[Meeting…] Aunt May

We all know May Parker, Spider-man's adorable aunt who cares about her nephew Peter Parker and who is commonly used as a humorous device (due to her blunders or extreme gullibility) or as the main representation of the difficulty of keeping a secret from people in your family.

This character is as old as Spider-man himself and in one sense or another he is much more important than many of his enemies and allies, so I think the time has come to dedicate an article to Aunt May, the maternal figure par excellence in the world of superheroes.

THE YOUTH OF MAY REILLY

Aunt May's past is something that is not normally known in detail, so I will try to explain it in a simple but detailed way.

May grew up in a broken home, her father abandoned his family and her mother never wanted to take care of her, so this character's youth was anything but idyllic.

When May became an attractive young woman There were many men who were interested in her., regardless of class or condition. In fact, when May was about to start a relationship with Ben Parker, there was another suitor (Johnny Jerome) who, due to his wealth and power, was about to win the girl's love, until she saw that deep down Jerome was a cruel person, thus opting for the humble Ben.

During their courtship, Ben and May had to carry his little brother (Richard Parker). This situation caused the couple to decide not to have children to take advantage of their free time together. As we all know, the birth of Peter Parker and the sudden disappearance of his parents (who were agents of the United States Government) caused Ben and May raised Peter as if he were their own son., despite there being a notable age difference between them and the boy.

Raising a child is not an easy task, especially during his adolescence, so no matter how much May and Ben tried to instill in Peter their values ​​of respect, responsibility and kindness, the boy did what he wanted and wasted his time absorbed in his amateur scientist projects. Once Peter was bitten by the radioactive spider that turned him into Spider-man, the events that would make him understand the lessons of his adoptive parents precipitated, seeing Uncle Ben die due to the attack of a thief that Peter himself let escape hours before.

Uncle Ben's death was a hard blow for May, who also found herself without financial support to maintain her standard of living or pay for her medications, so Peter looked for a job as a photographer to be able to contribute to the economy of his home.

During the time that Peter lived under the same roof as May, he had to do everything possible so that she would not guess his secret identity, although in some stories it is left out that perhaps May suspects or knows that Peter is Spider-man, but who either prefers not to tell him or directly considers that idea crazy no matter how much the evidence points to it. Come on, the lie made her happier.

Obviously it is very difficult to keep such a big secret for a long time, so on some occasions it has been directly shown how Aunt May looked face to face with the undeniable evidence that her innocent nephew was kicking criminals dressed as a superhero. That step forward and the fact that they both told each other the truth was something very important, both for the characters and for the readers, but as often happens, it would be lost along with many others in the next Spider-man reboot.

TOO IMPORTANT TO BE IGNORED

Due to her consistency and importance in Spider-Man stories, May could not be ignored by many of Marvel's scriptwriters, so that within the wall-crawler's stories we find two very different uses of this character.

The first is from use him as a loving and vulnerable person, which is the main reason for its creation. There are many situations in which May has been kidnapped or injured to blackmail or attack Spider-man. One of the most picturesque occasions occurred when the Green Goblin kidnapped May and replaced her with a genetically adapted actress, although it cannot be overlooked when she was about to marry him. Doctor Octopus.

The delicate health of this character has also been a resource constantly exploited. I'm not even sure I can say the exact number of times May has been on the brink of death and has been saved one way or another. Aunt May's death could have been carried out without too much complication and as a trigger for Peter Parker's emancipation, however it has practically always been used as the end or beginning point of something more important.

On one of the occasions when Aunt May was on the verge of death, the Peter Parker clone He couldn't help but go to see her in what seemed to be her last days. More picturesque was the case seen a few years ago, where Aunt May's death was the reason why Peter Parker made a pact with Mephistopheles to bring her back to life, thus resetting Spider-man's life, showing once again how little risk scriptwriters and editors take (and that when they do it is usually to leave everything the same).

On the other hand, there have been many occasions in which they put May in very strange situations just to get a laugh or the reader's face of astonishment, reaching the point that she was used as a superhero in many adventures that were generally hypothetical stories.

THE HIDDEN FACE OF AUNT MAY

Una de las cosas más curiosas de la tía May es la enorme cantidad de novios que ha tenido tras la muerte del tío Ben, pues para una mujer de su edad no es muy normal tener una lista de ex parejas de media docena (y contando). La última vez que leí un cómic de Spider-man, la tía May estaba saliendo con el padre de John Jonah Jameson, supongo que por lo pintoresco que sería ver a toda la familia en una cena familiar, más que por la necesidad de darle una nueva pareja a este personaje.

Lo gracioso de este asunto es que siempre se ha considerado que en su juventud May fue muy atractiva y alocada, por lo cual traía de cabeza a muchos hombres, de manera que podemos considerar que su actual vida amorosa (ajetreada para una persona de su edad) es solo el eco de lo que fue en su juventud. También hay una especie de obsesión encubierta por rejuvenecer a este personaje e incluso dotarlo de cierto atractivo sexual, rompiendo con la estética de abuelita que tenía en su origen.

Quizás basándose en eso, Marvel publicó un cómic sobre la juventud de la tía May (Trouble: El secreto de tía May), que pese a lo raro que pueda sonar como concepto, seguro que atrajo a muchos lectores de Spider-man, deseosos por conocer más sobre el personaje.

Ese cómic se hizo con ganas de remover cimientos, pues nos muestra a una May procedente de un hogar desestructurado (algo que coincide con su historia inicial) yéndose con su amiga Mary a un campamento de verano donde dejará que su sexualidad explote al no estar bajo la vigilancia de sus conservadores padres.

Este comic levantó ampollas, tanto por mostrar a la tía May y otros personajes “sagrados” como el tío Ben o los padres de Spider-man dando rienda suelta a sus instintos sexuales, como por su resolución, que no comentaré porque es mejor que lo miréis por vosotros mismos.

Obviamente Marvel se lavó las manos y dijo que esa historia no era canónica y todo lo mostrado era solo una idea de Mark Millar y Terry Dodson.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Pese ser la tía de Peter Parker, creo que todos vemos a la tía May como si fuese una abuela. Es una mujer mayor, de salud frágil, pero muy cariñosa y constantemente preocupada por los peligros del día a día que puedan acechar a sus seres queridos, viendo como la vida ha cambiado mucho en comparación con sus tiempos y sobre todo, haciendo gala de una ingenuidad que solo una persona de muy buen corazón (o medio lela) puede tener.

Respecto a las recomendaciones, pues solo puedo remitirme a su aparición como secundario en las historias de Spider-man, sus películas y series de animación. May es un personaje con bastante peso en algunos arcos argumentales concretos, pero lo más habitual es que esté presente en la mayoría de historias. Como cómic dedicado especialmente a ella podéis echar un vistazo a Trouble, o a los cómics donde se juega con la idea de que la tía May es un superhéroe.