The Final Chapter (Spider-Man)

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The Final Chapter was a four-part storyline from Marvel Comics published in 1999. It ran across three major Spider-Man titles at the time (The Spectacular Spider-Man, Peter Parker: Spider-Man, and The Amazing Spider-Man), with the intention of closing one (Spectacular), and "rebranding" two (Spider-Man, and Amazing), back to "Issue One", a mandate from Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras. It was written by John Byrne, and illustrated by both Byrne and John Romita Jr.

The storyline proved controversial with fans, as it resurrected the character of Peter Parker's elderly aunt May Parker, who had been killed off at the height of The Clone Saga several years ago in Amazing Spider-Man Issue 400. Tom DeFalco, who had left months earlier with his Identity Crisis storyline, had originally intended Peter and Mary Jane Parker's daughter, May Parker Jr, to be returned to them by Kaine, but Mackie and Byrne insisted they have the older May revived so she could fit into their new relaunch.

The storyline immediately followed events from The Gathering of Five arc, and the opening chapter deals with the five summoned by Osborn acquiring their "gifts".

[edit] Plot

Believing he has acquired the gift of power, Norman Osborn becomes the Green Goblin once again, scheming to mutate humanity with a DNA bomb he is developing.

Following a clue from a dying Allyson Mongrane regarding the safety of "May", who he believes to be his daughter, Peter Parker pursues Osborn to his mansion, where a battle reveals that his Aunt May, not his baby girl, is alive and well. Osborn seemingly triumphs over Spider-Man, even unmasking him in public, but in the final installment, it is revealed that the entire battle was a delusion of Osborn's mind. In reality, he had acquired the gift of madness from the gathering, and had been reduced to an insane, rambling, and defeated individual.

Spider-Man successfully prevents the Daily Bugle building from collapsing, but despite saving much of New York, Spider-Man is still mistrusted and labeled a public menace. Once more, Peter burns his Spider-Man costume, satisfied that one of the most important women in his life is with he and Mary Jane yet again.

[edit] Further Exploration

Aspects of The Final Chapter resurfaced in major storylines through the second volume of Amazing Spider-Man. Following Peter's retirement, the true recipient of the Gathering's gift of power, Mattie Franklin, the niece of J. Jonah Jameson , assumed the role of Spider-Man, but her inexperience led to a brutal assault at the hands of another "Gathering" recipient, Shadrac. Peter saved Franklin, shielding his own identity, and reclaimed the mantle of Spider-Man in order to help Iceman take down Shadrac. Franklin would later briefly become Spider-Woman, and was given her own title, but she proved unpopular and the title was folded. Madame Web was also revealed as being a member of "The Gathering", having gained the gift of youth.

Norman Osborn would resurface as the Green Goblin in a loose trilogy of storylines written by Roger Stern, Howard Mackie, and Paul Jenkins in 2000, where Osborn reclaimed his sanity and brainwashed Peter, intending to mold him into a successor far worthier of the Osborn name than his son Harry.

[edit] MC2

The Final Chapter provides one of the more crucial aspects of the MC2 Spider-Girl timeline. Written by Tom DeFalco, the Spider-Girl title made full use of the intended climax to DeFalco's arc, returning the younger May to the Parkers rather than the elderly version. An alternate ending to this arc also kills off Osborn, and severely injures Peter, costing him one of his legs, and ending his career as Spider-Man.