The Other (comics)


The Other is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A nigh-omnipotent physical embodiment of Spider-Man's spider-powers, it initially takes the form of Miss Arrow, before the reality alternation of "One More Day" leads it to take Kaine Parker and MC2 Peter Parker as hosts, opposing Morlun, the Inheritors, and Shathra.

Publication history

The Other was created by Peter David, Mike Wieringo, and Todd Nauck, and first appeared in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4.

Fictional character biography

The Other

During the events of The Other, Spider-Man is killed in battle with Morlun. However, his body is later discovered as a sack of skin; Spider-Man had shed his skin and created a 'cocoon' under the Brooklyn Bridge, which he later emerged from, completely healed of his prior wounds. Thus, Spider-Man had 'conquered' death.
Meanwhile, in Stark Tower, pirate spiders begin eating Peter's old dead body. When Spider-Man returns, the top of Stark Tower is covered in webbing. Inside the tower, Spider-Man discovers that pirate spiders had consumed his skin. Sated on his flesh, the spiders form into a body of their own, female in opposition to Spider-Man's male.
Declaring itself to be Spider-Man's "Other", the creature explained to Peter that it exists because Peter was supposed to die, but did not. To maintain "balance", the creature had arrived to become his opposite, as well as his equal, and would evolve as he evolved, or die as he would die. It then escapes down a drain.

Miss Arrow

The creature, named Ero, assumes a human guise as Miss Arrow and becomes a nurse at Midtown High School. It is later revealed that Ero intends to have Flash Thompson serve as a vessel for her eggs. Ero kidnaps Thompson, but Spider-Man arrives to rescue him. When Ero attempts to impregnate Spider-Man with the eggs instead, Betty Brant arrives and destroys her egg sac. Spider-Man lures Ero into an aviary, where she is eaten by birds. Only a single spider remains, which Spider-Man steps on.

Return

After being killed by the Lobo Brothers, Kaine Parker is resurrected as the avatar of the Other, giving him a spider-like appearance. However, the Other makes Kaine's mind unstable, causing him to attack his friend Hummingbird. The Other is later revealed to still be alive and chooses the Peter Parker of Earth-982 as its new avatar.

Powers and abilities

The Other is composed of thousands of spiders that possess a hive mind, not unlike that of Thousand, however unlike Thousand Arrow was much more organized and had to adhere to typical spider behavior such as creating a sack to raise children. The Other possessed wrist stingers that were poisonous to anyone who was stabbed by them. This was the same ability adopted by Peter and Kaine Parker. It is also shown to possess night vision.

In other media

Miss Arrow appears in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, portrayed by Alice Lee.