Spider-Oracle Petitions (01-Oct-2002)

Good day, Prophet. Your frustration is well shared with many other Spider-fans. Your answers:

1. Yes.
2. Howard Mackie.
3. Ralph Macchio.
4. WEBSPINNERS # 13-14. (Jan. and Feb. 2000)

Now you know. And knowing is half the battle!

Well, Dan, when Spider-Man first appeared in AMAZING FANTASY # 15, it had a cover price of 12 cents. Today, a copy in mint condition would cost you around $40,000. Quite an investment, wouldn't you say?

Secondly, Spidey first showed up on the tube in 1967. You can read all about Spidey's many TV adventures in our Spidey Shows section.

Well, Mr. Wulf, if we look at the issue in question (SECRET WARS # 8) we see Spidey gets confused as to _which_ machine was the one that Thor directed him to. Spider-Man chose one he thought looked likely and viola- alien symbiot. However in the last issue of the mini-series (SECRET WARS # 12) Spidey watches as some of the other heroes use what turns out to be the *real* clothes making machine; not the one he had used. When Spidey asked the other heroes if their new costumes obeyed mental commands like his did, they told him: "No, they're just.... just clothes".

An Indian Spider-fan, eh? Well come out of the teepee, sharpen that tomahawk, and let's rustle some cowboys! (Just kidding, Rahul! Always nice to see Spidey-fans as far away as India. It makes us all one big Spider-family somehow, doesn't it?) On to the questions -

1. Venom was last seen in the abysmal "Senator Ward" storyline from ASM vol. 2 # 22-24. But never fear! He's due to show up in a few months in the Paul Jenkins Spidey-book (whatever they'll end up calling it).
2. Although Kaine did die briefly during "Maximum Clonage", he soon recovered. He was last seen (in the regular MU) in ASM vol. 1 #435, where he took possession of the oh-so-mysterious "package".
3. Different officers have different opinions on the ol' web-slinger. A whole issue was devoted to this topic a year ago. Check out PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN # 26, or read our review of it here at spiderfan.org.
4. Honestly? I think there were a couple of cheesy things about it, but in all, I was very impressed and really enjoyed it. On a scale of 1-10? I'd give it a 9.
5. JMS and Paul Jenkins have currently been telling stories that just don't require guest stars, (although Dr. Strange did help out Spidey in ASM vol. 2 # 42). However, in the last couple of months, Spidey's been seen in DAREDEVIL vol. 2 # 35 and THOR vol. 2 # 51.
6. There is no answer.

Hello Oded. The comic you describe is MARVEL TEAM-UP #108. Now go buy a copy and relive that childhood!

Our profiles aren't always completely up-to-date... we are an archive site after all! But in this case we're correct. Venom is alive, mostly well, and will be appearing in a few months in Paul Jenkins' Spider-Man title. Heck, he's even scheduled to be in ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN before too long. So you've got plenty of "brain-eating" goodness coming your way.

And the answer is: none. TANGLED WEB # 15 is the Stag Beetle's first and only appearance.

Your friend is right, Jon. The Prowler does not actually know Spidey's secret identity, although he has certainly helped him out a number of times.

Good question, Fernando. Kristy at one point moved in with Harry and Liz to be a nanny to little Normie, but apparently wasn't very good at it as she soon dissappeared. She was seen briefly at MJ's "wake" in PP:SM # 19.

Well, er, cowbomb. Although Override was though to have gotten "Immortality" in ASM #441, it was revealed in ASM vol 2. # 2-3 and PP:SM # 3 that he received "Death", (albeit a kind of "living death") and was now calling himself Shadrac. Makes ya think, don't it?

Note that Madame Web's Immortality only lasted a few months, then it "wore off". I guess immortality just doesn't last as long as it used to!

No, the strongest human in the Marvel Universe is generally agreed upon as the Hulk, who can lift 100+ tons when need be. Spider-Man is rather week compared to that, as he can only lift a "measly" 10 tons.

