Spider-Man #39

#39

The Freshmen
by Chip Caroon

What Has Gone On Before:

Peter Parker was never quite the ordinary teenager. At a young age, he had been left in the care of his Uncle Ben and Aunt May when his parents embarked on a mission for SHIELD and never returned. Even though he was not raised by his actual parents, Peter was still taken care of very well by his aunt and uncle. Along the way, Peter developed a knack for science, and soon rose to the top of his class. As a result, Peter was never part of the popular crowd, but it never bothered him much.

But his life changed in high school when he was bitten and granted the powers of a spider. After a brief attempt at stardom, Peter soon tragically realized that he must use his powers for good after his Uncle Ben was murdered at the hands of a criminal that Peter had failed to stop earlier that evening. From then on, Spider-Man was a superhero.

On the first day of his senior year, Peter met Victor Cranston, who he soon learned was another superhero called the Shadow. He also met Mary Jane Watson, and after a few months of flirting, starting dating the dynamic redhead.

Peter's life took a strange turn when he starting learning of his parents' true final fate. His investigation was kicked off when he discovered a picture of his parents that was taken after their alleged death in a car crash, and then learned from a SHIELD agent that his parents were considered Russian double agents. Between his father's recently discovered journal and files uncovered by a mysterious man named Ezekiel, Peter began piecing together the true story of his parent's disappearance. Their final case involved a substance known as "Scarecrow", which was being used as a component of something known only as the Doomsday Weapon. In the present day, it was also a component of a new drug, recently developed by Norman Osborn called "Oz".

Meanwhile, shortly before his high school graduation, Victor Cranston soon learned the true about his father, Monty, who had been the Shadow before him and had also vanished shortly after his birth. He had been attacked with something called the Doomsday Weapon, not long after meeting two SHIELD agents named Parker.

The graduation ceremony was nearly a reunion time for both heroes. Victor finally met his father for the first time. Peter, however, was not so lucky. He did spot a man standing near his aunt, but was unable to meet him.

Now, the summer's over, and college is ready to begin. Peter, Victor, and Mary Jane have all enrolled at Empire State University.

Peter Parker

Victor Cranston

Mary Jane Watson

Jason Todd

Gwen Stacy

"This should teach you," he said, pulling his arm back.

"No, no!" the teenager facing him yelled. He was being held against the wall of an alley by two other men.

The first one punched the teenager in the gut. "Now, where's our money?"

All four neglected to see the red and blue figure slowly descending down the darkest corner of the alley.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to play nice?"

The puncher and his two cronies quickly turned their heads and saw their new nemesis. Their eyes grew wide, and their grip loosened on the teenager.

"Spider-Man!"

"Nice of you to recognize. I put a lot of effort into making this costume unique and, well, recognizable," Spidey said, flipping over to stand on his feet. "Now, who's first?"

The man who was punching the teen came rushing at the webslinger first. Spidey shot a ball of impact webbing right at his chest. It knocked him to the ground. He then shot a strand of webbing from each wrist at the other two men. The impact knocked them back, and they lost their grip on the teenager, who ran out of the alley.

In a quick motion, Spider-Man swooped down, grabbing the first man, and tossed him on top of the other two knocking them down. He quickly spread his webbing all over the trio.

Hearing sirens, Spidey looked up.

"I'd wish you a nice evening, but I know that right now, it kinda sucks to be you. Toodles!" he said, shooting a webline straight up, and landing on top of the nearest building.

He grabbed the ledge with his left hand, and his head in his right.

"Oh," he moaned. "No more hanging upside down that long . . . "

"It just felt so great to finally be in action as Spider-Man, and it not really being a life-or-death-end-of-the-world-big-supervillain plot," Peter Parker said as he and Victor Cranston were walking along the edge of the Empire State University campus. They were heading out for a late breakfast. "And I didn't even have to worry about setting up my camera."

"I thought you always took pictures for the Planet."

Peter shrugged. "I didn't really do much with them this summer, especially since the building blew up. But, going out last night was just great."

