History
The past history of Ben Parker of Earth-51977 would mirror that of his Earth-616 counterpart up until the day his nephew Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider. In this reality, the spider would be bombarded with a more powerful dose of radiation, and when it bit Peter he would be sent to the hospital. When Ben Parker and his wife May heard about their nephew Peter being brought to the hospital, May became upset and suffered a fatal heart attack upon learning that Peter would never walk again. The widowed Parker would continue to raise Peter, whom would blame himself for his aunt's death.
Later, a burglar broke into Ben's house and was about to shoot him when Peter, having recently gained Nova-powers, crashed through the wall as the burglar pulled the trigger. The bullet ricocheted off of Peter's costume and struck the burglar, killing him. Ben attempted to convince Peter that the burglar's death wasn't his fault and that Peter could use his powers to fight crime. However, Peter didn't listen and forsaked his powers, tossing his Nova costume into a trash can.[citation needed]