Spider-Man: Life Story #5 The ’00s Review

“He’s already killing people…You knew about this monster, Dad. And now Uncle Ben is dead.“

Having survived Y2K, can the reclusive Peter Parker endure both a super-hero civil war and the hunger of Morlun? Will has family ever be the same?

WRITER: Chip Zdarsky

PENCILER: Mark Bagley

INKER: John Dell

COLOR ARTIST: Frank D’Armata

LETTERER: VC’s Travis Lanham

COVER: Chip Zdarsky

VARIANT COVER: Andrea Sorrentino

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Shannon Andrews

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Alanna Smith

EDITOR: Tom Brevoort

SPIDER-MAN created by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

STORY: 2006. Morlun murders and feeds on Ben “Spider-Man” Reilly on the streets of New York. Not satiated by Clone flour, he sets his sights on the real Spidey, who is hearing about it on the tv with his family at their home in Portland. Peter heads to New York, to set things right at his company and with Morlun. On the way to Parker Industries, he makes a detour to The Daily Bugle, where he spills his secrets, setting the record straight for the world. When he finally arrives at his company, Tony Stark, now Secretary of Defense, offers him a deal-register under the Superhuman Act, or become a fugitive alongside Captain America’s Resistance. Peter refuses Stark’s offer and the U.S. Avengers come to take him in. At the same time across the country, Morlun has located the Parker residence and is attacking everyone there. Back in New York, Cap and his Avengers come to Peter’s aid as Peter goes to his lab, obtaining a new suit and a method to take down Iron Man’s team. Meanwhile, Benjy and Claire have figured out a way to defeat Morlun, but unfortunately, it looks like Benjy has died doing it. With Iron Man and his U.S. Avengers routed, Spidey tells Cap about the energy vampire chasing him, unaware what his children have done, with Cap saying they will deal with it together.

THOUGHTS: Zdarsky once again provides an elegant, simple cover. It was easy for me to see its design and think of Captain America, with Spidey metaphorically trapped due to the Civil War crossover that took place during this decade. However, as I bought the issue at my local comic store, the employee who rang me up at the register remarked how the the two red lines were reminiscent of the World Trade Center Twin Towers and I suddenly had a very different, very somber perspective.

The story opens in medias res in 2006, finding Spidey struggling against Morlun. The kicker here is that under the mask is Ben Reilly, not Peter, after the events of last issue. I like the costume that Bagley came up with, especially as it carries over elements of the outfit he made for him when Ben had assumed the mantle back in the ’90s Clone Saga. Sadly, Ben is not long for this world, but at least he didn’t turn into a bag of flour when he died! Right, Zach?

Moving over to Portland, where the real Peter lives, we find him out chopping wood, like he’s Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War. He’s sporting a beard now to help him less resemble his CEO clone. As he works, he’s once again laying the responsibility AND think-about-your-future speech on his daughter. I’m sure I’m not the only one who got a strong May Day vibe off of how Claire is portrayed by Bagley. While Claire takes after her dad, Benjy’s got his mom’s red hair. I was surprised to see MJ’s current coiffure so short. Something about it, or maybe how the only thing she does in this issue is worry and fret (understandably so) made me think of Aunt May.

I loved Peter’s skepticism about Ezekiel, mirroring many fans’ sentiments when the character first hit the scene. It’s only when his clone is murdered does Peter begin to believe. His belief comes at a price-the death of another Uncle Ben. Claire serving as Peter’s conscience is a great choice by Zdarsky. She really hits it home for her dad that he knew about Morlun and still let it happen, much like the burglar who ran past him all those decades ago.

Just because he stopped being Spider-Man doesn’t mean Peter hasn’t gone out in a mask, though. Echoing Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #36, Peter was there at Ground Zero during the 9-11 attacks. It’s only featured in a two panel flashback, but it was such a pivotal moment in his, and the world’s, history. Zdarsky doesn’t include it for nostalgia’s sake. According to Claire, it helped put Stark in power and allowed him to draft other heroes under the Superhuman Registration Act. When you consider what the real world effects were of that day, combined with the fact that in this universe, Cap and Iron Man have been on opposite sides since the Vietnam War, it makes more sense for there to be a super-hero civil war than what we got in the original book.

I found it fitting that Peter goes to The Daily Bugle to set the record straight. With Jonah having passed away in 2001, Betty Brandt is running the show. I appreciated Zdarsky using Betty to illustrate how unbelievable the whole Clone storyline is. Echoing today’s world, she points out how half the population will buy into the  story and the other half won’t, but either way things are going to continue to be complicated for Peter as he tries to play damage control for the events he’s set in motion.

One of those events is a confrontation with Tony Stark. Excuse me, Secretary of Defense Stark. If you’re not a fan of Peter’s hero worship of Tony in the MCU, then I imagine you’d feel great joy at seeing these two be at odds again. Of course, Tony is bullheaded and only sees his way as the right way, imploring Peter to join his “U.S. Avengers”.  I was happy to see Peter be more than capable and hold his own against the likes of War Machine, She-Hulk, and  Captain Marvel, even though he is older now and out of practice. However, even a friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man would eventually be overwhelmed by a team of armored U.S. Avengers. Thankfully, Captain America, leading a team of Avengers consisting of Luke Cage, Hawkeye, and Cloak & Dagger have assembled to save the Wall-Crawler! It was a pretty glorious moment and if you didn’t hear Chris Evans in your head as you read that immortal line, well, you probably didn’t see Avengers: Endgame yet.

Back at the ranch, er, Parker home, Morlun has arrived, in a spectacular panel by Bagley. He sells the size difference between him and the Parker twins, making him come off as more than a relentless match. Only through the power of twin teamwork do the Parkers finish Morlun once and for all, with a stake accidentally going through his heart. Pretty fitting for a vampire. It doesn’t seem like Benjy was down all that long, but apparently he was drained enough by Morlun to kill him. Honestly, it’s hard to feel the loss as we barely knew him, but Mary Jane looks completely devastated under Bagley’s pencil.

In New York, I was very happy to see Peter side immediately with Cap this time, instead of switching sides halfway through. As he said, “I have to do the right thing. For Cap. For Claire and Benjy. For MJ…For Uncle Ben.” It was so awesome to see this reminder of why Peter does what he does as he entered his secret lab. The look of determination Bagley gave him serves as an evocation of the Spidey who can lift crushing rubble off himself to save a loved one.

It was great seeing some of his costume variants in the lab and Bagley once again debuts a new suit this issue. This one reminded me a bit of Miles Morales with the red and black mask, with some Ben Reilly thrown in. It’s not my favorite, that still goes to the ’90s, but I do like it.

Stark’s hubris and lack of trust proves to be the U.S. Avengers downfall as Peter is able to manipulate the fail safe Iron Man put into everyone’s armor. It’s a great way to show Peter has as formidable a mind as Tony. Of course, the battle may be over, but the moral argument still stands, with Peter still finding himself at issue’s end between a rock and a hard place. I honestly don’t know how he’s gonna get out of this, with Stark placing him on the run and fixed to seize Parker Industries. Zdarsky has a lot to wrap up in the finale!

The penultimate issue of Life Story covers my least favorite era to date, but Bagley makes it look so good and Zdarsky once again manages to tie everything in and have it make sense. This miniseries has been something special and I can’t wait to see how it ends!

MY GRADE: A-

JAVI’S HUH?: Was Tony ever really there or was his armor wrapped around the most convincing hologram of all time?

What happened with Gwen’s clone? We’ve yet to hear what happened to her after she and Ben left.

Is Kraven still running around with the symbiote?