While not Peter David's first professional comic book story (this actually was his second story), this story allowed David to break into writing as a full-time career, a career that would cement him as a living legend in the industry until his passing in May 2025.
This story came about because of Jim Owsley, whom you may know better as Christopher Priest. He was editor of the book at this time. In fact, he was the first African-American editor of mainstream comics. Priest was not a fan of the book's more whimsical tone at this time under scripter-artist Al Milgrom. As such, he replaced Milgrom with David and artist Rich Buckler. The three took the book in a darker, more serious direction. This storyline was meant to cement that.
Priest wanted to shake things up in the book, so he decided to kill off Jean DeWolff. Yeah, killing her off was not David's idea. It was Priest's. David actually did have plans for her as a living character. Priest and David worked the story out, with David contributing ideas of his own, mainly the idea of Spider-Man being pushed over the edge by a villain that was much more heinous than the costumed villains he faced at the time. He also wanted to underscore differences between Spider-Man and Daredevil, which is why he appears in this story.
So, who was Jean DeWolff? First appearing in Marvel Team-Up #48 (August 1976), created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema, DeWolff was a tough-as-nails, acerbic cop with a love of 1930s fashion who would become a prominent ally to Spider-Man. She would also encounter other superheroes in her lifetime, most notably Iron Man and Doctor Strange. She was one of the few cops that seemed rather appreciative of the superhero set,
The story begins with a look back on the life of Jean DeWolff. The daughter of a police inspector, he was never happy with the idea of being a dad to a daughter. He had wanted another son like her brother Brian, the future Wraith. He blamed her mother for it, leading them to split for good when she was six months old. In the divorce proceedings, Brian ended up with him, she ended up with her mother.
Her mom remarried, her new husband being a patrolman named Carl Weatherby. I'm guessing her mother had a thing for boys in blue.
Unlike her biological father, Weatherby adored Jean. They grew close, him inspiring her to want to be a cop just like her dear old stepdad. When she graduated from the police academy, Weatherby did not smile, but it didn't matter to her. She knew he was incredibly proud of her. She rose through the ranks, collecting commendations like they were Pokémon cards, yet he stayed a sergeant. He wasn't bitter about it. In fact, the opposite. He wanted her to not only surpass him but also become a commissioner. The first woman to be one. Sadly, that doesn't look like it will be in the cards for Captain DeWolff.
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So, where is Peter Parker in all of this? Well, he's taking some photos around New York City, hoping to make a bit of cash off of them. He then runs into a Mr. Ernie Popchik, who was rooming in May Parker's boarding home at the time. He's gone to cash his Social Security check so he can do some shopping. Unfortunately, he gets ambushed by some pickpockets.
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An infuriated Peter Parker sees this and goes to check on the man. He ten tells someone to call an ambulance while he goes to get help. Remember, this is the 1980s. Cell phones are not as ubiquitous then as they are now. Peter switches into his Spider-Man togs and pursues the pickpockets.
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Yeah, this version of the Black Costume is not the symbiote that would eventually become Venom. This was a regular cloth version given to him as a gift by Black Cat, I believe. Spider-Man easily takes care of the pickpockets. The police come by to pick them up and tell him that the man (Mr. Popchik) they mugged is on the way to the hospital to get checked out. It's then they also inform him about Jean deWolff being murdered. Spider-Man is naturally shocked, as he just saw her the other day.
Over at a church, a man goes to a confessional booth. He has some sins to confess.
We next go to the Daily Bugle, where Robbie Robertson and J. Jonah Jameson discuss DeWolff's death. Jameson laments that he'll never get used to a headline like this one. He calls her a fine officer, which amuses Robertson as he believed that Jameson didn't like DeWolff that much. Jameson didn't, but that doesn't mean he can't be genuinely sad for her death. You can tell that DeWolff's death has shaken him as he states that as much as he hates Spider-Man, he doesn't consider him as bad as the person that killed DeWolff.
It's then that a man arrives at the Daily Bugle, a man of the cloth: Reverend Jackson Tolliver. He was hoping that his new ministry in New York would get some notice by the Bugle. Jameson remarks that he was mentioned in the "Atlanta child slayings" some years earlier. Yeah, this is a topical reference, one to the murders of Atlanta children from 1979 to 1981. It was believed that the majority of the murders were committed by alleged serial killer Wayne Williams. Williams was convicted for the murders of two adult men and was never tried for the child murders, even though police did attribute many of the child murders to him. To this day, Williams has claimed he is innocent of the child murders. It's some dark stuff, so be careful before clicking the Wikipedia links.
That evening, Spider-Man visits the police station, wanting to speak to whoever is investigating the killing of DeWolff. He learns it's a Sergeant Stan Carter. The two meet and discuss the case. Carter doesn't mind superheroes very much, as he sees them as nuts. Well, they're nuts, but they're obvious about it. It's the quiet, hidden nutjobs that worry him. Stan reveals that Jean was actually quite well-liked by the force, and she was fond of them too. She was also rather fond of Spider-Man, which is why Carter is willing to talk to the Web-Slinger in the first place. Peter admits he liked her, too.
With a new dawn comes a new day. And with the dawn comes the Man Without Fear, Daredevil, swinging through the rooftops. Matt Murdock not here to fight a supervillain, though. He's working pro bono, playing public defender to the punks that attacked Mr. Popchik. In that role, he gets the punks released on their own recognizance. Popchik is understandably outraged, despite May assuring him this is arraignment (formal reading of the charges a defendant is accused of), not an actual trial. Peter confronts Murdock, and this allows Murdock's super-senses to discover that he's Spider-Man.
Matt confers with the judge, a Horace Rosenthal. He points out that he was taught that everyone had to be treated equally under the law. And yet, he now feels terrible about his letting the punks go. Horace waves it off, telling Matt that he dislikes getting his hands dirty. Maybe working a few years as a public defender would help with that. He heads out to use the little judge's room. That is rather convenient for Matt.
Why? Because his radar sense picked up someone in the judge's study. He goes to investigate and finds a man there. His pulse and perspiration indicate he may be on something. The man points a shotgun at him, and introduces himself as the Sin-Eater.
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The sin-eater takes his name from a British isles ritual in which someone eats a ritual meal to take on the sins of a deceased person, absolving their souls.
The Sin-Eater shoots at Matt, but he's able to get behind a desk. Unfortunately for Matt, Judge Rosenthal peeks in.
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Matt is paralyzed. He could leap up and stop the Sin-Eater, but it would jeopardize his secret identity. Rosenthal pleads for his life...and the story ends with the Sin-Eater giving the judge some hot buckshot.
It feels a bit tamer compared to many comics today, but I can imagine that in the mid-80s, this was quite a shocking way to start a run.
Jean DeWolff's death would have some major impact on the Spider-Man mythos. The Sin-Eater would return in a later storyline (also written by David), and most notably, the investigation into the identity of the villain would lead to Eddie Brock becoming Venom. Her friend, fellow officer Yuri Watanabe, would become the latest Wraith (the first being DeWolff's brother Brian) In the Dead no More: The Clone Conspiracy event, Jean DeWolff would be brought back to life as a clone of the original, one of the many deceased friends and allies of Spider-Man by the Ben Reilly Jackal to win over Spider-Man's allyship. This Jean would give her life aiding Spider-Man in stopping him.
If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2013 trade paperback Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff. Thanks for reading this blog entry!
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