Title: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual
Issue Number: 21
Release Date: September 1987
Highlights
- The first issue in Marvel Comics history to have a variant cover
- Marvel took full advantage of the event, appearing at a televised Shea Stadium baseball game to wed two actors playing the rolls of Spider-Man and Mary Jane, all of it being officiated by Stan Lee
- First appearance of Willi Smith (no, not that one), Judge Spencer Watson, Bruce, Hotchkiss, and the Earth TRN1108 versions of Peter Parker and Mary Jane
- The issue stands as a jumping on point for new readers, a new beginning of sorts
- First appearance of the location, Louie's Fine Clothes
- As Spider-Man swings around town, he arrives at a major police scene outside Louie's Fine Clothes
- Inside, Electro has been sprung by his boys, and is suiting up
- After a fight in the street, Spidey neutralizes him with water from a fire hydrant
- Mary Jane arrives at Peter's apartment, bags in hand to settle into her new home
- During their exchange we learn how Spider-Man's automatic camera works to capture all of the actions shots
- Basically, a transmitter in his belt tells the camera when Spider-Man is in front of the lens, triggering the photo to be taken
- Peter still has the red and blue Spider-Man costume he picked up in Berlin
- Reference is made to Spider-Man Versus Wolverine, and The Amazing Spider-Man 289
- Peter begins to worry about his personal finances, pondering how he's going to give Mary Jane the lavish life she's accustomed to
- As Peter sells his photos to the Bugle, Robbie takes him to the lunch room where a surprise party is being held in honor of his engagement
- During the party, J. Jonah Jameson tells Peter to be sure before he says I do because it's a big step with no turning back
- Robbie hands a bonus check for Peter to Jameson to sign, which he is audibly surprised by
- After signing it, Peter offers to give it back since he knows Jameson didn't intend for him to have it
- Jameson tells him to keep it, and then tells Miss Hotchkiss to make note of every individual at the party for him to dock the expense from their checks
- It appears that Betty is back to being out of it - When Peter bumps into her after the party and tells her that he missed her there, reminding her he's getting married, she tells him that her and Ned will both be at the wedding
- Peter uses the bonus money to buy and present Mary Jane with a diamond ring
- At lunch, Mary Jane gets a phone call from "Bruce", who invites her away with him
- The inside joke is that it's alleged to have been Marvel writers having a laugh, and it's intended to be Bruce Wayne on the line
- Another limo picks Mary Jane up, and she heads to Willi's office to tell him she can't be in the Bahamas this weekend for a fashion shoot as she's getting married
- As she leaves, Peter once again frets over her high profile lifestyle
- After meeting with Willi, Mary Jane is approached by a stranger who hands her a tape, and tells her she can listen to it in the Ferrari parked on the curb, the car has plates that say, "BRUCE"
- The tape is Bruce telling her about the two tickets to Paris in the glove box, and if she changes her mind about getting married to pick him up at the airport, but either way, she can keep the Ferrari
- As Peter looks through a photo album at Aunt May's house, we get a retelling of Spider-Man's origin
- Peter thinks on Gwen Stacy, and how her being close to Spider-Man is what got her killed
- He ponders if he should really let someone love him
- Aunt May startles him, and when she asks him if he always gets scared of people who love him, he says that maybe he should
- She responds by telling him he shouldn't keep distance from people who love him
- The two have dinner with their aunts, and tell them the news
- As the two leave Aunt May's home, Mary Jane gets in a car with Bruce, telling Peter she has plans
- She finally returns to Peter's apartment at 1:00 AM
- She tells him she's been walking around for hours just thinking, and asks Peter where he goes when he needs to think
- He tells her somewhere quiet, and when she says to take her there, as Spider-Man, he takes her to the top of the Empire State Building
- After dropping her off at her apartment, sleep eludes Peter, who sits up all night with a photo of Gwen Stacy
- The next morning, Mary Jane calls and tells him about the wedding dress Willi had delivered to her
- After picking up their marriage license, Peter goes to see Flash Thompson, asking him to be his best man
- At dinner that night, Peter almost calls off the wedding, but gets interrupted by Mary Jane showing him a photo of her dress
- He quickly changes the subject, and tells her about the bachelor party he's having the next day which Flash is throwing
- At the party, which has a major attendance of two people, Flash and Harry Osborne, Peter tells them that he's wondering if getting married is the right choice
- Though they both have their own perspectives, they both say he should take the chance
- As he finally sleeps, Peter's mind is met by a nightmare where at his wedding all his arch enemies are present, and they've all come to do harm to Mary Jane
- Bruce continues to pursue Mary Jane, and as she rides off with him to make a decision, Spider-Man sits atop the bridge that Gwen Stacy fell to her death from, still questioning what he's doing
- As the wedding time comes and goes, both Mary Jane and Peter are not present
- 1:00 PM strikes, and Mary Jane jumps from Bruce's Ferrari, dressed in her wedding gown, and apologizing to Peter, who isn't there to hear it
- Peter comes running down the street, also apologizing for being late
- Mary Jane officially becomes Mary Jane Watson-Parker
- J. Jonah Jameson tells everyone that the Bugle is sponsoring the reception, and wants everyone to have a good time, while he enjoys the tax break
- Sad that he can't afford a honeymoon, Mary Jane surprises him with the two tickets to Paris from Bruce, as well as the keys to a private Villa there
- Reference is made to Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 7, which features their honeymoon adventure
- The last issue of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual crediting Jim Shooter as Editor-In Chief - Jim was fired in April 1987 from Marvel Comics
Oddities
- Editor's Day Off: The narrator says, "For this is New York City, a town that's seen it all." It's in the name - "City"
- Editor's Continued Day Off: As Peter thinks back on Spider-Man's origin, several panels show his eye lenses and spider logo on his back colored yellow
- Peter asks Flash Thompson, and not Harry Osborne to be his best man?
- Editor's Still Off: When Flash is telling Peter why he should get married, his word bubbles are partly colored in the same color as the background instead of white
Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)
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