J. Jonah Jameson's first priority was to sell newspapers. He would go to almost any lengths just to sell one more copy. Jameson had been known to almost wreck the Daily Planet's reputation several times. But, as owner of New York's highest selling newspaper, he was allowed.
Right now, he has been presented with an interesting opportunity. A cloaked figure stood before him. He had appeared out of nowhere, with a mist of smoke surrounding him.
Jameson had been sitting at his desk, reading over the latest Daily Planet to make sure everything jived with his opinion when the mysterious figure entered. Now, Jameson found himself hanging upside down. However, gravity wasn't pulling him down, which surprised him.
The figure before him was dressed in a green outfit covering his entire body, with pencil thin black lines crisscrossing all over. He had a purple cloak, and had a glass bowl over his head. Jameson could see a green haze, something resembling a face inside the bowl.
"Mr. Jameson," the man said, in a deep, echoing voice. "I am Mysterio. I have something which I want you to print two days from now in the Daily Planet."
Jameson frowned. "Why should I?"
Mysterio snapped his fingers, and Jameson fell to the floor. "I control illusion, a much more powerful tool than reality."
Jameson panicked. "Ok-okay!" he stammered. "I'll print it! Just turn the room back to the way it was!"
Mysterio snapped his fingers a second time and the Jameson found himself sitting back at his desk, just as before Mysterio had been there. The only difference was that an envelope address to him was sitting on his desk.
"Like I'm really going to wait!" Jameson thought, and began to open it.
Mysterio reappeared behind him and grabbed his shoulder. "Two days, no more," he said, disappearing again.
Peter Parker came into the Daily Planet building two days later and looked at the latest headline. It read: SPIDER-MAN - MENACE! The article went on to describe a series of bank robberies allegedly commented by Spider-Man. The byline belonged to J. Jonah Jameson.
Peter marched up to Perry White's office and walked right in.
"Mr. White!" he said, lifting the paper, pointing to the headline. "What is this trash? Who's this Jameson guy who thinks Spider-Man is a menace?"
Perry sighed. "Kid, J. Jonah Jameson is the owner of the Daily Planet. He can put in whatever he wants. I wish I could have stopped him."
Peter mellowed a bit and lowered the paper. "Oh, sorry," he said.
Perry smiled. "No need to be, son. You didn't know, besides, Spider-Man is what got you your job. You're bound to be defensive. Now, do you have any pictures for me?"
"Not yet, Mr. White."
"Then I want you to go with Lois to the First National Bank. That was the last target of Spider-Man's robberies."
"Alleged robberies," Peter said. "I haven't seen much proof yet."
"Parker, he was caught on tape."
Peter's heart sank as he walked out into the City Room.
Lois Lane sat at her desk, watching the surveillance videos of the Spider-Man bank robberies over the internet. She tried to see if any tricks were played, or if Spidey used anything out of the ordinary. She knew that Spider-Man didn't use accessories like a web gun or suction cups.
Lois was deep into the video feed when Peter walked up.
"Hey, Lois," he said.
Lois looked up, startled, and smiled. "Peter! What brings you to my desk?"
"Mr. White asked us to go to First National Bank to investigate the Spidey sightings," Peter replied.
Lois stood up and grabbed her purse and notebook. "Good. I was about to go down there myself. Sure you can handle this by yourself? Without Jimmy?"
Peter smiled. "Yeah, I think I've learned quite a bit. Besides, it's time I start taking pictures on my own. I did get those exclusive Joker shots," he emphasized.
Lois began walking to the elevator. "Kid, you can't ride on the success of that."
Peter nodded his head as the elevator stopped on their floor. "Oh, I know. But, it was enough to get me a job."
Lois and Peter stepped onto the elevator. "Peter, you're going to fit in perfectly here," Lois said, pushing the button beside the door for the ground level.
Across town, Spider-Man appeared in another bank. This time, he was surrounded by henchmen. The henchmen ran around, grabbing purses and wallets as Spider-Man made his announcement.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I am Spider-Man! You will give me your money now!" he exclaimed, webbing up several bankgoers and tellers. He leaped over the counter and began to search the tellers for the keys to the safe deposit boxes.
Meanwhile, the henchmen rounded the patrons up into one corner and tied them up. A second group forced the bank officials out and tied them up separately.
Spider-Man walked to the safe deposit box vault and opened it. He walked over to one box, inserted the bank key, and then punched the other lock. The door opened on that and the other surrounding boxes.
