It’s Part Two of the Chameleon Conspiracy which is not to be confused with the god awful Clone Conspiracy, so you are in a safe place here. Nick Spencer has set up the pieces in this chess game and we find out that the Finisher isn’t “finished” with Teresa Parker. Ned Leeds is looking pretty fly for a dead guy! Can he explain that? Jamie Tolentino is rolling the dice, but has his luck run out? Doc Ock and Sandman have a staring contest which somehow means they come to an agreement and join forces. Someone please explain the logic on why there are two writers, three artists (four actually) and three colorist for this issue! Hang on tight Crawlspacers. I may not bring all the answers you are looking for, but that’s part of the fun! Remember what I said in my last few reviews. ENJOY THE RIDE.
(Writer) Nick Spencer & Ed Brisson
(Artist) Marcelo Ferreira, Carlos Gomez, & Ze Carlos
(Colorist) Morry Hollowell, Andrew Crossley, & Erick Arciniega
(Letterer) VC’s Joe Caramagna
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 6/9/2021
Issue Number #68/869
Price Tag: $3.99
For a different perspective:
Alford’s Notes and Ryan’s Reads
Story Time: The Finisher surprises the super-shocked, superspy Teresa Parker. Remembering how this man killed her and Peter’s parents in ASM Annual #5, she thinks back to her spy training. Which apparently is shoot first, ask questions later. It’s all for not, since The Finisher isn’t really there, it’s a holographic projection of the man. This gives him an opportunity to talk to Teresa without getting hurt by a itchy trigger finger spy. Secret identity superhero Peter Parker is also having a super-shocking moment, when he sees that Ned Leeds is alive and kicking. How though? He tells a “believable” story that during Spider-Man Vs Wolverine #1 he downed all of Osborn’s Goblin Serum like it was Koolaid. So when Ned died, just like Norman in Revelations #4, the serum brought him back to life! He kept low for years and there’s a reason why, but he can’t share that info right now….
Betty was working on that huge story to expose the Foreigner for the scum that he really is. Her source is revealed to be Ned. They meet, they kiss, they..uh…well..you know…
She’s pregnant now, Brad doesn’t pay me enough to inform you about the “birds and the bees”.
They need Peter’s help because the Foreigner has some connections to Jamie Tolentino and the Clairvoyant! Speaking of which, Jamie is helping Chance and Foreigner steal The Catalyst. Swiping a card from Dr. Conner’s while he’s in Lizard-Form, then he meets the supervillain Slyde in the men’s room. They then proceed with the operation and it’s going good so far, until Spider-Man busts in to stop the robbery! Cover is blown so Foreigner, Chance, and a handful of Jack-O-Lantern’s show up to “even the odds”. <– .. see what I did there?
The Breakdown:
- Not Dead Ned
- It’s all Clear-voyant
- Who flinched first?
- Too Many Cooks
- Nitpicks
- Grade
Not Dead Ned: Okay, as far a believable stories go, Ned’s isn’t half bad. Gotta give props to Spencer on this one. The Goblin Serum was used to also keep Ned alive the same way it kept Norman alive. Continuity Awareness! Interesting..I just thought of it. Didn’t Harry take that serum too or was it all flushed out of his system? I’ll need to console with Dark Mark or JR about that one. So, can we trust Ned? Peter “wants” to, but is having a hard time accepting that. The Conspiracy title for this arc is holding up to it’s name, we already got Chameleon informing Teresa about the time he made her and Peter’s parents, robots duplicates. Ah…good times… In that arc, Peter came to accept that those were actually his parents and revealed his secret to them. We all knew how THAT ended. So Peter’s too good to be true thought process IS acceptable. Bit once, twice shy.
So we are to believe that this is the actual Ned Leeds. If that is true what could flour baked goods clone Ned Leeds warn Spider-Man about back in ASM 15? THAT, I believe brings us to our next subject on this matter.
Who is the new mystery character? Ned’s funeral was in Web of Spider-Man #129. So, it’s assumed that Ned dug himself out of his grave a few days later.
“Why did Ned stay hidden all this time until now? Who benefited from it? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?..”
