Spider-Man #65
Unplugged
This story continues from Amazing Spider-Man #408...
After discovering that Mysterio had been using his Mystery Vision to manipulated his senses and the senses of those all over the city, Spider-Man swings toward the old theater that acts as the villain's base of operations.[1] When he forces his way into the building, he finds that it is nothing but an abandoned theater, the thriving television network he saw earlier was nothing more than an illusion. With no sign of Mysterio, Spider-Man decides to go home and get some rest, confident in the knowledge that he has the perception altering lenses that his foe affixed to his mask, as they might come in handy later.
At an office building in Midtown Manhattan, there is a party celebrating the meteoric success of Mystery Vision on behalf of it's owner Randolph Hines. He excuses himself from the party to check the current network rankings. In the privacy of his office, Mysterio drops his disguise and gloats how his television station is eclipsing all of the major networks. The next morning, Ben Reilly is woken up by a knock on the door after spending all night tinkering with the lenses. It turns out to be Jessica Carradine who has come to meet up with him for their date. Realizing he overslept, Ben scrambles to hide all of Spider-Man gear and lets her in. Ben quickly gets ready and the two head out on their date to see the Eisenstadt Exhibit. As they walk through the winter weather, the pair get to talking about their lack of family to rely on. Jessica, who lost her father, and Ben who recently lost his Aunt who raised him like her own.[2] When they walk past an electronics store, Ben notices a crowd gathered around it watching Mystery Vision and reminds himself that Mysterio is still manipulating people using Professor Ramirez's DIT Chip. He wants to go out and continue hunting Mysterio, but can't because he is on a date. Suddenly, an armored truck skids on the icy road and crashes. To his surprise Jessica rushes off with her camera to take pictures of the crash, giving Ben the perfect opportunity to change into Spider-Man and help. Spider-Man manages to pull the driver out before the vehicle goes up in flames, but Jessica is too engrossed in taking pictures of the wall-crawler. He finally convinces her to get one of the police officers standing by the electronics store to help. However, when she finally does so, Jessica is also entranced by the televisions broadcasting Mystery Vision. The wall-crawler uses his webbing to block the television screens to snap everyone out of it. With help on the way for the injured driver, Spider-Man slips away to change back into Ben Reilly. Luckily, Jessica wants to remain on the scene to take photos, putting an end to their date and allowing Ben to continue his search for Mysterio.
On his way back to the apartment, Ben stops at the Daily Grind to check on things before going out as Spider-Man. There he discovers that both Shirley and her son Devon are enthralled by the television. However, this is not the case with Buzz, the Grind's regular customer. He tells Ben that Shirley and her son were so engrossed by the television he had to serve himself. When Ben asks how one could stop the transmission of Mystery Vision, Buzz points out that they would need to take down all the transmitters. Coming up with an idea on how to find this transmitter, Ben rushes out of the coffee shop to change into Spider-Man. He then pays a visit to Doctor Ramirez at Centennial University who cobbles together a device that will allow the wall-crawler to track the signal. At Mystery Vision's true headquarters, Mysterio continues watching the ratings. He gloats over how the blizzard outside is forcing people indoors making them more susceptible to his hypnotic programming. That's when the security systems detect Spider-Man's approach. When the web-slinger tries to destroy the transmitters, Mysterio uses his illusions and energy weapons to try and keep the masked hero away. Although Mysterio's attempts knock Spider-Man back down into the office, he also ends up blasting his transmitter as well. The commotion draws all the party goers to come and see what's going on. Mysterio resumes the illusion of Randolph Hines in order to get them to call the police on Spider-Man.
However, everyone is more interested in the ratings as they are suddenly dropping like flies. Although Mystery Vision is still broadcasting, Mysterio's stray blast has damaged the subliminal broadcasting channel. Seeing the broadasts with clear minds has made people realize that Mystery Vision is not very entertaining and they are changing the channel in droves. Utterly defeated, Mysterio is webbed up by Spider-Man who then takes the villain into custody.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mysterio, Jessica Carradine, Buzz, Shirley Washington, Devon Lewis
Continuity Notes
The narrative states here that Ben Reilly is the original Spider-Man and that the man who has been in the costume for the past five years was a clone. Ben was told this in The Spectacular Spider-Man #226, however this was a lie orchistrated by the Green Goblin as revealed in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1.
The facts:
Jessica's father was the Burglar who murdered Peter Parker's Uncle Ben. This is revealed in Sensational Spider-Man #3. He died of a heart attack in Amazing Spider-Man #200.
At the time of this story everyone believes May Parker died in Amazing Spider-Man #400. However, this woman was an impostor as revealed in Spider-Man #97.
Ben mentions leaving the "city" five years ago. Ben was a clone created by the Jackal in Amazing Spider-Man #149. Believed to be dead, his body was disposed of in Amazing Spider-Man #151. Surviving, Ben went on the road for five years as seen in the Parker Legacy story arc.
Five years is an accurate measurement of the passage of time between Amazing Spider-Man #149 and this story per the Sliding Timescale.
