Peter Parker is on the verge of escaping his own perfect life, and it’s all thanks to the bad luck that has been following him from the very beginning.

Spectacular Spider-Men #4 opens to a truly shocking sight for fans, as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales seem to have stepped into lives completely unlike those they have lived over the past few years. For Miles, this means embarking upon a whirlwind romance with none other than Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. For Peter, it means returning home to the love of his life, Gwen Stacy. Of course, it only takes a moment for Peter to realize that this isn’t his life at all, but rather one that a part of him wishes he could have had, and which the villainous Arcade and Mentallo have spent countless hours crafting specifically to take the Spiders down.

Written by GREG WEISMAN Art by HUMBERTO RAMOS Inks by VICTOR OLAZABA Colors by EDGAR DELGADO Letterer by VC’s JOE CARAMAGNA Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS & EDGAR DELGADO Variant Covers by FRANCESCO MOBILI

Marvin Flumm, better known as the villainous Mentallo, made his Marvel Comics debut all the way back in 1965’s Strange Tales #141 in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s story, “Operation: Brain Blast!” Born a mutant, Marvin eventually developed psychic abilities that, while meek compared to more powerful mutants, were enough to land him on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar as a potential recruit. When it was revealed that Marvin was working to dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D. from the inside out at the behest of Hydra, he found himself facing off against Iron Man, who became the first in a long line of heroes to defeat the villain.

The murderous Arcade has been a part of the Marvel Universe since 1977’s Marvel Team-Up #65 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Although various accounts of Arcade’s early life and origin often contradict one another, there is no question as to the particular breed of villain he developed into as an adult. Effectively a hitman, Arcade utilizes complex traps, mechanisms, and robots in the lethal games he forces his victims to play within the confines of his Murderworld. This traveling set has been rebuilt and repurposed time and time again, yet no matter how many times it is destroyed or his games are defeated, Arcade continues to fall back on his old tactics in spite of the myriad of losses he has suffered as a result of them.

Spectacular Spider-Men has brought Peter Parker and Miles Morales back together for a brand new adventure not all that long after a major falling out between the two. It was during the events of Marvel’s Gang War storyline when Miles confronted Peter about seemingly abandoning the young hero as his mentor. While Peter was indeed caught up in various other threads and plots during the preceding year, Miles still felt as though Peter had simply walked away from him, driving a near-insurmountable wedge between the two Wall-Crawlers.

Spectacular Spider-Men #4 is on sale June 26 from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics