In Amazing Spider-Man #15 and Peter Parker Spider-Man #15, Peter leaves for Latveria in search of Mary Jane after receiving an anonymous call that informed him that she was being held captive in Doctor Doom's castle. The call is revealed to be a hoax and Peter does not find her there. More determined than ever, Peter returns to New York City and continues his search.

In Amazing Spider-Man #16, Peter finds out that Mary Jane's manager has disappeared and has cleaned out all of her accounts, thus leaving Peter and his Aunt in debt. May ends up crashing at Anna Watson's place until things get better and Peter moves into a very dilapidated apartment building.

In Peter Parker Spider-Man #17, Peter gets evicted from his apartment building because he has neglected to pay rent. As a result, he ends up having to live in the street.

In Amazing Spider-Man #18, the Green Goblin attacks Liz Osborn. Peter, as Spider-Man, saves her but he notices that this Goblin is handling the glider clumsily, so he comes to the conclusion that it isn't Norman Osborn, or Harry, his son, since the latter died in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. Later that night, as he sleeps in an alley, someone steals his backpack containing his costume and web-shooters.

In Peter Parker Spider-Man #18, Peter, as Spider-Man, apprehends this new Green Goblin, who is revealed to be a genetic construct created by Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin. This new goblin ends up dissolving into nothingness – a secondary effect of being exposed to the Goblin Formula WITHOUT a stabilizing agent – but just before he dies, he informs Peter that Norman Osborn is coming back. The "thief", who stole Peter's backpack, tries the costume on and experiments with the web-shooters. He then sells everything to none other than J. Jonah Jameson. Peter also moves in with Randy Robertson and Aunt May receives a box for Peter from the airline company that caused Mary Jane's death.

In Peter Parker Spider-Man #19, Peter finally comes to terms with the recent death of his wife Mary Jane when he opens the box received from the airline company.

ACT 1: Peter is at the cemetery, visiting his Uncle Ben's grave, reminiscing about the recent events in his life, especially the death of his wife, Mary Jane, killed when her plane exploded in mid-air. He asks his uncle to apologize for him to Mary Jane for lying to her about still wearing the Spider-Man costume. He goes on saying that he always thought being Spider-Man would be an escape for him as it used to be when he first got his superpowers but it isn't working now, because the pain of Mary Jane being gone is just too much unbearable. He adds that thanks to him (i.e. his uncle), it's easier to laugh in the face of danger when you don't take anything too seriously.

ACT 2: Flashback to when Peter was young. Peter remembers his first day back to school some time after his parents died and how all the other kids were whispering and pointing at him. He remembers being sent back home from school because he had started crying in gym class. When he had gotten home, Uncle Ben had scared him using orange wedges. His aunt was mad but his uncle kept saying that Peter was fine and that all he needed was a little toughening up. He also remembers how his uncle always used to make him laugh and that it was that same laughter that helped him go through his school years, even if it got him into a lot fights, which he didn't win by the way, not that he really cared. He remembers a war of practical jokes that his uncle started when he dropped a bucket of water on his head. The pranks lasted for years, until that one time where Aunt May sat on a whoopee cushion that was intended for Uncle Ben. They were both grounded for about a year after that but it was well worth it.

ACT 3: Peter then remembers the most tragic moment of his life, the one moment that defined how he was going to live the rest of his life. He had just recently been bitten by a radioactive spider and had been endowed with the proportionate strength, speed, and agility of said spider. While showcasing his superpowers at a local television station, he had run into a guy, who had stolen money and was being pursued by a cop. He could have easily stopped him but he hadn't. The same guy ended up in Forest Hills, Queens, where he attempted to burglarize the Parker's residence, out of all places. Uncle Ben had tried to stop him but he was shot dead. Peter then explains to his uncle how the grief he was feeling made him try to make up for that one mistake by fighting guys like the Vulture, Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, the Lizard, and Mysterio; guys who are using their super powers selfishly, similar to when Peter used his super powers selfishly and allowed the thief to escape. He goes on explaining that it was laughter that allowed him to defeat them, that allowed him to accept Gwen's death to the hands of Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. But now that Mary Jane has died, he doesn't know if he can go on without her. He thinks that perhaps if he had done things differently, she would still be alive. He adds that he can't even find the time to grieve because the bad guys don't really care if he wants a day off to himself. For instance, at a recent bank robbery, he defeated three of the four thieves quickly and without saying one word. The last one pointed a shotgun at him and warned him that he was going to shoot if he didn't stay away from him. He slowly advanced towards the thief and just stared at him, again remaining silent. Then the thief dropped his gun and quietly surrendered. For a moment though, Peter was almost hoping that the thief would shoot him, so that it would be all over. He goes on saying that with MJ gone, he doesn't want to be a hero anymore; he just wants to see her, just for a minute, and tell her he's sorry. He wonders how he is ever going to laugh again because if he can't laugh, how can he be Spider-Man. He then asks his uncle if he can tell him what's funny. On cue, a car drives by and splashes Peter with mud. Peter wipes his face off and bursts into laughter.