Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #12
Another Return of the Sinister Six
Spider-Man was just leaving his job at Tricorp when he is suddenly attacked by Mysterio, which comes as a surprise to the wall-crawler because he had heard that his long time foe had recently died. When Spider-Man confronts Mysterio with this, the villain tells the wall-crawler that it will be far too late before anyone learns the truth about his apparent demise. Suddenly, Mysterio steps off the edge of the building and begins to fall to the street below. Although Spider-Man tries to swing down and catch him, Mysterio lands on top of a car on the street below. Before Spider-Man can check on his foe, an angry mob chases him away. This annoys once again annoys the wall-crawler because no matter what he does, he can never get the public to trust him.
When Peter Parker returns home he is shocked to discover a crowd of people in his home. Finding his Aunt May and Jill Stacy, Peter asks what is going on. Aunt May explains that this was the idea of Mary Jane’s agent after she started receiving threatening phone calls from an obsessed fan and decided to capitalize on the publicity this could generate. Jill also tells Peter that her father, Arthur, is still missing and she is no closer to learning what his ties are to Senator Stuart Ward and fears for his safety Still, she tells Peter not to worry about her problems and go to his wife. Peter manages to pull Mary Jane aside so they can talk in private. He admits to her that he lied about getting back into costume after saying he quit and promises to do everything in his power to make sure she is safe. She tells him that she is not happy with the fact that Peter is Spider-Man again, saying that it is worse than being the wife of a police officer and fears for the night she gets a call saying that Peter was killed in a battle with one of Spider-Man’s foes and can’t handle it, telling Peter she’s too young to deal with something like this. In tears, she tells Peter that she has to get ready for a shoot and leaves the bathroom.
Meanwhile, at the Bar With No Name, the Sandman waits for the arrival of Mysterio. When Sandman also asks about Mysterio’s recent death, the illusionist sows more confusion by letting a live grenade explode in his hand and seemingly survives the blast. Ignoring Sandman’s further questions, Mysterio asks Marko what he wants. Sandman explains that he has a job against Doctor Octopus, and he wants to pull and is looking to get the Sinister Six back together to get it done. Interested, Mysterio asks to hear more about it. Later, a federal bank has just been attacked by the Vulture. In the middle of the robbery he is approached by the Sandman who offers the Vulture more lucrative work. By this time, Spider-Man is web-slinging across the city, needing to clear his head after his talk with Mary Jane. Suddenly, his spider-sense goes off but the web-slinger cannot find its source. As he swings away, Spider-Man thinks about Mary Jane’s stalker and wises Arthur Stacy was around so they could tap his skills as a private investigator, unaware that he is is being observed from the shadows by the man who is the source of Mary Jane’s miseries. While in Central Park, a woman is cornered by some men looking for trouble but before they can harm her they are interrupted by the arrival of Kraven the Hunter who tells the men that the ones who manage to escape the park get to live. However, before he can start hunting, he is interrupted by the Sandman who offers him his father’s spot on the Sinister Six, appealing to his interest that this will be the biggest hunt of his career.
At that moment, Spider-Man has forced his way into the office of Senator Stuart Ward to warn him that Arthur Stacy is going to kill him. However, the Senator is unconcerned over the threat on his life. When Spider-Man demands answers, Ward doesn’t give any and the wall-crawler leaves wondering if he shouldn’t just let those against Ward assassinate him. As soon as Spider-Man is gone, Ward reaches for his phone intending to call someone to deal with this new development. Meanwhile, Sandman approaches Electro to recruit him into the new Sinister Six. Although Electro is initially uninterested, when he learns that they are going after Doctor Octopus, he changes his mind. Back at the Parker home, Peter has returned and sits awake trying to find the courage to try and talk to is wife about their problems but can’t bring himself to wake her up and goes back out as Spider-Man. Unknown to him, Mary Jane was awake the whole time and hearing her husband leave wonders why it is so hard for them to talk. By this time, Stuart Ward waits impatiently for the person he called. As he begins to lose his temper, one of the mechanical arms of Doctor Octopus comes crashing through the window and yanks the Senator outside. Octavius demands to know what the Senator wants from him. Doctor Octopus demands to know why Ward would risk calling him from his office home and learns about how Arthur Stacy is gunning for him. This causes Doctor Octopus to laugh since he considers a normal person no threat to one such as him. As Octavius continues to mock the Senator, neither man is aware that they are being observed by Stacy who is preparing to shoot the Senator with his sniper rifle. However, before he can pull the trigger, Spider-Man arrives and webs up is gun. When the wall-crawler demands to know why Stacy would risk it all to assassinate a Senator, Arthur refuses to explain.
