Spider-Man: Blue #5
If I Had You
After replacing the batteries on his recorder, Peter continues his story about his romance with Gwen Stacy. He realizes he’s been talking about Gwen for a very long time but figures that when it comes to telling a love story you can’t tell it too fast….[1]
Continuing from where he left off last time, Peter recalls that he had just been defeated by the new Vulture, Blackie Drago. When he finally returned to the apartment he shared with Harry Osborn, he learns that everyone else had already gone home. Peter is touched to learn that Gwen Stacy made up his bed and Mary Jane said Peter was probably working late taking photos of Spider-Man for the Daily Bugle. Recalling this conversation, Peter remembers that back then Peter had a hard time talking to Harry about either Gwen or Mary Jane, particularly the latter since Harry had recently asked if it was okay if he started going out with Mary Jane. Exhausted after his ordeals, Peter then collapsed in his bed with very little fanfare about his new bedroom. At that same moment, the mystery man who freed Blackie Drago searches the scene of his battle with Spider-Man and determines that the web-slinger survived the encounter.[2] He then went to the prison where Adrian Toomes is still in the infirmary slowly dying of the poison given to him by Blackie Drago. The mystery man offers Toomes a chance to live if he promises to do what Blackie Drago failed to do, kill Spider-Man. Adrian promises to do anything to avoid death and the mystery man fires a blow dart containing the antidote at the infirm old man.
The following morning, a sickly Peter Parker woke up to the smell of chicken soup prepared for him by Mary Jane. She tells him that it’s her Aunt Anna’s special chicken soup since it’s only the best for her guy. Peter, uncomfortable with the attention he’s getting from Mary Jane, asks her about the situation with her and Harry. Mary Jane is explaining that Harry is a good guy and all, but before she could finish Gwen enters the room to read Huckleberry Finn to Peter. Peter is delighted to hear this because his Uncle Ben used to read him that story whenever he was sick as a child. Gwen knows this because she was recently speaking with Peter’s Aunt May. By this point, Mary Jane and Gwen are exchanging subtle catty insults with each other when Peter suddenly saw Blackie Drago fly by in his Vulture wings. He then told the two women that he should get some rest so they could leave him alone to change into Spider-Man and go after Drago. Downstairs, Flash and Harry are playing pool wondering how Peter Parker does it. That’s when Gwen comes downstairs and tells Harry she wants to go to the play they planned on seeing even though it doesn’t start for two hours. When Flash tries to get Mary Jane to go out with him, she tells him to drop dead.
By this time, Adrian Toomes had arrived on the scene and started fighting Blackie Drago. For a moment, Peter considered letting the two maniacs kill each other since he was going to have Huck Finn read to him. However, this reminds him of his Uncle Ben and how he had died because Peter didn’t act and this is enough to make Peter go out into the snowy weather to fight his enemies.[3] As Spider-Man clashes with the two Vultures, Blackie Drago ends up flying head first into a stone gargoyle causing part of it and his stolen loot to fall to the street below. There, Flash Thompson is walking by wondering where things in his life went wrong. when suddenly the bag of money lands in front of him. That’s when Spider-Man swings by and sweeps both Flash and the money up before the stone cornice hits him. Safely on a nearby rooftop, Flash thanks Spider-Man for saving his life. The web-slinger then asks Flash to return all the money to the bank and swings off, leaving Flash to wonder what he’s done with his life recently. Returning to the scene of the battle, Spider-Man quickly ended the battle by jumping on Adrian Toomes’ back and crushing the powerpack for his wings. Then using the Vulture’s momentum, makes Toomes crash into Blackie. The pair then go crashing through the billboard knocking them out.
Later, back at the apartment, Peter Parker emerges from his bedroom to hear Flash telling the others how Spider-Man saved his life. While everyone thinks Flash is making it up, Peter asks to hear his account of events. Flash concludes his tale by telling everyone that he decided to enlist in the army and they all congratulate him. Outside, the mastermind behind of Spider-Man’s recent battles finds a scrap of his costume at the ruined billboard and takes its scent. As Peter concludes this chapter of his story, he recalls how at this time he decided that he had to make a decision between either Mary Jane and Gwen. In hindsight, he realizes that he didn’t really have a choice in the end.
Continuing from
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Vulture (Toomes), Vulture (Drago), Kraven the Hunter, Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn, Flash Thompson
Continuity Notes
By my own assessment, I place Peter’s narration as taking place between Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #50 and 51. The events of this story, in my assessment, take place during the events of Amazing Spider-Man #49. I go into why in more detail in “Placing Continuity” below.
This man is revealed to be Kraven the Hunter next issue.
Five issues in and we finally get an Uncle Ben reference. Amazing Fantasy #15
Placing Continuity
I have explained in the summaries for past issues of this series, the big difference between accounts is that the original Lee/Romita stories were told in the third-person while Jeph Loeb’s series is told from the first-person perspective of Peter Parker. I have gone at length about the nature of human memory, saying that many of the continuity differences are just a matter of Peter recalling events incorrectly. This issue of Spider-Man: Blue has the most problematic continuity of the bunch.
