Sensational Spiderman #31 - Review

[eXpiphany]

What an awesome read, one of the best in a while...the amount of twists... you shouldn't spoil yourself really! Go buy the book..you won't regret it :P

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Chameleon gets into May's apartment, takes out the phone line. May keeps asking him seemingly mundane questions (important for later).

Peter talks with Liz Allen about their past when she had the hots for him and he kept his superpowers a secret from her. She basically blames him for her son Normie being kidnapped and he defends himself.

Unexpectedly, Normie appears saying how he got loose from his ropes which leaves peter stunned, and Liz says something like 'They made me lie to you'!
Enter Molten Man, who comes crashing in and spidey realizes it was all a trap. They fight and things get worse when Scarecrow and Will-o-the-Wisp enter the fray and molten seems to be gaining the upper hand in his solo battle.

Thats where Black Cat makes an appearance as 'spider's backup' and takes out scarecrow no thanks to her nose filters. Spiderman takes out molten man and Will when he takes the battle to another level by taking advantage of his suit's powers. Along the way, he finds out from molten that the chameleon was behind it all (the attack on mary jane) and he forces molten to reveal the chameleons' whereabouts.... and finds out he's gone for Aunt May!! Liz makes a lame apology before spidey gives a cold reply and leaves for the Avenger's tower, which is seemingly vacated as Black Cat was unable to contact anyone there.

Scene change to Aunt May who baked cookies for 'peter' who then proceeds to gobble down five o'em. Then Aunt May says something like "good, since you only needed to eat two" before 'peter' curses and faints on the floor. Its revealed May was suspicious of 'peter' in the elevator and tested him by asking him questions and making improbable statements to confirm that it really wasn't the real peter. She then proceeded to put sleeping pill (i think) powder in the cookies.

Spidey comes crashing in at this point and finds the situation under control, before giving May a sad little speech about how its his fault their lives are under such danger now, but May tells him not to blame himself and that they'll face the future bravely.


P.S. How did Medina win an award for his spidey art? Not that it's bad or anything but it just doesn't seem like award-winning material. People are out of proportions and its got a very 90s avengers feel to it...like an almagamation of bagley and deodato

P.P.S Who came first, Black Cat or Catwoman, Scarecrow(DC) or Scarecrow(Marvel)? Damn these rip-offs should be ashamed of themselves...

[Dark Soul # 7]

So you're saying that Chameleon has now been taken down by both Mary Jane, in another comic, and aunt May?

Either he's just lame or they're just cool.

[Effect]

I like to think they are just cool like that. :)

[Simpsonsboy182]

I think hes just lame :P

[Cody H]

I had a funny feeling May was going to suspect something was up with 'Peter.' Glad it played out that way. I'll have to pick this one up tommorow, sounds pretty good. Oh, and I think deserves to get taken out by M.J. and May; he's quickly becoming the jobber of Spidey Villains. He just hasn't been the same since the fake parents plan fell apart.

[brundlefly]

Meh, this arc ended with a whimper. And so much for the reinvigorating of Spidey's rogues. Electro gets flattened in a couple of panels last issue and Chameleon gets outfoxed by Aunt May in this one. And what are Scarecrow (not really a Spidey villain) and Will O' The Wisp (not a villain, doesn't work for other people) doing here in the 'mindless henchmen' roles once again? Guys like Boomerang, Hydro-Man, or Rhino would have fit these mook roles much better if Augirre-Sacasa had done some more homework when casting the villains for this arc. I thought this story had a lot of potential when it started out, but it went downhill and ended weakly, IMO, with Chameleon and Electro both made to look like C-list jokes again.

[MasterSplinter]

Agreed. Started with potential, failed to live up to it.

[MaxofSteel]

How did Medina win an award for his spidey art? Not that it's bad or anything but it just doesn't seem like award-winning material.

Some of Medina's art is pretty good. I enjoyed his work on X-Men, but you're right. His art is definitely an acquired taste.

[Sean Whitmore]

Hahahahahahahaha! Chameleon whipped first by MJ, now by Aunt May! Gotta love it! Chameelion iz teh suk! :D

As for the rest...eh, whatever. Never really got a good explanation as to why Will O' the Wisp is suddenly evil or why Molten Man would rather turn against his sister and nephew than some little sponsor kid.


SEAN

[DoctorDoom]

Hahahahahahahaha! Chameleon whipped first by MJ, now by Aunt May! Gotta love it! Chameelion iz teh suk! :D

As for the rest...eh, whatever. Never really got a good explanation as to why Will O' the Wisp is suddenly evil or why Molten Man would rather turn against his sister and nephew than some little sponsor kid.


