Episode #5 - The Menace Of Mysterio
Original Airdate February 18, 1994

Mysterio, a master of illusion and special effects, masquerades as Spider-Man while committing crimes to convince J. Jonah Jameson and the public that Spidey's gone bad. Finally, with the help of Police Detective Terry Lee, Spider-Man locates the illusionist in an old studio and struggles through a deadly special effects maze to capture the villain and clear his own name.

Credits
Written By: Stan Berkowitz, Marv Wolfman and John Semper
Music Composed By: Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahchi
Animation Services By: Toyko Movie Shinsha (TMS)
Guest Starring: Christopher Daniel Barnes as Spider-Man/ Peter Parker, Ed Asner as J. Jonah Jameson, Linda Gary as Aunt May, Greg Berger as Mysterio/Quentin Beck and Sara Ballantine as Mary Jane Watson
Based On Amazing Spider-Man #13

Review: There's no simpler way of reviewing this episode than saying this; Everything about this episode shinned. It wasn't a dark, earth shattering event, it was about Spider-Man being a superhero, trying to catch the bad guy who has been dragging his name through the dirt.

This was classic Spider-Man though, adapted from Amazing Spider-Man #13, it introduced Mysterio perfectly, and was aided by some of the best animation TMS have ever done. The series may have had complicated designs which where difficult to animate, but, damn, when they got it right, it looked spectacular. Everything from the webs on his costume, to the smoke surrounding Mysterio whenever he makes his appearance looks great.

The villain of the piece, Mysterio, is by far one of the cooler villains in this show. I've always loved his character in the comics, and it's great to see him translated so well. He had a great design, a fantastic voice. His motivation was good, and he was very well developed, despite the short amount of time. Mysterio was definatly one of the many things this show nailed.

As per usual, there's a fair amount of humor to be found in this episode, mostly due to J. Jonah Jameson, a character who they nailed in this series, thanks to some wonderful writing, but mainly due to the fantastic Ed Asner voicing the character.

It also introduces one of the better characters of the series, Detective Terri Lee, who was one of the main people who thought Spider-Man was a hero, but often disagreed with the way he went about saving the city. The series had a very interesting look at the way people in Peters life affected the people when he was in his 'uniform'.

Plus, it has to be said. It doesn't get any cooler than a villain having a fishbowl for a head!

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