"Yeah . . . " Victor replied. "And I noticed you conveniently left just as we were getting started arranging the room."

"Oh, sorry about that," Peter said. "Kinda took longer than I expected."

"Sure," Victor replied. He laughed. "Eh, don't worry about it. We didn't have much to do, really."

"Although we still have work to do before Aunt May visits us next weekend."

"Shoot, I'm hoping we have that done before classes start," Victor said, as he slowed his walk and finally stopped. "Here we are." They were standing in front of a diner situated between an art store and a hair salon.

Peter looked up at the front of the building. "So this is the Joe's Diner I've been hearing so much about. Nice place," he said.

"Wait until you see the inside," Victor replied, opening the door. Peter walked in, and was amazing by the 1950s retro design of the diner.

"This is so much better than the Crib," Peter said.

A waitress came up, wearing a Joe's Diner t-shirt and short denim shorts. "How many? Two?" she asked.

Peter nodded.

"Will a booth be fine?" the waitress asked.

"Yes, preferably that one in the back corner," Victor answered.

The waitress led the two freshmen to the rear booth and placed menus on their table. Peter sat against the wall, able to look out at the diner. Victor sat across from him. The waitress smiled, and after telling them someone would be along to take their order, she left.

"Still like the back?" Peter wondered aloud.

"It's isolated."

"But not that isolated," Peter said, noticing a stunning blonde walking in the front door. "Look at who just walked in?"

Victor turned, and looked over the top of the booth. "Someone you know?"

Peter let out a low whistle. "I wish. But Mary Jane would kill me for just looking."

The girl sat at the counter. She wore a white blouse and a tight black mini-skirt, with tall black boots going up to just under her knees. Her blonde hair was highlighted by a black hair band.

"You think she's a freshman?" Victor asked.

"Wearing a skirt like that? Has to be."

Just then, another waitress appeared, with a notepad. "Would you gentlemen like something to drink?"

Victor turned back around and glanced at the back of the menu real quick.

"Root beer, please," Peter said.

"Same here," Victor added.

"Are you ready to order, or do you need a minute?"

Victor looked at Peter. "I think we need a minute," he said.

"Okay, I'll be back with the drinks." The waitress walked away.

"I can get away with the wandering eye bit," Victor began, "because Natalie's a few thousand miles away. What's your excuse?"

"Oh, come on, you have to be blind to not be able to see the hotness of that girl."

Victor stole a quick glance and sighed. "College. I haven't officially started, and I think I'm loving it."

The two looked over the menu for a moment.

"So, you never did tell me how things with your dad turned out," Peter said. "I mean, I don't think I ever saw him after you introduced us at graduation."

"Yeah, he stayed home a lot. Not really interacting with society for eighteen years . . . kinda does that to you."

"I imagine so."

"He did go on vacation with us, though. But ultimately, he decided to go back to the institution, at least for now."

"But he's not a vegetable?"

Victor shook his head. "No, he never really was. He just never really responded to much for about, well, a decade. But a few years ago, things changed, and then just a few months ago, he started remembering things, and acting like his old self."

"That's cool. You still see each other?"

"We're going over Sunday."

"Does he remember . . . everything?" Peter asked.

"You mean, being the Shadow and what happened?"

Peter nodded.

"He hasn't let on. Any luck on your front?"

"Nothing since I saw that guy standing behind Aunt May at graduation. Not even a clue."

Monday morning. Eight AM. His first college class.

"If I wasn't such a science nerd, I'd be hating my life right now," Peter mumbled as he filed into the large auditorium that his chemistry class was in. He quickly scanned the room. There was a stage area in the front, with two aisles dividing the seats into three sections.

He walked down the aisle on the left of the room, and chose a seat somewhere in the middle. He pulled the desktop up over his lap and pulled his notebook and a pen out of his backpack and placed them on the desk.