My best guess is Norman Osborn. That issue of Web came out in 1987. Norman “died” in Amazing Spider-Man Vol1 #122 which came in out in 1973, he later came back in Revelations Part 4 in 1996. So the time gap for the “man in the shadows” game can play out, until he revealed himself much later. Ned believed he was the Hobgoblin and drank the serum, that has connections to the Green Goblin. Norman could benefit from Ned’s return and definitely has the power to cover it up. I like how Spencer went back to the “Mystery Person” angle. He did that with Kindred and now that we know Kindred is Harry, why not play that angle with someone else? Makes sense and also provides good story telling as well. It’s my belief that Clone Ned found out that the Real Ned is alive and also discovered something sinister about it. I think we can throw away that theory that this Ned is a Robot Duplicate. Or can we???…
It’s all Clear-voyant: Foreigner owns Chance, he’s using his casino finance’s to help Silver Sable. Jamie owes Chance and Foreigner, he’s going to pay up his debt by using the his new latest and greatest invention The Clairvoyant! However, it needs a better source of power, so they go to the ESU to steal The Catalyst! Foreigner is being investigated by Betty and Ned with Peter stuck in the middle, while dealing with Kindred drama, who happens to be Harry Osborn, who is the son of Norman Osborn, who might be the mystery person that helped Ned out. It’s all connected! I honestly think the whole Clairvoyant matter will be cleared up by next issue. This part of story feels like a setup to a whole lot of Spidey action. Which I’m actually down for. It’s a Spider-Man comic book, gotta show Spidey in a fight or two against the bad guys. Jaimie will comes to terms that he made a mistake and it’ll be resolved within two pages. It’s usually how those things work out. Sure we want to know more about Kindred and the Betty/Ned situation, but a down to earth Spidey with low key villains is rewarding in itself. Reminder: Spidey is a down to earth type of superhero, he brings justice knocking to the front doors of those gangsters and mob bosses of New York City. There’ll be plenty of super power beat downs in the future and speaking of which…
Who Flinched First?: It’s the staring contest you all have been waiting for! Doctor Octopus vs Sandman! Who flinched first?! All narrated by Kindred! The outcome…they agree and enjoy a walk down the beach. ..m’kay.
So the first two members of the Sinister Six have been acquired, four more to go. I honestly would of have liked to have read this conversation between Doc Ock and Sandman. They aren’t actually best pals. Be sure to check out Return of the Sinister Six and Revenge of the Sinister Six. It shows a very not too friendly experience between the two. This of course is a set up to the Sinister War that will be coming out this summer. What has Doc Ock offered Flint that could persuade him to join in? More importantly, what did Kindred offer him? Spencer is mirroring off how The Return of the Sinister Six seeds were planted in the early days of ASM. This time, it’s Kindred pulling the strings. I really like how Mark Bagley is the artist for this event and is staying consistent to this arc, especially with the set ups. Which brings me to my next point.
Too Many Cooks: We all know I’m a fan of Nick Spencer’s writing in ASM. We all know I’m a BIGGER fan of Carlos Gomez Spidey artwork. The two mixed together is thing a beauty and style. That’s the two I want in my ASM. That’s just me though, other’s have different taste. I can’t get Neil to shut up about Patrick Gleason. Dark Mark is more sensitive than a runner up for prom queen, when it comes to Mark Bagley’s artwork. Usually it’s one writer and one artist. Then you have the inker and colorist. So why does this issue have two writers, three artists and three colorist for ONE story? It doesn’t make much sense to me. Mark Bagley gets a pass, because he’s on ONE particular story. Even in one issues that are usually annuals a different writer/artist starts a new story. Here, it’s one story with a *plethora of people. I can understand that artists get a page or two to shine every now an then, but some art just doesn’t flow with others. I would very much like it if the recap page would show who wrote what page and who drew what page. Am I reading Spencer or Brisson’s writing? Who do I give credit too? Can anyone fill in the blanks for me? Is this a showcase thing or a deadline thing? I just don’t know. This is more of a con for me, but how would you Crawlspacers liked it if another one of our team just came in and continued on with this review? It’s absurd! I would never do that to you! Now here’s Kelly…
The thing about multiple art changes is it’s never seamless as Marvel wants us to feel it is. Especially when you have a story you are interested in — it always takes me out of the story! Like in this issue had me double checking the pages because I was invested in the story and the layers it was unfolding – the answers we were finally getting – but I kept getting tripped by the art changes.
I know that sometimes it can’t be helped, and every artist brought their A-Game for Issue 68, especially one of my favorites at the Crawlspace, Carlos Gomez. But the changes, even as great as they look make ASM 68 feel like these are three mini stories that start and end abruptly, when it’s just one issue. One story. It’s a minor hang up, but it does irk me.
Nitpicks:
How did Jamie accomplished this feat WITHOUT The Lizard biting his arm off? There’s a 6 foot 5 intelligent giant lizard right behind you and how you are able to swipe this badge from his lab coat, while he’s wearing it, without him noticing? The Lizard is smart and fast enough. Can’t he smell fear from Jamile.
