Synopsis
Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #661 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
Mr Fantastic is teaching a Future Foundation quantum physics class (we see Artie Maddicks and a Moloid in the audience) when the other FF members (Invisible Woman, Thing and Spider-Man (in place of the 'dead' Human Torch)) call him out to help fight a giant monster at the Lincoln Centre. He calls on Alex Power to take over the class and they head for the Fantasti-Car. Spidey reminds them that he didn't do so well against monsters in Paris (#658) and he could stay behind to run the class because he used to teach science (and we've seen he misses it). But then they see the giant ape monster as tall as the Manhattan Bridge.
Sue Richards uses her forcefield to keep the monster in the East River while Thing and SM leap on it. They chat while attacking. Peter Parker says teaching was 1 of the few things he was good at, but Ben Grimm claims that he'd have no authority status in the FF class because those kids see him as a pal. Meanwhile Reed Richards has detected that the creature belongs in the Microverse and wonders if its presence could be connected to their recent trip there (#658 again). Just then Giant-Man shows up and Sue drops her forcefield to let him get at the monster, which he also believes is a denizen of the Microverse. While Spidey wraps its arms together with webbing Henry Pym shrinks it to human size (with Pym Particles) and then Thing KO's it.
Dr Pym then reminds them of his Avengers Academy and mentions that all the staff are busy tomorrow so he's here to ask for a substitute teacher. Reed says he must go back to the Microverse to investigate why the ape got enlarged. Hank agrees and says he really had FFer and Avenger Ben in mind because some of the students have isolation issues. At this point Peter loses his temper. He points out that he's in the FF and *both* Avengers teams, he was the original teen superhero and he has a teacher's license. Pym loves the idea - SM can tell them how he got past all his rookie mistakes like his early wrestling career, allowing himself to get branded a menace, and the Spider-Mobile.
He mentions that Norman Osborn used torture and brainwashing to mould the the kids into what he wanted, and he fears that because of that they are at risk of becoming powerful villains. Hazmat is so toxic she has to wear a containment suit. Mettle had his skin removed and his metal body has no tactile sense. Finesse can immediately master any skill but can't understand emotions (and she may be the daughter of the criminal Taskmaster). Reptil wants to do the right thing but can lose control of his dinosaur form. Veil's body will fade away if he doesn't find a cure for her. And Striker killed a man in self-defence. Spidey accepts the job (for a day) without any doubts.
But later when Peter's out walking with his girlfriend Carlie Cooper he tells her he's got a 1-day substitute teacher job, but it's been so long that he doubts he's still up to it. He can't tell her the real reason that he stopped teaching. (Because he made his secret identity public (during the Civil War event) and then quit to keep his students safe. But then he 'magicked' the world into forgetting his id again (in One More Day) but that made his quitting with 'no' explanation brand him as unreliable.) He now tells Carlie it was because of budget cuts, and he loves his Horizon Labs job now. When he messes up in the lab he can learn from it, but if he messes up with at-risk kids he could ruin their lives.
Next day Spider-Man (in his familiar red&blue costume rather than the white FF 1) is not doing well with a class on Superhuman Ethics. The examples he relates from his own schooldays don't jibe with a modern audience. The students don't understand the need for or usefulness of a secret identity. But fanboy Reptil asks why he gave up wrestling on TV because he was a popular celebrity then (Amazing Fantasy #15). Without mentioning the death of Uncle Ben he segues into the "With great power comes great responsibility" speech but they think their teacher Giant-Man invented that 'cos he says it a lot. Veil takes the focus back to Reptil's question. Surely he could have made a lot of money and donated it to charity, which would have been more use than fighting Electro. He falls back on his inability to get paid without exposing his id, but Striker suggests he could have set up a complex of shell companies to hide his id. Spidey gives in and takes them out on patrol in Manhattan.
Spidey's webslinging through town, Reptil's flying on pterosaur wings and the other 5 are distributed between 3 Avengers sky-cycles. Without his Spider-Sense (lost in #654) he doesn't immediately notice that the kids have stopped following him. Looking back he sees their cycles parked on a rooftop while they stop 2 hate-spouting muggers menacing a fearful woman in an alley. He reprimands them for using too much force and taking unnecessary risks. But the woman thinks they did a top-rate job. SM recognises the muggers as non-violent purse-snatchers. He puts together the fear and hate along with his doubts and the monster from the Microverse and comes to 1 conclusion ...
... and the Psycho-Man materialises on a flying platform to confirm it. He readily admits that he sent the Microverse monster to lure Reed Richards there out of the way, and he's been sowing the seeds of self-doubt in Spidey, along with general hate and fear. But he does have Spidey and the rest of the FF to thank for gifting him the way here (#658 yet again).
The kids attack him (and we learn that his Fear/Doubt/Hate control box appears to them in appropriate different languages). Mettle knocks him off his platform but then some sort of forcefield repels them, KO'ing Reptil. He infects Finesse, Striker and Veil with fear, and Hazmat and Mettle with hate towards the others. Peter is still consumed with doubt. But the memory of Uncle Ben (and Marla Madison who died in #654 (also again)) breaks him out of it. He stops Hazmat and Mettle attacking the others and beats on the villain, smashing his control box. But Psycho-Man reveals that his power now resides in *him*, and box now only enhances it. And the kids, including revived Reptil, now approach our hero with hatred.
Story #2Just another day
Writer:
Paul Benjamin. Penciler/Inker:
Javier Pulido. Colorist:
Matt Hollingsworth. Letterer:
Joe Caramagna.
Synopsis
This short story follows Peter Parker/Spider-Man (in his more usual red & blue costume) through a day in his life. The only words in it are on Peter's to-do list (or on things like shop-signs). We see him at Horizon Labs, fighting Fin Fang Foom with the Avengers, meeting up with Carlie, 'training' his 'sidekick' Black Cat, fighting Psycho-Man (another time) with Thing, and stopping a robbery by Sandman.