Master of Illusion: Mysterio Appreciation Thread 2019!

[MajorHoy]

first appearance (as Mysterio):
Amazing Spider-Man #13 (June 1964)

[Miles To Go]

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[MajorHoy]

I wasn't too thrilled with how bad Spencer made Mysterio look in his first Amazing Spider-Man collected edition.


Amazing Spider-Man: Back to Basics

Hopefully he's more in control and acting less like a putz later on?

[MP95]

I wasn't too thrilled with how bad Spencer made Mysterio look in his first Amazing Spider-Man collected edition.

Hopefully he's more in control and acting less like a putz later on?

I heard quite a few people say that. As a Mysterio fan I didn't feel that way. I love when he acts theatrical but i'm sure Spencer can write him as truly creepy once the Cent-demon creature is ready to make his move. If anything, Mysterio was written as a major threat. He almost killed all those heroes in his "alien invasion" plot. Even Thor was completely submerged. If it hadn't been for Spider-Man's quick thinking that would have been it. Nick Spencer knows that even though Quentin can act like a theatrical ham, he's not to be taken lightly.

[MajorHoy]

from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964)

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Mysterio has always been one of my favorite Spider-Man villains. I first became a fan after seeing the Activision 2000 game and Mysterio there had an awesome boss fight, personality, style, and sass. And the fishbowl rocks. He totally makes it work.

Agreed.

I always felt that Spider-Man writers never really did enough with him. Mysterio really has potential to be a Goblin/Octopus/Venom level bad guy and ideally he's waiting for the people who can do for him what the Arkham Games did for Scarecrow, also a villain with an awesome gimmick who was never properly utilized but then the right people made Scarecrow a pantheon-level Arch-Rogue, getting into the ring with Joker and Ra's.

Which marvel comics showcases this depiction?

I think Mysterio is like Mr. Mxyzsptlk or Toyman in Superman. Also seen and dismissed as minor rogues but the right stories and adapters (Moore and Bruce Timm in the case of those two) did wonders with both of them. He's basically a trickster and an artist. So there's host of untapped potential there.

To me more like the comicbook character Toyman no way like the comicbook character Mr. Mxyzsptlk.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Sensational She-Hulk #2 Jun 1989
"Attack Of The Terrible Toad Men (or Froggy Came Cavortin')"
Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, gives Jennifer a tour of the apartment she is going to loan her.
Janet comments that she is pleased to see that the cleaning staff has still been on the job while she's been away.
Jen perks up at that, and hopes that the cleaning staff are a bunch of handsome hunks in tight t-shirts.
Janet smiles and says that it is actually four old ladies with mops.
Janet jokes that it must have been a long while since Jennifer broke up with Wyatt Wingfoot, and Jen says that its been long enough.
While Janet shows her the view from the terrace, Jen double checks to make sure that Janet won't need the apartment.
Jan assures She-Hulk that she's been spending most her of time lately in California with
Hank Pym and the West Coast Avengers, so she can have this apartment all to herself.

Elsewhere, the Headmen continue to monitor the She-Hulk. Morgan is worried about whether things are going according to plan.
Nagan tells him that he is worried about the wrong things and asks Ruby to assure
him that the new accomplice they have hired will not fail in his task to test She-Hulk.
Satisfied for now, Morgan returns to his cellular acceleration experiments.

Back at the apartment, Janet continues to give She-Hulk the tour. Janet says that Jennifer can take care of hiring her own staff,
and Jen responds that she doesn't even have a job right now. She isn't sure if she can go back to being a lawyer now that she is She-Hulk full time.

Later, as Jen makes herself some popcorn and settles down to watch TV, she thinks to herself that she needs to start looking for a job tomorrow.
Her TV program gets interrupted by a news report that flying saucers have appeared over Manhattan!
She-Hulk races out to the terrace to find that the sky is filled with alien ships!
She-Hulk wonders how so many ships managed to get so close without anyone detecting them,
and why the Avengers and the Fantastic Four haven't responded yet. A green gloved hand presses a button on a remote control,
and suddenly the ships open fire on She-Hulk! Jen is shocked that with 8 million New Yorkers to choose from, they started with her.
As She-Hulk gets to her feet, a squad of Toad Men land on her terrace!
Meanwhile, a woman named Weezi brings a handsome blond man reports on Jennifer Walters' legal career.
The man is impressed with her credentials. "Jennifer Walters is exactly what I'm looking for!"

