Since the first time we saw Peter Parker in Amazing Fantasy 15 we always wondered where he may have lived. We watched him mature and grow as the hero Spider-Man along side his aunt May in her home. From hints here and there we know that he came from Queens NY. But where exactly does Peter Parker live? The earliest clue is from Amazing Spider-Man 7. While sneaking out of the house a boy claims that he saw Spider-Man. His mother dismisses his statement by questioning why Spider-Man would be in Forest Hills. Although this is helpful, there is no exact address. Or is there?
In Amazing Spider-Man 316, Peter and his wife Mary Jane decide to stay at Aunt May’s home while they go apartment hunting. Mary Jane says that they were living in their old condo in the Bedford Towers. Peter just made a bunch of change-of-address notices at The Daily Bugle. This backfires later when the villain Venom tries to figure out where he is staying. He tries smashing in The Black Cat’s face to get her to talk but she says that she doesn’t know. Venom reveals to her that Spider-Man has a wife. She is surprised by this revelation. By the time Venom does find Peter, he is dressed as Spider-Man while picking up his clothes that he stashed. While retreating he abandons his clothes. In the pocket is his forwarding address and phone number. The phone number’s area code is 718, which is consistent with the Queens NY area. The comic panel only shows a partial piece of the paper, so the question remains for us readers. Where does Peter Parker live?
The question is answered in combination with Amazing Spider-Man 316 and 317. We actually see the other half of the change-of-address notice shown in the previous issue. So we now know that Peter Parker lives at 20 Ingram Street, Forest Hills, NY. Even the zip code shown in the comic panel is accurate to the area. The problem with this address though is that it is a real place. Couldn’t they have used a street number that didn’t exist? Or given the street a slightly different name? I wonder how many people have harassed the residents in real life with letters or visitors. When these comics came out in 1989 Marvel could have been sued for such negligence.
If you are interested in reading about Spider-Man vs Venom, it’s been collected several times to save your sanity from trying to collect all the issues individually. They were drawn by Todd McFarlane, an artist so good that his drawings of Spider-Man and Venom made him a super-star. Later he left Marvel, founded Image Comics with some friends, and (arguably and allegedly) contributed to running the entire comic industry into the ground. But that’s a story for another day. So now that you know where Parker lives, what do you think? Tell me in the comments.