I gotta say, something needs to be done about the Symkarian Prison. The Chameleon has a secret room that is completely furnished and with holographic technology. It’s like his own Holo-Suite from Star Trek. “Computer, run Finisher Program.” “Program complete, enter when ready.” Also, Chameleon is very relaxed and casual after being SHOT IN THE SHOULDER!
Grade: A- It’s not a bad issue, it’s actually quite good. The only real con I got is the rotation of the writers and the artists. Not saying they were bad, far from that. The different takes and style kind pulls you out of the story when you are supposed to be fully emerged in it. I could do without the Jaimie and Clairvoyent plot, but I do understand HOW that factors into the story. Very curious to find out what The Finisher wants with Teresa (please let her be a robot) and the Betty/Ned thing. I wanted more Mary Jane in his issue, but I know she’ll make an appearance sooner than later. It’s worth the buck in my opinion and an important key within the story.
Next up! Bad Villains Galore! That’s all Dark Mark, so be sure to see what he has to say!
* Dark Mark: A Plethora is a large or excessive amount of (something).
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In regards to this issue’s current events:
– I don’t believe this is Ned Leeds either. If it is, clearly he’s lying and Kindred may have something to do with his return.
– I thought that Sandman was revealed to be immortal but couldn’t assume his human shape/form anymore in “Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man” #308 and #309, but I could be mistaken. Do we even get to see Sandman completely in human form in this issue or is he partly sand all the time in this issue? Maybe that’s what Kindred offers Sandman is a chance to revert to his human form fully again? And yes, I agree, it would’ve been great to hear the talk between Doctor Octopus and Sandman. Perhaps it will be included in flashbacks during “Sinister War” next month?
– I really want Teresa Parker to be a robot. I never did like the “long lost sister of Peter Parker” reveal. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time that a story with Chameleon would have had a long lost family member of the Parker family turn out to be a fake.
– Nobody needs to read “The Clone Conspiracy”. Ever. Between Ben Reilly being out of character, the lame deaths of Prowler (don’t worry, he got better) and Electro (who WILL get better with his inevitable resurrection for “Sinister War”), and revealing Gwen found out Peter was Spidey before she died (which is stupid, since she was unconscious when she was killed), everything about the story still irks me and I’m glad that Spencer is undoing most of it.
– Every issue needs more Mary Jane. Every. Single. Issue.
– Is it me or does it seem like “The Chameleon Conspiracy” needs more focus on the Chameleon? We’re getting so many sub-plots at once that Spider-Man’s first super-villain (and I’m not including retcons by other titles where he wasn’t when I write this) is kind of lost in the shuffle. Not-dead-Ned, Kindred, Doc Ock, Sandman, Teresa Parker, Chance, the Finisher, etc. … I think that a little more attention should be focused on Chameleon and Spidey (and M.J., of course — like I said, EVERY ISSUE needs M.J.!).
Thanks for reading my gibberish. I hope you all have a great week and stay safe, True Believers.
Excelsior!
@Aqu@ — I guess I’m a bit older than you. I was in high school during the throes of the Clone Saga, and I actually stopped reading Spider-man because of it. It wasn’t until I happened to pick up Revelations Part 4 at the comic store on the week of its release and realized the Clone Saga was over that I started collecting again.
Please, gentlemen, we were talking about classy way, let’s not turn this into the reddit post I had to consult for finding a indecent way of saying having sex. 😀 (good ones, you two, though)
@Sthenurus: actually I started reading at the beginning of Straczynski’s run, but as far as it concerns the first Spider-man comic I ever bought was in the clone saga, yep. And I was very little, yep. Yep, it explains a lot about me.
Oops — pardon. “Buryin’ the Leeds.” There we go.
@Sthenurus and Aqu@ — I’d say Ned was buryin’ the Leads.
@Aqu@: since we are talking about a goblin can we say they were smashin’ the pumpkin’ ? Also Yay I’m not the only one that started with the clone saga!
I tough the chameleon couldn’t feel pain anymore because of his power. I may be wrong tho!
Oh, don’t be a prude! There are so many classy way to say it: they make love, they exchange fluids, they copulate, they practice death by snu-snu…. No, wait, maybe not the last one.
I agree on the Chameleon shot in the shoulder, I thought the same. He must have a very high pain threshold.
Ned’s story is fishy: it makes too much sense.
