Spider-Man once hid a secret about one of his foes that helped an ally but ended up costing Peter Parker almost everything.
Peter Parker’s web-swinging career as Spider-Man has enthralled fans over the nearly sixty years he has been part of the Marvel Universe. Playing the part of a superhero might be the most notable thing in Peter’s life, but it has never been particularly helpful when it comes to paying his bills. For that, Peter has long relied on his career as a photographer for the Daily Bugle, working under the often frustrating auspices of J. Jonah Jameson. No matter their differences, Peter has always known that Jameson’s heart was in the right place, so much so that he even gave up everything he had worked for to clear his oldest rival’s name.
Peter Parker had already been dealing with one rogues after another when things took a turn for the tragic in 2010’s Amazing Spider-Man #623 by Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, and Paul Azaceta. Spider-Man had already faced off against the new, acid-spewing Vulture before Electro broke the villain out of Ryker’s Island Penitentiary, but the second time things became far more personal. After hunting down the men he believed responsible for his gruesome transformation, the Vulture was given a false lead by a desperate man that turned his attention towards J. Jonah Jameson. While Jameson had previously been responsible in part for the transformation of Mac Gargan into the Scorpion using the same technology that was used to turn James Natale into the new Vulture, Jameson ultimately had no hand in Natale’s fate. Unfortunately, the lie about Jameson became the hot news story of the day, threatening to destroy the then mayor’s career entirely. Spider-Man could handle the Vulture, but it was left to Peter Parker to protect Jameson’s from the vultures in the press, and to do so, he crossed a line that he had never before considered.
After a long night of editing the perfect photos of an encounter that never really took place, Peter Parker had saved Jameson’s political career by releasing it to the press. The next day, while members of Jameson’s administration cheered Peter on, the mayor himself dragged him out for a press conference. There he scrutinized the blatant inaccuracies of the mock image and dragged Peter’s name through the mud.
Regardless of the fact that Peter had falsified the photo to save Jameson’s good name, it was an act so lacking in journalistic integrity that the mayor could not allow it to be his saving grace. This breach of trust didn’t just strike a professional chord in Jameson, but a personal one as well. After publicly humiliating and firing Peter Parker from his administration he even blacklisted the photographer, bringing his entire career to a grinding halt.
This sort of ethical lapse isn’t common for Spider-Man’s alter ego, but it served to drive home just how far Peter Parker would go to do the right thing, even for someone who had been gunning for his alter ego since day one.
However complicated their relationship might have been, this event drove a wedge between the two that would define their place in each other’s lives for quite some time. Even if Peter had managed to keep Jameson safe from the threat of the Vulture, he was left with a long road ahead of him when it came to saving himself.
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