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Spider-Man has survived the 'Death Spiral' crossover event, and the historic Amazing Spider-Man #1000 is imminent; all is great for Peter Parker... right?

That Parker luck is about to strike again.

In the final moments of 'Death Spiral,' it's revealed that Peter has a heretofore unknown first cousin (at least according to the story). Not much is known about him, except that he goes by the name 'Mister Crane.' Herein lies the mystery: in the long history of Spider-Man, we've never known Peter to have a male first cousin - that is, a child of an aunt or uncle, like Aunt May or Uncle Ben. As far as has been revealed, none of Peter Parker's aunts or uncles gave birth to a son... in Marvel's main continuity, at least.

Related: Spider-Man's ex Mary Jane is officially entering her villain phase with Death Spiral finale

But the idea that Peter Parker has a newly revealed relative, and with the obvious parental candidates being the ever-present Aunt May and Uncle Ben... that's intriguing. Even more so when you add in that Marvel has advertised a 'very special issue' of Amazing Spider-Man this summer, titled 'The Talk' centered on May and Peter.

But before then, Marvel is releasing a special free comic with likely the largest readership of any Spider-Man comic this year, Comics Giveaway Day's Amazing Spider-Man 1000 / Queen in Black #1. Set for release on May 2 (which is also Free Comic Book Day!), this anthology will include a lead story by Amazing Spider-Man series writer Joe Kelly with Spider-Man legend John Romita Jr. on art, titled 'Answer the Question'... and according to Marvel's Spider-Man boss Nick Lowe, this is teeing up something huge.

"The way I look at Comics Giveaway Day, I always go to the comic shops, and you're hoping that all your regulars go and get it too, right?" says Nick Lowe, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man editor (and also an executive editor and VP of content & digital publishing). "But that's not your main audience. The whole point of that is getting new people in there. The way I see it, it's two-fold. You want to, one, give them a story that's got a beginning, middle, and an end. That has Spider-Man being Spider-Man. And then, two, you want to hook them in with something that leads into the issues you're doing."

Past Free Comic Book Day Amazing Spider-Man issues have teed up the big storylines of the next year (or years even!), including, in 2007, the then-upcoming 'Brand New Day' era that is now inspiring this summer's Spider-Man: Brand New Day film.

"Joe did a great job with this one, because Amazing Spider-Man #27 just came out last week, and then this weekend is Comics Giveaway Day," Lowe says. "And in issues 27 and 28, we revealed Spider-Man has a cousin. And in issue 28 we drove it home a little bit, and you see this person calling for a medical test. So, there's a good chance on Comics Giveaway Day you're getting your next taste of this major spider-mystery."

 Related: Amazing Spider-Man release schedule

When we asked Kelly about the story of Saturday's Amazing Spider-Man 1000 / Queen in Black #1 (and the implicit setup for what's next), he was rather tight-lipped. Perhaps Marvel Comics has the same level of security about spoilers as Marvel Studios? Kevin Feige is the boss of both.

"Short stories like this tend to pop up in different ways," Joe Kelly tells Popverse. "Sometimes we have something that we want to service that's coming down the road, so we'll plant a seed. Other times you've got a very short bunch of pages... 'What's the punchiest thing you can come up with?'"

"This one was informed by a lot of stuff I was just kind of feeling at that time," Kelly continues. "There was a lot of feels happening, and that kind of informed this story, which I feel resonates really well with Spidey. There's action, but there's always heart. And hopefully, that's going to be the case with this one."

Amazing Spider-Man 1000 / Queen in Black #1 will be available free (while supplies last!) at your local comic shop, and a schedule for all the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man issues can be found here.

Marvel's most reliable superhero has proven he can do a whole lot more than just 'whatever a spider can.' Swing into Spidey's history with Popverse's...

• Best Spider-Man comic books 
• Spider-Man movie watch order
• Spider-Man's actors, ranked
• and the Spider-verse explained!

Just watch out for that radioactive blood.