If there is one constant in Spider-Man's life, it's that J. Jonah Jameson despises him, and Spider-Man: Life Story explains why.
A preview for Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1 brings readers back to the year 1965, just three years after we had seen Spider-Man for the first time. To the people of Manhattan, Spider-Man is a hero - unless you read The Daily Bugle. If you pick up that newspaper, you will hear the editor-in-chief's thoughts on the "menace" swinging around the city, and this preview sees Jameson discuss his feelings himself.
Stretching back to Spidey's Golden Age years, The Amazing Spider-Man #20 saw J. Jonah Jameson enlist the help of one Dr. Farley Stillwell. If readers and die-hard Spidey fans don't remember the character, that's because the issue marked Stillwell's first appearance and death in comics, but his actions would have a lasting impact on the world of Spider-Man. Stillwell helped J. Jonah Jameson turn Mac Gargan into one of Spider-Man's better-known villains: the Scorpion.
The preview for the annual issue opens with Jameson regretting his actions by creating the Scorpion, which led to the death of Stillwell. Jameson's plan was to aim Gargan like a missile at Spider-Man, but with his newfound abilities, Gargan went off the rails. At the end of the Golden Age issue, Jameson vowed that it was his "duty to fight [Spider-Man]...to expose...and someday...to destroy him," because he felt that "anyone with too much power is liable to turn into a menace," including Spider-Man.
The preview picks up on this mentality and suggests that Jameson has an inferiority complex when it comes to Spider-Man. Jameson remembers the time he tried to take Spider-Man down with a remote control robot, another attempt that ultimately failed and "was for nothing." He is then approached by Captain George Stacy, who warns Jameson that Scorpion is on the loose and might try to attack Jameson again.
When Stacy suggests that Jameson should try to contact Spider-Man to help since he stopped Gargan the last time, Jameson balks at the idea. Jameson berates Stacy and the police, telling them to take Spider-Man down, before storming off into the building. The last page sees Spider-Man saving Jameson from Scorpion, the editor's dialogue discussing why he hates the hero.
Jameson states that even as he is being saved by Spider-Man, he just can't help but hate him. For him, the jokes and "quips" made by Spider-Man irk him, but the "superiority" and "power" the hero possesses infuriates him. The preview and solicitation for the issue can be found below.
SPIDER-MAN: LIFE STORY ANNUAL #1
- CHIP ZDARSKY (W) • MARK BAGLEY (A)
- Cover by CHIP ZDARSKY
- Variant Cover by MARK BAGLEY
- Variant Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.
- A Special Encore Return to the World of SPIDER-MAN: LIFE STORY by the Original Creative Team!
- SPIDER-MAN. He’s a threat. He’s a menace. And J. JONAH JAMESON will do whatever it takes to make the world see it! But in this companion piece to last year’s hit miniseries SPIDER-MAN: LIFE STORY, will the decades of his obsession bear fruit for Jonah…or be his destruction?
- CHIP ZDARSKY and MARK BAGLEY reunite for this story told in a world where Marvel’s beloved characters aged in real time!
- 40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T …$4.99
Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1 is written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Mark Bagley. Inks are provided by Andrew Hennessy, colors by Matt Milla, letters by Travis Lanham and Zdarsky created the main cover for the issue. The issue goes on sale Aug. 25, 2021 from Marvel Comics.
Source: Marvel