2. AUNT MAY’S MULTIPLE DEATHS
Aunt May has now “died” twice in the comics. Both times it was an event that made the reader believe that it was for real, but as we all know, death means nothing in comics. The first instance of her death was in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #196, for which the cover showed Peter at her grave. Four issues later she was revived and it was revealed that she never was killed at all but her death was staged by Mysterio and the burglar from “Amazing Fantasy” #15 in an effort to steal valuable jewels he suspected being in the Parker household.
Her second death came in the midst of the Clone Saga in an issue branded “A Death in the Family” (sidenote: Has there been a comic book death not labeled this?). She suffered a stroke and prior to dying, she confessed to Peter that she knew he was Spider-Man all along, a fitting end to a long and exciting life. But Marvel couldn’t let that ending stand. Three years later it was revealed that the May who died was actually a “Genetically altered actress” planted there by the Green Goblin while May was held captive by the villains.
So a lesson for Spider-Man, if Aunt May ever dies again, make sure she’s not in the cupboard before you pay for the funeral expenses.
