PREVIOUSLY IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN aS Ue ae ee a a CENTS Sc Dee RRR aay Be aT Ta iam ey ee See eieWs aed isp SP rN eer tte sae After facing down a months-long battle with revamped versions of his Mark Waid deadliest foes, Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, was prepared Writer to relax. But on the day of his first real date with Carlie Cooper, Lily Hollister, the alter ego of grey goblin Menace (not to mention Carlie’s Paul Azaceta best friend and Harry Osborn’s ex-girlfriend), came crashing back into Artist their lives, on the run and about to give birth to Norman Osborm’s baby. Javier Rodriguez Colorist Why's she on the run? Because an army of super villains are after her jc and the baby. As a child conceived by two people containing the goblin VC'S ae ealamegia serum, the baby has unlimited scientific potential. Doctor Octopus, the coe ren tentacle terror and mechanical megalomaniac, is leading the charge Tom Brennan to get the child in hopes that its DNA will help him stave off his own —_ Assistant Editor mortality. With Peter, Lily and their friends cornered in the Coffee Bean, Ock delivers the baby boy — and has him in his steely grasp! Siphon Weckel Tom Brevoort sane ates Netconnect Eaog hs nn eu ese tea Quesada {HE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (9% £07422) No. 64, Novae, 2 OFC OF PUBLEATION 1 Bh oe athe US, (6ST Editor in Chief gh eva Coan Noe SenTWODD. Tm 704 TELEVONE 0) Dan Buckley Mossi insane GUO Me Publisher St Oue Oi Oe MD She it sat Alan Fine i Gums sneer Executive Producer fv YR DONNELLEY, NG, GLASGOW, KY, USA. oo 8 Formaton tar tity Wart Comes Ite sosoroton aque. pev cil 0-21-5158 Malaces bean 0252010 on O807 D SELL. DEER RW Rs) | WEVER NEEDED WE 10 SEE Ox ANEW! Upi SC cealealpetlpeyremdr cael Toe 2s LC ehCHANGED ME eet HOSPITAL AND INTO PROPER CARE, PRONTO!WELL, KI, THE GOO News 1g YORU PROBABLY eon ue winnouT A Pe FEAR Or HEIGHTS. , SUCH, NOW BABY. NOT A PEEP. HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'NEED, THOUGH! E..2 DON'T KNOW FROM BABIES! I... Tn.SOMETHING 10 EAT? ARE YOU COLD? are you WARM? ARE YOU A CLONE OB A KRAVEN BABY OR AN ANDROID? BECAUSE THOSE t KNOW ‘ABOUT! WHICH IS. SAD, COME TO THINK OF IT. BUT IT KINDA UNDERSCORES "4, WHAT YOU DON'T 4 ME. WE NEED ‘SOMEBODY WHO CAN TAKE CARE ‘OF YOU, PAL. st. HELLO, VINCENT’S 1s RIGHT AROUND yy {MATERNITY ce WARD, FAREWELL THE CORNER. 4 WARD, DAREWE CANYONS! _/4 GIVE ME “aie & C A LOSING IT. You CeAve! reat SER: 7 gourene N THEVIL FIND HIM RE PROBABLY NO THEY'LL TAKE ects ne ine ano 2) Nia! SPIDER- MAN'S TAKING HIM SOMEPLACE SAFE. HE'S IN NORMAN HAD MEIN A CELL! t BROKE OUT, BUT HE HAS His PEOPLE FOLLOWING ME, T KNOW IT! THEY KILL ME FOR THIS! Ly, wy DAD CAN'T HURT YOU. HE'S BEHIND J How po BARS._9You THINK THAT WOULD STOP HIM? HIDE ME, HARRY, ‘OR WE'RE ALL DEAD!CARLIE! WE'RE MOV 7 WE CANT LEAVE PETER! WHAT IF HE'S. TRAPPED UNDER HERE SOMEWHERE?! HE May SE ‘HURT! MONSTER? UUy's LIKE A ‘SISTER TO YOU! 00 BapY HUNMHH® © mayoe PETE'S NOT THEN THEY'D KILLER, He's nor OKAY-HE CANT BE JUST RUN AWAY AND LEAVE HERE... Wowey asour His THE MONSTER AND LEAVE POOR PETE TO MEL T THINK THars PereR’s PHONE! HOLD ON, Pete! I'M COMING!HOME STRETCH, ee 0 5 Pas SHOULDER. 4 Back THERE NOT SEEING US, HOORAY MEANS HE'S. NOT TERRORIZING MY FRIENDS Back ATV Ww oTHeR WHAT'S LEFT OF THE News, HOWEVER, COFFEE BEAN, uy SPIDER-SENSE SOTHAT’S "WON'T QUIT JANGLING. ‘SOOD. YOU'RE NOT, LIKE, GONNA SPIT.'UP ON ME OR ANYTHING, ‘ARE YOU? Just BE PATIENT ONE. MORE SECOND, WE'VE GOT) ELECTRO TO DEALELECTRO KNOWS SPIDER- MAN, BUT NOT pereR PARKER, FIND. STREET. Cn LOTHES! 8 LP A ‘A MINUTE WHERE E CAN CHANGI WITHOUT BEING SEEN!