Issue(s): Spider-Man #17
Cover Date: Dec 91
Title: "No one gets outta here alive!"
Credits:
Ann Nocenti - Writer
Rick Leonardi - Penciler
Al Williamson - Inker
Danny Fingeroth - Editor

Review/plot:
I've always remembered this as being a weird issue, and now, seeing Ann Nocenti in the credits, i understand why. This is actually a fill-in during the period between Todd McFarlane and Erik Larsen's runs. But the big question is whether or not the main "villains" of the issue, Thanos and Death, are really here at all or if the events are happening entirely in Spider-Man's head.

The story begins with Nocenti's typical stream of consciousness scripting. Spider-Man is thinking to himself about a number of worries, including the possibility that his last rent check doesn't bounce. Which is odd. Peter's landlord at the moment is his friend Harry Obsorn, who is renting him the loft above his own apartment at a reduced rate. And Mary Jane has a steady job as an actress on a popular soap opera. Are they still having money issues under those circumstances?

Nocenti's scripting continues when Spider-Man sees a pair of window washers falling from their platform, and thinks to himself "I could do this gig in my sleep". I guess that's meant to show his hubris before the fall, but it comes across as very out of character for Spidey. He does manage to save the workers, but some of their equipment falls into a large air conditioner unit, causing an explosion. A mother and daughter are on a nearby roof, doing laundry, and Spidey jumps to use his body to shield them from the explosion. The mother is tossed clear, but Spider-Man is caught in the explosion and is (seemingly?) killed, and the young girl is on death's door as well.

And then Peter Parker's spirit floats up into the sky. Peter thinks to himself about how he "thought" he loved Mary Jane, but all he can think of now is seeing "my first... my only... my beautiful Gwen Stacy".

Instead, he's confronted by Thanos and Death.

Thanos tells Spider-Man that everyone that tried to be a "hero" is greeted this way.

Spider-Man tries to get Thanos to let the girl live, but Thanos says that that is "never done".

Spider-Man then attacks Thanos and they fight for a bit. Thanos tells Spider-Man that "we" let heroes live for so long because heroes inspire so many villains, in what is called the Hero's Domino.

Spider-Man rejects this idea and says that he knows that he's done good in the world. And eventually it seems like Death agrees with him, and sends him back.

Spider-Man then rushes the girl to a hospital.

Something very creepy and weird looking about Rick Leonardi's Spider-Man in that final panel.

I don't really buy into the so-called Hero's Domino theory. If you look at the origins of the majority of villains, they have nothing to do with their super-hero counterparts. It's actually a good thing that many villains develop obsessive grudges for heroes, because otherwise they would just overrun the world furthering their own agendas, and a world without super-heroes at all would be even worse, since the villains would still exist. This is an argument that comes up a occasionally in meta criticism of the super-hero genre (although i've never seen it called the Hero's Domino before), but it's never made sense to me. In any event, it's not really explored here, with Spider-Man just responding with stream-of-consciousness Nocentisms and then Death making a silent reversal on everything that's happened. Not really a good story, and definitely not a good use of Thanos if it really was intended to be him (which i don't think was the case, given the dreamlike nature of the story and when it was published).

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: If this is the real Thanos and Death, then this would have to take place after Thanos got the Infinity Gauntlet during Thanos Quest but prior to the end of the Infinity Gauntlet mini-series, since Thanos and Death part ways in that story. But there's no reason to think that this is the real Thanos and Death. This is a story where the main character gets knocked out (or "dies"), has an out of body experience, and wakes up remembering none of it. This is all a dream sequence, and there's no reason to think that Thanos and Death would really be interested in talking to Spider-Man once he died or that they really greet every dead "hero". Death's reversal of Thanos would have represented a major shift in their relationship at this point, especially since he has the Gauntlet at this time. Thanos and Death are probably just on Spider-Man's mind after the events of Infinity Gauntlet (maybe only subconsciously, depending on how much he remembers after Nebula's reset). The fact that Spider-Man thinks that Thanos is dead isn't necessarily a clue. At the end of Infinity Gauntlet, as far as everyone but Warlock, Gamora, and Pip knew, Thanos was last seen getting pushed into deep space by Thor's hammer with a nuclear device strapped to his chest. In terms of authorial intent, this is Ann Nocenti we are talking about. She works primarily in symbolism. If you asked her at the time whether or not she meant for it to really be Thanos, i imagine she'd shrug her shoulders and ask, "Why does it matter?". The MCP treats Thanos and Death as real characters, and places this prior to Infinity Gauntlet #1, out of sequence from the rest of this Spider-Man series. But unless i find out that there's a later story that confirms that this was a real meeting between Spider-Man and Thanos, i'm placing this at publication date (or just a little earlier, to fit in other Spider-Man appearances) and assuming that Thanos and Death are not real.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A