The Missing Untold Tale of Spider-Man aka Spider-Girl Meets Spider-Man

Or 'Untold Tales of Spider-Man #26'

Someday the truth about Untold Tales of Spider-Man will be known to all. For you see, it didn't really end with issue 25. No, you see, the clever artist and the crafty writer Pat Olliffe and Tom Defalco carried on the Untold Tales tradition with Spider-Girl #10-11. Dig this, friends: Untold Tales of Spider-Man covers previously unseen adventures of Spider-Man during his early career, specifically placed between Amazing Spider-Man #6 and Amazing Spider-Man #24. It was primarily scripted, plotted and pencilled by Kurt Busiek and Pat Olliffe, with help from Roger Stern, Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz.Here's where it get's interesting. Spider-Girl #10 and #11 chronicle our gal Mayday being sent to the past, during (and just prior to) the events of Amazing Spider-Man #25. In the tradition of Untold Tales, I'm going to explain how these two tales fit together.

Spidey grabs his Spider-Signal

Peter agrees to help Liz study

Flash threatens Pete, May meets Peter

 Now, if you've read Amazing Spider-Man #24, you'll know that Spidey uses his Spider-Signal beam to distract Flash Thompson and in dialog clearly states he collected it. Remember that bit, readers. When Spider-Girl arrives in the past (thanks to time-traveling villain Spyral) she meets her dear ol' dad as a teen at Midtown High in a scene which seems to be lifted from Amazing Spider-Man #25, with Flash threatening Pete after hearing he's been seen with Liz Allan. It even features similar dialog from the original story! True enough, Peter had been asked to  Liz's house to help with studying in ASM #24, and he's shown leaving Liz's house at the very beginning of ASM #25.However Spider-Girl #10 is set a day before the events involving Jonah's Robot depicted in ASM #25, as Mayday clearly spends the night at Midtown High after encounter her father as both Peter and Spidey.  Hang on, where does Spider-Girl #10 fit into this mess then, smarty pants? 

Hold up, didn't you already pick that up? WHAA!?!

Liz asks Peter to help her study again.

 Here's what I propose: Peter has been helping Liz study for the past couple of weeks following the events of ASM #24, meaning the scene on page one of ASM #25 is a different study night. This helps with explaining where May's arrival fits into the sequence of events, but doesn't help with explaining that pesky Spider-Signal retrieval scene right after it. Or does it? Flash refers to the events of ASM #24 as taking place 'a few weeks ago.' It's odd for the Spider-Signal  to have been left on the roof 'yesterday' as Peter already collected it. So clearly Peter left his Spider-Signal on a rooftop at some  point after ASM #24. That fits nicely, don't you think?

...And Spider-Girl #10

Just for comparison, here's ASM #25...

In Spider-Girl #10 we see the events of Amazing Spider-Man #25 unfolding from both Peter's and Mayday's perspective, including a fun scene with Mayday meeting her namesake, Aunt May. While this is taking place, Peter is at the Bugle seeing a man named Smythe's 'Spider-Slayer' robot for the first time. Again, the dialog is almost directly lifted from the original, as are many of the panels. Mayday decides to head out as Spider-Girl only to be spotted by Smythe's Robot, leading to a brief clash in Spider-Girl #11. I imagine this scene takes place between the panels in ASM #25. We don't see the 'Spider-Slayer' Robot's entire journey to Midtown High, so the encounter with Spider-Girl at the end of SG #10 and the beginning of SG #11 fits nicely before the Robot locks onto Peter's trail.

While Spider-Man is taking on the 'Spider-Slayer' Robot, May finds herself in combat with the Human Torch and is forced to flee, before heading back to Aunt May's house. Of Course, at this very moment Liz Allan and Betty Brant have arrived seeking Peter, only to encounter Mary Jane. Yet again this encounter from Spider-Girl #11 can fit nicely between the panels of Amazing Spider-Man #25. My only comment about this scene would be that now that Mayday has arrived, Mary Jane Watson perhaps stays longer talking to Aunt May. I bring this suggestion up as Peter has on his costume later in SG #11.