‘Ock AND TOMBSTONE AND SHOCKER AND ELECTRO AND WHO KNOWS WHO ELSE IS HOT ON MY TRAIL? ALL MY NONSTOP SPIDER- SENSE IS TELLING Me. JS THAT. THERE Is NO 6000 PLACE TO TURN! ‘OPTIONS. OPTIONS. THE FANTASTIC FOUR ARE AWAY, SO THE BAXTER BUILDING |S OUT. E MIGHT MAKE AVENGERS MANSION i T'M LUCKY. BUT THAT WOULD MAKE YOU THE TARGET--AND T CAN'T LIVE WITH YOUR, FUNERALS ON MY ‘CONSCIENCE! pecause & 'M NOTHING GoD, EVERY Pisa so 4 SEEING t's SPOLR HAN Ae BAD GOTTA se) RignT? an Ag Tie det, i So Than, He Z HEARD HE Nee! Soueoot WOUDN'T sUSTNOW WENT DO SOMETHING KIDNAI 70 HELP THAT pea RY CRAZY AT A HOSPITAL! WHO KNOWS NNW HE'S SWINGING. [WHAT THAT FREAK \ AROUND THE CITY WITH WOULD DO? IF THAT \""A NEWBORN! HE'LL WAS MY KID, I'D ‘BREAK ITS WanT HIM DEAD!ATTENTION, THE ENTIRE ‘ALL POLICE AND TRISTATE AREA FIREMEN WITHIN © 16 WATCHING YOU FAIL! MISERABLY! YOURE MAKING TT LOOK LIKE J. JONAH JAMESON, TENDER-HEARTED MAN OF THE PEOPLE DOESNT CARE ABOUT ANKLE -BITING RESCUE MOPPETS! THE PRESIDENT'S, MAYOR JAMESON. EVEN /MPRISONED, NORMAN OSBORN IS STILL CONSIDERED ONE OF THis COUNTRY’S MOST DANGEROUS FELONS-- ie Pte OR, D UP THE KID, A eee hi YOU CAN, ‘STOP WORRYING ABOUT YOUR REPUTATION, IMR. MAYOR. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, THIS IS A HOMELAND SECURITY MATTER. THI OPERATION ANSWERS. TO us. wHare UNDER WHOSE AUTHORITY?,THE REASON ‘HER! paves A ILOSsT MY GIVE HER BACK, sesh ihe Be Ww WHAT WORLD, GRAINBRAIN?, Ock! Ock ID HE COULD MAKE ANYTHING, HAPPEN! Mensa Drolet LITT (WITH SPIDEY'S AID) BACK IN AMAZING #615--STEVE. orRy, I ANDMAN!, WAS HERE A Fiest! 2TERRIFIC! TWO MANIACS, NO WAITING! CAN'T JU: KEEP RUNNIN ee eae ey BD Look auiverne's Vi FALLING RIGHT i THEN WE'LL GET HIM FROM BOTH SIDES! NOW!NHHES Pia‘AS longtime readers know, 1 hate dilly- dally in all its sun-dried, sinister forms! So {ot's get right to more of your letters on Grim Hunt from ASM #634-637, Dear Steve and all the other brains at Spidey Senta, This in egards to Spider-Man #635. Is this the end of Spider-Man? Is this the end of the Spider-Man comics? Tt appears that he is indeed done for in this issue. However, hiss Spider-Man. Thisis ‘the core title of the Marvel Universe. Surely you wouldnt do avay with everyone's favorite wal crawler, would you? Of course you wouldn't. But let's look at the events of issue #635. Spidey gets nicked on the shoulder witha knife. Then he gets basted twice with a. shotgun, jabed in the back by a. Hon's claws, stabbed twice on the right side of his chest with two knives run through with a spar, and ten stabbed yet again in the chest while Iyng onthe sib of sacrifice Let's be honest folks. Not even Spider- Man could have survived allo ths. Thats, it was Spider-Man. So, Stove and all of your other comic creators, | think the answer is obvious. It was not Peter Parker aka. Spider-Man that took Sicha beating. It was instead Kaine Lt’ look atthe facts ain told Potrthat he could nat win, He watched Spidey go off with Ezekiel aa. The Ghamlen and ble hal Kae flowed them The book shows Spidey falira grave and seemingly lay there not moving. | belive that Spidey was out for the count and Kaine (who hat snatched one of Spidey's costumes when he was at Pete's apartment or, altrately, may have Switched clothes with him while Spidey lay in the open grave) took his place. After being. shot Madame Wed said to him, “Ido not deserve to be saved.” And Spide-Kaine replied, “makes two of us.” Why would Peter make sucha statement? Kaine isthe one who would feel that way ‘with all of the bad things that he has done in his life. Then when Madame Web says, “Don't you know how special you are?” Spidey-Kaine replies “No..not unti tonight” Kaine was referring to Peter, the real Spider-Man. ‘Then Spidey-Kaine says, it was nice..to see what it was like.” What he meant was thatit vas nice todo what Peter has aways done fora change: something good; puting fis life onthe line for a noble cause Spidey could not have survived this. But Kaine may have. So this is my take on what is happening inthis issue. Spidey lves...and so does Kraven ‘the Hunter, though he may not be as his family hoped since he was brought back to life by the blood of a clone at Spidey. Gary Jay Hepzhibah, Ga Not too shabby, Gary. You've seen by ‘now how close your guesses were. But before You go thinking you're so smart, answer me this...You have a fox, a chicken, and Tom Brevoort. How do you get them across the river knowing the fox would eat the chicken, the chicken is in love with Tom, and Tom eats anything he gets in a boat