So here is the follow-up to my previous Spider-Man Outline; did anyone grieve over the loss of Ben Reilly? Well, someone was missing grieving after his death (what was with me writing two depressing stories about people dealing with the loss of their loved ones? Was it because the comics I was reading didn’t appear realistic)?

      Anyway, Ben Reilly had dated Jessica Carradine right before he died. However, he found out she was the daughter of the burglar that killed Uncle Ben, and she refused to believe he was a real criminal, calling his killing of Uncle Ben an accident, and stating that Spider-Man killed him (a very lose recalling of what actually happened when the criminal returned in Amazing Spider-Man #200). She eventually took photos of Spider-Man unmasking himself to reveal that he was her boyfriend. They argue multiple times, with her refusing to believe her father was a criminal and that Spider-Man was a hero, especially when he was possessed by Carnage. That storyline really pissed me off with her character, because she was glad Spider-Man was suffering with the symbiotic on him, but couldn’t see he was resisting it and telling her and everyone else to get away because he might accidentally kill them.

      Eventually, she witnessed Spider-Man nearly die saving people in a burning building, realized she might have not been looking at the situations objectively, ran up to him and handed him the photos, then ran off. Ben is too weak to follow; he called out to her, but she had already vanished, never seen again.

      So, here is my short follow-up story to Jessica reflecting on his death when she reads it in the news, because if there was one thing I never liked about comics, it was the way they abandoned characters. I wrote this my Freshman Year of High School.

      Opens with Jessica on the internet, thinking about Ben Reily, who she used to love. She is tempted, rejects, then ultimately searches for his name online, only to find his obituary; “Ben Reily Falls To Death. Spider-Man Responsible?” Pic of Spidey carrying Ben to the roof.
Jessica remembers her father in prison.

      “Listen baby, don’t worry. It wasn’t my fault. Some costume webs me up, and they think I did something wrong.” As a teenager, she cries because she heard he was a killer. “Don’t believe them, Jess. You father is no killer.”

      Next, Jessica watching Spider-Man, then taking her first picture of him. “This one will rival Parker’s.” She sells the picture to Jameson. She sees Spidey swing overhead. “One day Spider-Man, I’ll take so many pictures of your unjust acts that the world will see that my dad was right; you set people up and take the money for yourself.”

      Later, she hears from a cop that her dad is dead. Heart attack. They tell her Spider-Man was there, that he tried to break into the same house again. She blames Spider-Man, even when the cops say it was only a heart attack, it had been building for years.

      Later, Jessica meets Ben Reily, similar to how she did in the 1995 comic books. They dine, dance. They sleep together. They walk in park. “He was perfect because he wasn’t.” He shows her Steward Trainers lab? “But then.”

      Spidey taking of mask, replica of Blood Brothers cover. Her preparing camera, then after taking picture pulling back in shock.

      Jessica’s shocked reaction in three panels.

      She confronts him (like in old comics), then later sees him save some people in a burning building and realizes, that he isn’t like what her father said. He had nothing to gain, and only his life to lose. She gives him the pics and runs away as he screams her name. As she walks off, her right eye has a tear and her eyes are not visable. “Oh god. What does this say about my father?”

      The Present: Jessica on the street where Ben died, looking at the pavement, holding the newspaper printout of the picture away from her, to the side. She just stares at the sidewalk. “I forgave you long ago.”

      Picture of Ben and Jessica doing something fun. “But I never admitted that I still loved you.”

      On way to Ben’s ‘grave’, Spider-Man is a few blocks away fighting criminals. She tries to run and talk to him, but he says, “No, no need to thank me. Just be sure to say I hired them to save my falling percentage in the hero polls.” “Wait,” she says, not yelling, but he has already jumped away. “Who was that anyway? Cousin, brother…it doesn’t matter.”

Umm…was there an ending here High School Shawn? I’m pretty sure I never edited this, and I also see that the real ending should probably he her either at Ben’s grave or the sidewalk where he died; both which should have been placed after her encounter with Spider-Man. Oh well. Well, so much for that character, she will most likely never show up ever again in Marvel Comics, but at least she had a good character arc.

      Spider-Man was THE comic book I read growing up. I remember getting every 30th Anniversary issue from my dad, and that got me interested, but the 4 separate storylines leading up to the Clone Saga got me hooked. After the clone saga hint at the end of each title (Amazing Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, Web Of Spider-Man, & Spider-Man) I went to Krogers (to the comic book section) and bought the first issue of the Clone Saga Storyline – Power & Responsibility. I could only afford the first issue, but when I got to the counter, I realized that the back of the comic was actually a flip comic (where the comic is reversed and has a new cover on the back) so I DID in fact have all of the story.

      However, the Clone Saga eventually ended. but there was a huge, HUGE, glaring character error that annoyed me when the saga ended. Mary Jane and Peter had a child that died stillborn, and after the next issue, they both forget they ever had a child. “WHAT…THE…HELL! Emotions don’t work that way,” my 15 year old self said out lout to no one. So, as you can guess, I wrote my own epilogue. It was the first time I ever wrote fan fiction, because I wanted to right an injustice.

