Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #8
The Perfect World Part 2: The Man Behind The Curtain!
Spider-Man asks his partner Flash to hurry up and disarm a massive bomb that has been placed in the center of town by the Red Skull and Kingpin. Flash tells the wall-crawler not to worry and handle their high tech army while he disarms the bomb. While Spider-Man takes down the army of armed soldiers while Flash takes a risk and rips out the correct wire to disarm the bomb. With the enemy armies defeated. Flash uses his jet pack to fly after the Kingpin and Red Skull and turn them over to the authorities.
Later, at city hall, Flash is celebrated for his victor and is smothered with hugs from both Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy. However, the festivities are interrupted by Peter Parker who says everything is all wrong. Pushing his wheelchair up to the podium, Peter tries to show Flash his calculations that prove everything is all wrong. Flash dismisses this and everything thinks that Peter has become unhinged after his accident and is eventually led away by police. Gwen is especially concerned for Peter and joins him in the back of an ambulance where he as been fitted with a straitjacket. She tries to calm Peter down and it begins to work when, suddenly, Gwen briefly changes into her cousin Jill. This causes Peter to start raving all over again. When Peter can’t understand why he is confined to a wheelchair, Gwen reminds him of the accident. It was during a demonstration put on by Otto Octavius that ended in an explosion. Peter was caught in the blast. Although he survived he was crippled and confined to a wheelchair ever since.[1] Peter insists that’s not correct and tells Gwen to talk to Mary Jane, that she’ll know the truth. That’s when Gwen tells Peter that Mary Jane is going to marry Flash later today. This sends Peter into a fresh fit of rage and as he struggles to get free the stretcher rolls out of the back of the ambulance and into traffic. Before getting hit by a speeding truck, Peter manages to break free from the straight jacket and leaps over the truck to safety. This all convinces him that he was right all along and he vows to get to the bottom of things.
At a nearby church, Flash and Spider-Man are preparing for the wedding but Flash is acting strangely. When Spider-Man asks him if he’s getting cold feet, Flash denies this, saying that something Peter Parker said earlier got him thinking. When Flash leaves to check on the crowd, Spider-Man is ambushed by Peter Parker who knocks him out. Peter then removes Spider-Man’s mask and he is unsurprised by who has been posing as his alter-ego, but he doesn’t understand how they managed to gain so much power. Putting on the Spider-Man costume, Peter picks up the mastermind behind this plot and swings into the church to reveal the truth to Flash. However, before he can warn Flash and Mary Jane the church is suddenly filled with many of Spider-Man’s foes. While Spider-Man and Flash fight these foes, he tries to get Flash to see the truth that this entire situation isn’t real. Flash has another momentary image of himself bound up in a tank filled with green water. Spider-Man finally turns Flash’s attention to the impostor who was posing as him the whole time.
This man, who appears to be Quentin Beck doesn’t understand how the real Spider-Man has managed to infiltrate his illusion and suddenly transforms into his costumed identity of Mysterio. Mysterio mentions his recent defeat at the hands of Daredevil and his decision to return his attention to Spider-Man. He had kidnapped those who have had the most interactions with the wall-crawler and staged this elaborate illusion in order to try and learn some of Spider-Man’s secrets.[2] When confronted with the truth, Flash realizes what he has to do and attacks Mysterio, shattering his fishbowl with a single blow. This causes the illusion to fade away. Flash and all the other captives — Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Jill Stacy, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Marla Madison, Joe Robertson, and Paul Stacy — awaken and find themselves in a sensory deprivation tank. While everyone is busy freeing themselves Mysterio makes his escape, telling them to send a warning to Spider-Man that he will be ready for the wall-crawler next time, unaware that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. However, Peter cannot go after Mysterio without blowing his cover. After everyone is free and makes sense of the whole situation, Peter asks Flash if he is okay or if he needs any help. Embittered by this whole episode, Flash reverts to type telling “puny” Parker to leave him alone and that he doesn’t need anyone’s help, not even Spider-Man. Storming out of the building, he reminds them that it was Flash Thompson that saved them and to never forget it.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Flash Thompson, Mary Jane Watson, Jill Stacy, Mysterio, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Marla Madison, Joe Robertson, Paul Stacy
Continuity Notes
This flashback is an alternate take on the origin Jon Byrne tried to retcon in the Spider-Man: Chapter One series. In that version, Peter doesn’t get crippled but gains his spider-powers. Since then, Marvel has rescinded this retcon designating it to an alternate reality of Earth-98121 as index in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2.
This is not Quentin Beck, but Daniel Berkhart, his successor. At the time of this story, the original Mysterio appeared to commit suicide following the events of Daredevil (Vol. 2) #1-7. As revealed in Spider-Man: Mysterio Manifesto #1, Berkhart took on the mantle of Mysterio again to honor is predecessor and even went so far as to pose as Beck in order to further confuse his foes.
