The Mysterio business continues. Same creative team as always. This one opens with Spidey in the river, surveying the trouble with his sunken Spider-Mobile. After being told Mysterio was dead, he’s not not even sure who he fought last night. He also has a little rebreather like Batman used all the time back then, which seems kinda out of nowhere. He climbs up under a dock and takes his mask and gloves off, looking over his messed up hands. Then he hears footsteps above, and guess who it is. How? How would Mysterio have followed him here? How did he not see Spider-Man’s face just now? Well, for one thing, it’s not even Mysterio, it’s just a dumb illusion.
Sheesh. But even so, how? Ugh. Whatever. Mysterio starts taunting Spidey, and pulls his dome off to reveal nothing inside like on the cover trying to convince Spider-Man he’s a ghost. Spidey webs him up, but then there’s no one in the web. So he just goes home to his still-empty apartment. He gives Aunt May a call, and MJ drops by while he’s on the phone. He’s working really hard not to sound like anything is wrong in his life, for fear that it would worry May too much, and then…
Not too careful with the old secret identity there, Pete. Let me just say, as someone from the last generation that grew up with these kinda phones in the house, that extremely accurate bottom of the phone hit my memory with a jolt. Couldn’t have guessed what the bottom of an old house phone looked like before seeing this page, but that’s very authentic. Anyway, Peter grabs the phone and desperately tries to convince Aunt May nothing is wrong (Good luck!) and then his landlady, Mrs. Muggins, comes in with a broom, expecting a fight, Glory Grant in tow. Pete & MJ make excuses for the noise, and Mrs. Muggins leaves. Glory and MJ size each other up, but Glory just wanted to invite Peter to an upcoming party. She leaves, and Pete & MJ soon follow. Meanwhile, at The Daily Bugle, a little light is shed on the situation…
Ugh, of course. You really gotta wonder how JJJ managed to be directly involved in so much criminal activity over the years and never face any consequences. He just hired Electro to attack a TV show last block, now this. He’s so happy he gives Joe Robertson & Betty Brant a raise as Peter & MJ show up. Robbie wants to talk to Pete about the Mysterio stuff, and Betty takes MJ aside to tell her she & Ned have set a date for their wedding, which makes MJ cry? What? Since when are they so close?
Now Pete is all the way around the bend. He tells a frightened MJ he needs to be alone, gets in his Spidey suit, and heads out looking for someone to fight.
MINDWORM? How would Mysterio even know about Mindworm??? Soon Spider-Man’s surrounded by images of all his enemies again, but he just ignores them this time. Easy. And then he finds Mysterio’s lair. His foe is clearly not prepared…
That punch really hurt his hand, but he stays on top of the fight. Mysterio tries to gas him again, but this time, Spidey just grabs him by the wrists and flips him across the room, no problem. It seems awfully easy after last issue. Mysterio gets so mad he stops talking like Mysterio and starts talking like a goon written by Gerry Conway and just tries to jump kick Spider-Man, which doesn’t work out so well. Spidey knocks him down and then removes some kind of mask so sophisticated it looks like he has no head and neck, and isn’t even remotely impressed or surprised by it, which is… Not how I’d react, that’s for sure. The face that appears out of thin air is not familiar.
As the lunatic publisher of The Daily Bugle flees the country, our story comes to an end. What was Mysterio arrested for? What crime did he commit? Annoying a man wanted for murder? This is some pretty sloppy stuff. As I mentioned last post, Mysterio, any Mysterio, will not be seen around here for a long time, and that suits me. And judging by next issue’s cover, it seems like maybe JJJ really will go to Paris, and Peter will follow. Not sure why that would happen. We’ll find out together… but not immediately.