Osborn, being rich, can arrange almost any criminal activity he wishes. But if you are asking about a criminal syndicate like the mob or the Mafia- no, the Goblin hasn't been associated with them since the very early days (e.g. ASM vol. 1 # 23, 26, 27). As for how ol' Norman orchestrated the Clone Saga, the one-shot SPIDER-MAN: THE OSBORN JOURNALS should explain everything.

In order, I'd say there's Batty Brant, Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane, Cissy Ironwood, Debra Whitman, and Felicia Hardy. If you'd like, I'll try to come up with a timeline.

1. Spidey's fought against the likes of DC villains Lex Luthor and the Parasite, and other monsters like the Frankenstein Monster. There are no current plans for Dracula to appear anytime soon in Spidey's books, but it always remains possible for the future.
2. When the SPIDER-GIRL series began, May "Mayday" Parker was 15 years old. And according to issue # 47, she still is.
3. I assume you're talking about the cover of ASM Annual # 19. In that story, Alastaire Smyth (of Spider-Slayer fame) assumed for a bit that Mary Jane was actually Spidey-Man. (As the Kingpin says: "Then he's madder than I thought".) She never actually wears the costume in the story, and she has never had any powers.
4. There are no current plans for any cross-company crossovers with Spidey, but when any develop, you'll be sure to read about it here at spiderfan.org.

Well, Jimmy, that does appear to be the official Marvel Universe version of Spider-Man that guest-stars in TRANSFORMERS # 3. But why, you ask, does no other super-hero ever show up in Transformers? Because the Transformers are a licensed property, not owned by Marvel. They have to be careful about how they mix them with their own heroes. For instance, Marvel can't reprint that particular appearance of Spider-Man, their own character, without permission from the Transformers owners. This is true with a lot of Marvel licensed titles like ROM, G.I. JOE, GODZILLA, and MICRONAUTS.

Back in 2000 & 2001, Marvel put several new Spider-Man titles on the racks. Meaning, the racks in the comic shops, the so called direct market. They wanted to make more money and to do that, that wanted to sell these books on the newstands too. They slapped a new cover on the books, called the series Spider-Man Universe and that was that.

Spider-Man Universe was originally a reprint series, reprinting relatively new Spider-Man comics. For the first 7 issues, it was available in the comic shops. As of issue 8 it became a newsstand only series and lasted until issue 21. Below a list...

8-10 = Spider-Man: Return Of The Green Goblin 1-3 (Limited Series)
11-13 = Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto 1-3 (Limited Series)
14-16 = Spider-Man: Lifeline 1-3 (Limited Series)
17-21 = Tangled Web 1-5 (called Spider-Man's Tangled Web as of issue 5)

If you want to see images of the full series, try Peter Kroon's Spider-Man CheckList site.

Yup. Twice in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN vol. 1 # 1, the narration refers to "Peter Palmer". This is pretty commonly known, at least among Spider-Man collectors. It's just a mistake of the early Marvel days. Like Doc Ock calling Spider-Man "Superman" in ASM # 3, or an old favorite, Captain America's quote in TALES OF SUSPENSE # 92: "Only one of us is walking out of this room, under his own steam, AND IT WON'T BE ME!"

You should note, though, that later reprints of all these books have been corrected, and so you need the original if you want to see these goofs in all their glory.

Well, Amazing Spider-Man #3 is the answer. But since you in Germany sent the question to an editor in New Zealand to be passed to an Oracle who inhabits a mystical plan in a time-zone 39 hours from any of us... I must apologise but we failed to meet your rather agressive time-frame!

Well... we can't help, but the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe can. It's out of print now, sadly, so we're going to take a risk and reproduce the Manhattan map for you. Oh, and if you're wondering why you couldn't find this on the 'Net, it's because you can't spell Manhattan!

I wouldn't really say that after WEB # 13, Jonah "accepts" that Spider-Man is indeed a hero. Rather, he decides to present a more balanced view on Spidey. And really, for a good long time after that issue, JJJ wasn't so quick as to blame every disaster imaginable on Spidey. That particular issue, by the way, is an early Peter David-penned issue, and is great at revealing some of the dynamics between Jonah and Spidey.

