Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #645 (Story 1)

Background

Dr. Octopus employed other super criminals to capture the newborn child of Lily Hollister and Norman Osborn. Spidey turned the baby over to Harry, who turned out to be the Chameleon. Meanwhile Lily and MJ were hiding in MJ’s manager’s panic room.

Story 'Origin Of The Species: Part 4'

At a Chelsea police station, some cops were discussing the whereabouts of the Osborn baby and Spider-Man’s erratic, angry behavior. The lieutenant said to stop spreading rumors as Hypno-Hustler ran through the door, demanding protection. Spider-Man was on a rampage and Hustler barely finished talking when a webbed up Spot, Diablo and Overdrive were thrown through the door. The lieutenant ordered them locked up until he could find an expert on metahuman criminals. He said to put Hypno-Hustler into a clown college.

In Midtown, Screwball was tracking Spider-Man’s last movements, hoping to cash in on the reward for the baby. Looter arrived and told her that the baby was dead and Spider-Man had lost his mind. Screwball wasn’t impressed but was suddenly webbed and yanked off the rooftop. Looter looked over the edge of the roof and Spider-Man came from the shadows behind him. As the webhead silently watched, Looter screamed that he had nothing to do with the baby.

At the Kravinoff Mansion, Ock received a transmission from Chameleon saying that the baby had been procured. He said Octavius was paying a lot of money and wondered why the kid was so valuable. Octavius told him that the baby was “sui generis,” the first of a new species. He suspected that its blood would be able to cure him of his radiation poisoning. Meanwhile Harry was at a Green Goblin hideout and taking vials of Goblin formula.

At MJ’s manager’s apartment, Lily began to wake up. She demanded a phone but recognized MJ as Harry’s friend. Lily called a very untypical phone number as MJ ‘s manager went to answer the door. Carlie Cooper forced her way in, looking for MJ and Lily. Tombstone was right behind her and smashed the door onto the manager. He thanked Carlie for leading him to Lily and soon had the panic room door open. He demanded to know where the baby was as Lily frantically tried to summon something. Carlie showed up and shot at Tombstone, who was unharmed. She was saved when a Goblin glider crashed through the wall and knocked Tombstone into a wall. Carlie was still concerned about Peter and MJ promised that he had been saved by Spider-Man.

At Manhattan’s West side pier, a desperate Sandman was explaining the situation to the Enforcers and Shocker. Octopus had called off the search and reward for the baby but they were still being hunted by a furious Spider-Man. The Enforcers hadn’t been involved in the kidnapping so Fancy Dan wasn’t concerned. Just then the pier began to shake and crumble into the river. Sandman couldn’t hold himself together and Spidey pulled Ox under water. Shocker tried to hold his gauntlets above water and begged Spidey not to let him drown. Instead he grabbed one gauntlet and blasted Sandman. Shocker confessed that Ock was behind all of it and he was at the Kravinoff Mansion.

At the mansion, Spider-Man found Chameleon running and trying to hide from room to room. Spider-Man found him and Chameleon begged for forgiveness. Spider-Man asked what exactly he was begging forgiveness for and Chameleon sputtered about helping the Kravens, pretending to be Harry, stealing the baby and lying about its death. Spider-Man was stunned that the baby was alive but Chameleon said he didn’t have it. He had gone to turn it over to Octavius but was stopped by the Lizard. It had the newborn.

General Comments

I’ve got to say, I like the art a lot more in this issue. The previous issue had a dark tone but the tension here was even higher. They say to be afraid of Spider-Man when he’s silent and serious. This proved that statement. If you don’t mind angry Spider-Man, you’ll like this issue. If not, you should probably skip it.

I don’t know how the glider arrived at the apartment so quickly or how Carlie didn’t notice Tombstone following her but no big deal.

Overall Rating

It’s fun for what it is: angry Spider-Man proving to people that he shouldn’t be played with. There was subtle progression in the Carlie/Lily dynamic.