The professor still had yet to enter. All Peter knew was the professor's name, and that he had written the textbook. A textbook that he had yet to be able to purchase. He knew that this class could only be one of two things: Either really excellent because the teacher knew what he was talking about, or a living hell because of the professor's overblown ego. He had a feeling it was more of the latter. What he was unable to figure out was if his spider sense had anything to do with that intuition.

Peter cautiously turned his head, looking around the large room, which was slowing filling with people. Toward the back of the middle section, though, he saw a familiar face.

It was the girl from the diner. Only this time, she was wearing what looked like a denim shirt and denim mini-skirt - no, Peter realized, it was all one piece. He kept reminding himself of Mary Jane. The girl saw him and smiled. Peter smiled back and slowly turned his head back to facing the front. Fortunately, the teacher had come in. Within two minutes, Peter's mind was off of the attractive girl, and on what the professor was saying, even though most of the lecture was protocol and procedure of the class and the university.

"Nice place," Peter said, setting his tray down at the table. Victor was already seated, as was Jason Todd. "Hey, Jason."

"'Sup, Peter?"

"Wasn't quite expecting a Pizza Hut and Chic-fil-a in a college dining hall," Peter replied, sitting down. "Although it's gonna kill my dining plan."

"Beats that swill they fed us for breakfast," Jason commented. "I don't think my digestive system will recover for a while. Be glad you missed it."

"Yeah, eight o'clock classes generally don't allow for an early breakfast," Peter said.

"Sure they do," Victor retorted. "Unless you actually want some sleep."

Jason looked around the dining hall. "And definitely some nice scenery here."

"Well, the deco look doesn't really do much for me . . . " Peter commented, taking a bite out of his chicken sandwich.

"He meant the girls, moron," Victor said softly.

"I know. Speaking of which, I saw that girl from the diner in class today."

Jason's ears perked up. "Was she hot?"

"Unbelievably," Victor replied.

"You should have seen her today," Peter continued, "in this nice denim outfit. Like a mini-skirt, but all one piece . . . hell, I don't know how to explain women's fashion."

"Well, in about two weeks, you won't really have to," Jason explained. "You see, the first day of class, all the girls dress up, wanting to be noticed, single or not. Then, slowly, each as you go down each class, starting with the seniors, they gradually return to the sweatpants and whatever shirt was available that morning. Fortunately, the freshmen keep trying longer."

"I wish I could find a flaw in your logic, but I can't," Peter said.

"It's universal truth."

"I meant that MJ is coming over here, and she usually doesn't . . . " Peter trailed off.

"Hey, guys," MJ said, dropping her bookbag in the chair beside Peter. She was wearing a white short sleeve shirt and a blue mini-skirt. "Took me a while to find this place."

"No problem," Peter replied. "I just got here myself."

"Well, let me go grab something. I'll be back."

As she walked off, Jason said, "See my point?"

"Damn," Peter replied, still in awe.

"I'm really missing Natalie right now," Victor said.

"This must be tougher for you two than it is for me," Jason said. "You have girls waiting. Me, I can look all I want."

"At least Peter can get some tonight," Victor muttered.

"Hey!" Peter interjected. "We haven't quite gotten that far!"

"Doesn't matter how far you've gotten," Jason replied. "But just by being with her, you're pissing off a lot of guys right now."

Peter smiled. "So I guess it's a trade off?"

"Just don't get caught looking."

Peter and Mary Jane were walking across campus, hand in hand, enjoying the leftover summer air.

"How's college life for you?" Peter asked.

MJ shrugged. "Haven't really experienced anything yet. Still letting it all sink in."

"Classes good?"

"It's not like I've done anything in any of them."

"True," Peter replied, remembering his chemistry class earlier in the day. "Where's your next class?"

MJ pointed straight ahead. "Mmm. English. Over there, in Gibson Hall. Yours?"

"Chem lab. Dexter Hall."

"I thought you already had chemistry today."

"I did, but that was the lecture, this is the lab. Where we get to blow stuff up." He looked at his watch. "But I still have about fifteen minutes left."

"Wait a minute, you said it was in Dexter?"

