Writer: Tom DeFalco Artists: Lee Weeks (p), Bob McLeod (i)
Publisher: Marvel
Plot: Mysterio is alive...or is he?...or isn't he?...or is he?
Quentin Beck is, or was, Mysterio. Kevin Smith gets his hands on Daredevil for an eight issue series, and had Beck commit suicide at the end of issue seven. Bullets in the head. Dead. Buried. Dead. He's dead, right, Mysterio is dead. At least, Beck is dead.
But now he's back. At least, Mysterio is back. At least, his costume is back. Jack O'Lantern, old time Spidey villain, talks to a Mysterio-garbed figure that doesn't talk back, except in the deranged Jack's head. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that Jack has stumbled into one of Mysterio's old lairs (like all old Spidey villains, Mysterio had hundreds of the buggers hidden over New York - in fact it makes me wonder how there's any room for normal people in NY with all the real estate being taken up by secret villain lairs).
So, let's say that Jack has found a stash of Mysterios gases and gadgets, and an old Mysterio costume, that when he talks to he hears a reply in his head (because he's crazy, of course).
What to do next? Well, why not drive Daredevil and Spidey crazy in thinking Mysterio is still alive - which is what he proceeds to do.
Now I'm hoping I'm wrong in my supposition about Jack and what he is doing, because it is all so bloody obvious and would ruin the point of this three-part miniseries - you know the ending, the heroes break into the lair and see the Mysterio figure, which they knock over and it's revealed to be on a store dummy or something...boring.
On the other hand, Beck is dead, and resurrecting him would really devalue everything we ever read in a Marvel comic in future - what's the point, if a bunch of bullets in the head aren't guaranteed to kill someone? Of course, there may be the third way, that someone else is in the suit, the new Mysterio (his son or brother or something).
Nice touches this issue include a line of Mysterio based action figures, and a fantastic last page shot that makes you want to break into DeFalco's house and steal the script for issue two. Worth a look if you like either DD or Spidey.
