For the first time since Block 17, we hit a book I’ve owned for a long time. So long I’m not sure when or where I got it. I’m certain I got ASM 200 first, once upon, a time, and tried to work backwards. But I never got 199 back in the day, so I guess I didn’t work too hard at it. Sal Buscema tags in on pencils as cops rush into Kingpin’s half-destroyed mansion to find an unconscious Spider-Man. They rush him to a hospital.
What a cool guy, this Dr. Winters. Spidey goes on to hallucinate Aunt May in her coffin and all his friends telling him he’s terrible and thrashes around until Dr. Winters gives him a sedative. And he ain’t the only one hallucinating tonight…
Sooooo Rinehart is Mysterio? He never says he’s Mysterio, even as he flashes back for a page. He goes on to say that, after “the 2nd time Spider-Man defeated him,” he realized tangling with superheroes was a sucker bet. In prison, he conned a guy called Danny Berkhart into taking over his supervillain identity (STILL not named!), and then faked his death, um, somehow. He was shot by some guards, but were they in on it? I’m not told.
Opening a nursing home and forcing its occupants to sign over their fortunes to him before they die is… quite a scheme. How did Spidey know the name Ludwig Rinehart last issue? Mysterio’s real name is Quentin Beck. Is this an alias? Someone else having taken up the suit? But then another person (2nd? 3rd?) was Mysterio for awhile? I’m not really sure at this point in the timeline. Maybe we’ll find out. Anyway, when Spider-Man wakes up, his broken arm is properly treated and in a cast finally, and he’s ready to go. He swings to the nursing home as best he can with one arm, and is attacked by angry old people who turn out to be illusions, Michael! This makes it clear he’s fighting Mysterio, so he’s ready, but nevertheless finds himself wandering through hallways repeatedly thinking he’s reached Rinehart’s office. He finally smashes into it and demands answers, but this is a Mysterio thing, so…
Uuuuugggghhhhh I hate Mysterio stories so much. “I know I’m fighting a guy who creates completely realistic illusions, but I definitely believe there’s a tiger in the basement of a friggin nursing home! Hi, I’m Spider-Man, the stupidest person on Earth!” Also, JJJ finally has an actual nervous breakdown after his last few issues of accusing everyone in the world of being in a conspiracy against him…
The old man’s finally lost it. John’s apparent death was just too much. But now it’s back to the nursing home, and I know you won’t believe this, but the tiger turns out to be an illusion. I know, shocking. Spider-Man decides he can’t trust his eyes, so he webs over his mask so he can’t see, navigating by Spider Sense alone through bunch of dumb giant snake illusions before coming face-to-face with the obvious villain of the piece:
He told Kingpin to call him Twinkletoes last issue. Won’t someone please just call this man Twinkletoes? He asks so little. Mysterio does the crowd of Mysterios bit from the cover, and uses that to knock Spider-Man out.
Place yer bets. Is the water fake? The whole pool? The whole nursing home? It’s Mysterio, so who knows how dumb it will get? We’ll find out next time.