Whew! Alright Crawlspacers, let just a take a deep breathe. The Chameleon Conspiracy arc is over. One writer on this book. One artist on this book. You are back shelling out four dollars instead of six for this issue. We can finally relax….kiiiinda. Peter probably had enough time to grab a bite with MJ, take a leak, and short nap with MJ just before THE SINISTER WAR started to bloom on the horizon! Hope you are all ready because we are coming to the end of Nick Spencer’s run!!! NO! Say it isn’t so!!! We loved him here! All good things, I supposed must come to an end and it all BEGINS here!
Kindred is pulling the strings on Doc Ock to gather members of the Sinister Six! The Savage Six and Sinister Syndicate will appear! Dark Mark will tackle all written reviews to the Sinister War mini while I cover the ASM titles! Then it all comes to a close with both of us reviewing Amazing Spider-Man #74 (#875)!! It’s all right here, on the Spider-Man Crawlspace!
(Writer) Nick Spencer
(Artist) Federico Vicentini
(Colorist) Alex Sinclair
(Letterer) VC’s Joe Caramagna
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 7/8/2021
Issue Number #871
Price Tag: $3.99
For a different perspective:
Alford’s Notes and Ryan’s Reads
Story: The Isotope Genome Accelerator is back! The device that turned Peter into Spider-Man! The device the separated Peter and Spider-Man! The device that reemerged Peter and Spider-Man, because Kirsten Dunst said “It’s wrong that we should only be half-alive…half of ourselves.”. Dr. Connors shouts out in protest, “Not happening Dunst, I need to drain the Lizard and not in the rushing to the urinal kind of way.” He’s going to use the I.G.A to separate the Lizard from himself! However, it’s Doc Ock who throws the switch and saves a bunch of money by adding that gecko as the fifth member to his Sinister Six. The lab is destroyed and Peter rushes in to help Dr. Connors get to his family, that live in the sewers.
Mary Jane takes a cue from her PS4/5 game counter part and does some investigating sleuthing in hopes to find Carlie Cooper who has been MIA! Speaking of which, Carlie is swapping stories with none other than Harry Lyman. Lyman explains that some dormant Osborn accounts have risen up and started to make some strange transactions! When he goes to Europe to find out who has been spending the cash, he gets ambushed by Kindred! Lyman states that he’s been in that cell for months and asks how Carlie got there. She just can’t seem to find the correct way to say “Because I found you dead corpse in the morgue back in ASM 56.”.
Overdrive heads to the “New?” Bar of No Names and offers a drunk Boomerang a job. Doctor Octopus pays Kindred a visit and demands that he shares the information he seeks on his past life, Kindred needs to round up the sixth member first, who is none other than Mysterio! The pieces have been set for this all out SINISTER WAR!
The Breakdown:
- Splitting Up.
- Harry Lyman.
- Casting Call.
- Know Your Opponent.
Splitting Up: As Peter Parker learned from issues #1-5 in Spencer’s run when the Isotope Genome Accelerator separated Peter persona from Spider-Man persona, you can’t live as one without the other. Now that The Lizard and Dr. Curt Connors have separated, I think that’s what Curt is very concerned about. That he found a way to separate two personalities and keep them both alive, but didn’t enter that formula into the equation when Doc Ock hit the switch. Let’s face it, Doc Ock at this point is back to his evil healthy self and doesn’t give a thwip about the well being of The Lizard or Curt Connors for that matter.
After what happened to the poor mice that Connors was experimenting on, the possible outcome concerns him. What he doesn’t know about, is that is almost happened to Peter. Also was he trying to separate himself or his family? Problem is, his family are clones of the originals. So if he took out the reptile gene inside of them, wouldn’t they turn to flour? It’s the reptile gene that keeps them alive, isn’t it? Whatever the case is, it’s imperative that Peter finds The Lizard. I mean having a six foot with a mean streak running around is bad enough, but finding him seems to be important in order to save Curt Connors!
Harry Lyman: That’s a confirmation on Spencer’s part. So Carlie found the dead corpse of Harry Osborn in the morgue who died in Spect #200, how does she know..his cornball haircut is still in tact. She’s shocked because we “WERE” to believe that Harry Osborn IS Harry Lyman. He only changed his last name to escape the Osborn Legacy. So how can he be dead if Carlie is talking to him in the cell? There’s a theory on our discord page that Lyman is actually another sleeper Chameleon Agent. It would make sense, so let’s point out a few things.