      Mary Jane and Peter were going to have a child, but at the same time, Peter was dying of a virus that was killing him. Previously, he had tried to ignore Mary Jane, the Bugle, and his entire Peter Parker existence due to the death of Harry Osborn and his Parents. But, his child allowed him to have something to fight for and caused him to look toward his future. He found his way back from his darkness and returned to the Peter he had become. During the Clone Saga, Mary Jane was pregnant for about 2 years (in real time), giving Peter and Mary Jane many scenes in which they plan their future. At one point, he even gives up being Spider-Man so he can raise his family.

      Then, his baby died and he forgot it even existed. So, what does Peter and Mary Jane need? Why, a graveyard scene, of course. These were something of a recurring theme in the Spider-Man books, yet the baby has never had a single g*d da** grave scene, because the writers want to pretend it never happened. He still finds the Green Goblin and laments Gwen dying, but no, never remembers, THE DEATH OF HIS OWN CHILD! If the writers continue to remember that the Gwen Stacey / Norman Osborn babies are still around, they can remember Peter and Mary Jane’s actual, natural, non-stupid-plot baby. Rant ended.

      Below are adaptations of my hand written notes from high school. All bad dialogue, descriptions, and misspellings are preserved for posterity.

Mary Jane awakens to the rain. She says Peter’s name, then turns and finds he is not there. She lays her head on her pillow, then hears a babies voice. “Mommy, mommy.” The baby tugs at MJ’s blankets and asks for breakfast, but when she turns to look at her child, she instead sees Peter bruised, in costume, his mask off. Says he fought someone that wasn’t in his rogues gallery. Peter looks at MJ and sees her face, “Is something wrong?” She say no. He goes to bed and passes out. MJ sits in her bed for a few panels, then grabs her coat and heads outside.

She walks around, only to have a little girl tug at her. “Did you forget me mommy.” MJ pats the little girl then holds her hand along the sidewalk. They head over to a park, despite it being dark. “Yay, the swings.” The little girl runs over to the swings. Then MJ’s face when she watches her try the monkey bars. The girl tries the monkey bars, then falls into dirt below. MJ’s expression in one of concern, but not danger. Girl gets up and MJ half-smiles. Girl dusts herself off and runs up a slide.

Peter wakes up, only to find MJ gone. “Strange, isn’t this suppose to work the other way?” He looks at MJ open the door. Peter looks at MJ as she sits on the bed. She looks down at the sheets. Peter asks her what’s wrong. Next panel same as before only with Peter’s shocked face as he realizes what day it is. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry.”

“There’s a reason you forget her, I think. As long as you pretend you never saw her, she never existed. She was real Peter, she was inside of me.” MJ’s tears. Peter embraces her. “I wanted her so bad, Peter. Our little May.” Peter: “I did, too.”

MJ wipes her tears away. “It’s never going to happen again, is it?” Peter: “I want it to.”

MJ, “But? What if someone takes her away from us?” Combine with image of Green Goblin taking their girl away. Then, Chamelon disguised as Peter taking a boy away.

“They could raise him against me, kill him, torture him.” Green Goblin dunks girl into Goblin formular tank, while one rogue who knows him just points a gun directly at a boy’s head.

Peter looks down. “I still remember his words.”

Flashback – Green Goblin with Peter beaten, showcasing his scar. Green Goblin: “What I did to you girl was to make up for what you did to my Harry.” (Nice sentence, Shawn)

Peter leans on head, “It’s all my fault.”

“Peter, it’s not. You aren’t the one who did any of these things.”

“What’s going to happen when he grows up? Will he put himself in danger all the time, like I did?”

MJ: “If she’s like you, could you really blame her.”

Peter ponders that question for a moment with his hands closed together. “No, because I’d understand her reasoning for everything.”

MJ – “It’s always going to be like this, isn’t it?”

“Maybe, when I retire, or…”

“Retire?” Yells MJ, looking at him. “You have the world on your shoulders for everything. You would never retire, until…”

She leans into his chest. “I don’t ever want to lose you.”

“I wish we could, knowing he would be safe.”

MJ smiles through the tears, and pinches his cheecks. “How do you know it won’t be a girl?”

Peter: “Well, I have a sixth sense about these things.”

MJ: “Don’t you mean a seventh sense?”

They put their heads together and smile, holding each other’s face in their hands.

The Next Day

They stand over a grave that says: May Parker: Beloved Daughter. MJ and Peter both place a flower at the grave. MJ looks up to see little May sitting on her tombstone. “Don’t be sad, we just need some ice cream?” MJ smiles then Peter lifts May onto his back. May holds his back. “Look, I’m crawling on you like a wall. I’m Mrs. Spider-Man.” Peter turns to MJ, and kisses her. “I believe that already applies to one lady.”

Little May says, “Gross. I don’t ever wanna kiss anything.”

MJ and Peter laugh, with the panel showing the back of all three people, with Peter and MJ with little Peter holding May’s left hand, and MJ holding her right hand. The next panel, however, is MJ and Peter close together, holding each other at the waist. They hold each other as if they will fall down without the other, imagining the life their child could have had as they leave the graveyard.

      So, there you have my totally-not-depressing story about Peter and Mary Jane dealing with the loss of their child one year later. Written by 15 year old Shawn Padraic Murphy.