For the grand finale of this wild tale, Marie Severin tags in on pencils. Man, this book really needs a regular artist. Everyone working on it is good, but consistency is nice. So, Mysterio and the aliens have Peter chained up and are demanding the secret of the Mallone treasure. Peter tells them the truth, that it was destroyed by silverfish, but they don’t believe him, so they put him into “The Psycho-Dome.” Pete already smelled a rat, and is getting more suspicious by the minute. What would aliens need with a lame like Mysterio? “The Psycho-Dome” slings Peter around on his chain while a bunch of Mysterio’s illusions bother him. But he sees through that almost immediately.
It gets pretty funny when Mysterio tries to scare Peter with an irate Spider-Man, furious at Peter for making money off his pictures. It’s right there that Peter pretends to pass out. He’d hoped they’d put him in a cell or something he could break out of, but they dose him with a sedative, so it’s harder than he anticipated. Meanwhile, at Aunt May’s nursing home, the cops are leaving, having taken everyone’s statements about an alien abduction, and they aren’t sure what to do. Credit to them for not dismissing aliens outright in a world full of superheroes and stuff, I guess. However, inside, the mood is grim…
And then a goon shows up and kidnaps Deb! Soon, Peter wakes up in a storage closet. He frees himself and changes to Spider-Man, and discovers he’s definitely not on a spaceship. And then this happens:
Great bit. Spidey pulls his mask off, and…I mean, come on. The aliens are just dudes in suits, of course. Not only that, but they were just dudes in suits way back in ASM #2, as this guy happily explains. And one of those dudes was Quentin Beck, AKA Mysterio, and it was that first alien caper that made him decide to become a supervillain solo act. Anyway, Spidey smashes his way through what has been revealed to be soundstages until he finds Mysterio’s control room, and look who’s here:
In an inspired bit, Spidey then turns Mysterio’s illusions back on him, and it would all be fun & games, except…
In the process, he’s terrorizing Deb! Spidey, no! Mysterio figures out what’s going on and makes for a back-up control room where he hopes to win the day, but then…
Good for you, Deb! Let ‘im have it! She cracked Mysterio’s bowl so badly that he can’t see and has to take it off. With Deb free, Spider-Man is able to swoop in and finish Mysterio up. He leaves Mysterio & his goons tied up for the cops, tells Deb where Peter was imprisoned, and then gets back there just in time.
This wouldn’t be the last time Roger Stern took a chance to retcon something that didn’t seem to add up. It’s a better story, really. Spider-Man works best against more down-to-Earth villains. Just one problem: Quentin Beck. I know Quentin Beck, the original Mysterio. But I thought this Mysterio was Dr. Ludwig Rinehart in his previous appearance. The internet tells me that’s an alias Beck used, but… It didn’t seem that way to me. Why did Peter call him that even after he knew it was Mysterio? I’m not so sure about this. Ah, well. This was way more enjoyable than that story was. And it’s fun and unique how much of the super parts featured Peter instead of Spider-Man.