The Amazing Spider-Man #790
Marvel Comics
Plot by Dan Slott
Written by Christopher Gage
Art by Stuart Immonen
Inks by Wade von Grawbadger
Colors by Marte Gracia
Fall of Parker Part 2: Breaking Point
Peter Parker is being taken out to the woodshed in his everyday life. Spending the day apologizing to his employees and the public for the fall of Parker Industries is taking a toll on the man emotionally. As he and his attorney Harry Osborn leave their meeting being yelled at by protestors, Peter decides that maybe he’ll feel better as Spider-Man as he swings above it all. Meanwhile, one of his former employees, calling himself Clash, has decided to get back the tech he invented by breaking into the Parker Industries building.
The building itself used to be the Baxter Building, home of the Fantastic Four and Johnny Storm is not happy about his old home being sold to a third party. He and Harry argue over that fact as they both continue to wonder where Peter is. Spider-Man is spending time with people taking pictures, helping out and generally being the friendly neighborhood hero he always was, but real life does find a way of creeping back into his world. He decides to swing in as Spidey to try and smooth things over with Peter’s angry friends, but it doesn’t exactly work out that way.
Human Torch and Spider-Man end up fighting in the lobby of the building as Clash and his team disable security and enter the lab. Harry finally breaks up the fight when they all realize what’s happening. What follows are revelations and a new opporuntity for Peter Parker, if he can stay alive long enough to receive it.
I am enjoying this new storyline for Peter. Not that I want to wallow in the misery of the character, but the conversation Johnny has with Peter echoes my sentiments about Peter’s entire time as the head of his own company and being Spider-Man. Those moments flesh out the story well and give the reader a sense of natural continuity. Peter’s constant struggle to be himself and Spider-Man gets more interesting in this arc when you realize that being Spider-Man has become easier than being Peter Parker in this world and how he will square that with the people in his life.