Back at Jen's apartment, She-Hulk is dodging fire from the Toad Men.
Jen notices that it is odd that the fleet is still just hanging there in mid-air, and they have dropped only a handful of troops... all of them after her.
Just then the Toad Men's aim improves--and they manage to nail She-Hulk with a barrage of fire!
It doesn't do Jen any serious harm, but it destroys her sweater.
Angry that they destroyed her favorite comfy sweater, She-Hulk snatches one of the Toad Men's weapons, and snaps it in half.
As it breaks, she discovers that it isn't an alien ray gun--it is an ordinary rifle disguised with plastic gadgets!

Now that She-Hulk has figured out the truth, the Toad Men try to retreat--but Jen grabs a hold of one of them!
Her suspicions are confirmed when she pulls off the Toad Man mask, and there is a human underneath!
Jen guesses that they work for the same people who hired the Ringmaster, but before she can question him, he fires a gun point blank in her face!
It doesn't hurt her, but it blinds her long enough for the "Toad Man" to slip away.
She regains her sight just as her jumps over the railing of her terrace!
Afraid that he just killed himself, Jen rushes to go see--and bumps face first into some kind of canvas, painted to look like the view from her apartment!
She-Hulk rips through it to find that the entire "invasion fleet" was part of a painted backdrop that was lowered over her apartment by a dirigible!
Jen then catches sight of the "Toad Men" climbing the rigging back to the ship.

She decides to beat them back by leaping her way up to the airship.
She comes aboard and is greeted by Mysterio!
She-Hulk recognizes him as a foe of Spider-Man's, who doesn't have any real powers but relies on special effects.

He turns one of his illusions on her to disorient her, but Jen knows that it isn't real.
She ignores what her eyes are telling her, and digs her fingers into the deck beneath her--ripping it up and tossing Mysterio off balance!

She-Hulk grabs him and demands to know what is going on, but he sprays her in the face with gas from his amulet!

Later, Mysterio delivers She-Hulk to the Headmen! Nagan offers him membership in the Headmen, but he declines.
He just wants to take his money and go. Nagan gives him the briefcase full of money, and Mysterio vanishes in a puff of smoke.
Morgan worries that Mysterio will realize that the briefcase is really full of newsprint underneath a layer of counterfeit bills, and come back for revenge.
Nagan tells him that as usual Morgan is worried about the wrong things.
He assures him that he has already taken steps to insure that Mysterio doesn't bother them.
Nagan then turns their attention back to helping their colleague Chondu, who has been driven
insane by his inability to cope with the hideous, inhuman body with Nagan created for him.
The Headmen now plan to transfer Chondu's head onto She-Hulk's body!! Nagan activates a buzz saw, and lowers it towards She-Hulk's neck!

Script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Bob Wiacek

[Celgress]

Another great classic Spidey villain.

[Silvermoth]

Sad to see for some reason the last Mysterio thread was shut down.

4B97F875-B909-4A4E-8317-7670D5146C4F.jpg

Ok it’s time marvel brought Mysterio back. He’s perfect for the current era deepfakes and Cambridge analytica. Plus, brilliant character. What is your favourite Mysterio moment? What would you like to see in the future?

[Sparko]

Just read the first three issues of the recently collected trade, Webspinners. Fantastic Mysterio story by J.M. DeMatteis.

[Silvermoth]

Oh that’s weird? There’s already a thread but I definitely did a search first?

A trick worthy of Mysterio himself haha

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Sensational She-Hulk #3 Jul 1989
"My Guest-Star,...My Enemy!"
Spider-Man is following the buzzing of his spider-sense, which leads him to an unused factory.

Spidey wonders what could possibly be so dangerous here, and then he spots Mysterio leaving the factory.
Mysterio gets into a car and drives away.

Spider-Man shoots a web-line onto the car, and follows along!

Inside the Headmen's lab, Nagan compliments Dr. Morgan on his excellent work.
Morgan taps a few keys on his control panel and She-Hulk's headless body gets up off the operating table and begins walking around!
Ruby asks about testing her strength. Morgan says that based on the other tests that he figures She-Hulk's strength is undiminished.
Nagan says that it is now time for him to add the crowning achievement!

The story takes a break for a page, while the She-Hulk's disembodied head tells a joke.
"Woman calls up her husband. Says 'Honey, I just had my face lifted!' He says 'No! Who'd steal a thing like that!'"
Someone off-panel throws a pie in She-Hulk's face, and then we return to the story, after a significant time-lapse.

Spider-Man has captured Mysterio after what was apparently a very difficult battle! The street is torn up, and it looks like a war zone.
Spider-Man asks Mysterio why he was fighting so hard to protect a briefcase full of play money.
Mysterio is shocked, and Spider-Man assumes that also means that Mysterio wasn't aware
of the little gadget hidden inside the briefcase, which sent out the signal that drew him there.

