The power of love is one of the oldest tropes in all of literature. For as long as we’ve been telling stories, we’ve been coming to the conclusion that love is all we need to save us from our darkest hours. This can be especially true in genres that place a major emphasis on connections between people, such as anime and, important for this discussion, comic books. In a world where people can stop the Earth’s rotation with a thought, it’s no more or less plausible that love can literally change the way the world works, or at least get you out of a jam. And it turns out, love is a pretty powerful weapon in everyone’s favorite Wall-Crawler’s arsenal as well. Spider-Man just proved how strong love is, because without it he would have been slashed to itty bitty ribbons by his deranged half-clone “daughter”.
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Spider-Man is in a Fight for His Life
After saving the Rhino, who went into cardiac arrest during a mindless rampage across New York City, everyone’s favorite Wall-Crawler set his mind to finding out what happened. He investigated Rhino’s apartment, only to be drugged with the same stuff that made Rhino go berserk. It makes whoever took a big enough dosage see their worst fears brought to life, and Spider-Man was hit with about a hundred times what caused the Rhino to have a heart attack. For the past several issues of The Amazing Spider-Man volume seven, Pete has been trying to keep his mind together and get to the bottom of this mystery, all while holding down a new job that he is constantly about to lose.
In issue #4, Spider-Man finally found the mastermind behind the whole chemical anxiety. Hobgoblin was back and literally selling this stuff in soda cans for some as of yet unknown purpose, because all Spider-Man could focus on was his nasty memories and trying not to die. It looks like Hobgoblin has the Webslinger dead to rights, only for Itsy Bitsy, the clone combo of Spider-Man and Deadpool, to arrive and warn her boss that Peter’s friend Brian reported their operation to the feds. Peter had Brian run a scan on his blood earlier to find a cure, and it looks like that accidentally put him in the Goblin’s crosshairs. Hobgoblin flies off to get rid of Brian before the authorities arrive, leaving Itsy Bitsy to take down the hallucinating Spider-Man.
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Drifting between his worst memories and fighting an enemy who is just as fast and agile as him, Spider-Man doesn’t stand much of a chance. His body is torn apart while his mind torments him with his deepest regrets. He remembers his rebellious teenage years, where he pushed away Aunt May and Uncle Ben, staying out with his bad influence friends and chugging down beer. Then, when he’s at his worst, he remembers the conversation he had with May after he ran away and got drunk. May tells him that Ben and her will always be there for Peter no matter how much he acts out, to which Peter says that’s only until they die, just like his parents. May pulls her nephew into a hug, telling him that he can’t push away the people he loves, because that’s the only guaranteed way to lose them. Peter returns the hug and begs May not to hate him, saying he loves her.
Saying “I Love You” Saved Spider-Man’s Life
Except Spider-Man wasn’t hugging his beloved Aunt, he was hugging Itsy Bitsy. While she might be a murderous clone made to ruin his and Deadpool’s reputations, Itsy Bitsy confided in Spider-Man last issue that she had a massive crush on him. Not enough of one to stop her from trying to kill him, of course, until he accidentally told her he loved her. This stopped her cold, giving Spider-Man the chance he needed to get his bearings and had the helpful side effect of throwing Itsy Bitsy off her game.
Spider-Man is able to web up the frenzied villain, who is way too mad about Spider-Man “lying” to her to fight back properly. Itsy Bitsy screams that she’ll take her revenge while Pete takes off, knowing he has to get to Rand Applied before Hobgoblin if he wants any chance of stopping another friend from dying. It’s a race against the clock, and Hobgoblin has every advantage. And that’s without counting how Spider-Man will definitely have to keep fighting his hallucinations the whole time. Still, if this issue proved anything, it’s that the power of love really can save your life. Or at least give you an opening to take down a supervillain. Tell your loved ones that you love them, it might just save your life one day.
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