As I’ve stated before, this series has a log of issues with continuity when you compare it to the Stan Lee/John Romita stories that they are based on. The biggest issue is the battle between Adrian Toomes and Blackie Drago, the involvement of Kraven the Hunter, and Flash telling his friends that he enlisted in the military. Also, the following issue is centered around the going away party of Flash Thompson.
This story continues right after the last issue ended, and issue #4 was based upon Amazing Spider-Man #48. I previously explained why that story still takes place after Amazing Spider-Man #47 and that Peter is mixing up his battles with various villains. Likes wise this story. However, Amazing Spider-Man #49 features Blackie Drago teaming up with Kraven the Hunter and that story ends with both of them getting captured. That whole plot point is ignored in favor of putting the events of Amazing Spider-Man #47 — Kraven attacking Flash’s going away party — ahead of when it actually happened. As I said, it’s my opinion that Peter is not remembering when that actually happened. Also problematic is the fact that, in the Lee/Romita run, Adrian Toomes doesn’t go after Blackie Drago until much later in Amazing Spider-Man #63. It’s my opinion that the events of Spider-Man: Blue #5 take place during the events of Amazing Spider-Man #49 between Peter getting up from his battle with Blackie Drago and before Kraven goes out to team-up with Blackie Drago.
How do you reconcile it with Amazing Spider-Man #63 where, up to that point, everyone thinks that Adrian Toomes is dead? Pretty easily when you take a look at the stories. Blue #5 ends with Spider-Man sending both Vulture’s crashing through a billboard it then cuts to Peter back at the apartment listening to Flash tell his story. They don’t explain what happened to the two Vultures at the end of that story. One could easily assume that both villains escaped. Drago later teams up with Kraven and both get captured, while Adrian goes into hiding until Amazing Spider-Man #63. This works particularly well since the opening splash page features the Vulture deciding that it’s time to finally come out of hiding.
The only times the Vulture’s “death” happens in two places: Spider-Man thinks about it when he first encounters the Vulture in issue #63, that can easily be dismissed. The other person to mention it is Blackie Drago before Toomes breaks him out of prison. I think this could be explained by the fact that Drago sustains two blows to the head in Blue #5, first when he crashes into the stone cornice and again when he is sent through the billboard. Perhaps Blackie forgot about this clash with Toomes due to the repeated blows to the head. Characters have lost their memories from less in the Marvel Universe before, it’s not an outlandish theory to posit.
The last point to reconcile is Flash’s decision to join the military in this issue. This is contrary to Amazing Spider-Man #43 when Flash announced that he had been drafted. Since my position places this story after Amazing Spider-Man #47, then not only do Flash’s friends already know he’s in the military, they’ve already thrown a going-away party. One could assume that instead of saying the Spider-Man rescue encouraged him to enlist right after that he was saying that he previously enlisted based on Spider-Man’s past examples and this recent rescue only solidifies his belief. Why is Flash here even after his friends threw a going-away party? Well, my position is that even though Flash had a going away party he didn’t actually leave for the military until a few days later allowing him to hang out with his friends a few more times before going into basic training.
That said, although this story has a lot of chronological gymnastics for it to work once you’ve got the idea it actually slots into my placement much easier than other moments in this series.
Chronology
With the above in mind, this is how I believe the continuity for this story stacks out….
Amazing Spider-Man #49 Page 1-3 Panel 3: Spider-Man gets up after his defeat at the hands of Blackie Drago. Goes back to his apartment.
The only tough part here is that in the original story, Peter climbs into his bedroom window and is almost caught in his Spider-Man costume while crawling into bed. I posit that instead of his bedroom window he is coming in through a hallway window and changes into his street clothes behind the scenes so that…..
Spider-Man: Blue #5 (SMB #5) Page 1-4: Peter knocks at the door. Harry lets him in. They talk about Gwen and Mary Jane. Peter collapses in his bed . Harry leaves him to sleep.
ASM #49 Page 3 Panel 4-6: Peter changes out of costume just as Flash is returning home. Peter climbs into bed before he can turn on the lights. Harry notes that Peter is sick.
The assumption I am making here is that after Flash left Peter’s room he went somewhere (where? who can say? Maybe getting some drugs since this was about the time that he had his substance abuse problems) and comes back later at night. My other assumption is that instead of getting arriving home, Peter was actually deciding to go back out on patrol to look for Blackie Drago and is forced to climb back into bed. Since he was already sick, maybe Peter decided to get some rest or fell asleep.
SMB #5 Page 5-23: Kraven discovers that Blackie failed, revives Adrian Toomes. The next morning Peter sends away Gwen and Mary Jane so he could secretly stop Toomes and Drago fighting, saves Flash, defeats his foes, returns in time to hear Flash’s story.
ASM #49: Page 3 Panel 7 to 20: Kraven the Hunter decides to work with Blackie Drago. Spider-Man defeats both and they are arrested by the police.
