Writer: Nick Spencer
Artists: Marcelo Ferreira & Carlos Gómez
Colorists: Sorry Howell & Andrew Crossley
Cover Artists: Mark Bagley, John Dell & Brian Reber
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Peter Parker has been through the ringer and wants to take things slow and cool down for a bit. But trouble’s coming his way, from old friends and enemies alike. Amazing Spider-Man #67 shows what surprises are in store for the good ol’ webslinger.
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Review:
So, last issue left off with Peter finding out that Betty Brant is pregnant and, thankfully, he’s not the father. However, the identity of the real father is a little more perplexing than I thought possible. It seems like Nick Spencer is bringing back a previous element from Dan Slott’s run on Spider-Man into the picture, and this could be both good or bad depending on how the next issue unfolds.
The comic has Peter provide a rough backstory on Betty Brant to catch fans back up to speed on who Betty is, especially for new readers unfamiliar with the character. One thing to note is the weird joke Nick Spencer is using that Spider-Man doesn’t answer or respond to any messages or emails people leave him, especially when there’s hundreds of them. It’s an odd joke to play up considering Peter isn’t behind the times or anything. It just comes off as stale in this comic.
One good thing in this comic is the dynamic between Peter and Betty, their friendship feels far more genuine and friendly compared to Peter’s other “friendships” portrayed in this comic, especially between Spidey and the other heroes. It’s a nice change of pace to actually see someone other than MJ and Aunt May who’s glad to be friends with Peter. However, the comic doesn’t stop there and is setting up 2 other plots.
There’s the plot with the science experiment called “The Clairvoyant” from over a dozen issues ago. This subplot’s elements stretch all the way back to Nick Spencer’s story during Marvel’s 2099 mini-event last year, when he brought Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 into the series for a bit. We also see Silver Sable, The Foreigner (yes, that’s his name), and the super-villain Chance make appearances again. The issue sets up a story for The Clairvoyant’s creator, Jamie Tolentino, that is very by-the-numbers but has plenty of potential.
The other story also has elements from the same storyline going on during that story arc. The the bigger plot is about the Chameleon and Teresa Parker, Peter’s estranged sister. However, discussing this involves diving into spoilers.
Spoilers:
So, Teresa being the clandestine, edgy spy that she is, infiltrates the prison holding Chameleon so she can murder him for killing her boyfriend. However, the comic reveals it’s actually so she can question him about some important things. Like her Parents, whether she’s an android or something. It even builds up to the Chameleon introducing Teresa to “The Finisher”, the man who apparently killed Peter Parker’s parents in the comics.
This is new territory for me, but so far it doesn’t feel like the Chameleon is the main villain here. While he’s being manipulative, this doesn’t strongly set up the idea of Chameleon working a bigger game here. It just feels like next issue he’s going to take advantage of Teresa’s shock and indecisiveness to break out, then head off to kill Spider-Man to avenge Kraven’s death. That’s the vibe I’m getting here. The story feels very light on the “conspiracy” element, though. Hopefully it turns out there’s more to it in the next issue.
There’s also some ambiguous build up in the backup story for the upcoming Sinister Six storyline, but it’s a little confusing. It feels like Nick Spencer’s going for the whole “You thought you knew” kind of storyline for Dr. Octopus and his new connection to Kindred. But we’ll see what comes of it in the next few issues as we get more pieces of the puzzle.
Final Thoughts:
In Amazing Spider-Man #67, it appears Nick Spencer is going to be wrapping up some of his prior storylines with the Chameleon Conspiracy. Most of this comic has solid setup for the upcoming story, showing who the major players are, what’s possibly at stake, and how it all ties back to Spider-Man. However, it doesn’t really sell the Chameleon being the main villain all that well. But we’ll see how things develop in the next issue.