Mysterio is furious to realize that the Headmen set him up!
He tells Spider-Man that it was the Headmen who hired him, and that they had him kidnap She-Hulk for them.

As Spider-Man returns to the factory, he reviews what he knows about the Headmen.
Arthur Nagan's research on apes for inter-species transplants backfired when they stitched his head onto a gorilla body.
Jerome Morgan's experiments accidentally shrunk his skeleton, but not his skin.
Ruby Thursday's head was replaced with a globe that projects a weird plastic material.
The final member of the group was a busted psychic named Chondu.

In the lab, Chondu is out of his cage, and flying around the room in a frenzy.
Morgan had tried to sedate him, but Chondu was too agitated for the normal dose to work.
Ruby tries to restrain Chondu with several ropes from her globe, but he is too wild!
He pulls her right off the floor, but Spider-Man swings in and catches her. He then pins Chondu to the ceiling with a web.
Spider-Man turns to Ruby and asks if she isn't supposed to be dead.
Ruby says that she was, but she got better, and then she lashes out at him with a giant hammer!
Spidey manages to dodge at the last moment, thanks to his spider-sense!
Ruby then fires off a barrage of darts, but he evades them!
Nagan attacks next, but he is no match for Spider-Man's strength.
Morgan opens a panel in the wall, showing Spider-Man She-Hulk's head!
He then activates the remote, and sends She-Hulk's headless body against Spider-Man!
Morgan warns Spider-Man that if he harms She-Hulk's body, her head will die!

As Spider-Man dodges blows from the headless She-Hulk, Jennifer wakes up and is horrified to see her headless body!

Nagan orders everyone to attack Spider-Man at once, to overwhelm his danger sense!
Spidey manages to dodge the three Headmen, but She-Hulk grabs a hold of his leg, and bashes him against the wall!
Nagan says that this is excellent. He says that now they have a choice of bodies for the transplant!

Meanwhile, at the Municipal Building, Weezi rushes to give D.A. Towers the A.P.B.s on Stilt-Man's prison break.
Towers wonders why Weezi is showing him these again, since she showed them to him two hours ago, but Weezi says
that the readers weren't there then, and that it is important set-up for next issue that they know that Stilt-Man is after him.

Back at the lab, Nagan has completed the transplant of Chondu's head.
Chondu awakes, and when he rips off the surgical gown, he is horrified to see that Nagan has given him She-Hulk's female body!
Nagan explains that Spider-Man's unique biochemistry made it impossible to use his body.
However, he tries to convince Chondu that it doesn't matter, since it is the mind that matters, not the body.
Chondu isn't buying it, and starts tossing Nagan around the room in a fit of rage!
He lifts Spider-Man's body off the examination table, and tells Nagan to find a way to give him Spider-Man's body if he wants to live!
At that moment, Spider-Man wakes up, and punches Chondu in the face! Chondu's head goes flying off, much to Spidey and Jennifer's disgust.
However, when Spider-Man examines the body, he realizes that Chondu's head wasn't fully attached to the body--it was wired into the control collar at the neck.
He also figures out that this isn't really She-Hulk's body--it is a clone. Jen is trapped in a neural neutralizer harness that prevents her from feeling her body.

Soon after, She-Hulk has freed herself from the harness, and she and Spider-Man are pursuing the Headmen, who are trying to escape in some high-tech tank.
Jen tells Spidey to drop her down in front of them. Spider-Man is worried about that plan, since he is afraid Jen will get hurt, but he does as she asks.
The tank runs right into her--but She-Hulk rips it apart with her bare hands!

While Spider-Man takes out Morgan and Ruby, She-Hulk catches Nagan, who is trying to leap away.
She knocks him out, and Spider-Man wraps up the others in a web.

Once the police have taken the Headmen away, She-Hulk asks how Spider-Man realized that the body was a clone.
He tells her he found a tiny little vestigial head inside the control collar.
Jen realizes that the Headmen probably couldn't find a saw blade that would do more to her than scrape off a couple of skin cells.
As the two heroes walk away, Jen quips that at least Chondu has found a way to stay "ahead" in the world.

Script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Bob Wiacek

[Master Planner]

Besides Dr Octopus, Mysterio has the most ingenius and iconic design in Spider-Man. I love illusionist villains, especially those without superpowers. It demands time and preparation and Mysterio is always ready for a great show. Also,i love his artistic side. Whenever is to steal or defeat a foe, he won't do it in a direct and mandane way, but it would be under a complicated scheme. That's why he always followed guys like Dr Octopus. Those megalomaniac, complicated schemes, fitted Beck's desire for a grand show.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Reasonable explanation of why the comicbook character Mysterio followed the comicbook character Dr. Octopus' complicated schemes.