Spider-Man '94 # 1

By Mark Rodriguez

One of the favorite animated versions of Spider-Man for many fans was the 90's Animated Series. It gave everyone a look at Spider-Man and his supporting cast while offering condensed versions of classic stories like, The Spider-Slayers, The Sinister Six (called Insidious Six in the cartoon) , his first encounter with the Symbiote and even Secret Wars. Somewhere during the later seasons, Mary Jane fell through a portal in a battle with the Green Goblin (a homage to The Night Gwen Stacy died), and the series ended with Madame Web taking Spider-Man to find her. So now we got a comic that will continue his adventures and be kinda like a season 6 (unless of course, they actually make a season 6 similar to the current X-Men 97 series). 

And yes... I know Spider-Man Unlimited was supposed to be the follow up to Spider-Man the Animated Series but let's ignore that... Anyway, let's check it out.

 

"Chapter One: The Awakening" opens with a mysterious man wrapped up in a webbed-up cocoon. The man opens his eyes. This mystery man appears as a vision to another mystery man sitting on a rooftop, named Kaine. Kaine calls this man his father. The father tells Kaine that his hunger and fury grows, and sends him to 'find him'. Kaine leaps off the rooftop, swearing to do so.

Elsewhere, Spider-Man is swinging through the city with Mary Jane, happy to have her back with him in New York. They land on a rooftop, and after sharing a kiss, MJ asks him if he will marry her. Peter hesitates which isn't the response that MJ had in mind. She asks him whats wrong.

Peter recalls the events of the show, how MJ was lost in a portal, how she mysteriously came back and they did get married, and how that MJ turned out to be a clone created by Miles Warren. When the clone died, it told Peter that the real MJ was still out there somewhere and after great effort, he found her again. He wonders why he's scared now.

 

Peter tells MJ they were married before. MJ says that wasn't her. Peter hesitates, and MJ gets fed up and storms off. Peter ponders if his Parker Luck is back, then things are about to get much worse. Kaine is seen stalking him from another rooftop.

We head to the Sims Foundation where Ezekiel Sims is doing a remote meeting as he discusses his plans for projects such as alleviating world hunger, stop climate change and bring peace to the world. The feed is suddenly but and the people at the meeting and confused. One of them says Ezekiel Sims is unpredictable.

Elsewhere, it seemed the man in the cocoon was puppeteering Ezekial Sims as his avatar, and his awakening disrupted it. Kaine cares more about his well-being and tells his father that they can always reboot Sims later. The man asks how long he has been regenerating, and Kaine says it's been six months.

The man asks Kaine if he has 'found him' yet and Kaine says he has. The man says this totem is not like the others, and the energy he draws from him will let him live another century at least. In the meantime he needs a meal to sustain him, and he needs something more than a regular mortal. Kaine says he found something that is mixed between human and animal, a creature calling himself Vermin. The man says he will do for now and asks Kaine to release him. Vermin waste no time in lunging towards him the moment he's freed.

Vermin takes a swipe at the man's face, saying he will eat him. The man grabs Vermin by the face and says that he will be the one to eat him.

The next morning, MJ angrily knocks on the Parker household door. Aunt May opens the door and is relieved to her since Peter wouldn't tell her what was wrong the night before. MJ asks where he is and Aunt May says he's sleeping. Aunt May asks why MJ didn't just her key and the angry redhead said she needed to hit something. MJ goes to Peter's room and yanks the covers off him, waking him up.

MJ demands to know how he could turn his back on their relationship after all the horrors and challenged they went through to bring her back. Peter explains how he felt having fallen in love with her clone. MJ understand that he might doubt she's real but she assures him that he is. Peter said he also saw the clone die and he can't stand to lose her like that again. MJ says she feels the same way since Peter is Spider-Man and is risking his life on a regular basis. She says their love has to be stronger than their fear.

MJ gets on one knee and asks him to marry her again, saying that he better give the right answer this time. Peter says he will and lifts her up in joy. Aunt May hears yelling and is worried about Peter and MJ's relationship. Peter steps out and tells Aunt May they're getting married. This confused Aunt May, since the MJ clone deal wasn't public knowledge, and Peter corrects himself saying he's happy that they're married. 

