Today, see how Spider-Man had a surprising malady that went away for decades before returning at the worst time

This is "I Remember Well," a brand-new feature spotlighting instances in which writers pull out long-forgotten plots or attributes of comic book characters. I have a similar bit called "I've Been Here Before" when writers pull out their own old plots/characters, but this is when different writers do it. I also have a bit called "Provide Some Answers," when writers resolve long-forgotten plots, but this is when writers don't resolve anything, they just bring back something that hadn't been used in a long time.

My buddy Fraser wrote to me to ask if I've ever covered this before, and I had not. I initially thought that the whole situation had simply been handwaved off (and I was sort of right), but I was shocked to see that it made a "triumphant" return in the late 1990s! So let's take a look at the time that Spider-Man....had an ulcer?!?

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SPIDER-MAN HAS DEALT WITH A LOT IN HIS DAY, BUT NEVER AN ULCER BEFORE!

Let's set the scene for Amazing Spider-Man #113 (by John Romita, Gerry Conway, Jim Starlin and Tony Mortellaro), which is very early in Conway's run as the new writer on Amazing Spider-Man. Aunt May had been her typical worrywart over her nephew Peter and Peter's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, had finally had enough and she basically told Aunt May to buzz off and stop bothering her nephew so much. Aunt May then seemingly disappeared, which caused Spidey to deal with a whoooole lot of stress as he worried about his missing aunt. This even led to a sequence in Amazing Spider-Man #112 where Spidey refused to help stop a robbery because he was too worried about finding Aunt May (don't worry, it all worked out in the end and Spidey learned to stop doing that).

In Amazing Spider-Man #113, Spidey just faced off against Doctor Octopus when suddenly he feels some tremendous pain...

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As he decribes it, it is the worst kind of cramps he can experience...

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An interesting thing about Spider-Man up until this point is that every time Peter would get sick, it would mess with his powers and he would assume that that meant that he was done as Spider-Man for good, and that's a similar thing that he went through here...

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He crashes back at his apartment, where his worried girlfriend, Gwen, insists that a doctor come see Peter...

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As it turns out, Peter is diagnosed with a duodenal ulcer!

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From WebMD:

You have a peptic ulcer if you get open sores in the lining of your stomach or the upper part of the small intestine. That happens when your stomach acids etch away your digestive tract’s protective layer of mucus. You may have no symptoms, or you may feel discomfort or burning pain. Peptic ulcers can lead to internal bleeding, which sometimes can mean you’ll need blood transfusions in the hospital.You can have two types of peptic ulcer disease: Gastric ulcer. You get this on your stomach lining.Duodenal ulcer. This appears at the top end of the small intestine, an organ that digests and absorbs much of the food you eat.

Spidey, of course, goes off to fight Doctor Octopus again even though he is very weak from his ulcer...

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In the next issue, Flash Thompson mocks Peter for having an ulcer...

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In Amazing Spider-Man #115, Peter is hit in his stomach by Hammerhead and it did not pair well with his ulcer...

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Fraser wanted to know how they resolved the ulcer story originally. Well, you see the problem was that Amazing Spider-Man #116-118 suddenly saw the "return" of Stan Lee as the comic book adapted the story for the Spectacular Spider-Man magazine, with Conway just adding bits to make it seem like the story didn't appear out of place. So basically, Conway had to halt his plots for three issues, and while he added in a reference to the ulcer in #116...

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as well as #117...

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The story momentum was done and Conway just moved on (especially as the death of Gwen Stacy was only a few issues later).

During Spectacular Spider-Man #119 (by Peter David, Rick Buckler and Bob McCleod), Peter mentions getting ulcers to Mary Jane (it is unclear if David was specifically referencing Peter's actual ulcer or not)...

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That seemed to be it for references to the ulcer until out of nowhere, it returned decades later!

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SPIDER-MAN'S ULCER MAKES ITS FIENDISH RETURN!

In Amazing Spider-Man #425 (by Tom DeFalco, Steve Skroce and Bud LaRosa), Spider-Man has been dealing with some terrible headaches following an encounter with Morbius and the wallacrawler had been popping aspirin like crazy.

That's a problem because, once again quoting WebMD, "If you’ve been taking aspirin often and for a long time, you’re more likely to get a peptic ulcer. The same is true for other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). They include ibuprofen and naproxen. NSAIDs block your body from making a chemical that helps protect the inner walls of your stomach and small intestine from stomach acid. Other types of pain meds, such as acetaminophen, won’t lead to peptic ulcers."

So sure enough, the aspirin causes Spidey's long-dormant ulcer to act up again...

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While working on a special webbing to take down Electro, Peter is surprised by Anna Watson (Peter and Mary Jane were living with her at the time) who is giving him something to treat his ulcer...

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The ulcer then acts up again while Spider-Man is in battle with Electro (using a special insulated costume for just this occasion)...

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For a character who has strong healing properties, it is probably not all that realistic to think that he could have an ulcer that could recur like this, but at least in the late 1990s, it did!

Thanks for the suggestion, Fraser!

I'm sure you folks have other ideas for examples for this column, so send them my way at brianc@cbr.com!