- Old Osborn dormant accounts suddenly popped up and strange transactions were happening in those accounts. I think Kindred was paying off The Chameleon for the serum that he “needed more of”. I think that this serum helps Lyman retain his shape and personality as Harry Osborn. How Kindred has been giving it to him all these years, that’s a mystery inside of an enigma. It’s also the same mansion Ned went to when he and Peter went to Europe.
- He’s also WAY too calm when he starts talking to Carlie. If he was trapped in there for months and finally found a friend he can communicate with, he should be overjoyed that finally someone has found him and work together to try and escape. Instead he eagerly wants to know how Carlie wound up in the same place he is. This has me to believe that he’s a Chameleon Agent working FOR Kindred now that the real Harry has come into the light. Smart of Carlie to keep that dead body reveal to herself.
Casting Call: We now know the sixth member of the Sinister Six! MYSTERIO! I knew that Kindred wasn’t done with Beck yet. Wait..isn’t Mysterio doing a movie? Yep. Wouldn’t Mary Jane be caught in the middle since she’s the lead in that movie? Yep. Was this Kindred’s plan all along?! Cue Kindred saying….
Spencer is bringing it all together. Beck knows that he can’t escape Kindred, he already tried and failed. He’s going to do his bidding or else his lead, Mary Jane, will pay the price. If MJ is concerned, so will Spider-Man. I’m betting this is how it’s going to end. In Amazing Mary Jane #1, Mysterio said this is his last chance for redemption. His movie may fall apart, but I’m willing to guess that in some way, shape, or form Beck will sacrifice himself in a noble way to defeat Kindred and give Mary Jane the credit for it. It was her that helped him through the movie, it’ll be her that will turn him into a hero for a chance to redeem all the wrongs he has committed in his life. “In the end, Mysterio gave his BEST performance”. That’s how I’m guessing this will play out.
Know Your Opponent: Let’s get ready to RUMBLE!
The Sinister Six: Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Mysterio, Kraven, The Lizard, and Electro (Max Dillion)
All we know is that Doc Ock wants to know more about his past and to obtain such information, he needs to bend the knee to Kindred. How Octavious was able to convince the others to join hasn’t been revealed yet. One thing is for sure, this team was put together for one purpose, to make Spidey’s life a living hell.
The Savage Six: Vulture, King Cobra, Rhino, Scorpion, Stegron, and Tarantula.
They have a beef with Mysterio. Actually Vulture is the one more with the beef. They wanted to ruin Mysterio’s movie and made two attempts to destroy the set in the pages of Amazing Mary Jane. Now they will get try to rampage on the opening premier.
The Sinister Syndicate: The Beetle, Lady Octopus, Scorpia, Trapstr, Electro (Francine Frye) and White Rabbit.
They want to be known. No personal agenda, well maybe some do. They are basically in it for the common goal “Fear Us.”
The Superior Foes: Boomerang, Overdrive, Shocker, Speed Demon, and Hydro-Man
Overdrive walks into a bar with no name and plays “You Spin Me Round” to cheer up Boomerang and offers him a job. Fred played Spider-Man for a fool and feels kinda bad about it, so he’s seeking a little redemption for it. Overdrive’s offer may be that chance.
Casino Royale (Not their team name, made it up): The Foreigner, Chance, Slyde, Taskmaster, Black Ant and Jack O Lantern
Foreigner blames Spider-Man and Ned Leeds for what happened to his flying Casino, not knowing that it was actually Silver Sable that ran him dry. He wages a personal war with Ned and the wall crawler.
I’m pretty sure Norman, Fisk, and The Rose will pop up in that arc as well. You have been warned.
These are heavy, medium, and low key hitters. Each of them bring something to the table and Spider-Man is STUCK in the middle. I’m really excited for this run and to see what Spencer has planned.
Nitpicks
- How does no body notice Doc Ock and his pals walk into campus to pay Connors a visit. Security in that place sucks! Peter is the only one that notices Connor’s lab destroyed!
- Why didn’t Jarvis contact MJ or Spidey or THE AVENGERS right away when he noticed Carlie was missing. That support group was supposed to keep their members “safe”.
- Wasn’t the Bar with No Name destroyed? Did it move to another bar? Anyone got the answer to that one? I’m curious…must of missed that part.
Grade: Giving this one an A. It’s good story telling and good enough art. Spencer is on all cylinders and is ready to end his run with a Bang! I’m sure OMD will be addressed once again and Dr. Strange will make an appearance. Otherwise, what a waste of time this one. However I have faith in Spencer that he’ll knock it out! Remember what I said! ENJOY THIS RIDE!
Alright Crawlspacers!!! I’m outta here for the next few weeks as Sinister War takes over and Dark Mark is you reviewer for that. Fret not, for I will return for ASM 71! Until then, Mark…it’s all yours!