"Yeah. That's right over here isn't it?"

MJ let go of Peter's hand and pulled a map out of her textbook. "No, it's on the other side of campus."

"Oh, crap," Peter groaned. He checked his watch again. "I'll never make it."

"Can't you just, you know, pffwip?" MJ asked, mimicing the hand gesture Peter used to activate his webbing.

Peter laughed. "I wish, but there's not enough to swing from here. Gotta get to class the old fashioned way." He quickly kissed MJ on the cheek. "I'll see you around then!"

Peter walked into the chemistry laboratory as the TA was starting her usual first day speech. She was a short woman, appearing to be in her late twenties - a grad student.

"You will be working with partners in this class. To keep things smooth, you will have the same partner every class. So . . . I guess the easiest way is random. Let's see, there are . . . " She checked the roll. " . . . twenty of you in this class, so count off by ten."

It took a couple of minutes for the class to count off and then for the teacher to assign space on the lab tables for each group. Peter started walking to the section he was supposed to go to, when he saw a familiar face. It was the girl from the diner, and from the morning's chemistry lecture.

"Eight?" she asked.

Peter nodded. "Same here."

"I'm Gwen Stacy," she said, offering her hand.

"Peter Parker," Peter replied, shaking it.

And then, a few things came flashing back to Peter.

"Captain Stacy, NYPD!"

"I volunteered to supervise my daughter's after prom party . . . "

"Empire State in the fall. . . "

"Your dad wouldn't happen to be on the NYPD?" he asked.

"Yeah," Gwen nodded. "You know him?"

"We've met a few times."

"Nothing bad, I hope," she replied with a smile.

"Mainly because I was a photographer for the Daily Planet, and at crime scenes a few times."

"Ah," Gwen said. "You still take pictures?"

Peter shrugged. "I dunno. Haven't really been concentrating on that aspect of life recently."

"I know what you mean. I had a few hobbies fall to the wayside, while getting ready for college."

The TA started speaking again. "Okay, you should probably wear old clothes to this class in the future . . . "

"I'm telling you, if I weren't seeing Mary Jane, I'd say Gwen was the perfect girl."

"That's not something you want to get out," Victor replied, leaning over the pool table, ready to take his shot.

"Beauty and brains. I'm telling you, I was struggling to keep up with her on this lab, and it was one of those simple ones, where we hardly do anything."

Victor stood up, and took a step back. "And she's nice. I mean, she's not bitchy or mean or anything?"

Peter lined up his shot. "Nope. I think she might have even been digging me."

"She does know you have a girlfriend, right?"

Peter shot the cue ball. "That kind of stuff didn't exactly get brought up yet. But here's the kicker. Remember when we saw Captain Stacy at the after prom party? And why he was there?"

"Something about . . . " Victor suddenly remembered and connected the facts. " . . . his niece coming to college. She's his niece?"

Peter nodded, lining up his next shot. As he brought the cue stick back, he heard a female voice say, "Hi, Peter." Peter shot and missed, startled by the newcomer. He stood up.

"Oh, hey Gwen," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking out the rec center," Gwen replied. "And you're the first person I saw that I knew."

Victor cleared his through.

"Oh," Peter said. "This is my friend, and roommate, Victor Cranston."

"A pleasure to meet you," Victor said, shaking Gwen's hand.

"Likewise," Gwen said. She turned to Peter. "So I guess I'll see you in chemistry on Wednesday."

"I'll be there," Peter replied. "I hope."

Gwen laughed. "Eight o'clock is rough, especially for that class. Okay, see you then."

"See you," Peter said.

"I smell trouble," Victor said, as the two watched Gwen walk away.

"Nothing's going to happen between me and Gwen."

"Let's hope Mary Jane sees it that way."

Meanwhile, several feet below the campus, rarely used electric lines suddenly surged with power. They sparked, creating a spectacular light show.

"I'm free!"

Next: It's a party!

