Nick Peron

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Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto #3

Nick Peron

False Truths

Spider-Man, Daredevil, J. Jonah Jameson, Betsy Schneider, and Joe Smith are all prisoners of Mad Jack who is trying to avenge the memory of Mysterio. Freed from their prisons, they are suddenly surrounded by a number of Spider-Man and Daredevil’s foes.[1] Believed to be stripped of their powers, Spider-Man and Daredevil stand their ground. Watching this scene unfold from a monitor room are Mad Jack and Mysterio. Mad Jack wonders why Daredevil is so concerned about being able to see and deduces that the hero must be blind and wonders if this was always the case or a side effect of the drugs they have used to strip the heroes of their abilities.[2] Mad Jack continues talking to Mysterio, but the man — if that’s what this really is — doesn’t move or say a word, especially after musing about any lingering questions the heroes may have about Quentin Beck’s mortality.[3]

Downstairs, Joe Smith keeps his wife Betsy Schneider safely away from the army of villains. Betsy thinks that the heroes will protect them, but Joe isn’t sure after the chemicals they were exposed to, admitting that he feels strange after being exposed to them as well. By this time, Mysterio is being attacked by Mister Fear, and after wondering which Mister Fear he is facing, takes his opponent down with a headbutt. The Man Without Fear doesn’t need his heightened sense to know that this is actually a robot.[4] However, he is still in grave danger without his powers, something that becomes all too clear when he is almost cut by one of the Gladiator’s buzzsaws. That’s when he is struck behind by someone who appears to be the Punisher. That’s when Daredevil’s father, Jack Murdock, appears before his son and asks him why he is wasting his life fighting when he promised Matt’s mother that he wouldn’t fight.[5]

Not far away, Spider-Man evades blasts by a villain who appears to be Electro, thinking that he’s going to die without his spider powers.[6] That’s when “Sandman” attacks and, luckily, Spider-Man is able to evade the blow.[7] Unfortunately, his luck is running out as the Vulture and Scorpion join the fight. After a blow to the face, Spider-Man reminds himself that these aren’t his real foe but illusions used by Mad Jack. He wonders why their foe is trying so hard to convince them that Quentin Beck is still alive when he is suddenly visited by his Uncle Ben. Spider-Man knows that this is only an illusion, but is so glad to be able to see his Uncle again.[8] Still watching from the control room, Mad Jack wishes he could see what the two heroes are hallucinating, and decides to focus on Betsy and her husband, Joe Smith. Smith and his wife are terrorized by the villains as well. When Joe punches the Rhino, sending him flying into other opponents, realizes that his powers are back.[9] After their attackers are beaten, Joe tries to snap Spider-Man from his trance. This is when Mad Jack prepares to blast them and in a split second, Spider-Man’s spider-sense kicks in and he is able to yank Joe out of the way just in time. Mad Jack can’t understand what’s going on and asks Mysterio what happened but, as usual, Mysterio says nothing.

As the battle wages on, J. Jonah Jameson tells Spider-Man to stop fooling around, telling him that Mad Jack is really Daniel Berkhart. This makes sense to Spider-Man, who recalls that Berkhart briefly succeeded Quentin Beck as Mysterio for a brief period of time. He relates this to Daredevil, telling him that when Mad Jack first appeared, he went after Jameson.[9] That’s when Joe turns their attention to the fact that someone nabbed Betsy while they were busy fighting. That’s when they discover that the room is suddenly filling with gas.

Up in the control room, Betsy Schneider wants to know why Mad Jack is doing all of this when she sees what appear to be the bodies of Quentin Beck and Daniel Berkhart in suspended animation. Mad Jack reveals that these aren’t the real men, only puppets that they used to pull of the illusions. When she asks why Mad Jack would do all of this, they reveal to her that they are actually Terry Beck, the younger cousin of Quentin Beck. He idolized his cousin and when he reached adulthood, Terry was trained to become Mysterio’s successor. Following the death of Quentin Beck, Terry then devised a revenge scheme to defend the memory of his cousin. That’s when Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Joe come crashing into the room having protected themselves from the gas with Spider-Man’s webbing. Mad Jack responds by suddenly growing to giant size. Realizing that this is yet another illusion, Spider-Man and Daredevil turn around and smash Mad Jack’s computer, destroying the illusion. Daredevil then captures the real Mad Jack, who turns out to be woman named Maguire Beck. Even though she is a woman, her story is basically the same as what she told Betsy. With the battle over, Spider-Man and Daredevil take Maguire to the authorities. As they leave, Spider-Man wonders what happened to the real Daniel Burkhart.

