Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1976-05-01 00:04:10 |
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Amazing Spider-Man #156
Issue(s): Amazing Spider-Man #156
Cover Date: May 76
Title: "On a clear day, you can see... the Mirage!"
Credits:
Len Wein - Writer
Ross Andru - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker
Review/plot:
Everyone gets dressed up to go to the wedding of Betty Brant and Ned Leeds.
Some loser named Mirage tries to rob the wedding (and all the others taking place in the same reception hall). Mirage has a bunch of goons who dress like him, something you usually only see on the Adam West Batman television show.
Peter sneaks away to change into Spidey and defeats him. No one is overly suspicious that Peter was gone for so long. However, Mary Jane does shout "Where's Peter?" when he leaves. In light of the retcon that she knew his identity all along, we can wonder if she was deliberately trying to blow his secret ID so that he didn't have to hide it anymore.
After the wedding, Aunt May returns home to find a disheveled Doctor Octopus waiting for her.
Quality Rating: D+
Historical Significance Rating: 3 - wedding of Betty Brant and Ned Leeds
Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: Marvel Tales #133
Inbound References (2): showCharacters Appearing: Aunt May, Aunt Watson, Betty Brant, Doctor Octopus, Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe 'Robbie' Robertson, Liz Allan, Mamie Muggins, Martha Robertson, Mary Jane Watson, Mirage (Desmond Charne), Ned Leeds, Randy Robertson, Spider-Man 1976 / Box 10 / EiC Upheaval Previous:
Iron Man #82-83Up:
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Power Man #32
Comments
The Mirage robs a Jewish wedding, causing a guy in a yarmulke to yell "OY VEY!" Not very sensitive, but it made me laugh the first time I read it.
The title is taken from the 1970 Barbara Streisand film "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever".
I remember having a kids book about Spider-Man as a kid. Two of the featured villains, alongside classics like Lizard and Sandman, were Cyclone and Mirage, so I grew up thinking of them as much more prominent villains in the Spider-Man stories than they actually were. That made me a little bummed when Mirage is eventually offed with the rest in the Bar with No Name.
Len Wein recycles the resolution of the fight with Mirage in a DC comic, Gunfire #6, many years later. At least that time the antagonist is the Mirror Master, an established baddie.
When this story was reprinted in Marvel Tales #133, there was apparently a "special no-prize section" admitting that Spider-Man's Spider-Sense was used incorrectly, and challenged readers to provide an explanation. I have no idea what that was referring to.
I'd guess it's the bit where, after Peter thinks he's beaten all of Mirage's henchmen, the real Mirage ambushes him, kicking him in the head from behind, with Peter saying "Wha--?!?" in the panel (like he's Chief Wiggum or something).
To be honest, the whole concept (a visual effects villain against a guy who can tell whether there's a real danger or not) seems a bad use of the Spider-Sense to me. At least Mysterio throws in some real dangers amongst his illusions. I think Peter should be easily able to ignore the illusions and punch out the real Mirage.
Mirage's only other appearance before he ends up getting Scourged is in Marvel Two In One, as one of the gang of villains trying to attack the hospitalised Thing. He's seen being punched by Daredevil, which suggests Mirage was no good at finding a hero that visual illusions might actually work on. Who knows, maybe there's an untold story where he fought Shroud too.
The Marvel Handbook suggests that Mirage developed a way to jam the Spider-sense, just as Mysterio did before in ASM #13.