SEAN
Stupid, stupid Molten Man. And I hope Liz is proud of herself.

[Sean Whitmore]

Stupid, stupid Molten Man. And I hope Liz is proud of herself.

Liz at least had a motive than Molty did. She betrayed a friend to protect her son; he betrayed his only family and friends to protect some kid he watched play softball every other weekend.


SEAN

[brundlefly]

Never really got a good explanation as to why Will O' the Wisp is suddenly evil or why Molten Man would rather turn against his sister and nephew than some little sponsor kid.


I'm sticking with the theory that Augirre-Sacasa didn't do his homework on either character besides their powers and what they looked like visually. Again, Boomerang, Hydro-Man, or other merc-ish Spidey-villains of that sort (and there's no shortage) would have fit these roles better. Will had no motive for being there and Raxton's was extremely weak, considering how protective he is of Liz and Normie.

[Joe Acro]

Wait, Aunt May is complaining to Peter about him revealing himself and endangering their lives? But she was the springboard that made it happen. I think her being captured by Norman too many times has messed with her thought process.

[Jack]

So... Did May actually kill Chameleon, or just send him to sleep? Because the arsenic thing seems pretty odd.

[Grazzt]

So... Did May actually kill Chameleon, or just send him to sleep? Because the arsenic thing seems pretty odd.

She just put him to sleep. She told him it was arsenic to freak him out. She also added an almond-flavouring to the cookies to further convince Chameleon that he was going to die. Cyanide tastes like almonds, not arsenic, but I think Aunt May can be forgiven for not knowing that.

[eXpiphany]

Wait, Aunt May is complaining to Peter about him revealing himself and endangering their lives? But she was the springboard that made it happen. I think her being captured by Norman too many times has messed with her thought process.

No it was Peter who blamed himself. May was always supportive.

[Joe Acro]

No it was Peter who blamed himself. May was always supportive.
Yeah, I read your statement wrong the first time. My apologies. Still, though, she's got to have seen her mistake by now.

[Venom]

Poor Chameleon. He just can't catch a break these days. First Mary Jane whacked him round the head with a baseball bat and now he falls unconscious by May's cookies. For her bravery and defeat over one of Spidey's villains this title should now officially be called "The Sensational Aunt May".

[eXpiphany]

Yeah, I read your statement wrong the first time. My apologies. Still, though, she's got to have seen her mistake by now.

I had to go back and re-edit my last line because your misinterpretation made me realize it was very ambiguous, not your fault.

[Web Slinging Nerd]

As for the rest...eh, whatever. Never really got a good explanation as to why Will O' the Wisp is suddenly evil or why Molten Man would rather turn against his sister and nephew than some little sponsor kid.

Wait a minute, I was under the impression that the sponsor kid was Normie. I know they never said it out right, but that's what it looked liked to me. Was I misinterpreting this or are there others that thought the same thing. Because if it is indeed the case that Normie is the sponsor kid then there can be no doubt about why Molten Man did what he did.

Even if the sponsor kid is just some generic kid, I'm still a little surprised by this comment. "Some little sponsor kid" is still an innocent child that would be killed if Raxton didn't cooperate, along with the rest of the kids on the baseball field. Since Raxton was under the impression that no harm would come to Liz or Normie, I don't see the problem with buying that he would cooperate with a plan that invovles them in order to save innocent children. He felt trapped and so he took the option that he believed would spare everyone but Spidey. That motivation certainly seems believable to me. Sure he didn't think things through all the way, and probably could have found a better alternative if he had thought about more, but still I don't have a problem believing that he would react the way he did.

[Cody H]

Wait a minute, I was under the impression that the sponsor kid was Normie.Yeah, that's what I thought as well, it didn't occur to me that it might not be Normie until I started reading this thread.

[90'sCartoonMan]

I'm sticking with the theory that Augirre-Sacasa didn't do his homework on either character besides their powers and what they looked like visually. Again, Boomerang, Hydro-Man, or other merc-ish Spidey-villains of that sort (and there's no shortage) would have fit these roles better.

If he had used someone like Hydro-Man, it would've been a lot tougher for Spider-Man and Black Cat to fight, and that would take time away from the tension of the Aunt May/Chameleon story.

