Spider-Man: Identity Crisis

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Spider-Man: Identity Crisis is an eight-part storyline printed in Marvel Comics' Spider-Man family of books in 1998.

This arc was collected in trade paperback format on November 27, 1998 (ISBN 0-7851-0663-4).

[edit] Basic Plot

During "Identity Crisis", Spider-Man was framed by Norman Osborn and the Trapster for murder of a small-time crook. Osborn also provoked Spider-Man into attacking him on tape, leaving Spider-Man with a million-dollar reward posted for his capture. Instead of his normal costumed identity, Peter Parker adopted four other costumes with different crimefighting personas in order to stay under the radar, reasoning that one new superhero with similar powers would be too suspicious after Spider-Man disapears. With two identities- the Hornet and Prodigy- posing as heroes while the other two- Dusk and Ricochet- pretended to be criminals, Peter was not only able to do good, but also gain a unique chance at getting 'in' with the criminal underworld of the time. Using this, his Dusk identity was able to provide evidence that Spider-Man hadn't killed the criminal (He convinced the Trapster to confess as a means of getting back at Osborn) while he used the Prodigy identity to produce faked evidence to suggest that it was a fake Spider-Man (Most likely Jack O'Lantern or Conundrum) who attacked Osborn. With the bounty removed, Peter returned to his life as Spider-Man, acknowledging that, no matter how popular his other identities were, Spider-Man was who he really was. This arc planted the seeds for a short-lived spin-off book titled Slingers, following the adventures of four teenagers who had been inspired by Spider-Man's new costumes and codenames.

[edit] Read Order

Part 1 - Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #434-#435 (Ricochet identity; fast-talking criminal-for-hire who uses Spider-Man's agility to pose as a streetsmart athletic crook-for-hire with above-average strength and remarkable agility).

Part 2 - The Spectacular Spider-Man #257 - #258 (Prodigy identity, an old-fashioned 'good guy' with superhuman strength and speed, able to leap from rooftop to rooftop, and using a bulletproof vest to appear even stronger; also included a fake nose to increase the difference between him and Peter due to part of his face being exposed).

Part 3 - The Sensational Spider-Man #27 - #28 (Hornet identity, using a specially designed jet-pack and the Scarlet Spider's old sedative stingers, coupled with Spider-Man's typical strength).

Part 4 - Spider-Man (1st series) #91 - #92 (Dusk identity, a dark, mysterious individual, using a costume from another dimension to fade in and out of shadows, as well as to fly; also uses Spider-Man's superhuman strength).