WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Pasqual Ferry, Matt Hollingsworth, and VC’s Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
Marvel’s fan-favorite What If? line of alternate universe tales has returned, and in the shadow of King in Black it has revisited the mid-’80s to relive one of Spider-Man’s most memorable storylines. Peter Parker is back in his black symbiote costume in this story, where the alien symbiote already has a much stronger hold over him than it ever did in the main Marvel Universe. This tale takes Spider-Man through what might be the most tragic day of his life, and it makes the Venom symbiote the chief author of Peter Parker’s pain.
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Much like the story that began back in 1984’s Amazing Spider-Man #252 by Tom DeFalco, Roger Stern, and Ron Frenz, Spider’s Shadow begins with Peter Parker wearing the black costume that he does not yet realize is the Venom symbiote. The new suit has provided Peter with greater strength, unlimited webbing, and a horrible frustration only furthered by the restlessness he has been experiencing. The nightmares that have been keeping him awake every night and anger towards the continuous assaults perpetrated by his colorful rogues boils over during a confrontation with the Hobgoblin. In broad daylight, Spider-Man unmasks the villain as Roderick Kingsley before threatening his life should he ever decide to cross paths with the wall-crawler again. It’s an uncharacteristically dark moment for the hero, and things only get worse from there.
In the midst of the personal crisis he is currently going through, Peter pays Aunt May a visit. Unfortunately, Roderick Kingsley has followed Peter back to Aunt May’s house, intent on making Spider-Man feel just as helpless as he did when the agitated web-slinger publicly snatched off his mask.
As soon as Peter has a chance to sit down with his aunt, the Hobgoblin attacks with a volley of pumpkin bomba. In the ensuing struggle, Spider-Man is forced outside, only to realize too late that Aunt May is trapped in her burning home. Peter wants to run into the flames and save her, but his symbiote suit holds him back, telling Peter that it will die if they go back for her, leaving Peter to stew in misery as he watches May and his childhood home burn. As his grief becomes anger, the symbiote tells Peter that this was all Hobgoblin’s fault, and while there is a lot of truth to the sentiment, it wasn’t Roderick Kingsley who ultimately decided Aunt May’s fate.
If it wasn’t for the symbiote keeping Peter from going back into the blaze, Aunt May might have been able to survive. And if Peter had been willing to shed the symbiote suit when Reed Richards asked him to, things might not have progressed to this degree. In sharp contrast to its recent heroic turn in King in Black, the Venom symbiote is willing to deceive Peter by placing the impetus of May’s death on Hobgoblin in order to save itself.
The Venom symbiote, in its infancy, was not a force for good. Its manipulative and duplicitous nature might be inherent, but that doesn’t make those traits any less dangerous in this world, where its influence on Peter made it a greater threat than almost anything else in his life.
With an inconsolable Peter fully under its sway, the end of this issue sees the symbiote transform Peter Parker into a full-on monster who seems set to tear Spider-Man’s life apart.
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