Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #156

Fresh off the previous night dealing with the W.H.O. computer, Spider-Man returns to his apartment, not having gotten any sleep! He lands on the roof of his building, only to get attacked by his landlord Mrs. Muggins with a broom! Thinking he’s a pervert, Mrs. Muggins swings her broom at him until Spidey tumbles off the roof. She looks over the edge to find Spidey gone, and around the corner, he hopes she’ll think he was just a hallucination. He crawls into his apartment and discovers his milk has gone bad, signaling that his day may not be any better than his night! Elsewhere, that same mysterious derelict (from ASM #152 and 154) plans to rob a liquor store when he’s once again haunted by something unseen! The source of his anguish vanishes and, unable to stand any more indignity, sets out to find someone he knows will help! Meanwhile, the various supporting characters get ready for Betty and Ned’s wedding that afternoon, especially J. Jonah Jameson, being the one to give Betty away. As each of the supporting cast heads out to the wedding, we find Peter still at home, struggling with his bow tie. He answers a knock at the door to find Mary Jane telling him they’re running late. She helps him with his bow tie, while apologizing for how possessive she’s been lately. After a flirtatious moment between the two, they set out for the wedding as well.

Peter and MJ arrive at the location for Betty and Ned’s wedding and quickly find the right hall in the enormous building. Peter tries to sneak in some food while MJ looks for Betty, but just as he’s made it through the crowd of people at the buffet line, MJ comes to tell him the ceremony is starting! Betty and Ned’s wedding begins without fuss as the minster begins his remarks, Peter and MJ right beside Ned and Betty, acting as their best man and maid of honor respectively. However, things won’t be peaceful for much longer, as down in the lobby a costumed man called Mirage and his henchmen arrive. They knock out the front desk attendant with a tranquilizer dart and head to fulfill their objective, robbing every wedding currently being held there! They move one by one through the wedding halls, robbing each wedding in turn, until they arrive at Betty and Ned’s. They interrupt the ceremony to announce their robbery and dissuade anyone from trying to stop them! Needing to find a way to change to Spidey, Peter covertly snags a light switch with his webs, plunging the whole room into darkness. By the time the lights come back on, Spider-Man is on the scene!

Mirage’s goons fire at Spidey as he crawls along the ceiling, until he attempts to attack Mirage, but ends up attacking thin air as Mirage is suddenly somewhere else! Spidey dodges the gunfire and snags each of the guns from the henchmen, before handling things more directly. After taking out the henchmen, all that’s left is Mirage, who pulls the same disappearing act as before. Disappearing and reappearing each time Spidey tries to grab him, he has no trouble striking back at Spidey, knocking him down a flight of stairs. Eventually, Spidey realizes that sections of Mirage’s mask are projecting 3-D holograms while the real one stands nearby cloaked, hence the seeming disappearing. Unable to determine exactly where the real Mirage is, Spidey swings up to the ceiling and drops the entire, very large chandelier down onto the hall below! Covering such a wide area, the chandelier lands and Mirage’s holograms fade, as the unconscious form of the real Mirage appears beneath the wreckage, no longer cloaked. Spidey leaves him for the police and returns to the wedding, giving the excuse that Spider-Man and Mirage’s fight prevented him from getting back sooner. With all of the distractions gone, Betty and Ned get married as planned and ride off in their car, just after Aunt May catches the bouquet, while everyone else looks on in happiness!

In an epilogue, Aunt May makes her way back to her house, after declining an invite out with everyone else. She enters to find the shaggy derelict man sitting in her house! Utterly shocked, she tells him she’ll scream, until he reveals his identity: Doctor Octopus, back from the dead, and in need of her help! To be continued!