Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine #1
Another Fine Mess Part One
Trapped in the prehistoric past, Peter Parker looks up into the night sky with a makeshift telescope. What he sees makes him realize he is going to die. He goes down to the home he has built for himself in this foregone era and wonders if anyone will ever wonder what happened to him. Going out to a number of carvings of a woman’s face he figures he is going to die alone. That’s when he remembers there is someone else here and although they vowed to kill him if Spider-Man ever returned to the Valley of Flame he decides that they deserve to know what’s coming.
That one person is Wolverine, who has claimed the Valley of Flame for himself. He leads the primitive people living in this region in fending off the Kill Folk, who have come from the north to pillage their land. The battle is short but Wolverine and his adopted people are the victors. That’s when Spider-Man arrives and is not happy to see Logan is still interacting with these people, reminding him that they could be causing untold damage to the timeline. Logan gets down to business and asks what he wants. Peter explains to him that they are in the Cretaceous period and tonight is the night that the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs is going to hit the planet. Wolverine tells him that he isn’t welcomed in his valley and thanks him for the information.
As Spider-Man heads back to his home, both men curse the fact that they were stranded in the distant past with each out rather than literally any other member of the superhero community. Still, as their annihilation draws near, both men wish they knew why they are here and who sent them. As Spider-Man recalls it, both he and Wolverine were drawn to a bank robbery that was being carried out by the Orb and his gang. They had stolen some weird gems from one of the safety deposit boxes. When Spider-Man knocked the bag out of their hands it opened up and spilled its contents. The gems inside gave off a bright flash of light and next Spider-Man Wolverine knew it, they were transported to the distant past.
Now, with only moments left, Spider-Man begins the task of erasing all trace of his existence in the hopes he won’t affect the future. Wolverine on the other hand, lets his captives go free and then begins meditating as he waits for the end. However, neither man can sit back while there is even the faintest hope they might survive. As Peter scribbles out equations to figure a way to survive the impact. Wolverine senses a stranger in his presence and ambushes a cyborg. It insists that it has nothing to do with what’s going on. Suddenly, as the meteor enters Earth’s atmosphere some gemstones on its surface begin to react and suddenly, Spider-Man and Wolverine vanish in a flash of light.
When Spider-Man is later woken up in a ruined building by Wolverine, Logan realizes that Peter was right about not messing with the timeline. Showing him what’s going outside, Spider-Man is shocked to see an army of primitives in the city and that their leader is astride on a massive robotic dinosaur.[1]
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Wolverine, Devil Dinosaur
Continuity Notes
Although Spider-Man and Wolverine’s trip into the past and the distant future has created an alternate reality, there is yet to be an official reality designation to be applied to this world.