After the hideout is deserted, the Mysterio figure — which everyone thought was a dummy — suddenly picks up Mad Jack’s pet cat (also named Maguire) and carries it away, laughing to himself.[10]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Daredevil, Mysterio, Mad Jack, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Smith, Betsy Schneider

Continuity Notes

  1. This is obviously another illusion when you consider a number of these foes were dead or inactive at the time of this story. I’ll mention the ones here that appear but aren’t specifically mentioned or identified by the characters in this story.

    • The Gladiator, aka Melvin Potter, was originally one of Daredevil’s foes until he reformed in Daredevil #166. He will remain reformed until forced back into a life of crime in Daredevil (vol. 2) #70.

    • Nuke, aka Frank Simpson, at the time of this story, was believed to have died after going on a rampage in Hell’s Kitchen in Daredevil #233. However, it’s later revealed that he is still alive and imprisoned for years at the US Embassy in Chile until he was found by Wolverine in Wolverine: Origins #1-2.

    • The original Kraven the Hunter, Sergei Kravinoff, is depicted here as well. He committed suicide in Amazing Spider-Man #294. He will be resurrected but not until Amazing Spider-Man #636.

    • The Molten Man, at the time of this story, had reformed in Web of Spider-Man #66, he has remained reformed except in instances where he was manipulated into doing so (Amazing Spider-Man #440, Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #29-32) or when his powers had flared out of control (Amazing Spider-Man #581-582)

    • The Kingpin is depicted as having his sight. At the time of this story, the Kingpin was blind following Daredevil (vol. 2) #14. His vision will be restored in Daredevil (vol. 2) #46.

  2. Mad Jack mentions how Betsy Schneider used to date Mysterio. Her past relationship with Mysterio and how she ended up on Mad Jack’s shit list is detailed in Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #1-3. In a nutshell, Mad Jack is mad about Schneider leaving Quentin Beck for Joe Smith and writing a tell book about her romance with Mysterio.

  3. At the time of this story, Quentin Beck is indeed dead after blowing his brains out in Daredevil (vol. 2) #7. He will later get resurrected, a long story that’s sort of explained in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #1. All you need to know is that the real Beck won’t appear alive again until Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3.

  4. Daredevil wonders which Mister Fear he is facing he is facing which is a reasonable question since at this point there have been tour. They were:

    • Zoltan Drago the original Mister Fear who first appeared in Daredevil #5. Drago was later murdered in Daredevil #55 by his successor…..

    • Starr Saxon, aka Samuel Saxon, who also seemed to die in Daredevil #55. However, Saxon resurfaced later in a robotic body as the Machinesmith in Marvel Two-In-One #47.

    • Next, there was Larry Cranson who took on the identity in Daredevil #90.

    • Lastly, there was Alan Fagan who took on the identity in Marvel Team-Up #92.

  5. As explained in Daredevil #1, Jack Murdock was a boxer who promised his wife his son wouldn’t grow up to be a fighter. When Jack was murdered, Matt became Daredevil to avenge his father’s death and later became a costumed crime-fighter.

  6. Spider-Man quips how Electro must like his original costume better than the one he had been recently wearing. Indeed, this illusion of Electro is wearing the costume the villain first wore in Amazing Spider-Man #9. The costume that Spider-Man is referring to is a blue costume without the garish lightning stylization that the real Electro wore briefly from Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #12 until Peter Parker: Spider-Man #17.

  7. Spider-Man mentions how he thinks Sandman is dead and wonders if he’s good or bad. Here are the facts behind these statements:

    • Around the time of this story, the Sandman had a chunk of him eaten by Venom in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #16, and he seemed to crumble to nothingness in issue #22 of that series. He’s not dead, as he’ll resurface again in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #42.

    • The reference to Sandman’s alignment is a valid one. The Sandman reformed in Marvel Two-In-One #86 until he was made evil again by the Wizard’s ID Machine in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #12.

  8. Joe Smith previously gained super-human strength for a brief period in Amazing Spider-Man #38.

  9. Daniel Berkhart operated as Mysterio in the past in Amazing Spider-Man #141-142. As Mad Jack, Berkhart went after the Jameson family from Spectacular Spider-Man #241-258.

  10. Although left open here, the Daniel Burkhart entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #8 confirms that this Mysterio was Daniel Burkhart the entire time.