Issue(s): Amazing Spider-Man #66, Amazing Spider-Man #67
Cover Date: Nov-Dec 68
Title: "The madness of Mysterio!" / "To squash a spider!"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Writer
Don Heck & John Romita Sr. / John Romita Sr. - Penciler
Mike Esposito / Jim Mooney - Inker

Review/plot:
Mysterio escapes from jail and gets right to his next revenge plot.

Peter is feeling particularly down. He feels bad about lying to Aunt May, he's upset that Gwen is still mad at him (he thinks), he's worried about the Green Goblin knowing his secret identity, Jameson won't buy his pictures of the Vulture fight, and he has to sell his bike.

So when Mysterio shows up, Peter doesn't even bother changing into Spider-Man to fight him.

But then when he works up the nerve to face up to his Aunt May (after trying to help Harry Osborn look for his father, who is going psychotic again)...

...he hears her freaking out because Mysterio is on the television threatening mass destruction in the city if Spider-Man won't fight him.

Abandoning his Aunt (to the dismay of the doctor and Aunt Watson), he heads off to Mysterio's lair...

...and after getting trapped for a while in an optical illusion that makes him appear to have shrunk to six inches...

...he defeats Mysterio.

Oh, somewhere along the way (before Peter and Harry go looking for Harry's father) Gwen sees Peter in a crowd and lets him know she is no longer mad at him. They officially start dating at this point and we get a couple of nice scenes of Peter actually being happy.

There's also an out-of-the-blue scene where we meet Joe Robertson's son Randy, who has a problem he wants to talk to Joe about.

It's interesting to see the beginning of some sub-plots that don't revolve directly around the main character, and much appreciated. Amazing Spider-Man has always been ahead of the curve in that regard, and it seems to be kicking it up a notch again. Prior to Randy coming in, Joe and Captain Stacy were discussing Spider-Man. They both are sympathetic to him, think that Jonah's reactions to him are psychotic (Joe actually uses that word, and it's true!), and they speculate that Spidey is someone they know.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 4 - development of the return of the Green Goblin plot. First Randy Roberston.

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Mysterio teamed up with the Wizard in Amazing Spider-Man annual #4.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Marvel Tales #49, Marvel Tales #50

Jim Mooney starts at Marvel after a long run at DC doing Batman and Robin during the Golden Age and a long run on Supergirl in the Silver Age. I don't know if he quit or got fired from DC, though.

Tony Isabella has a letter in #66.

Fnord: Spider-Man is not listed as a character appearing in these issues.

Heh, thanks TCP. Added him.

The splash page of #66 credits the art of the issue to Romita/Heck/Demeo (Esposito).

Thanks Luke. Looks like i had only listed the credits for issue #67. Updated it.

I think one of the 60s spider-man cartoons uses this plot (but Mysterio is a green skinned Mr Spock)

Regarding Jim Mooney, he said in this interview that his switch from DC to Marvel was made for several reasons. He said DC was starting to give him less work because his work was too dissimilar to Neal Adams' during the big surge in Adams' popularity at DC. He said Stan Lee had already offered him a job. He had been holding back from Marvel because DC had been paying a better page rate, $50 vs. $30, but he said the pay gap had narrowed by the time he jumped to Marvel.

Also worth pointing out that Jim Mooney a personal friend of Stan's, a rarity as Stan didn't seem to have industry friends interacting in his personal life, if you could call it that, but the Mooneys used to go out with Stan Lee and his wife for decades, going to restaurants and antique stores and generally socializing. So maybe Stan had his back in that regard, assuring him of regular work. Not that Mooney's work didn't validate it; he always looked great.