To save the life of his Aunt May, who was struck down by a bullet, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson made a deal with Mephisto to save her life. But the cost was their marriage, as Mephisto literally undid everything that ever led up to their marriage. For them, it never happened, and so for the rest of the world as well.
What does that mean? The old "Parker Luck" is back, and it's all bad. Life is raining shit in vast quantities over Peter's life, and he just can't seem to catch a break. Perenially short of money, Peter has moved back in with his Aunt May to make ends meet, which leaves him feeling pretty low. And a simple mission to give his aunt a cake that she'll love for her birthday almost comes to naught when a crook in a fast car seems determined to play "Grand Theft Auto" in Manhattan! Along the way, Peter meets a new superheroine, Jackpot, but they get in each other's way more than they help each other, and the chase makes him miss his Aunt's party. Luckily, she understands.
Then, Peter looks for a new job, but his disappearances at his old jobs and lack of any kind of reportable scientific accomplishments force him to go back to the Daily Bugle for pay owed to him. His friend Betty Brant tells him that Jonah can't pay him now... he needs all the money he can get to prevent a takeover of the Bugle. But when J. Jonah Jameson yells at him for being worthless, Peter isn't going to take it any more, and gives it all back to his former boss and then some. Jonah, incensed, starts to yell harder, and has a heart attack which puts him in the hospital. His wife, hating that the paper has nearly killed her husband, and J. Jonah caring for it more than anything, sells his shares to the man who attempted the hostile takeover, so Peter now has a brand new boss.
Luckily, his boss holds him up as an example of what the other reporters and photographers should be doing, and when he realizes that Peter is owed money by the company, he cuts him a check right away, saying that the paper needs to be honorable. He also offers a $10,000 bonus to the first photographer who can bring him a picture of a new villain named The Menace.
But other things are happening in Peter's life. Like someone in a Spider-Man mask is mugging people. And someone else has been killing people, and leaving old Spider Tracers on their bodies. But who? J. Jonah Jameson would blame Spider-Man for both, and he's not the only one. Since Peter has never registered as Spider-Man the forces of Registration think he has things to hide... like mugging or killing, perhaps?
And Peter, out of money, is loaned money by his old Pal Harry Osborn, then is immediately mugged by the spider-Mugger, who also gets away with one of his web-shooters, leaving Spider-Man short a webshooter, and with no money or time to buy or mix more of the chemicals that make up his webs.
Spider-Man also has a problem with a new crime-lord who has taken over Manhattan's new crime syndicate, a man called Mr. Negative... who also happens to run the shelter where Peter's Aunt May has been volunteering. But when Spider-Man and Jackpot team up to save a City Councilwoman from Menace, their inability to coordinate properly leads to the woman's death, which causes Jackpot to have something of a nervous breakdown. Can Spider-Man get her back on the case, or will she give up Superheroics for good?
Finally, the volume ends with an untold story of the original black symbiote Spider Costume, and its role in fighting crime, one that Peter will never know, because it all occurred when he was sound asleep.
I didn't like this volume at all. Yeah, I know it's called "A Brand New Day" but I didn't like the whole "Parker Luck" thing and never really did. More like "Same Old, Same Old Day" for me. I didn't find it funny or humorous when things kept going wrong for Peter and Spiderman. It just got tiresome. It may be a return to Peter's roots, but what's wrong with letting him catch a break once in a while?
So, I found this whole volume just so-so. Nice art, nice fights, but the stories just didn't catch my interest or affect me at all. Save your money.
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