with? ‘The answer is coming up...NEVE! OOO Hi Steve ‘Just a quick note to let you know thatthe Grim Hunt storyline has been fantastic. The art has been superb and the writing exceptional. | do however, have one question. When Kaine is killed in place of Peter atthe end of the story arc, why does his body not disintegrate like that of Ben Rell after he was killed in Spider-Man #75? Instead we see Kaine lying in 2 coffin looking pretty much “undisintegrated.” ''m sure you guys have an explanation for this, but if not, let me try and provide one in ‘an attempt to secure a coveted “no prize” (even though you don't “give them out” anymare). The reason Kaine's body did not decay is because his role in “the web” is not yet done (as we can see by his revival as "Tarantula’) So whatever mystic forces control the web, siill needed his body, hence, no disintegration, Whilst in contrast, poor Ben Reilly had served his purpose in the greater scheme of things, so he was simply returned to the dust from wich he came. ‘So how did | do? Jono Jordaan Pietermaritzburg, South Africa Excellent thinking, Jono. So excellent in fact, that it's not No-Prize worthy as it was exactly our thinking for why Kaine's body didn't disintegrate. it wasn’t a mistake, just a small clue (for the few of you that remembered that original clone story) that Kaine’s story wasn’t quite done. Dear Spidey team, ‘ve been reading & collecting Spidey's tiles for 30 some years. One of the storyline closest to my heart is Kraven’s Last Hunt. | was ‘not expecting much from Grim Hunt, but | have to say ASM #636-637 was one of the saddest letdowns in this character's history in both art and story. Like you did by bringing back Osborn (and giving him Gwen's child, that was the worst idea you could have had...) you are estroying, stone-by-stone, a legacy that made Spider-Man history rise above most of the other in mainstream comics. Why you keep going on with these comebacks is beyond me. Stephane Bonnet Varennes, Quebee. PS. We already had one Tarantula, Sorry, you aren't digging things, Stephane. | personally believe that the idea of long-lost villains returning when you least expect itis one of the great story elements that has always been atthe heart of Spidey comics. The fact that we were able to get ariginal Kraven's Last. Mont writer JM. DeMattets to take a look at what we're doing and be a part of the story made this editor tee! better about building on a classic. Keep in mind that Last Hunt (or as it ‘was originally known Fearful Symmetry) still VERY important to Spidey’s history and the Kraven mythos. In fact we wouldn't have had Grim Hunt without it ®®OO Dear Steve, Vim going to keep this short for you (See, readers, here's a guy who takes my ‘dilly-dally” concerns to heart!- SW) ‘Amazing is on my pull-ist no matter what the creative direction of the book but...'m a litle unsure about the changes in the classic Lizard character. Of that series, | probably liked the last issue best. Grim Hunt, however, left no ambiguous feelings. Solid story! This is going to be a great are. On anather brief note... would certainly like to see Stan come back and do something that isn’t tongue in cheeky. On the other hand, its always coo! to see his name in a Marvel credit again. Stan's an inspiration. It-might be the key to the only true “fountain of youth”...staying young in your mind, Scott Shriver Via e-mail Stan is welcome back anytime, Scott and he reminds us of that every week! Also, Stan is much younger than me, so no worries about him slowing down anytime soon, 1, on the other hand, might not make it to Friday. OOOO We also heard from Mark H Moss, Rainer Husel, Daniel Vinton, Paul A. Cassenelli, David Belcher (Hobgoblin is coming), Chris Adams, Harrison Koepnick, Johnathon Fullenkamp and Nathon from Australia. ‘We'll be back in two weeks for part 3 of Srign of the Species. No dilly-dallying until then! Viva Tallutaht Simperin’ Steve ic! This week's cover by Marko Djurd ‘This week's Peter Parker variant cove by Phil Jimenez and Frank D'Armata! NEXT! Send e-mail to ‘SPIDEYOFFICE@MARVEL.COM (please mark as OKAY TO PRINT)