Before Spider-Man can convince him otherwise, the wall-crawler’s spider-sense begins going off alerting him to the arrival of Kraven the Hunter and some men dressed in black that are scaling down the side of a nearby building and heading towards Doc Ock and Senator Ward. When Spider-Man tries to swing out to confront them he is ambushed by the Vulture and Electro. Trying to leap to safety, he is caught off guard when the Sandman reveals he had been hiding in the corner of the wall. Hearing the battle, Doctor Octopus and Ward wonder what the members of the Sinister Six want from them. While Spider-Man is busy with the others, Mysterio and Sandman confront Doctor Octopus and explain that they have come for Senator Ward. Before Sandman can nab the Senator, Spider-Man interferes. To the wall-crawler’s surprise, Doctor Octopus asks for his help to protect the Senator. Seeing an opportunity to escape, Doc Ock grabs Spider-Man and pushes him right into the arms of the newest member of the SInister Six: Venom.
This story is continued in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #12
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Stuart Ward, Sinister Six (Mysterio, Sandman, Vulture, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, Venom) Doctor Octopus, Stalker (unidentified), Aunt May, Jill Stacy, Arthur Stacy
Continuity Notes
Quentin Beck, the original Mysterio, seemingly committed suicide in Daredevil (Vol. 2) #7. Some facts about this:
Spider-Man: Mysterio Manifesto #3 and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #8 confirm that the Mysterio in this story actually Daniel Burkhart, not Quentin Beck.
As for Beck’s alleged death, there are currently conflicting reports. In Amazing Spider-Man #620, Beck claims that he faked his death. However, he has been seen as the undead in X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #1-5, and Friendly Neigborhood Spider-Man #11-13. His subsequent appearances Mysterio appears as a normal human again. However, in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5) #1 a being called Kindred has claimed to have resurrected Mysterio, however the details are unclear but seem to be valid since more recently (in Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #37) Kindred was able to resurrect the original Sin-Eater.
One of the people in the angry mob mentions how Spider-Man was “involved” in the murder of Joey Z. Spider-Man was framed for the murder of Joey Z in Spider-Man #88. Spider-Man soon learned that the Trapster was responsible, who was hired to frame Spider-Man by Norman Osborn. Spider-Man learned the truth and cleared his named in Spider-Man #92.
Arthur Stacy as been gunning for Senator Stuart Ward since Peter Parker: Spider-Man #6. The entire reason is sort of explained in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #20-23, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Mary Jane started getting harassing by a stalker in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #10 and as been escalating ever since. Last issue he frightened Mary Jane by setting off some bombs near her.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, per Amazing Spider-Man #545, Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage was erased from existence. As such they should be seen as a common-law couple here.
Peter promised to retire as Spider-Man following the events of Spider-Man #98. However, he had recently started wearing the webs again in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #2. Mary Jane eventually figured out that Peter was Spider-Man again in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #10 and was not happy about it.
Mary Jane points out the confusing reports of another Spider-Man. She is referring to Mattie Franklin, who took over as Spider-Man from Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #1-2 while Peter was “retired” from his position.
Mary Jane says she is “too young” to deal with this. Mary Jane is roughly the same age as Peter. In Civil War #2, Peter says he was 15 when he first became Spider-Man. Per the Sliding Timescale Peter has been Spider-Man for roughly 10 years, making Peter 25 at the time of this story.
Sandman makes many mentions to the original Sinister Six. The group was originally formed by Doctor Octopus in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1.
Sandman knows that this is Alexei Kraveinoff, the son of the original Kraven the Hunter. The original Kraven committed suicide in Amazing Spider-Man #294. Alexei took over the mantle in Spectacular Spider-Man #243.
Spider-Man mentions the past attempts on Stuart Ward’s life. He was attacked by the Ranger in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #1, staged an attempt on his life by the Wizard in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #4, and was nearly assassinated by Bullseye in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #8.
Sandman states that he has gone back to his “old ways”. Sandman had decided to go straight in Marvel Two-In-One #86 and remained on the right side of the law until the Wizard restored his criminal personality with his ID Machine in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #12.
Let There Be Light!
In the darkness, someone speaks about the career of Quentin Beck, the former special effects man who later became the criminal called Mysterio. This speaker is Mysterio himself, who shouts “let there be light”, illuminating the room and revealing his identity to the spectators of his monologue. He reminds those listening that Quentin Beck originally became Mysterio in order to challenge himself by developing technology that would allow him to defeat Spider-Man.
This lead to a string of defeats until more recently when Mysterio turned his attentions to Daredevil. He recounts how that battle ended with Mysterio choosing suicide over defeat this time and shot himself in the head. However, was Mysterio truly dead or was this all an illusion? Is he Quentin Beck or someone else? Did Beck truly die, was this a grand illusion, or had Quentin found a way to transcend life and death. Mysterio refuses to answer these questions and as he removes the fishbowl from his head his identity is obscured by a blinding flash of bright light. He departs leaving his listeners with a single question: Who am I?
Recurring Characters
Mysterio