That feeling of three stories in one comic reminded me of when I was very little and I picked a Spider-Man comic: I didn’t like it because I felt there were too many parts of different stories. Only when I found out what comic that was as an adult I realized it was every change of scene that felt like a new story to little me. And it didn’t even have different artists! (but it was during the clone saga, so there’s also that…)
Harry was killed by a toxic version of the Goblin serum. He claimed in Brand New Day that it did bring him back, but the Kindred stuff certainly implies that isn’t true.
Who says all the clones from Clone Conspiracy had souls? The Prowler was cloned, while the original Prowler was revealed to be alive. So, the soul thing? Not a problem?
What is a problem? Ben Reilly/Jackal created his clones by digging up the corpses of the deceased individuals, creating clones from their remains. If Ned woke up days later, his body wouldn’t be there for Ben Reilly to recover.
Ned is lying. My bet is that Kindred brought him back. It seems like the most logical answer. Or, this isn’t actually Ned. Dead clone Ned might be the father of the baby, but this guy is someone else.
His story is certainly plausible, enough to make us (and Spidey) wonder if it could be true, but I don’t believe it. I just don’t.
@Michael: When I was in high school, my English Teacher taught us that “Old Grammar Leaks” while teaching us the new way. I apply this method to the Soul Theory. “Old Slottisms Leaks!” I highly suggest you just avoid Clone Conspiracy, since it was awful. Even Ben Reilly was written completely out of character. Spencer has been doing a lot of clean up from the previous writer and pretty much established that in his first issue. Not saying you are wrong, I don’t think Spencer would go that far fetched route. Maybe now he couldn’t get it through airport security, but back in the late 70’s and 80 when that came out. It’s possible, plus it’s comics. I didn’t read the Venom run, but you could be onto something.
@adam, @Zach: Like @Sthenurus said. Guy is made of sand.
@David: I don’t think so.
Yeah The soul thing is annoying… Unless it a bit like in the X-Men side of thing? I know they solved that problem at one point because of the whole resurection process. Or maybe when jackal Ben cloned Ned he stole his soul from real Ned and put it into the new body?
I wanna believe Ned but… It’s too much of a stretch. In the goblin journal Osborn thought Ned was the og hobgoblin and hated him for stealing his style. I’m sure he would have autopsied the corpse to make sure he was truly dead, especially after his return. To me it’s just too fishy.
Ya the Theresa bit is weird. Pretty sure Spencer is preparing to retcon her into inexistante. Which I like.
Sandman not being dead doesn’t surprise me. The guy is made of sand. Hard to kill sand.
Does Spencer have a kinky “parking lot sex” fetish?
@Zach
I was thinking the same thing. Didn’t he her turned to glass by Zdaraky?
@Michael
You make a good point about the soul thing. Spencer seems to have spent some time trying to clean up the clone conspiracy, so doubt he’d forgot that element of it. If Ned wasn’t dead, how did CloNed get his soul.
I was willing to believe Neds story. Though he’s not someone I’m desperate to have back in Amazing on a regular basis. I was buying it, until the “oh but I can’t talk about that right now”. Peter should call him on that.
BTW, am I the only person that thinks Spencer likes doing stories with doubles too much? So far, we’ve had two Peters, two Harrys and now two Neds. I’m surprised he hasn’t made Jamie Madrox Peter’s partner.
I don’t think Ned’s story is true. For starters, we were told that Clone Billy contained the soul of original Billy. So how would that work if Ned never died? Would Clone Ned and Real Ned share Ned’s soul?
But also, Ned was shown in his Hobgoblin suit and gear traveling to Norman’s hideout and obtaining the formula. We saw in Hobgoblin Lives that Kingsley sent Ned the suit and gear right before he was killed- Ned didn’t bring it with him because there was no way to get it through airport security.
Also, it’s highly unlikely that Ned could find one of Norman’s hideouts that both Harry and Kingsley couldn’t.
Of course, if this isn’t Ned, then how would he know about him and Flash getting into a fight over Betty? It’s unlikely that made the papers?
I think Spencer already dropped a clue to Ned’s secret. Remember, in the King’s Ransom arc, we were shown that there’s a new Crime Master and Peter wonders why people keep using that identity. Remember, during Remender’s Venom run, a new Crime Master was introduced, and he was revealed to be Betty’s dead brother Bennett, who was brought back from the dead by a mysterious benefactor. I think Ned is the current Crime Master. Which raises the question- were Bennett and Ned both really Bennett and Ned brought back from the dead or some kind of impostors?
Didn’t Sandman die? When did he come back to life?