I was always puzzled by the use of “mo’ foes” there. It has only just occurred to me that maybe they wanted me to read that as “mofos” and not in the “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” way. Tarantula looks huge on this cover. And look, Spidey’s blue is back. Even in the corner box. Did someone finally notice and get mad that he’s off model? No idea. So, Black Cat is swinging Spider-Man toward wherever Scorpion is before we flashback to the aftermath of last issue, where she had brought him home. A bandaged Peter, Felicia & MJ all help each other recap the last 2 issues until a knock on the door reminds them MJ invited Flash, Harry & Liz for dinner. The two super types race for a change of clothes, and then have a normal night with normal people. Flashback over, we hop back to the super pursuit.
Oh my gosh. It’s The Chameleon. I can’t believe it. What a surprise. Anyway, Felicia smashes through the skylight to draw everyone’s attention while Spidey sneaks over to the machine. Black Cat does remarkably well against a whole roomful of villains, messing up half the Femme Fatales immediately. Scorpion briefly gets the better of her, and then Ranchy attacks, but she sprays him in the face with bug spray. The other 2 Femme Fatales come at her, but…
Who needs Spider-Man?
Ok, maybe Felicia needs Spider-Man, but she fought 6 villains at once and brought down 3, that’s pretty good. Spidey first takes out the one with the claws by webbing her to a tree (I forgot) before the Whiplash who’s not Whiplash comes for him.
Spidey vaults around Scorpion’s tail as he attacks, causing him to swing wildly and get that big blade stuck in a tree, so…
I really liked that gag as a kid, and it holds up pretty well today. Spidey grabs Felicia and webs out of there as the cops show up outside, but on his way, he destroys the machine, saying no one’s gonna use that on him again.
I didn’t know Felicia could grow claws in the first place. This is nice, though. I mean, she’ll inevitably get her powers back, but it’s cool that they kinda buried the hatchet. The jealous ex- thing was pretty rote. Seems maybe fitting for the immature person she used to be, I guess, but not the best look. Anyway, the next day, it’s a cookout at May’s house, and Peter is feeling guilty. All this was for her, after all, and now he’s gonna be back to risking his life all the time. When she comes outside, he asks her if someone was in danger and he could help, but he might be hurt or killed, should he do it. May says, “If you didn’t, young man, you’d never be welcome in this house again!” Which is perhaps a BIT harsh, but…
That is so silly, but a good kind of silly.
Yes, that random doctor guy was, in fact, Cardiac. We’ll be seeing more of him in this title directly. But it’s gonna be awhile, because there’s a lot of other books to cover first. In the letter page, one Joe Puntoni points out that The Vulture had a mustache in that one panel during Revenge of the Sinister Six, and Salicrup says in response “Don’t ask us, Joe! We’re still trying to figure out what those triangles were around the Punisher’s lips a few issues back!” The mystery will never be solved…