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@Jaime Beltrán: It’s has been confirmed that he’s taken on a new job, so I don’t think he will return.
@Stuart: Glad you caught that Easter Egg! I’ll never get credit for the name, I just get blamed for the lack of letter section between ASM #6-13. As for Doc Ock, his got some secret hideout where he can go back to default. All bad guys have that. I’ll fix those misspellings and sentences in a few, thanks for keeping an eye out!
@Brad: Of course, of course *wink wink*
@Aqu: Jarvs still should of done something if he “suspected abnormal behavior”. Simple phone call to check up. I’m not a member to my town’s gym, but they still call me. 😀
– @Aqu@ – I too think it was unintentionally funny seeing Harry’s corpse. As I posted on Twitter, “Even in death, the hairdo survived.” But that got me thinking: why was Harry’s corpse decomposed so badly? Maybe it has something to do with the creation of Kindred. Maybe it was a side-effect of the Goblin serum that Harry took that killed him in “The Spectacular Spider-Man”, vol. 1, #200. Since the Goblin serum brought Norman back from the dead with an accelerated healing factor, maybe Harry’s took that away and/or it could have decayed Harry’s corpse unnaturally fast. I don’t know if writer Nick Spencer will explain it or not, but it’s possible.
As to how Scorpion came back, there are two ways Marvel and Spencer can handle at. At best, I’m expecting some kind of brief mention from Scorpion on how he came back and was healed. At worst, I’m going with the “Treehouse of Horrors” explanation from “The Simpsons”: “A wizard did it.”
@aqu re: The Scorpion…oh yeah. I’d like to know the answer to that.
Too much of a prelude. When I finished reading, I thought “already?!”, and felt like nothing really happened (a too common feeling, these last two-three tens of issues), apart from the Harry’s corpse reveal.
Speaking of which, corpses in NY surely decompose fast! Because I know for a matter of fact that a body needs many decades to leave only bones. Also, it’s quite evident now that Osborns’ signature hair is just a toupee, seeing how it resists decomposition. (I know it’s an artistic rendition, because a decomposing corpse would be more horrorific than a skeleton, but to me it just comes out as hilarious, especially with that hair)
As someone already pointed out, I have the growing feeling Spencer won’t address everything in this “finale”, because he is just taking a break from the title (for whatever reason). That would explain the many writers and artists in the next run and the temporary focus shift on Ben.
@Chi-Town: The support group was just that, it’s there for psychological and emotional support; they (generally) don’t even know each other identities. So if someone of them just decides to not show up anymore, there is no reason for Jarvis, being the gentleman he is, to be alarmed or even call the Avengers(!) or anyone else.
Also, could anyone explain me how is the Scorpion back on Earth Prime and on his legs? He suffered a back’s break and was later abandoned in prison on another Earth in Cates’s Venom run (specifically Absolute Carnage and Venom Beyond).
@Jack Brooks – Otto made a deal with Mephisto to have his old body and memories back during volume two of “The Superior Spider-Man”, but his memories of his time as Superior Spider-Man and knowing Peter is Spider-Man were erased, which is why Kindred is offering to give Doctor Octopus those memories back.
In one of the SSM issues, the Jackal was shown as having a clone-vat with the label “G. Stacey” on the side.
So let me understand this — there is now a Harry Osborne/Lyman, kept in a cell. Carlie is locked up with him.
There is another Harry, who is a dead body (thought by us to be the original Harry, who died heroically in Spectacular).
And third is Kindred, who claims to be Harry but now we all suspect he is not.
Plus, Connors has separated himself from the Lizard (I’m just trying to keep it all straight).
Plus there were two Neds — Clone Conspiracy Ned, who before he died said he desperately wanted Spidey to protect Betty from…something, and Revived Ned, who claims to have gargled some real Goblin serum before he was killed, and that’s why he revived.
And every configuration of Sinister anything, ganging up on Spidey and each other.
(Why exactly is Ock blank about his memories? I thought Mephisto undid everything for Ock, in the short-lived SSM series).
I hope this all resolves in a satisfying way. I can well imagine why Peter and MJ are going to want to take a good, long vacation when all this is done.
@Chi Town and @Dark Mark-Now now boys, I love you equally. LOL
@Chi-Town Nice review! This was a fun read. And, because no one demanded it, I’m leaving a few comments in regards to this review:
– So Harry Osborn is the corpse. I kind of saw that coming, but I’m curious to see how that plays out with Kindred. Is the current Harry a clone? A Chameleon agent? A Multiverse Harry? I guess this means the events of “The Spectacular Spider-Man”, vol. 1, #200 are technically intact at this point (and that remains one of the BEST Spider-Man issues I’ve ever read). My question is: what does the Harry reveal mean for Norman Osborn? What do you guys think he’ll do with a walking, talking impostor posing as his son? Sure, Norman has changed, but does anyone really buy that the Green Goblin will be gone forever?
