MECHANICAL OYSTERSMECHANICAL OYSTERS
Membership: None identified
Purpose: To help spread fake pearls for
criminal profit
Aliases: None
Affiliations: Unidentified criminals
Enemies: Harry,
Ned Leeds, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spike
Base of Operations: An unidentified warehouse,
New York City, New York, USA
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man: The
Oyster Mystery Coloring Book (1976)
History: (The Amazing
Spider-Man: The Oyster Mystery Coloring Book (fb) - BTS) - A group of
unidentified criminals decided to utilize mechanical oysters to
distribute fake pearls throughout the city.
(The Amazing Spider-Man: The
Oyster Mystery Coloring Book) - Some fishermen caught one of the
mechanical oysters in their fishing net and were shocked when the
oyster contained numerous seemingly valuable pearls. Photographer Peter
Parker was quickly sent to the dock to take photos of the oyster, which
made the front page of the Daily Bugle. While criminals became
interested in the oyster, several fishermen decided to camp near the
dock in hopes of finding more oysters while field reporter Ned Leeds of
the Daily Bugle was sent to report on the camps. While Ned was standing
guard over night, however, one of the oysters snuck up behind Ned and
attacked him, growing larger and closing Ned inside its shell. The
police then got involved to investigate Ned's seeming disappearance and
during the distraction, Spike and another criminal, investigated the
oyster while posing as photographers. After setting up camp, Spike and
his accomplice, unaware that Ned was inside the oyster, returned to the
oyster and were shocked when the oyster seemingly yelled for help.
The panicked criminals then ran
for it and tried to escape on a boat, only for a group of the
mechanical oysters to go after them. Peter Parker followed the
criminals as Spider-Man, having been drawn there by his spider-sense,
and he defeated Spike and the other crook before delivering them to the
police. As the police found Ned Leeds inside the oyster and emptied the
oyster of its fake pearls, Spider-Man watched as another oyster swam
towards the dock and attacked fishermen. Donning his Spider-Man costume
once more, Parker took a boat out in the water, where the group of
oysters attacked him. Capturing the oysters within a web net,
Spider-Man prepared to take a closer look at the oysters but the
oysters proved quite strong and pulled the boat further out to sea,
where Spider-Man was attacked by a giant squid. Avoiding the squid,
Spider-Man radioed for help and was rescued by a helicopter, soon
working with Ned Leeds as Peter Parker to check out a local warehouse.
Finding the warehouse filled with oysters, Parker ducked behind some
crates as criminals found and attacked Ned Leeds. Changing into his
Spider-Man costume again, Parker apprehended the criminals then
investigated the oysters, finding them to be mechanical, and upon
further investigation, Spider-Man determined the pearls inside the
oysters to be fake. Ned, unaware of Spider-Man's true identity, then
placed his foot on one of the mechanical oysters and remarked on how
surprised Peter Parker would be. As Spider-Man then swung away, Ned
reminded Spider-Man to tell Peter Parker not to forget his camera.
Comments: Created by uncredited writer and artist.
It wasn't exactly clear what the criminals' purpose
for the mechanical oysters was. I mean, the book stressed that the
pearls inside them were fake so I guess the criminals planned to
distribute and profit off the fake pearls as some criminals do with
fake money? But you'd think the criminals would just create the pearls
and not have to distribute them via large, size-altering, semi-sentient oysters....just seems like an odd plan at best. Then
again, the oysters also seemed very interested in capturing people so
maybe the criminals planned to use them to kidnap people?
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The mechanical oysters have no known connections to:
Spike was a criminal agent whose boss was interested in the giant pearls inside the oyster that had been caught by fishermen, unaware that the oysters were mechanical and that the pearls were fake. Sent to investigate the oyster, Spike and his accomplice posed as photographers to check out the oyster and ultimately decided to camp nearby to get a better look later. Later that night, Spike and his accomplice found the oyster but when it seemingly started yelling for help (Spike and his friend were unaware the captured Ned Leeds was inside), Spike and his ally ran for it and tried to escape on their boat. Unfortunately, a slew of oysters followed them, as did Spider-Man, who defeated Spike and his friend and left them for the police.
--The Amazing Spider-Man: The Oyster Mystery Coloring
Book
images: (without ads)
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Oyster Mystery Coloring Book, back cover
(mechanical oyster, color image, main image)
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Oyster Mystery Coloring Book, p27, splash
page (oysters swimming)
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Oyster Mystery Coloring Book, p4, splash
page (oyster opening up to reveal fake pearls)
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Oyster Mystery Coloring Book, p52, splash
page (oysters inside warehouse)
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Oyster Mystery Coloring Book, p15, splash
page (Spike)
Appearances:
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Oyster Mystery Coloring Book (1976) -
uncredited writer, artist, editor
First Posted: 07/27/2020
Last updated: 07/27/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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