Draft:Spider-Man No More!

"Spider-Man No More!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Publication date	April – June 1967
Genre	Superhero
Title(s) The Amazing Spider-Man #50-52
Main character(s)	Spider-Man Kingpin
Creative team
Writer(s)	Stan Lee
Penciller(s)	John Romita Sr.
Inker(s)	Mickey Demeo Mike Esposito
Letterer(s)	Sam Rosen
Editor(s)	Stan Lee
Epic Collection	ISBN 9781302932497

Spider-Man No More! is a comic book storyline featuring the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, written and pencilled by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. respectively, and published in 1967. It also marked the first new story arc in The Amazing Spider-Man comics line without the involvement of artist and Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko. Taking place across The Amazing Spider-Man issues #50-52, It focuses on Peter Parker giving up his life as the costumed vigilante Spider-Man after a series of hardships he consistently endures in his personal life combined with the unrelenting smear campaign against him, being led by J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle. Although providing him a new lease on his personal life at first, his discarding of the Spider-Man persona would soon wield significant consequences as it gives rise to a new crime wave in New York City which is being spearheaded by the Kingpin, making his first full appearance in comics.

Story

After performing a routine break up of an attempted robbery on a payroll truck as Spider-Man, Peter Parker returns to the apartment he shares with his friend Harry Osborn, who informs him that his aunt May is ill. He is then told by Anna Watson that May was calling to Peter for some time, but had since been sedated. Peter is ashamed that he began neglecting his aunt's needs more often since moving in with Harry, and despite having a test in his science class the following day, finds it increasingly difficult to concentrate.

After being lectured on his declining grades in class by his professor and watching the Daily Bugle's editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson embark on another installment of his smear campaign against the vigilante, Peter officially swears off fighting crime as Spider-Man, taking the costume and disposing it in a nearby trash can. The following day, a child brings the discarded suit to the Daily Bugle offices, exciting Jameson and leading to the new edition of the paper selling out as he informs the public on Spider-Man's retirement, which divides public opinion. Elsewhere, the self-declared Kingpin of New York's criminal underworld tells his men to prepare for an uptick in organized crime within the city as nobody opposes him in Spider-Man's absence. Through contacts close to the Kingpin, Frederick Foswell also learns of Kingpin's plans. Amidst these events, Peter tells Jameson that he has quit from working at the Bugle to devote more time to his academics.

The following days see dramatic increases in criminal activity around New York which Harry comments on to Parker, much to the latter's ambivalence. Despite his best efforts, neither Mary Jane Watson nor Gwen Stacy are able to make time for Peter in his personal life, leading him to reflect on retiring his heroics as being somewhat pointless. When riding his motorcycle home, he hears a cry for help from a night watchman and decides to save him when no one is looking. With the watchman's appearance reminding Parker of his uncle Ben whom he still harbors guilt over not being able to save before, he regains the motivation to become Spider-Man again out of a desire to prevent other tragedies from happening because of his inaction. Peter breaks into Jameson's office at the Daily Bugle and steals back his Spider-Man suit as he comes in, proclaiming his return to the disgruntled journalist. Meanwhile, Foswell attempts to take over Kingpin's operations and is tied up by him as punishment. He then orders for Jameson's kidnapping to quash the negative press he has been receiving from the Bugle amidst his criminal takeover, as Spider-Man begins busting up each of Kingpin's safehouses around the city.

Foswell allys with Kingpin's group as news of Spider-Man's return is made public. Big Turk, a rival organized crime leader, attempts to challenge Kingpin for leadership but is quickly killed. Jameson is subsequently captured and brought to Kingpin's primary headquarters, learning of the crime lord's attempt to silence him and of his betrayal by Foswell, who was a former employee of his at the Bugle. Spider-Man breaks into the headquarters, rescues Jameson and directly confronts Kingpin, who knocks him unconscious using a poisonous gas concealed by his tie pin. Kingpin places both of them in a water tight chamber in spite of Jameson's pleas to be let free. Spider-Man successfully awakes soon after and manages to free himself of his captive bonds, creating an airtight bubble using his webs for both of them to breathe while the rest of the room floods. Kingpin, convinced both of them are dead, soon drains the flood water and inadvertently lets them both escape after Spider-Man takes out his goons. At the Daily Bugle, staffers Betty Brant, Ned Leeds and editor Robbie Robertson realize their boss has gone missing, prompting the latter two to leave the building and cover his disappearance for the paper, much to Brant's dismay.