While the Spider-Man and his henchmen cleaned out the vault, police sirens grew louder. Within five minutes, the police had arrived at the scene, and Spider-Man had left.
Lois and Peter were waiting outside of the Daily Planet building for a cab when Jimmy Olsen ran up.
"Lois, Peter!" he exclaimed, out of breath. "I just saw it! Another bank has been robbed!"
Lois's ears perked up and she raised her eyebrows. "Continue, Jimmy."
"It's the Second Municipal Bank branch at Third and Park Avenue," Jimmy replied.
Lois looked at Peter. "Guess we have to change our plans."
Peter looked back. "Sure. But Jimmy, who robbed the bank?"
"Spider-Man!"
Peter, Lois, and Jimmy arrived at the Second Municipal Bank as the cops had finished taking the statements of most of the witnesses. Peter and Jimmy walked around, taking pictures of evidence, police officers helping people, and of the victims. Lois walked over to the police chief.
"Chief," she acknowledged, holding out her hand. The police chief, knowing Lois from many interviews, took her hand and shook it. "Chief," Lois repeated, "how long ago did this happen?"
"Well, as near as we can tell, Spider-Man and his henchmen attacked this bank about an hour or so ago."
Peter tensed when he heard the police chief speak those words. "Jimmy," he asked, "how long before you got to the Planet did you see the robbery?"
Jimmy looked up, thinking. "Let's see. I stopped to take pictures of them running away, and then ran back, getting stopped here and there." Jimmy turned his head back to face Peter. "I'd say about fifteen or twenty minutes."
"And then it took five minutes to get a taxi, another thirty to get through the traffic," Peter mumbled.
"What's that?" Jimmy asked.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just figuring."
"Okay," Jimmy said, wearily, walking over to Lois and the chief.
Peter stared at the webbing on the counter in front of him. He knew that his own webbing disintegrated within an hour of using it. The substance in front of him seemed to still have its original properties. It was just the same as it had been when it had been shot out of a webshooter. Peter took some more pictures. A police officer came over.
"Excuse me," Peter said. "I'm a science student, and this webbing is really fascinating. Is there by any chance that I can get some to study?"
"Well, it's evidence in the case. However, if you leave your name and a phone number, then when the case is closed, we can give some to you."
Peter thought for a second. Would it really do him any good afterwards? He weighed the options. This fake stuff could last a while, and maybe be useful against some enemies. However, it would not put him on the track of the imposter, as the case would be closed by then. Peter decided that it was more good to get a sample whenever he could, before or after the case was closed. He quickly pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, and jotted down his name, his home phone, and a Daily Planet number, just in case. Peter handed the paper to the cop.
"Thanks," he said.
"No problem, man," the cop replied.
Peter could see that Lois and Jimmy were getting ready to leave, so he walked to the door. He could tell that they would be discussing the case for quite some time.
Mysterio sat in his special "office", hidden beneath the catacombs of his real office. He had sent his henchmen home long ago with their cut of the deal. He looked at the stacks of money all around him.
He laughed. "Ha! This is perfect! I can go around, committing robberies as Spider-Man, and no one will believe it's not him! Of course, this makes up for what happened the first time. It was pure luck that I was at the bank when Spider-Man opened his account! Now, I will empty all of the banks in the city! At the expense of his reputation!"
Mysterio laughed for a long time.
In the cab ride back to the office, Lois, Jimmy, and Peter discussed what they had seen so far.
"The police chief says that Spider-Man was flanked by about a dozen or so henchmen dressed all in black," Lois said.
Peter shook his head. "That doesn't sound right. Why would Spider-Man need henchmen? He's never used them before."
"Hmmm. Interesting point," Lois replied.
"I looked at the sample of webbing that was left behind," Peter announced. "It was still there. Spider-Man's webbing usually disappears after an hour or do."
"So?" Jimmy asked. "Maybe Spidey changed his webbing."
"Still, it's a lead," Lois said.
"First National Bank isn't too far away. Should we still head over there?" Peter asked.
"What can we find there? The crime is way over, there's no hope of finding evidence," Jimmy retorted.
"Yes, but the people at the bank would know something," Lois replied. She leaned up to the driver, taking notice that they were near the street that the bank was on. "Cabbie, please take us to First National Bank."
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the cabbie replied. "No can do!"
"Why not?!" Lois exclaimed.
"Look!" the cabbie said, pointing to the intersection where they were supposed to turn at.
"It's gone!" Peter shouted.
