Aunt May is dying.
OK, so maybe you remember that she died before and got better. The truth is, that happens a lot in comic books and it’s a shame. It would be nicer if writers created new characters and if we, the readers, were willing to accept new characters. Or at least if we gave them a chance.
But that is neither here nor there. What is important is that this woman is dying and Peter Parker, aka the Amazing Spider-Man, is doing everything in his power to stop it.
Aunt May took in Peter when he was a child and his parents (who it turns out were spies) were killed. She and her husband took the young man in despite the fact that she had become comfortable, even happy, with the idea of never having children. She raised him and doted on him. Never faltering in her love and support.
While it’s easy to paint over death when it comes in the pages of a comic book. We’ve seen too many characters return from the dead after all. The problem is that by diminishing these deaths, it has diminished the impact of a very important supporting character.
Spider-Man is easy to see as a hero. The red and blue costume and the amazing feats that he performs. Mary Jane is beautiful and the hero’s wife. But doting Aunt May is easy to overlook.
Still, should she die, the impact on Spider-Man would be more powerful than the death of Captain America did. Cap. was someone that the Web-head has looked up to since before donning the red and blue but Aunt May has had even more of an impact than Uncle Ben who shaped the phrase that the hero lives by, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Unsung she may have gone, but Aunt May is Peter Parker’s hero.
