Issue(s): Web of Spider-Man #54
Cover Date: Sep 89
Title: "The wolves of war"
Credits:
Gerry Conway - Writer
Alex Saviuk - Penciler
Keith Williams - Inker
Glenn Herdling - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
The Spectacular issue that this story continues from showed the Hammerhead/Chameleon side of the gang war that's going on in Conway's spider-titles. This one shows the Lobo brothers' raid on the Kingpin's building.

That's pretty obviously not a real Kingpin, something which you'd think werewolves would be able to sniff. But it's surprisingly not a bomb, which was my first thought.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man is done puking from the virus that the Chameleon injected him with in Spectacular.

He recovers in time to see the reveal that the Kingpin the Lobos attacked was just a big stuffed version. Should i ask why the Kingpin keeps that in his office?

But that ends the immediacy of the current gang war, so Peter, still sick from the Chameleon's virus, goes home to pass out in front of all of Aunt May's boarders.

One Gil Kane inspired splash page later...

...and Peter wakes up to MJ showing off her latest haircut. This is Alex Saviuk catching up with the decision to change MJ's hair to match the Todd McFarlane style (Saviuk was off last issue).

Despite being unconscious for two days, no one apparently took him to a hospital, and his immediate concern upon waking up is going after JJ for stabbing him with the needle (he doesn't yet know it was really the Chameleon). But when he finds out that Kristy has been hospitalized, he goes with MJ to visit her.

And we get a very PSA style discussion of anorexia and bulimia.

But you can tell that Mary Jane is not very interested in that.

Yikes. Not only is MJ having a nervous breakdown, but Peter is too wrapped up in the JJ problem to care. So he goes to harass sleazy photographer Nick Katzenberg to find out where JJ is currently hiding...

...and then he goes to confront JJ at his apartment, and learns that he's really the Chameleon.

I don't know. Spider-Man is looking really dumb and i get the impression that if Chameleon didn't pull a gun on him, Spidey would have never figured out on his own that JJ was really the Chameleon. But at least he manages to locate the real JJ after the Chameleon flees.

Also in these issues, we have poor Glory Grant i guess a semi-captive of the Lobo brothers.

I think maybe the gang war storyline should have been wrapped up here instead of just having it delayed. I feel like it took a dive in quality by pausing to focus on the melodramatic subplots. Peter going to chase the JJ-Chameleon while MJ is having her freakout is just terrible, and Glory endlessly sitting in thrall of Eduardo is not sitting well with me, either.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating:

Chronological Placement Considerations: Continues directly from Spectacular Spider-Man #153. Peter is passed out for 2 days. The next part of this story, in Spectacular Spider-Man #154, is not a direct continuation, so we pause here to allow Spider-Man to appear in a number of other books.

References:

• The Arranger tried to arrange a hit on the Lobo brothers in Spectacular Spider-Man #143.
  
• Spider-Man got injected with a virus by the Chameleon, who he still thinks is JJ at the beginning of this issue, in Spectacular Spider-Man #153.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The problem with the Chameleon is that Peter's Spider-Sense should always warn him no matter how the Chameleon disguises himself. Conway's solution was to have Peter ignore his Spider-Sense. Unfortunately, Conway made Peter look extra stupid, since he still doesn't realize the truth after "Jonah" attacked him. In a 1990 story, Micheline "solved" the problem by having Peter's Spider-Sense not go off until the Chameleon turned on his trap. Which is fine, except for the fact that Peter's Spider-Sense is supposed to give him ADVANCE warning.

as a teenager, this is where I learnt what bulimia was.

I've never liked how the Spider sense was portrayed. It should warn him of a direct threat to himself. It should not just warn him if a bad guy (who isnt directly about to attack) is nearby.

In other words, if aunt may is about to hit him on the head, it buzzes. If Peter walks past, say Mark Scarlotti, in a crowd, it should not warn him of anything. He is not intending to attack anyone at that time. So unless the chameleon is about to attack him, it should not buzz.

Otherwise his spidey sense is making judgement calls on the morality of people who aren't directly attacking him.

I'd hate the idea that that spider in the corner of my ceiling is getting a warning about me or not by its spider-sense making a judgement call as to whether i represent a danger or not.

Saviuk certainly isn't a rockstar artist but I admit I always found his MJ to be a total babe.

Saviuk is one of those good, solid artists who you can always count to turn in a professional-looking job on time.