Between panels 3 and 5 here SG v Robot

...before it heads to Midtown.

Betty and Liz meet Mary Jane...

...and then Mayday arrives. Oh my!

Having sacrificed his costume to fool Jonah, Peter luckily has an extra one back home. Unluckily for him, Aunt May finds the spare costume at the end of the issue, stating she was tidying Peter's room after Mary Jane had left. Let's try to work this one out, shall we? Peter could- in theory -have ducked home to grab his spare costume before encountering Spider-Girl again, then stowing it hastily behind the bookcase where Aunt May would very soon later discover it before 'officially' returning home as Peter. It's the best workaround I can see, anyway.

While Pete fools JJJ, MJ leaves...

...with Mayday...

...who spends 20 mins looking for her dad...

...Pete grabs his spare suit, sends May home...

...hides his suit then returns home as Peter.

As I mentioned, Spidey encounters Spider-Girl and the two do battle. Soon they are joined by the Human Torch and the fight continues until May finally tracks down the villainous Spyral. Spidey interrupts the Human Torch so that Spider-Girl can return home and is left confused by being called 'Dad.' Presumably Peter heads home after this, just as he does in Amazing Spider-Man #25. There you have it, the secret but not-official Untold Tales of Spider-Man #26. What do you think?

Until they reprint the Untold Tales of Spider-Man Omnibus with this missing gem, I remain

frogoat

Holiday Update

Obviously, I've been on holiday recently and haven't done much with the blog, or with anything for that matter. But hey, the good news is with leisure time comes reading time and for me that equates to loads of comics and trades. So, I figure I'll type about that this time around. Allons-y!

First things first, my monthly pile of shame. Yes, that cantankerous stare and those accusing glances coming from my shameful pile of unread comics each month has finally been dealt with. Amazing Spider-Man is coming along nicely since the relaunch, though it's noticeably slower paced than it used to be. Ms Marvel is consistently excellent, too. Uncanny Avengers kicks ass but I'm having trouble recalling everything that's relevant from the past 20-odd issues. Unfortunately, I've decided to drop both Wolverine and Fantastic Four. The titles aren't bad, they just aren't my flavor of comics and I've never been a huge fan of either, so when it's time to cut a title or two, these are first to go. I'm probably going to be cutting more severely in the not-too-distant future as well. That'll be harder. Moving along!

I'm delighted to announce, proclaim and gesticulate to all who'll let me that I finally completed both The Complete Ben Reilly Epic Book 4 and the Untold Tales of Spider-Man Omnibus. Both books have been on my other pile of shame-that being trades, collections and omnibuses- for quite some time. Both books were worth picking up purely for their merits, but seeing as the writing was so good, the stories so engaging, the art so gosh-darn beautiful and the pages so glossy, they were a must-read. On a side note, I've managed to turn a friend into a Ben Reilly fan practically overnight with The Complete Clone Saga Epic Book 1. Then straight away Book 2, followed in quick succession by Book 3. I'll have to tell Zach 'Spideydude' Joiner about this! Now that I've finished with all of that, I've just gotta get started on my Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus.

Speaking of stuff I've yet to read, I've visited some of the local big city comic shops and snagged some great swag, which I keep in a comic short box, not a bag. Well, that was almost a complete rhyme. Anyway, so far I've picked up Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #127-129, Web of Spider-Man #52, #54 and #55 (but sadly not #53) and Amazing Spider-Man #574. As for collected works, I've acquired Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Ghosts of the Past and Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 and Vol 5. The Fourth Masterworks volume is something of an accomplishment for me as I've not found it anywhere online for under $50 dollars and that was a used copy! Pretty happy with that one. I also grabbed the Spider-Men trade paperback on a whim.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with my holiday reading and frivolous purchases, in no small part thanks to my wonderful partner, for not only putting up with my hobby but for also encouraging it. She even picked up some comics of her own which was awesome to see. We must be picking up each others bad habits.

Until I stop loving the comics medium and convert to a newspaper enthusiast, I remain

frogoat