Life is a Tale Told by a Maniac

Wonder Man is on the set of his latest movie, a film adaptation of MacBeth. As he is studying his lines photographer Peter Parker comes to take photos for feature in the Daily Bugle. It’s then that Wonder Man is suddenly struck by a blast of energy. He suddenly finds himself in what appears to be a scene right out of Shakespear’s play. There he ambushed by three women that are dressed like the three witches from the famous play. Also transported here was Peter Parker who manages to get to cover and change into Spider-Man so he can help Wonder Man.

After they subdue the three witches they are then pelted by arrows from soldiers in a nearby castle. Wonder Man quickly smashes the parapet they are firing from. That’s when they are confronted by the villain responsible for this attack. A strange disembodied man who calls himself Psyk-Out. The pair try to battle Psyk-Out, but the villain keeps them disorientated by seemingly altering reality all around them. Ultimately the villain flees and the Scottish countryside suddenly changes back to the movie set. Apparently, the two heroes were subject to a intricate illusion in order to trick them into trashing the movie set and attacking the crew. Wonder Man is furious that this has happened as he has been trying to repair his damaged reputation after he went through a period of violent savagery.[1]

Wonder Man follows after Psyk-Out with the web-slinger following not far behind. The villain manages to speed off the studio lot in a car. As the pair try to follow, Ginger Beach tries to catch Wonder Man’s attention at the security gate. When he doesn’t stop to talk to her, Ginger manages to latch onto Spider-Man as he swings by. Ginger’s sudden appearance distracts Wonder Man long enough for Psyk-Out to disappear. Simon is furious that she would throw herself into harms way like that but Ginger explains that she doesn’t have any choice. She explains that the courts recently took away her legal custody of her brother Spider and she is not allowed to communicate with him. She is concerned for her brother’s well being and pleads with Simon to go and check up on him.[2] Wonder Man is admittedly concerned for Spider as well and agrees to go check it out. He then gets Spider-Man to continue searching for Psyk-Out and to contact Simon’s agent, Neal Saroyan, if he finds any leads.

At that moment, on the outskirts of town, Spider tells his new foster parents that they can’t force him to stay there saying that Wonder Man and the Avengers will come get him soon. This boast doesn’t phase his new foster parents who see him as a potential cash cow. Knowing how to game the system, they threaten to throw aspersions about his sister in the media to make her career a living hell and ensure that Spider stays in a foster care system for the rest of his youth. When Wonder Man comes knocking he notices that Spider is wearing opaque shades and asks what’s wrong. Spider — fearing for his sister — tells Simon that there is nothing wrong and orders him to go away and leave him alone before slamming the door in Simon’s face.[3]

Meanwhile, Spider-Man has been swinging all over Los Angeles but can’t find any trace of Psyk-Out. When he thinks back to their encounter he remembers how Ginger Beach couldn’t get past security and suspects that their foe might be somehow connection to the movie studio and decides to head back that way to look around.

At that same moment, Wonder Man is calling his agent Neal Saroyan to get him to arrange a lawyer to get Spider out of his current foster home. Neal tells him that’s a bad idea since the news is all over his recent rampage at the studio and says that attempting to get involved with Spider’s situation will only make matters worse for the boy. Seeing that the only way to help Spider is by catching Psyk-Out and clearing his name, Wonder Man heads back to the Global Studios to search as well. It should also be pointed out that the studio also has an amusement part on its property as well because we do love ourselves a good plot contrivance.

Anyway, Wonder Man arrives at the studio where he is spotted by Psyk-Out who is in a meeting with the studio executives. As it turns out, the studio is a front for gun smuggling and the big wigs fear that Wonder Man might find out about their illegal business. As such, they hired Psyk-Out to sabotage the MacBeth shoot in order to further ruin Wonder Man’s reputation. When Psyk-Out goes out to face Wonder Man, he is ambushed by Spider-Man. The two heroes than chase the villain into the amusement part portion of the studio property. There, Psyk-Out takes a page out of Mysterio’s playbook by using his illusion powers to make the amusement park appear as one huge death trap. Appearing as a massive illusion looming over the fair grounds, Psyk-Out welcomes the heroes to his nightmare.

Recurring Characters

Wonder Man, Spider-Man, Psyk-Out, Ginger Beach, Spider Beach

Continuity Notes

1. Wonder Man went savage following the events of Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9 until he came to terms with his past in issue #25 and reinvented himself as “Earth’s immortal protector”.

2. As explained in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #13, Ginger gained custody of Spider after her mother abandoned him. As of issue #21, Child Services had discovered that Ginger had been endangering her brother vis-a-vie their relationship with Wonder Man. Ultimately, they took Spider away to a foster home issue #26. It’s mentioned here that Spider was once Wonder Man’s sidekick. That’s not entirely true, Neal Saroyan tried to force Spider into becoming Wonder Man’s sidekick since issue #3 in order to boost publicity. Wonder Man was always against the idea.

3. So if you’re wondering if Spider ever got out of this abusive foster home or not the answer doesn’t get resolved until Avengers Two: Wonder Man & Beast #2, where it is revealed that Gloria Angel manages to get custody of Spider and get him out of this hellish foster home.

Topical References

• Neal Saroyan is depicted as having a CRT model television. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.