Kingpin informs Fredrick Foswell of their deaths, to the latter's dissatisfaction, who brands the crime lord as a murderer. About to eliminate Foswell as well, Kingpin is intervened by Spider-Man, who breaks into his offices after telling Jameson to escape. As both of them face off, Foswell steals a gun and attempts to escape, with Kingpin making his own retreat through a secret tube when realizing he was being overpowered by Spider-Man. Elsewhere at the Silver Spoon, Flash Thompson is holding a party to celebrate his return from active duty in the military, being greeted by Harry and Gwen. Mary Jane soon joins them on her own accord, to which Thompson responds with surprise that her and Peter are still dating. Jameson, having failed his escape attempt by being knocked out headfirst by a metal pipe, wakes up again and flees down the hallway of the building, alerting the Kingpin's men. Foswell finds and attempts to defend Jameson, before being shot by the goons before Spider-Man arrives at the scene and takes them out. Foswell soon passes away from his injuries, disillusioning Jameson as to why his former employee led his double life as a criminal, but reconciles that he died protecting him nonetheless.

Soon after, the authorities arrive and Jameson informs both Ned and Robbie as to what happened to him. In spite of Spider-Man's role in rescuing him from the Kingpin, Jameson swears to continue his public campaign against him, irritating Parker. Spider-Man ultimately accepts that his mind can't be changed, and that perhaps they were more similar than he'd like to believe.

Alternate versions

Ultimate Marvel

A reinterpretation of the Spider-Man No More! storyline was featured between Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #22-25, which starred Miles Morales, the second Spider-Man of the original Ultimate Universe succeeding the then-deceased Peter Parker of that reality. Issue #22 is set during a battle between Morales and Roxxon scientist Conrad Marcus, who injected the Oz formula into the genetically altered spider that bit Morales and catalyzed his powers during his time at OsCorp, and had by then successfully bonded with the Venom symbiote. The fight culminates in Venom consuming both Miles and his mother Rio Morales until the former successfully uses his venom blast to rip the symbiote away from its host. The police arrive and proceed to shoot and incapcitate both Marcus and the symbiote, during which Rio herself is accidentally caught in the crossfire and soon passes on from her injuries. The incident devastates Morales, who is escorted home by his friend Ganke Lee and proceeds to tear up his Spider-Man suit, officially forfeiting his vigilante activities and persona. A year later, Morales has fully resumed his civilian identity, including pursuing a romantic relationship with Brooklyn Visions student Kate Bishop. Both Lee and Jessica Drew continuously attempted to convince Miles to return to his duties as Spider-Man to no avail. However, he is soon inspired to reclaim his vigilante identity after witnessing two Roxxon subjects escape captivity and fight Bombshell, being reminded by Drew of her origins as a clone of Peter Parker created by Roxxon. The events of this arc are partially reversed in the aftermath of the 2015 event storyline "Secret Wars" by Jonathan Hickman, which sees the Ultimate and mainstream Marvel Universe merge to form a partially reset continuity, including integrating Miles and some other characters from Earth-1610 into the world, and undoing certain past events such as Rio Morales' death.

Reception

"Spider-Man No More!" has received highly positive reviews from critics, comics commentators, and fans of the Spider-Man mythos. As the story marked the debut of artist John Romita Sr. on the Spider-Man books, numerous outlets highlighted how the story punctured his eventual, significant contributions to the character's lore. Reviewing the storyline as collected in Marvel's Epic Collection series of trades, AIPTComics writer Robert Reed exclaimed, "Lee and Romita do an utterly fantastic job balancing the lives of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and the push and pull between the man and his alter-ego will tug at you." Benny Regalbuto, a comics-based blogger for Medium, praised the story for incorporating all the essential character and story elements integral to the Spider-Man character, pointing out implicit parallels that explored Peter's unintended neglect of his loved ones after assuming his persona, and the similar ambivalence displayed in his origin story. He also commended its effectiveness as the "closing arc" for the initial run of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Amazing Spider-Man by illustrating the transition point towards Peter's adulthood. John Romita Sr.'s art was also praised as a natural but stylistically distinct evolution of Steve Ditko's original character designs, with praise going towards his fluid choreography of movement and fight sequences, which was seen as providing the characters with weight when in motion.