Over the years, Mysterio has become a kind of wannabe kingpin of crime. But this issue starts not with Mysterio but with Mr. Negative–the dude who runs the FEAST soup kitchen where Aunt May works but secretly has super powers and is a crime lord. We’re reminded that just about all the crime lords have been murdered over the past dozen-or-so issues of this series. Later in this same issue, though, we see they’re all actually still around because they were cloned.
But that’s not something their killer knows, and we see Mr. Negative and his “Inner Demon” thugs attacking one of the last ones left. We also learn that Hammerhead has left the Maggia to sign up with Mr. Negative.
Spider-Man foils the attempted murder.
Just because he doesn’t like anyone to get killed. P.S.: Marcos Martin is such a great artist.
Later, Peter drives to pick up Aunt May at the airport (a great scene to remind us he’s a crap driver), and May goes to her job at FEAST–where she sees her boss (Mr. Negative) murder one his Inner Demons for his earlier failure.
The dead guy isn’t really dead–the demons heal from anything–but Martin Li’s explanation for his bloody sword (“I’m in a play and we’re rehearsing!”) is implausible. May now knows something is up at FEAST.
This is where we learn about the cloned criminals. The man behind it is, of course, Mysterio–and Silvermane, who is back in his big cyborg body.
(Except it’s just a Mysterio robot–we’re led to believe that Silvermane is in fact actually dead.)
Oh, and the geneticist is the father of Police Lieutenant and budding Spider-Man love interest Carlie Cooper. Because New York is such a small town that everyone is related to everyone else.
We’re in a gang war situation now. Mysterio’s cloned gang take on Mr. Negative and Hammerhead. It gets even twistier: Carlie’s father was coerced. Mysterio triple-crosses everyone in an effort to be the last man standing. He fails, but he escapes. Mr. Negative has a secret weapon (“red mist”) made from Spider-Man’s own blood, and emerges victorious after all. Spidey actually works with the police, who seem to like him now….
In all, a good story. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Amazing Spider-Man is where Kingpin debuted, and Hammerhead, and even the Maggia itself. He’s always been tied to underworld stories.
The story closes with a great sequence. Mysterio, master of illusion, appears to be retired on a beach. But we peel away and see it’s just a billboard. Then, he appears to be arrested by Jean DeWolff. But…It’s Chameleon! And he’s there to bring Mysterio into the master plan of The Gauntlet.