Issue(s): Questprobe #2
Cover Date: Jan 85
Title: "Mysterio times two!"
Credits:
Al Milgrom - Writer
Jim Mooney - Penciler
Jim Mooney - Inker
Martha Conway - Assistant Editor
Bob Budiansky - Editor

Review/plot:
The first part of the Questprobe series, which tied into a failed line of text based video games, had to get pushed back in publication time because it featured the "dumb" Hulk. This second issue fits better during the period when it was printed, which kind of kills the momentum for the story and/or assumes that the "Chief Examiner" has been taking his sweet time collecting the data he needs. I guess that's ok considering that this series was supposed to be a twelve issue mini that never really satisfactorily wraps up (it'll be addressed in Quasar).

The plot of this issue tries to get mileage out of the idea that the Chief Examiner looks a lot like Mysterio.

But it's not very good.

In the end Spider-Man gets tricked into the Chief Examiner's portal, which is when/where the Questprobe game takes place. In the end Mysterio is captured and the Chief Examiner exits the scene without Spidey knowing what's going on.

Readers do get some info about the origin of these eggs and gems, however.

It seems the gem is sentient, and evil, and the eggs are designed to explode if the gems ever start misbehaving. There are actually many gems, all of which are fragments of a single larger whole.

They are also behind the Black Fleet that is threatening the planet of the guy Durgan we saw in issue #1. But the gem is also secretly manipulating the Chief Examiner. In this issue it tries to get him to get Mysterio in the portal as well as Spider-Man, so that the gem can analyze an "evil" specimen.

Bio-gems. Natter energy eggs. Since this never really went anywhere i'm kind of treating it all as gibberish but we'll learn more when we get to the relevant Quasar issues.

I did own this game when i was a kid, and while those eggs and gems confused me, it was a decent game for its time. I preferred the more robust text-adventure Infocom games, however, and i never managed to beat this one. I tried to download an abandonware copy recently but i couldn't get it running. As i remember, aside from the existence of the gems, it had nothing to do with this comic.

In the lettercol Scott Adams runs through a longish list of which computer systems the game will be available on, with some versions being sold through Commodore and some sold directly by Adams. What a pain in the ass it must have been to maintain so many different versions for compatibility purposes.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This takes place after Spider-Man has given up his symbiote costume.

References:

• Several unfootnoted references in an opening scene introducing Spider-Man:
  • Mary Jane revealing that she knows Spidey's identity, and Spidey learning that his black costume was an alien symbiote - Amazing Spider-Man #258.
    
  • Joe Robertson not satisfied with the quality of the pictures he's been getting from Peter (an ongoing concern in all Spidey titles).
    
  • Aunt May not speaking to Peter since she found out he dropped out of Grad school in Amazing Spider-Man #253.
    
  • The fact that the Black Cat only likes Peter when he's Spider-Man, something that came to light in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #87.
• There is an actual footnote referring to the fact that Peter was able to get photos of the battle with the Black Cat, Cloak & Dagger, Silvermane, the Answer, and the Kingpin from Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #94-95 and Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #96.
  
• "To find out what really happened to Spidey's powers, get the Scott Adams Questprobe Adventure Computer Game - More details in this issue's letter column."
  
• And since it's been so long, i'll drop a link to Questprobe #1.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Oh, I'm going to enjoy this site.

In real life you and I would be best friends.

Wonder if Mysterio took a few cues from the Chief Examiner in the movie based Spider-Man 2 game?

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120425213348/villains/images/c/ce/Mysterio_(Spider-Man_2).jpg

Chief Examiner was mentioned recently funny enough, by "Computer Graham." A guy who could enter video games who listed the Chief Examiner as one of the villains he would stop from entering reality, claiming further that they all just sort of gave up when the games became too complex in design.