Well, Nelson, let's see what we can do for you.

1. Nope. Spider-Girl has never killed anyone, Normie Osborn has not betrayed her, and she and Normie are now very good friends.
2. May's parents (Pete and MJ) didn't really die. Rather, it was a cruel illusion by a new villain named Misery.
3. In Spider-Girl's world, the new Scarlet Spider is Felicity Hardy, the daughter of Flash Thompson and Felicia Hardy. And she and May attend school together. More will be shown of her in the next few issues of SPIDER-GIRL.

"Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" was an animated show that ran in the mid-eighties and featured Peter Parker living with roommates Angelica Jones (Firestar) and Bobby Drake (Iceman). It was quite a bit of fun, but it has no relation to the real Marvel Universe.

P.S. Yup, "Torment" was very much an unintentional hoot. But it's sure drawn purty!

I don't know much about DC comics, Allison, but I'm pretty sure that Ralph hasn't done much (if anything) for them. He's pretty much a full-time Marvel guy. And since alot of people ask: No, he's not the same Ralph Macchio from "the Karate Kid" movies.

It's like this, David: A few years ago, the Spider-titles weren't doing so well. The Clone Saga had been over for well over a year, but fans still weren't happy with the direction of the books. Solution? Hire John Byrne to write and draw a 13-issue limited series called SPIDER-MAN: CHAPTER ONE to retell the early days of Spider-Man and "improve" them.

Such improvements included,

1. Changing Spidey's origin to having him be a survivor of a huge explosion which killed many people, and was conducted by Dr. Octopus.
2. Spider-Man lets the Burglar run past him because of ignorance instead of apathy, thus doing away with the whole "great power = great responsibility".
3. The Burglar sees Spidey come out of the Parker house and assumes that he's a burglar, too.
4. Norman Osborn and the Sandman - cousins.

There were a ton of other changes, too. Some of these retro-active changes were then adopted in the modern stories being written by Byrne and Mackie at the time. Briefly. But the bottom line is that fandom disliked the series intensely, and most hard-core fans just ignored it completely.

These days, it's never referred to in the core books and is no longer considered "official" continuity.

You wouldn't believe how often we get asked this question, or variations thereof. They refer to the absolutely terrible four-part Venom mini-series, "Separation Anxiety", which spawned five symbiotes (Riot, Scream, Lasher, Phage, and Hybrid) and a video game. It was written by your favourite writer and mine... Howard Mackie.

I would like to mention at this point that we are SpiderFan.Org... and this is a Venom comic. If you really need to know more, then go track down a Venom fan site! We've added a brief FAQ, so hopefully we'll never have to talk about this tragic episode from one of the darkest periods of Spider-Man's long history.

This is another popular question... which we have answered with an entry in our ever-helpful FAQ list.

Here's some answers for you, Tracy!

1. Mary Jane is currently pregnant in SPIDER-GIRL, and complications from it have left her wheelchair-bound. It's assumed she'll be out of the wheelchair after the pregnancy.
2. In this title, Peter is around 35-45 years old. About 15 years older than he is in the core Spider-titles. Plus, he lost a leg in his last battle with Norman Osborn (shown in flashback in SPIDER-GIRL # 49).
3. That new Green Goblin is Phil Urich, a close friend of Peter's who knows his former identity and is the unofficial "uncle" of Mayday. He is indeed a good guy.

That was a kind of convoluted time, wasn't it? Well, this is by no means definitive, but it appears that UNLIMITED #12 actually takes place between parts 4 and 5 of "Blood Brothers" (that would be between SPEC #234 and SEN #5). And REDEMPTION seems to take place between SPEC #236 and SEN #7.

Pete and MJ would indeed be living at Aunt May's house at that time period, but apparently they were on a vacation, or maybe going back to Portland to re-pack all of their stuff.