– So, wait — are the clones of Connors’ wife and son actual clones or do they have their souls like how Ben Reilly’s soul is in his current 30th or whatever body? I thought that Marvel said that Billy Connors at least was, but what about Martha Connors? Nick Spencer has some explaining to do here.
– I’m surprised nobody’s calling out Doc Ock’s appearance in this issue as a nitpick. Never mind the fact he’s wearing some odd version of his classic green-and-orange costume in this issue. The hair on his temples are grey/white, just like during the J. Michael Straczynski run of “The Amazing Spider-Man” with the Carlyle Doc Ock storyline. Why does Doctor Octopus look so drastically different in this issue when, in the issues before and after this one, he’s in his classic costume without the grey hair? Did Ock suddenly do an unnecessary costume change? Does Doc Ock dye his hair? A little consistency and some explanations are very much appreciated, Marvel. Sheesh.
– So Kindred has chosen Mysterio as the sixth member of the Sinister Six? I’m curious about how that plays out. We already saw that the sixth member of Doctor Octopus’ new Sinister Six is not Mysterio, but actually Hydro-Man (granted, the art made Hydro-Man look like Owen Wilson, but still…). This could mean that a.) Doc Ock tries to recruit Mysterio, but Beck somehow talks Ock and Kindred out of it so Hydro-Man takes his place or b.) Mysterio IS the actual sixth member and Hydro-Man is a fake-out, maybe as an illusion of Mysterio’s to fool the readers. I’m guessing it’s the former, since the Sinister War preview cover did spoil the original Electro’s return from the grave. Also, Marvel, please do NOT kill off Mysterio again. Been there, done that. And as we’ve seen with classic villains like Doctor Octopus and Electro, killing off one of Spidey’s popular villains never lasts anyway, so it’d be more of a gimmick than good storytelling at this point. Plus, Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus, Quentin Beck/Mysterio and Max Dillon/Electro are in my Top 5 all-time favorite Spider-Man villains list, so I’m biased in wanting Marvel to keep them alive for the foreseeable future…
– So “Sinister War” is going to involve the other super-villain teams too? I really hope that the “Sinister War” handles all of the characters involved well enough, I have a feeling that these villain teams aren’t the only characters that Spencer will be juggling in this new event. I’m also curious to see how Spider-Man and Francine Frye will react to seeing the original Electro after his resurrection and how Lady Octopus interacts with Doc Ock.
– Also, I really, REALLY want writer Nick Spencer to give us some more Peter/Mary Jane moments before his run ends and Peter is sidelined (again) in favor of Batman Beyo — er, Spider-Man Beyond with Ben Reilly.
– I noticed you “misspelled” Otto Octavius’s name as “Octavious”. That actually made me smile, since that’s how Ock’s last name was originally spelled by the late, great Stan Lee in Doc Ock’s first few appearances. Nice Easter egg!
– Nick Spencer, if you’re reading, give Chi-Town credit and call that gang Casino Royale! That’s the only name I’ll accept for this new team.
– There are some misspellings and sentences to fix in your review. For example, under the “Harry Lyman” section, it should be fixed to “If he was trapped in there for months and finally found a friend he can communicate with, he should be overjoyed that finally someone has found him and work together to try and escape.” Under “The Savage Six” recap, you should remove the “it” when you wrote the Six “made two attempts to destroy it the set”. Under “Casino Royal”, when you’re talking about the Foreigner, it should be fixed to that he “wages a personal war with the wall crawler” instead of a “person war”. Of course everyone has their own share of typos in their own posts and comments. I try not to make too many spelling misteaks myself, after all. (Just kidding.)
Thank you for reading my nonsense. I hope you all are having a great day and stay safe, everyone.
‘Nuff said!
What a lot of information, Great review!! I don’t think Spencer will give us answers for everything. I think he’s taking a break, the new Brand new day Era will last at 900 and He’s coming back with Peter Story and his story.
While this issue was fairly good I’m worried about how little time Spencer got to tie everything up. At least in a satisfactory manner.