Peter thinks to himself that maybe things are getting back to normal, or at least as normal as things can get when he faces enemies like the Molten Man. Spider-Man tells the bank robber to give it up since he know he's not really evil and just had bad breaks in life. He asks if they can skip the part where they have to beat her each other up. Molten Man says that's the best part. Spider-Man webs his own fists up and says they'll do it their way as he starts punching him. With his fists being wrapped in webs, Spider-Man is able to land blows on the villain without melting his hands. 

 

Molten Man says he just needs one good hit to melt boil Spider-Man like a lobster. Spidey knows this, which is why he doesn't let him hit back and then knocks him into a fire hydrant. With the water dampening his powers, the police are able to take him away in a containment suit. They thank the web-slinger saying they think he's alright despite what the Daily Bugle says. 

Spider-Man has a weird feeling as if he's being watched. He thinks if someone was watching him, his Spider-Sense would be going crazy. He decides he's just getting paranoid in his old age and swings off to Queens. Kaine is watching from the rooftops.

Peter joins MJ and Aunt May as they have a family dinner with MJ's Aunt Anna. Anna tells Peter that he's married and asks how long they plan to live with Aunt May instead of getting their own place. MJ says it shouldn't be much longer as Peter is looking into teaching. Anna says teaching is a noble profession, but hardly lucrative. She adds that it's at least better than working for Bugle. Aunt May says that dinner is ready.

After enjoying Aunt May's meat loaf and Anna lasting twenty whole minutes without roasting Peter, he tells everyone that being married still feels new to them. He says growing up with Aunt May and Uncle Ben helped him see how important and precious family is. He promises Anna that there's no sacrifice he wouldn't make for Mary Jane. Anna says she'll believe it when she sees it.

Peter suddenly gets that nagging feeling again, as if he's being watched somehow. Kaine suddenly smashes through the window, landing on the kitchen table, calling out for Peter Parker. 

 

Parker stands in front of his family and asks him what he wants. Kaine says what he wants doesn't matter, what matters is that his father wants him. Kaine grabs Peter and says he can feel his power, calling him the totem of totems. He can feel the power of the spider washing through him. Peter tells MJ that he'll be OK and Kaine leaps out the window with him. 

As Kaine leaps from rooftop to rooftop, he asks Peter why those people were worried about him. He can sense how they all care for each other. Peter says they're his family and he's never going to threaten them again. Peter punches him across the face, breaking free from his gasp. Peter figures he already knows who he is, so there's no point in holding back. Kaine lands and stumbles on a rooftop, when a web snags him from behind and flips him through the house's chimney.

Peter, in full Spider-Man costume asks him why he invades his family home. Kaine punches him back and says this serves his father's cause. Spidey is surprised the punch actually hurt. Kaine says his father is more powerful and he is only a dim reflection of all he is. Spider-Man asks who sent him. Kaine takes Spider-Man down and says his father's name is Morlun.

 

With Spider-Man down, Kaine wonders if he really is the Great Totem and if he made a mistake. Spider-Man says he made a mistake alright. Peter remembers the moment the Mary Jane water clone evaporated,  and tells Kaine that he went through so much to get a regular life again that he won't let anyone take it all away from him (and MJ) again. Kaine somehow feels everything Peter is feeling. Spidey doesn't understand, but he does see that's distracted so he punches him to the ground. Kaine runs off, the pain he's feeling being too great.

Spider-Man is confused on how his feelings caused the mystery man pain. He wonders who he is. Kaine also wonders what Spider-Man did to him. He heads back pondering that his father will not be pleased.

Later on the police bring Peter back home. Peter tells his family that he wasn't Kaine's actual target and Spider-Man came to save him. Anna warns Peter that if he wants to stay married to her niece he needs to stop associating with Spider-Man. MJ yells at her to shut up and if she can't treat the man she intends to spend the rest of life with with respect, she can leave. Aunt Anna leaves.

Elsewhere, Morlun is angry that Kaine failed. Kaine says he can make it right. Morlun says Vermin was barely enough for him and the average human only sustains him for hours. Kaine says he can find stronger prey. Morlun says he will, as he grabs him and drains his life energy. Kaine asks why he would betray him as he dies. Morlun says it was an unfortunate turn of events, but not a disastrous loss. He enters a secret room that shows he is growing several clones, and says he can just grow a new Kaine. Then he can attend to Spider-Man.

