Slinger (Marvel NEW)/Issue One

The first issue of Slinger follows a very young Peter Parker who has only been Spider-Man for a few months. It is the beginning of the "Before He Was Amazing" story arc.

Synopsis
Just a few months ago, Midtown High student Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and was given amazing abilities, using them to battle evil as one of New York's greatest heroes. However, up until now, he's only faced street thugs. He has never faced the might of someone like Doctor Octopus!

Plot
Peter explains who he is, stating that he is Spider-Man. He is one of the strongest men on the planet, he has defeated ten men all at the same time, and that he is currently getting beat up by three guys. The three people, named Flash Thompson, Carl King, and Seymour O'Reilly, mock Peter for attempting to fight them. Luckily, they are chased off by Gwen Stacy, who kicks a football at the back of Flash's head. Flash leaves with the other two, King making fun of Gwen as they walk away.

Gwen picks Peter up off the ground and invites him over to her home Peter agrees and is slapped by Gwen as soon as he enters her home. Peter complains about this, stating that he thought Gwen would've patched up his injuries, not give him more. Gwen claims that he deserves more injuries since he keeps provoking Flash and his goons every day and keeps coming home to Aunt May beaten and bruised. Peter questions on how Gwen knows about that, with her reminding Peter that her father knows Aunt May. Gwen then gives Peter things to patch himself up with before walking upstairs.

Meanwhile, at an unspecified bank, a woman calls up the next person in line. A short overweight man in clothes that cover his face walks up to her and hands her a note. She reads it and it's revealed to be a threat, telling her to give him the money or he will "make a scene". The woman is disturbed by this and attempts to push a button to summon security, only for a metallic claw to grab her arm before another one picks up her chair and smashes the glass in front of her. Everyone turns to the man, who tears off his clothing, revealing a yellow and green jumpsuit underneath. The man also summons two more metallic tentacles before stealing everything he can in the bank and running away.

Later that night, Harry Osborn is now at Gwen's house with her an Peter, who is still trying to patch himself up. His constant failures to do so make Harry so annoyed that he ends up doing it for Peter. Before he can, Peter's phone rings. He checks it and sees that Aunt May is calling him. This makes Peter rather upset, as he has a curfew with her that says he has to be home by eight. He asks for the time, revealing that it is midnight, which makes Peter feel even worse, claiming May must be worried sick.

He answers the phone while Gwen and Harry watch TV. May reveals that she hasn't seen Peter since he left for school and demands to know where he is. Peter lies and says his phone died for a few hours and it only just came back on. He then states that he forgot all about the curfew and decided to visit Gwen's house. This makes May rather annoyed and she begins rambling at Peter, with Peter listening as he knows May needs to vent since she's been rather on-edge since Ben's death.

While listening, Peter sees the news on TV, which reports on the tentacled man's attack on the bank earlier. This distracts Peter for a bit until Gwen steals the TV remote from her father and switches the channel to a show that follows a football-themed hero named SuperPro. After the channel switches, Peter catches the tail end of May's rant and is horrified when he finds out that the rant ended with a question. Peter just says "yes" before quickly moving on and asking if he can stay with Gwen for the night. Thankfully, May is kind enough to agree.

Later, while everyone else is sleeping Peter sneaks out in his costume and begins searching for the man from TV. It doesn't take long, as the man is once again robbing a bank, with many police pointing guns at him. The man uses a single one of his mechanical arms to flip over all of the police's cars. Luckily, they are all caught by Spider-Man, who informs the man that if he is going for an octopus gimmick they have eight arms, not four. The man, who Peter mockingly dubs Doctor Octopus, is fascinated by Peter's abilities and begins studying him.

Octopus states that the small bumps under Peter's gloves must be devices that give him his web-slinging abilities. He goes on to state that he can see no bumps under any other part of Peter's costume, meaning the rest of his powers are natural, but that he isn't a mutant since mutants seem to always stick together in groups. Peter is amazed at Ock's deconstruction of his powers, stating that he is smart. Doc Ock claims that he isn't just smart, he is Otto Octavius, the smartest man alive.

Peter then jumps down from his web and states that he is the Web-Slinging Spider-Man and that he is here to take him down. Otto proclaims that he will not get in the way of his research before attacking Peter. Peter manages to dodge most of Otto's attacks, though he does get quite a few good hits on him. Sadly, Peter's dodging isn't enough as Otto smashes a van on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Otto claims that it would be a shame to completely eradicate someone so fascinating and that he'll keep Spidey's brain after killing him to see what made him tick.

Luckily, Peter manages to get one of his hands freed and webs Ock's face, distracting him long enough for Peter to get out from under the van. The moment Ock rips the webs from his face, Peter begins rapidly punching him over and over, ending with a spin kick to Ock's head, which shatters his glasses and sends him flying into a building. Ock lands on the road and attempts to get back up only for Peter to smash his head into the ground, knocking him out.

After all this, Peter is greeted by none other than George Stacy, who shakes Peter's hand before saying that he isn't sure what Jameson has against him and that he seems like a really nice guy. Peter tells Stacy to spread the word before swinging off. Stacy then orders his men to cuff Otto and to cut off his mechanical arms before they do, since they gave them far too much trouble.

Peter lands on a lamppost in front of Gwen's house, ready to sneak back inside, stating that he did a pretty good job tonight. A voice then tells Peter that they hope he does just as good in a few years. Peter lands in front of the woman, asking them what they mean. The woman introduces themselves as Jay before stating that in just a few years Peter and his friends will face the might of someone all-powerful and that "in just a few years the sky will fall".

Peter is absolutely confused by this, rubbing his head to think about it. He turns to ask Jay a few more questions, only to reveal that she is gone. Peter looks around and sees that she is totally gone and there is no trace of her anywhere. He then walks over to Gwen's house, stating that he probably has more to worry about in his future than some crazy old woman's mad predictions.