"ON THE TRAIL OF...THE CHAMELEON!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: John Buscema/Inker: Jim Mooney/Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: John Romita Sr.
Synopsis: The Chameleon returns, framing Captain Stacy for the theft of several priceless paintings...
Review: After over a year of issues connected by various over-arching storylines, ASM reverts back to doing simple standalone stories again for the next three issues. Why Stan and co. decided to do this, I'm not sure, but I wonder if some readers complained that it was difficult to keep up with long-form ongoing story arcs, especially if they happened to miss a month - the Petrified Tablet Saga did run for eight issues, after all. My only reason behind this theory is Stan's little message in the previous issue promising fans that continuing stories will be brought to an end, possibly suggesting reader frustration, but I can't actually find anything in any letters pages to back this up, so let's chalk it up to a mystery (if you happen to know, please do leave a comment). Anyway, Issue #80 begins this trifecta of one-and-done plots, and it's...pretty good, I guess. It's certainly nothing special, but it's got a few highlights that make it a fun read.
First of all, the return of the Chameleon. I don't know about you, but I've been eagerly waiting for this guy to come back for such a long time. Despite him going up against the likes of the Hulk and Iron Man since we last saw him in ASM #15, he will always be a Spidey villain first and foremost to me, and I've really missed him lurking within the pages of ASM with his plethora of disguises. He's not the most exciting villain in the Marvel Universe, but I've always had a soft spot for him, and for all those Spidey villains that don't appear all that often. We don't get anything ground-breaking with him here, and compared to the international espionage he was involved with before, stealing some paintings seems a bit of a downgrade for him, but I'm ultimately just happy he's here, and I do love the twist of him disguising himself as Peter Parker at the end of the issue, not realising that this will lead Spider-Man to see through his ruse immediately.
Another big positive of this issue for me is that we actually get a bit more time with the supporting cast, thank God. It feels like an eternity since we last had an issue that featured Gwen, Harry, Flash, Captain Stacy, Joe Robertson, and Jameson in it (and with them all featuring in more than just two panels), and this was most definitely in response to reader complaints; looking at the letters pages from around this time, we can see that I'm not the only one bemoaning the increased side-lining of Peter's personal life in favour of big action scenes. There's a nice reconciliation between Peter and Gwen, complete with a gorgeous bit of Buscema artwork as the lovers make up with a kiss, but my favourite scene is a wonderful exchange between Spider-Man and Robbie, as the web-head tries to get Robbie to trust him and go along with his plan to trap the Chameleon. I especially love Robbie saying that he doesn't think that the web-slinger's a menace; it's a rather quiet little moment, but it's nice seeing the two beginning to form something of a mutual trust.
The only real downside to this issue is that it's just a little bit plain. I love seeing the Chameleon back, and it's a breath of fresh air to finally spend a bit of time with the supporting cast again - still no Aunt May, though - but the plot is pretty basic and doesn't exactly have the scope or depth of recent stories like the Petrified Tablet Saga or the Prowler two-parter. Still, I've always had a bit of a fondness for it, probably just because I like seeing the Chameleon turn up, and sometimes a simple story can be just what you're in the mood for, especially with Buscema giving us so many beautiful action shots of the web-slinger, balanced with those quieter moments with Gwen and the gang.
Rating: 3.5/5
Next time, a new villain bounces into Spider-Man's life in the form of the Kangaroo...
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