Little Kinky Spidey, But If Felicia's OK With It. . .

The first non-recap page in Amazing Spider-Man #622 starts with him in bed with the Black Cat, as he learns she sold the vial of blood he asked her to lift from Mr. Negative in the previous issue. Curiously, both characters are wearing their masks.

My first thought was that Spidey's getting ready to leave, and that's when Felicia decided to drop this little bombshell. People do that, it's natural. They worry how the other person will react, so they put off telling them until the last moment. There were some problems with that theory. One, if Spidey's getting ready to leave, why does Felicia have her mask on? It's likely her place they're at (I can't see Spider-Man bringing a notorious cat burglar back to the apartment he shares with someone), so she wouldn't need to leave. Two, Felicia seems mostly exasperated with Peter's reaction to the news, so the idea she was worried about telling him doesn't hold water. Three, from past comics, Spider-Man tends to put on his mask last when suiting up. I think it has to do with there being a difference between Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and as long as you can see his face, he's still Peter. Or maybe it's easier to put the rest of the costume on with the mask off.

Either way, I didn't think that was the reason. Then I remembered we're back to Felicia only being interested in Spider-Man, and not the man beneath the mask. Given that, I could see Felicia asking him to keep the mask on. I had a harder time seeing Spider-Man going along with it. That was what broke them up in the first place. He wanted her to be a part of his entire life, she wanted nothing to do with Peter Parker. I couldn't rule out that instead of Felicia learning to like the guy under the costume, Peter had stopped caring that she didn't, but it seemed strange.

Then I read Chris Sims' write-up on Super-Heroines for Comics Alliance, and I learn it's Spider-Man's idea to keep his mask on, because he can't let her learn his secret identity. Oh Spider-Man. He'll tell the Avengers. He'll tell the Fantastic Four. He'll even try to tell Daredevil, only to have DD point out Spidey's being an idiot by telling anyone, but he won't tell the lady he's at least occasionally sleeping with? I guess the good news is, he took Daredevil's advice to heart, and is trying to keep the identity secret. I question his process for determining who to clue in, and who to leave in the dark, though.

I'm not angry or offended by this development, I mostly find it curious. There's nothing wrong with a purely physical relationship, or a couple (if you can call Spidey and the Cat a couple) keeping secrets from each other. Those things go on all the time in the real world, sometimes in conjunction with each other, sometimes not, why not in comics? Peter kept secrets for a long time in his relationships. Never told Gwen he was Spider-Man, never told Deb Whitman or Betty Brant, MJ had to tell him she figured it out on her own, so on. But keeping secrets bothered Peter, in that comic book melodrama way, and the relationships only went so far*. It surprises me Peter Parker would sleep with a woman who has interest in only part of who he is. Especially when even he wonders why he's doing it. If you can't figure it out Peter, then stop! Oliver Queen, Hal Jordan, Logan, Tony Stark, I can see all of them taking that route. Maybe not Logan, but more because he'd think it was stupid to leave the mask on, as opposed to any worries about secret identities. It's just harder for me to see it with Spider-Man.

Granted, if a woman who looked like Felicia Hardy asked me to sleep with her, but I have to wear a Spider-Man mask, I'd probably say yes**. Then again, part of the appeal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man for me was he has problems regular people have, plus problems only costumed vigilantes would have, and yet he perseveres***. He tries to do the right thing, while other people might do the easy thing. So I can relate to him, but I can also see how to try and be better. He's not my character, though, and the writers seem to want to go this way, and use the relationship for comedic purposes. I have to admit, watching Felicia fluster Spider-Man is amusing.

Still seems odd.

* At least explicitly. I've seen debates online about whether Peter and Gwen's relationship progressed to intimacy before the end. Don't know if it's been stated one way or the other.

** Assuming fear I'd wake up without a kidney didn't win out. Strange, attractive woman asks me to wear a mask while we get to business, I'd think something was up.

*** Plus, he has a cool array of powers, cool costumes, and he can be witty in high-pressure situations.