Aunt May did a pretty good job tricking Chameleon, and it made sense that she'd know he's not Peter. Although she took a HUGE risk that he wasn't going to kill her then and there. Luckily, Chameleon has a sweet tooth.

Overall I'd say the story was decent. I mean, we had to get a story where a group of Spider-Man's villains go after his family (although we've seen Dr. Octopus and Mysterio's reactions). They could've used more prominent enemies, though. I liked seeing Liz's reaction to Peter being Spider-Man.

[Red Lotus]

I like the ending. It was very fitting that the Chameleon got beat by Aunt May. I would love to see some type follow up. The next time we see him have so other bad guy laugh at him for getting beat by and Old lady and a Supermodel.

I dont know why but the ending reminds me of an old movie called arsenic & old lace.

[brundlefly]

If he had used someone like Hydro-Man, it would've been a lot tougher for Spider-Man and Black Cat to fight, and that would take time away from the tension of the Aunt May/Chameleon story.


Hydro-Man's just an example of the character type; if he's too powerful, go with Armada, Styx & Stone, Delilah, Shocker, etc. There are plenty of 'I'll-do-anything-for-enough-money' B and C-level Spidey villains who would have actually fit the ask-no-questions henchmen roles. Instead he used two guys (Will and Raxton) who don't fit that mold and aren't villains or Spidey's enemies. Wasn't the title "the Deadly Foes of Peter Parker?" Then use his actual, you know, foes.

[Black Atom]

I have to say, I'm kinda tired of Black Cat showing up at the last minute in every arc. I'm prejudiced because I don't really like her but I'm cool not to see her for a while.

[Sean Whitmore]

I have to say, I'm kinda tired of Black Cat showing up at the last minute in every arc. I'm prejudiced because I don't really like her but I'm cool not to see her for a while.


I get the feeling she won't be going very far anytime soon. Augirre-Sacasa definitly seems to be teasing the idea of rekindling her feelings for him.


SEAN

[Black Atom]

I get the feeling she won't be going very far anytime soon. Augirre-Sacasa definitly seems to be teasing the idea of rekindling her feelings for him.


SEAN

I've been picking up on that. Millar played with the idea back in his MK run. There might, even, have been some of that back in Kevin Smith's mini. I have to say, portraying her as a martial interloper won't help me appreciate the character any more.

[Chris S.]

As a lot of you know I have always talked up SSM in the past, but quite frankly I am a little disappointed after this issue. It just seems that Augirre-Sacasa builds these great stories but then ends them horribly. I mean the feral arc was outstanding until the final showdown, and this story was the same. I mean yea the Chameleon isn't the greatest fighter, but still everything was so quick. It almost (key word) left me wishing I was reading a Bendis story that builds forever.

Everyone has complained about the appeases of Will-o.. and Scarecrow, but I enjoyed these. I think it would be ridiculous to imagine anyone else as the Chameleons henchman. I don't think this is what hurt the story.

I really think SSM has had so much potential that has just been wasted on poor execution. A-S needs to allow his stories to unfold further and not get in the rushing pace. Hopefully he will learn....

Also another things is whatever happened to the guy that helped the Chameleon convince Molten Man to help him?

[Sean Whitmore]

Also another things is whatever happened to the guy that helped the Chameleon convince Molten Man to help him?

Wasn't that Electro? He was taken out in the second part of the story.


SEAN

[Chris S.]

Wasn't that Electro? He was taken out in the second part of the story.

Was it? I mean I just thought it was a coincidence that Peter took him out, and that he wasn't actually involved. It didn't really look like electro to me, but I guess it could have been.

[Sean Whitmore]

Was it? I mean I just thought it was a coincidence that Peter took him out, and that he wasn't actually involved. It didn't really look like electro to me, but I guess it could have been.


Yeah, definitley him, just in civilain clothes. I believe Chameleon refers to him as either "Max" or "Mr. Dillon" at one point.


SEAN

[brundlefly]

Wasn't that Electro? He was taken out in the second part of the story.


SEAN

It was Electro, wearing his classic outfit under a trenchcoat and hat, at the ballfield with Chameleon and Raxton. Then, like Chameleon, he got clowned pretty easily, but at least it was by Spidey instead of by Aunt May.

EDIT: Nevermind. You got there before me.



Everyone has complained about the appeases of Will-o.. and Scarecrow, but I enjoyed these. I think it would be ridiculous to imagine anyone else as the Chameleons henchman

Given Will's history and personality, it was ridiculous to imagine him as Chameleon's dim-witted henchman in the first place. Scarecrow could go either way, though.