No One Messes With His Last Surviving Parental Figure

I noticed that Roger Stern mentioned what happened to Peter's parents in this week's Amazing Spider-Man. I don't know whether any of the other writers since Brand New Day started have mentioned it, and at first, I thought it was a bit odd. But I like it more as I think about it.

One, if we consider the fabled new reader, then that person might wonder why Peter was raised by his Aunt and Uncle, rather than his parents. I know, not terribly likely, but it's a nice consideration all the same. More importantly, it fits with the larger story. I had thought that Peter was a little too intense about finding the Blank, given the guy didn't shoot at May, or really even directly threaten her, and she seemed to weather the whole experience well.

But Aunt May is the last parent he has left. His parents, according to his internal monologue, flew overseas to serve their country when he was a few months old and they never made it back*. Uncle Ben, well, we know what happened to Uncle Ben, right**? He couldn't save his parents, 'cause he was just a baby. He could have saved his uncle, but lazy and self-centered. Now his aunt was in trouble, he has the power to save her, and he certainly wants to, but he wasn't there and he could have lost her too. A little scary, that even if he's using his power responsibly, he still might not be able to protect people he cares for.

Sure, it's a lesson he's learned before, many times, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying when it almost happens again.

* No, there was no mention of the fake parents scheme from the '90s. Then again, I think that was swept under the rug even before JMS started writing Amazing, since Mackie did a story about Peter trying to learn more about his parents. But you can never tell what might come back into play.

** In case you're unclear on what happened, he was shot by a burglar that Peter didn't stop when he could have. That's where the whole power, responsibility thing comes from.