Perry White was relaxing in his office, leaning back in his chair. It was a relatively easy day. No major news stories, no late breaking news. And most importantly, Jameson hadn't tried to force his opinion on the Daily Planet's front page. Yes, it had been a good day.
Then the phone rang.
Perry jerked up and picked up the phone. "Perry White, Daily Planet," he answered.
Lois Lane was on the other end of the line. "Perry? This is Lois. Instead of going to First National Bank, we went to Second Municipal, where the latest robbery happened."
"Yes, and?"
"On our way back, we wanted to stop by First National. Anyway, we got to the intersection, and found that the street doesn't exist anymore!"
"What?!"
Meanwhile, across town, in the same police station that Spider-Man had been in only a week ago, depositing the Joker, the police were getting ready to transport said villain to another facility, better equipped to contain the madness of the Joker. The Joker had been quite testy, so he had been tranquilized. However, just as he was being loaded onto the truck, he woke up.
And he was mad!
He was wearing a straitjacket, and strapped onto a board which the cops were carrying. Joker began shaking violently and shaking the board, trying to get the officers to drop him.
However, the officers transporting him were very strong. Their grip could not be loosened easily.
The bigger of the two (although not by much) said to Joker, "Give it up, crazy guy. You're not getting away."
Joker grinned. "Wanna bet? You really think I would be unprepared for a situation like this?" He bit down, and the officers heard something shatter inside of the clown's mouth.
Suddenly, the second guy began laughing uncontrollably. "What's so . . . funny? . . . ha. Ha ha!" the first guy asked, slowing down, and then beginning to laugh himself.
The two dropped the Joker, and caused the bindings to come loose. As the officers fell down to the ground, Joker slipped out of the straitjacket, using a little trick he had learned long ago.
"Now, for my revenge on a little pesky arachnid!" he exclaimed.
At that moment, he saw a shadow fly over him. He looked up and saw a black creature moving across the sky.
"Hmmmm. Looks like there's a flying rodent in this town, too."
Joker used that as an omen to actually take the time to plan out his next attack on the wallcrawler.
Peter stared through the haze of smoke and fog, staring at where a street should have been. Instead, he saw a field, gradually becoming clearer and clearer. He felt a tingling sensation in his head and heard a strange buzzing, just like the night Uncle Ben died.
He knew he had to change into Spider-Man, but how could he with Lois and Jimmy around? Suddenly, a solution entered his head.
Peter walked over to Jimmy, trying to look as sick as he could. "Hey, Jim. I don't feel too good. Could you take this camera and take pictures? I'm going to go sit down somewhere."
Jimmy took the camera and patted Peter on the back as he left. "I hope you feel better."
"Thanks!"
Peter walked over behind a building. Making sure no one was watching, he turned his suit on. The nano-machines flooded over his body, turning him into Spider-Man. He checked to see if the small camera was in the pouch around his waist. It was, and he set it.
Spidey swung back to where Jimmy was.
"Hey, I was in the area and saw something strange," he said. "What's wrong?"
"This street has disappeared!" Jimmy replied.
"Disappeared?" Spidey walked to where the intersection used to be and looked down. Something looked strange, almost like the road was hot. He carefully walked forward, down the middle of what should have been road.
"Odd," he thought. "This feels like pavement, even though it looks like grassland. And the farther I go in, the thicker the fog is."
As Spider-Man walked farther down the road, he noticed that the fog wasn't getting thicker because he was moved farther away from where Jimmy and Lois were standing. It was getting thicker, because it was increasing. He could barely make out Jimmy and Lois's silhouettes now.
"What craziness is this?" Spider-Man asked.
"It is not craziness, Spider-Man," a deep, echoing voice said. "It is illusion."
"This is madness!"
"NO! The madness is all in your mind!"
"Show yourself!" Spidey demanded, looking around, trying to find the body that was the source of the voice.
"Very well." Mysterio shimmered into view in front of Spider-Man.
"Who are you?" Spidey asked. "Why did you get rid of this street?"
"Who am I? I am Mysterio! And I didn't get rid of this street. I simply made an illusion to be bait."
"Bait? For what?"
"For you, Spider-Man. For you. I really have been waiting a while to do this. And now, I shall have my revenge!"
Continued in Spider-Man #5! Why is Mysterio so angry at Spider-Man? Who is Mysterio? Will Spider-Man be able to defeat this new foe, and restore the street to its original state? Answers to these questions, plus Spider-Man upgrades his costume, accessorizes, and then meets a brand new villain! You can not miss the next issue!