 

My thoughts- 

It was great to see Peter and MJ back together again, though I wish the artwork matched the show just a bit more. Like most comics based on pre-existing cartoons, the closer you get to the original art, the better. I mean, otherwise, what's the point? The one who got it worse was the main man, Peter Parker himself.

 

Oh, there are way worse panels than this, but I am sparing both your eyes and mine. If you own the book, check the panel where Peter is picking up MJ as they announced they're getting married. Yikes.

While the comic skips exactly how Peter found and brought MJ back out of that pocket portal dimension, it does promise to tell the tale. The way Peter and MJ kept describing the challenges and horrors they faced upon bringing back, it leaves you curious as to exactly what happened.

One thing the comic brought up that I completely forgot (it has been a few decades) was the fact that Peter married the MJ clone and the marriage was technically never undone. I had to check the final season episode guide and sure enough the whole Secret Wars story started right after clone MJ evaporated, which wasn't public knowledge. Due to how time might flow differently in other dimensions and alternate realities, the Secret Wars saga and Peter's quest to find Mary Jane might have taken place in a few days, and not long enough for Aunt May and everyone else to notice that she was missing. In an ironic twist, instead of the clone replacing MJ, now MJ is replacing her clone having to pretend that she's still Peter's wife. I wonder how MJ feels about that one. I guess they'll elope in Vegas or something, but how would they get around the fact that they would already have a marriage certificate? I guess they can just divorce and re-marry in Vegas over a weekend or something.

 

One advantage the comic has over being a Saturday Morning Cartoon for kids is that now Spider-Man can actually punch the bad guys. In the cartoon he always had to web them up or do flying kicks, while sometimes he might reel back his fist, something would stop him from actually connecting. This is similar to how something would always prevent Wolverine from stabbing a living person in the X-Men cartoon. It would be a robot or someone with an impenetrable forcefield or whatever. On a more serious note, now Spider-Man has more time to dwell on the fact that he saw 'MJ' die and the lasting affect it had on him. Plus, you know... now they can use the words 'die' and 'death'.

While it is interesting to see new villains be introduced, I kinda wish we'd see some of the classic ones from the show. The closest we come to that is seeing Green Goblin cameo in the flashback scenes. While I guess it was nice to see Molten Man make a cameo, he was never in the cartoon and that easily could have been Rhino or Shocker instead. It also asks the question just how long Peter and MJ have been back seeing that Molten Man was never on the show and yet Spider-Man has apparently defeated him multiple times already. Again, it would have worked better with Rhino and Shocker and save Molten Man for a bigger story.

Vermin also had a random cameo. Just making a random appearance for Morlun to devour. Spider-Man never even got to face the guy. 

While new to the series, Kaine and Morlun have appeared in the comics. There was an extra editor's note thanking people for reading the comic and how long they waited to work on something based on the 90's cartoon. They also reminded the readers that if we think we know Kaine and Morlun... to think again, since the cartoon was never 100% comic accurate. They reminded us that the cartoon was so wild it actually introduced the Hobgoblin before they introduced the Green Goblin. Apparently the powers that be really wanted to push those Hobgoblin toys and despite the show producers wanting to introduce the Green Goblin first, they were overruled. 

In the original comics, Kaine is a clone of Peter Parker created by the Jackal, AKA Miles Warren. Morlun is looking for Spider-Totems across the Spiderverse. Already the biggest change here is that Morlun seems to be the one creating the Kaine clones, though who knows if we eventually find out he's working with the Jackal. Not only that but the way Kaine blocks Spider-Man's spider-sense and Peter's emotions affect his own, he could be a Parker clone. But then again, they might still surprise us and reveal he's someone else, though it's doubtful.

With Morlun involved, I do hope they don't go the Spider-Verse route since it's been overdone by now. I'm sure we might eventually see 90's Spider-Man meet Spider-Gwen and whoever else, but at least give it a good ten issues or so before we go there. I mean, chronologically speaking, if this is like a 'season 6', Spider-Man just finished his run in with the Spider-Verse not that long ago. 

 

Issue two is already out, so let's see what happens next. I do hope the new Kaine clone keeps the memories of the one we saw here. Otherwise what little character development he had (wondering what an actual loving family is like) would be lost. Also it would be weird for Spidey to fight Kaine, bringing up how he attacked his family while the new Kaine has zero idea what he's talking about.