Writer's Note

Hello, and welcome to the new season of Spider-Man! I know that this set of issues has been a long time coming, but when my hard drive crashed in fall of 2004, deleting several issues, I sort of lost the spark I once had, and then real life took over. Hard to believe, though, that it's been three years since then. After all, I had a 40th anniversary graphic on #25, much like the 45th anniversary (oops, missed it by a couple weeks!) graphic on this issue (and it's only been 14 issues). However, I hope I make this season worth the wait. Between now and issue 50, a lot of the hanging subplots will finally be wrapped up, and mysteries will be solved. Meanwhile, new characters are being introduced, and the new dynamic of college life has now entered the picture. Things are looking good for Peter right now, but I expect that to change rather soon. (After all, I need for something to write about next issue.)

Things have also changed at DCM. As you can tell, we have now joined up with the Continuum Worlds (although that merger occured over two years ago), and split the universe at the end of Ultimate Crisis. As a result, our continuity up to this point is a little looser. The easiest way to explain the change is now DCM has its own multiverse, and each imprint is a different Earth, mostly. DCM Knights is Earth-1, while DCM Zone is Earth-2. I control the Knights imprint and only series in that imprint will affect each other. If we do a crossover between imprints, either we'll do an old-style "Multiple Earths" crossover, or just pretend that the characters are all residing in the same Earth. (Maybe shades of Hypertime?) It may sound like a headache, but for now, just sit back and enjoy our series. I promise to fully explain all continuity issues as they come up.

When I first started writing this arc, I had no idea what Marvel itself was planning on doing to the character of Spider-Man. In that time, they have decided to completely throw out 20 years worth of stories for a new status quo that is, at the very least, confusing. And, it is making me very tempted to drop the book immediately. Granted, my better judgement is telling me to wait and at least see what some of the other writers can do. I understand that I have just had a continuity change with the DCM universe, but really, Spider-Man is hardly affected by any changes.

I had also intended to wait until I got every issue up to #50 written before releasing this one. Hence, the longer than usual delay. However, after reading the new status quo of the "real" Spider-Man, I saw a need for my stories to start being posted. I'm not making any claims to the comparative quality, but I do think that reading this issue, which is its own sort of "brand new day" will be infinitely less confusing than trying to comprehend the current issue of Amazing Spider-Man. So, there might be a slight delay at some point during this season, as I'm still working on the end of it, but it will come at a logical break in the narrative.

As I mentioned, Spider-Man is now part of the DCM Knights imprint. This is my own personal section of DCM now, although others can contribute. You'll be seeing my usual characters of Spider-Man, the Shadow, and the X-Men, most likely. The main characteristic of any of my series here, though, will be the seasonal setup. Every 12 or 13 issues comprises a "season", which will have its own set of subplots and themes. This issue begins season 4, running up to #50, where the theme is starting college and wrapping up the parent subplot. It is also a transition season, as I try to get away from the big coverup/conspiracy plots and getting back more to the coming of age story that Spider-Man should be about. I've realized that life is too easy for Peter, but I don't want to get it too dark and depressing.

To the new readers, you should be able to jump in with this issue and continue with the series, especially with that special nifty recap feature at the top. But, if you want to get caught up but not read the entire series, I recommend the Spiders and Shadows crossover starting in issue 8, then jumping to issue 22. If you are only interested in the parents subplot, that was started in Oliver Queen: Nomad Annual #2, before continuing in Spider-Man Annual #3 and Spider-Man #26.

Also, a hint regarding continuity, especially with the flashbacks. Those years were chosen assuming that the Spider-Man series started in summer 2000, and thus, this present arc would be fall of 2001. However, I have abandoned using specific years to mark the present, instead using a sort of sliding timeline. So really, 1982 means "19 years ago" and 1983 means "18 years ago".

This season is my most ambitious solo fanfic project yet. Next issue starts the five part "Sins of the Fathers" arc, followed by the six part "Spider Wars". It's going to be quite the ride for Spidey and friends.

Thanks for reading!
-Chip Caroon
January 2008