Poor Aunt May. Peter Parker’s lovely old aunt never catches a break—she’s been on the verge of death countless times. The fact that she keeps getting sick and almost dying either means that she will live forever or else that every time she gets out of bed she should count her blessings, because one day she may run out of luck. Either way, here are a few of her run-ins with death.
1 Unnamed illness. Aunt May’s first notable brush with death was in The Amazing Spider-Man #8, when she contracted an unknown illness. By issue #9 she had to have an operation, but luckily, it was a success. In the next issue, though, the doctor informs Peter that May will need a blood transfusion, which Peter gladly supplies for her.
2 Radiation poisoning. Of course, this being a Spider-Man comic, the very blood that Peter gave to Aunt May to save her life ended up poisoning her (due to Peter’s radioactive blood). Through the help of friendly scientist Curt Connors, Peter discovers that they can cure Aunt May with a special serum—a special serum that Doctor Octopus recently stole! Spider-Man goes to Doc Ock’s underwater base to retrieve it, but it’s just his luck that tons of machinery fall on him, pinning him to the floor. This is the classic “Spider-Man lifts tons of machinery” bit from The Amazing Spider-Man #33. He eventually escapes and delivers the serum in time to save Aunt May’s life.
3 Heart attack. In The Amazing Spider-Man #176, May is protesting for elderly rights at city hall when she has an altercation with a police officer. During the fracas, May has a heart attack. She once again needs an operation, but she pulls through, much to readers’ relief.
4 Seemingly a heart attack. In The Amazing Spider-Man #196, Peter is called by a doctor to inform him that Aunt May has died of a heart attack. Peter is distraught over the next few issues until learning in #200 that the “doctor” in question was none other than his old foe Mysterio, master of illusions. You see, Mysterio teamed up with the burglar from Spider-Man’s very first appearance (the one Spidey let get away and who then ended up killing Uncle Ben). Writer Marv Wolfman wanted to explain why a burglar who committed a crime in Manhattan during the day would then show up trying to break into a house in Queens later that night. So he revealed that there was some sort of hidden treasure in the Parker home. Mysterio faked May’s death so that they would have free rein to search her house for the treasure. May is tied up in the basement. Spider-Man shows up and puts an end to the plot and, ironically, the burglar dies of a heart attack at the end of the issue as Spider-Man reminds him that the burglar will never be free, since Spider-Man will follow him everywhere.
5 Seemingly heart failure. In The Amazing Spider-Man #391, Aunt May suffered a severe stroke that left her in a coma until #400. In that issue, she comes out of the coma and spends a few days with Peter before she passes away at home, surrounded by Peter, Mary Jane, and May’s best friend, Anna (Mary Jane’s aunt). It was a lovely issue by writer J. M. DeMatteis, in which he also revealed that Aunt May had known that Peter was Spider-Man for years but never let on that she knew. While the issue was very well done, later writers felt that Aunt May was too important to the title to kill off, so they revealed that the “Aunt May” who died was an actor that the evil Norman Osborn had hired (and done plastic surgery on) to make Peter think (a) that his aunt had died and (b) that she died knowing (and accepting) his identity. One of many, many times when Norman Osborn retroactively caused major problems.
6 Shot in the gut. In The Amazing Spider-Man #538, Peter, Mary Jane, and Aunt May are on the run after Peter revealed his secret identity on national television in support of the Superhero Registration Act. The Kingpin of Crime, Wilson Fisk, sends a sniper to shoot Peter, but his spider-sense instinctively causes him to move out of the way of the bullet. Instead, it hits poor old Aunt May in the gut. Over the next few issues, Aunt May goes into a coma and her condition slowly deteriorates (while Spider-Man’s psyche, too, deteriorates because of his guilt over what happened). After nearly killing the Kingpin with rage, Spider-Man goes to different scientific and magical sources to find a cure for May. Finally, one appears in the unlikely person of the demon Mephisto. He would cure Aunt May, but in return, Peter and Mary Jane would have to give up their marriage. Peter initially says no, but Mary Jane understands that Peter’s guilt would ruin him if Aunt May died, so she convinces him to take the bargain. So Aunt May is back among the living once again…until the next time, of course.