloise, a famous couple known for their tragic love story. Peter, unfortunately, doesn’t know about them and Sarah tells him their history. When Peter asks why Sarah has a morbid infatuation with death, she says that everyone dies and that she is going to die before most others. She says that while Peter’s blood transfusion stabilized her she is still aging four times the normal rate. She then excuses herself when her cell phone rings. The person calling has come to warn her that Mary Jane is coming to Paris and that they failed to stop her. Sarah is furious, telling the caller that Mary Jane is very dangerous. At that same moment, a sniper is taking aim at the back of Peter Parker’s head.
Recurring Characters
Peter Parker, Sarah Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, Norman Osborn, Black Hand, Francois Benoit (unidentified). (in flashback) Harry Osborn, Gabriel Stacy
Continuity Notes
Peter drops a lot of details about the life of Harry Osborn. These are:
Harry’s run-in with drugs. Harry developed a drug problem and suffered an overdose in Amazing Spider-Man #96-98. He later had a relapse in Amazing Spider-Man #119-120.
Harry would later take on the mantle of the Green Goblin on a number of occasions the first time being in Amazing Spider-Man #136.
At the time of this story, Peter thinks that Harry Osborn is dead due to complications from exposing himself to the Goblin Formula in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. However, Harry is very much alive and will resurface in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #581-582, Harry survived and has spent this whole time in rehab.
Going to get this out of the way, but Sarah Stacy and her twin brother Gabriel are the bastard children of Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #509-514. That story revealed that Gwen started an affair with Norman sometime around Amazing Spider-Man #61, and got pregnant. Later, she went to Europe to secretly give birth to the twins around Amazing Spider-Man #119. Sarah and Gabriel both suffer from rapid aging which is a side effect from the Goblin Formula they inherited from their father’s DNA. Gwen was later murdered by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121.
Mary Jane refers to Peter as her husband. However, not long after this, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the altered timeline, Mary Jane would refer to Peter as her fiancee instead of her husband.