The fact that it was specificaly Paris makes me think that Kindred as Harry has been a red hearing all along. I still wanna think it’s Gabriel Stacy. The Chameleon serum is used to make him look like Harry (Chameleon said Osborn, not Harry). He stole Harry’s life (that he probably feel he deserves) and also have revenge on Peter (for the death of his mother and grandfather, through his inaction in stopping Norman) as well as on his Father (for obvious reasons). Even Sin Rising would be a call back to Sin past.
The skeleton can be a clone of harry, like the one that remained in the smokestack for years during the clone saga.
Anyways, it’s probably not the answer, but thats the only thing I’d feel would make sense to close this chapter in only 5 issues!
Like Brad, I’d have to go with a B for this issue, based on the art. Maybe B-. I think the great tragedy of Spencer’s run has been the art. The really excellent ones, like Ottley and Gleason, never fully had a chance to shine and truly claim this as their era. I knew this run was in trouble on the art front when the first major arc, Hunted, went to Ramos. A great artist but so associated with Slott’s era. Similarly, while Bagley is never anything less than reliable, having him contribute so much to Spencer’s run only added to the feeling that this era never developed its own definitive, unique look. And the accelerated shipping schedule in its back end has only acerbated that problem, with too many issues like this one that have, at best, just ok art that falls below what – for me – should be the standard of ASM. Whatever happens with the upcoming Beyond era, at least it’s going to look stellar. As far as how this issue sets up Spencer’s end run, it shows how mapped out his run has been and how impressive to see how many threads he’s weaving together moving into the finale. How his run will be judged is going to rest entirely on how it all ends and how his big mysteries get resolved. No pressure, right? Eight more issues to go!
You hear that Dark Mark? @Brad said “Great job as usual” and put a “Buddy” in there! That must really hurt your ego. 😀 Thanks Brad! Bagley for a B+ huh? You are going to get that in Sinister War so I’m sure you would be geared up for that. I would prefer Carlos Gomez, I mean you seen those splash pages on AMJ. That would have given this issue an A+ for me.
@Anthony: Thanks man! So it moves around? Got it. I assumed as much
@Adam: Me too! I mean Kindred is pulling the strings right? He was never done with Beck. I honestly don’t think Dock knew or cared. He just wants information on his past and yes I do believe that Lyman has been a Chameleon Agent since 546. It makes sense…god I would love it if Carlie Cooper was one as well.
@Paul: Interesting theory. That Flashback was more like a nightmare scene. All that time, Peter was looking for Mary Jane where as in the original he wasn’t.
@Michael: Haven’t crossed the bridge yet…Hopefully that can be explained as well. Or maybe Liz knew it was there all along, because she put it there. She acted surprised when Normie found it.
One interesting thing is that Harry Lyman didn’t explain why he had the Goblin gear Normie and Peter found.
I do have to wonder if there really are two Harrys. I have to wonder if Spencer was aiming for a parallel between the Lizard and Kindred. Curt Connors is the good father while the Lizard is the part of Curt that hurt Billy. So I have to wonder if maybe Harry Lyman is the good father while Kindred is the part of Harry that hurt Normie. Maybe the Accelerator will be used to merge them.
Re: the Bar With No Name- it’s been pointed out since it was introduced that there’s more than one Bar (probably in part because they get destroyed so often, so the owners find it necessary to have more than one at a time.)
I think that the Harry Osborn in Brand New Day was the Harry that is now Kindred. We got the weird flashback where Kindred made Peter reexperience the Brand New Day party where Harry returned. And I don’t think they’re going to undo Stanley as Harry’s son.
So, if Harry Lyman is a Chameleon impersonator, I think it’s going to be a more recent development.
I like how Kindred insisted he choose the final member of the Sinister Six, then shocking reveal…it’s Mysterio.
Ock was probably thinking that’s who he was going to pick anyway. It wasn’t going to be Vulture after all.
Do you think Harry Lyman has been a Chameleon since 546? It’s a great concept for Spencer to use to clean up anything he’s not happy with.
I think one of the main critics of Spencer’s run has been he’s started a lot of stories, but finished very few. Yeah if Sinister War is the big wrap up it looks let, we’ll played to him. For some reason I’m fixating on Norah starting Treats and Menaces for him, and want that resolved.
Great write up and great issue! With regards to The Bar With No Name, it never has a fixed location in New York. It moves from spot to spot with word of the current location being spread through the underground.
I’m guessing the current spot is the one recently featured in Savage Avengers, since Conan The Barbarian took an odd job to help them pay the rent so they could stay there longer. But that just might be my head canon. Continuity between different Marvel titles is spotty these days.
Great job as usual buddy. I would probably give it a B due to the art. With all those villains on the table I can see why Spidey ends up in the hospital. Put Bagley on the art and this would of gone to a B+.