Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #211

Issue Details

Synopsis

PURSUIT PART 2 - FACE VALUE Spider-Man is out on the hunt for the Chameleon and has tracked down a street gang to rough them up and get answers out of them.  Unfortunately for the wall-crawler, they know nothing.  Spider-Man is upset because he has gotten no further to finding the Chameleon since he rousted the villain's first safe house. As short time later, the Chameleon watches a news report about the gang's capture and becomes furious enough to start trashing his safehouse apartment. This causes one of the neighbors to come knocking to complain about the noise. Shapeshifting into the form of retired police detective Terry Martin to answer the door. He apologizes for the noise. He explains some of his friends from Broadway have come over to do an impromptu performance. Enchanted by this, the neighbor asks "Terry" if he can get tickets to the show.   After appeasing his neighbor, the Chameleon drops his disguise and begins to worry about what to do about Spider-Man. He thinks of Kraven the Hunter and what he would do in this situation and wishes he was still alive to guide him.  Not wanting to put himself at risk, the Chameleon decides to hire an assassin to eliminate Spider-Man.   By this point, Spider-Man has returned to the home he shares with his wife Mary Jane.  Mary Jane insists that Peter talk about what is happening instead of burying his feelings. She wants to know what he plans to do when she catches the Chameleon, then tells him to stay because both she and his Aunt May need her. Becoming angry, Peter scolds Mary Jane for trying to talk to him about pain and loss, pointing out that she has always run from her problems.  With that, Peter puts back on his mask and swings away. His final words to Mary Jane sting, and she thinks how unfair it is that Peter has Spider-Man to hide behind, while she has nothing.   Meanwhile, the Chameleon -- disguised as Terry Martin again -- entertains a representative of the Tailor Group, who is giving a demonstration of their cybernetic operative Tracer. "Martin" states that he wants to hire Tracer in order to capture or eliminate Spider-Man. After hearing that the cyborg battled Deathlok, "Terry" is satisfied and they begin discussing the fees.  Elsewhere in the city, Spider-Man is ashamed by the way he talked to her wife, who is just trying to help.  However, still intends to track down and capture the Chameleon, no matter what. As he passes by the office of J. Jonah Jameson, who is unhappy to see the wall-crawler passing by. This is because Jonah has been attempting to revitalize his newspaper, with a no-Spider-Man policy.  his has jeopardized his marriage, and now that Spider-Man is on a rampage he has no choice but to report about the wall-crawler. He thinks about calling his wife but decides to do it after he is finished writing his current piece.   While back at his hideout, the Chameleon uses Terry's access to the police computer records to learn about the next prison transfer and begins plotting a prison break.  At this time, Spider-Man has finished wrapping up some more crooks. Watching the police round up the crooks from the rooftop, the wall-crawler realizes that he is losing his grip and he has to get back in control before he seriously hurts himself. To punctuate this point, some of the thugs are being loaded into an ambulance. When the commanding officer on the scene learns that it was Spider-Man was responsible, the police officer yells at Spider-Man to keep his super-villain feuds off his streets. Spider-Man resents these comments, but he is suddenly warned by his spider-sense allowing him to evade the ambush from Tracer. Back at home, Mary Jane wonders who she could call to talk about what is going on. She decides against calling Aunt May, the Human Torch, or the Avengers. She eventually decides to call Felicia Hardy and get her advice, but when she calls she is surprised when the number turns out to have been disconnected. Hanging up on the phone, Mary Jane despairs because she feels totally alone.  Back at the battle, Spider-Man is doused in gas pellets that leave him disorientated long enough for Tracer to catch him in a net.  With Spider-Man caught in his net, Tracer activates a wrist-mounted blaster and prepares to shoot the wall-crawler. While at the Chameleon's hideout, the villain figures that Tracer managed to finish his job by now. The master spy curses being unable to kill Spider-Man by his own hands and wish Kraven was in his place instead. However, the Chameleon is wrong, as Spider-Man breaks free and manages to disarm Tracer before he can open fire. The cyborg tires to blast the hero with another weapon, but he damages the roof causing them both to fall into the middle of a garment warehouse. Ultimately, Spider-Man overpowers and disarms Tracer and demands to know why he is working for the Chameleon. Tracer explains that he refuses to work for such a criminal and tells the wall-crawler that he was hired by Terry Martin. Spider-Man explains that he was tricked because Terry Martin is dead. Tracer double checks his records and learns that Spider-Man is telling the truth.  Tracer then tells the web-head that he can find the Chameleon at Martin's penthouse apartment at Polaski Towers.   When Spider-Man comes crashing through the window of the Chameleon's hideout, he finds no trace of his foe. Looking around the room, he finds a message left for him written on the wall. It reads "This isn't the beginning anymore. And it's not the end. But it is the end of the Beginning!" When Spider-Man returns home, his return is heard by Mary Jane. She begs her husband to stay home with him, but he declines, saying that he had come back to get his spare mask as the one he is wearing is torn. Once he puts on his new mask, he climbs back out the skylight, leaving his wife behind in tears.