Amazing Spider-Man#1(1999)

Above the Statue of Liberty, the Human Torch flies into the sky to make a flaming message saying, "Where R U Spider-Man???". He notes that it’s not like Spider-Man could have been shunted into another dimension whilst battling a psionic enemy like Johnny and some of the other superheroes. Johnny reflects that it’s been months since Spider-Man’s been seen, following his battle with the Green Goblin. Johnny wonders why Spider-Man didn’t ask him for help before going into battle, after he’d gone to Mister Fantastic for help with May Parker. Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman and the Thing have been hovering nearby in the Fantasti-Car. Johnny realises that Spider-Man isn’t going to make an appearance and the Fantastic Four take their leave. Meanwhile, at Peter Parker’s new apartment, paid for by Mary Jane’s modelling money, Peter sees the Torch's message and watches the team fly by. He thinks about his superhero days that started with the spider biting him, what he’s done to live up to the responsibility he was given with those powers the bite imbued in him, and the fact that some of the public still hated him, even after all he’d done. He hopes that his Uncle Ben would be proud of what he’s done in his life. Peter comes in from the balcony and spends time with his recently returned Aunt May. She makes him a sandwich and says that she saw the Torch’s message and wonders why anyone would care that someone awful like Spider-Man is missing. She feels badly because her friends and family were fooled into believing that she was dead. She feels a little overwhelmed at this new home as well. Peter then receives a phone call from Mary Jane. Peter tells her he’s looking forward to picking her up from the airport, but she tells him she’ll be away for another week as she has to go to Paris for another modelling assignment and then on to London. Mary Jane asks Peter if he’s sticking to his promise of not returning to his life as Spider-Man. He assures he is and that he’s got his interview with the Tri-Corp Research Foundation coming up. Daredevil is on the streets of Hell's Kitchen fighting crime. He doesn't notice the message until the thug he's beating up tells him about being distracted by it, which is why Daredevil was able to catch him. He realizes that Spidey is gone because of the recent rise in street crimes, including thugs like the one he’s been battling, who works for the currently incarcerated Kingpin. Across the city, Captain America, standing atop Avengers Mansion, sees the fading message. He too wonders where Spider-Man has gone. Jarvis comes to tell him that the rest of the Avengers are waiting in the combat simulation room for him to join them. Jarvis also brings a copy of the Daily Bugle. Captain America tells Jarvis that, although Spider-Man was never accepted by the public, he had a good heart. Down in the combat simulation room, Justice questions why everyone is so concerned about Spider-Man since he was only a reserve Avenger. Iron Man replies that without Spider-Man battling some of the lower level supervillains, then the Avengers would have to face them, which would make them busy while also trying to deal with the big situations. Thor hurls Mjolnir at the Vision which passes through his hologram form and endangers the Scarlet Witch. Wanda is able to stop the hammer by altering probability. Cap then shows the team the newspaper which, thanks to J. Jonah Jameson, once again badmouths Spider-Man. The next day, at the Daily Bugle Building, Jameson is still not satisfied with Spider-Man's disappearance. Despite the protestations of Editor-in-Chief, Robbie Robertson, he wants to dig up every dirty secret Spider-Man has. Pe comes in with photoshop and hears Jameson's tirade. Jameson goes through the photos that Peter has brought and declares them useless. All he wants are photos of Spider-Man breaking the law. After Jameson has stormed off, Robbie assures Peter that he’ll get paid for his work. Suddenly, Betty Brant informs Robbie and Peter of Scorpion on a rampage across town. Neither the Fantastic Four nor the Avengers have been able to be contacted to deal with the situation. A hesitant Peter puts off the assignment so Betty goes to cover the story by herself. Scorpion is wreaking havoc downtown trying to find someone. The NYPD is unable to stop his rampage. Betty is aghast at the Scorpion’s increased levels of power and insanity. She thought he’d gone for good after the Roxxon incident. The photographer that had been sent with Betty refused to get close enough to take photos of the Scorpion, so Betty takes on the task herself. Betty gets close and takes a few snaps. The Scorpion notices her and gets frighteningly close to Betty but, suddenly, Spider-Man jumps in and saves Betty! The Scorpion thought Spider-Man was dead, but won’t let the hero stop him finding the person he’s after. He wasn’t expecting his employer to drop him in the middle of the city amongst police and insists that this is just a missing person case he’s investigating. Spider-Man indicates that he’s new to being a hero, suggesting that this isn’t Peter Parker, but he doesn’t believe Scorpion’s story. Scorpion tells Spider-Man that he was willing to give him a chance to walk away, but now they’ll do battle. He knocks a building down towards Spider-Man, since he’s heard the wall-crawler has been able to hold up buildings lately. Scorpion notes that Spider-Man is scrawnier than the last time they met and doesn’t seem to be using any webbing. Spider-Man is unable to stop the building falling on him, much to Betty’s horror, as Scorpion makes his escape. A little while later, Peter meets Terry Kwan at the Tricorp Research Foundation Building, the place where he’s applying for a job. He is shown around the building while he thinks about the fact that the Scorpion is someone else's problem now. Peter meets the team with which he’ll be working, should he get the job. Walter Thorson, Javier Caldrone and Stan Hardy are all surprised at how young Peter is. Just then, when Peter meets the last member of the team, Chantal Stone, the Scorpion attacks and blows up a wall. A bio-scanning device tells Scorpion that the person he’s been looking for is in the room. Peter goes around and takes people out of harm's way, kicking himself that he didn’t deal with Scorpion when he had the chance. Walter is stuck under the Scorpion's attack. Peter intercedes, whilst trying not to expose his spider powers, and brings down a part of the building on the Scorpion's head. He is fazed for a moment till he realizes the pulsating light on his wrist bioscanner indicates that he was looking for Peter himself. He is about to lay waste to Peter when suddenly, the new Spider-Man jumps in. The new Spider-Man, who survived the building falling on him earlier, is noticeably worse at fighting. Peter finds a device called a Kirby 2000 Generator and gets Javier to help set up a cable to the device. Peter lassos Scorpion's arm and electrocutes him. Peter grabs the new Spidey by the arm and asks the hero who's under the mask. Spidey says, "I can't tell you that! That's why it's called a SECRET identity!" He races off just as the CEO of TriCorp, Dr. Ted Twaki, asks to talk with Peter. Peter expects it to be bad news about the job opportunity. Peter returns home. Aunt May asks him about his day and Peter says he got the job. Dr. Twaki appreciated a person who could think on their feet, as Peter did in dealing with Scorpion. They approach to hug and Aunt May says that Uncle Ben would be proud of him. Peter says that Aunt May’s words are the best thing anyone could have said to him, as they both embrace.