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Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #11-13 - Stan Lee/Steve Ditko

Now, on Spider-Man, the return of Doctor Octopus!

Peter finds out Doctor Octopus is being released from prison and heads down to talk the warden out of it, which doesn't really work. He comes up with plan B - a little spider-shaped tracking device.

On the night of Doctor Octopus' release, Spider-Man is waiting. There's a car waiting and Peter is startled to find that the driver is Betty Brant!

He learn that Betty's there because of her brother. He's a lawyer, but his gambling debts put him under the thumb of a criminal called Blackie, that wants Doctor Octopus to free him from jail.

Peter tracks the signal to Philadelphia, where he meets up with Betty. She finally confesses her secrets to him. Peter reassures her that Spider-Man is on the case and everything will be fine. He even thinks it’s time to tell her his own secret.

He misses the jail break, but he tracks Octavius and Blackie to an old ship. Unfortunately, Betty and her brother are being held hostage there. Spider-Man struggles with Blackie for his gun, and Betty’s brother gets fatally shot while trying to protect her. In the heat of the moment, Betty blames Spider-Man for killing her brother.

He tries to defend himself, but he also has Doctor Octopus to deal with. In the end, he escapes, but Blackie is back in police custody and Betty is cleared.

She admits to Peter that Spider-Man is not at fault for her brother, but she also says she couldn't stand to see him again and be remembered of her pain.

She goes back to New York and gets her job back, while Octavius goes on a crime rampage all over the country.

However, since Peter doesn't have the funds to follow him, he also returns to New York for the opportunity to end Spider-Man once and for all.

He barges into the J. Jonah Jameson's office to kidnap Betty. He then orders Jameson to put an ad out for Spider-Man to come find him at Coney Island. And to send a photographer to document his victory over Spider-Man.

Jameson complies, hoping to get an exclusive, and Spider-Man pretends he doesn’t already know what’s going on.

Unfortunately, Peter is coming down with a virus that saps his spider-powers and Doctor Octopus defeats him easily. He unmasks him in front of Betty, Jameson and a random policeman, but everyone assumes Peter was just pretending to be Spider-Man. That earns him Betty’s gratitude, a scolding from Aunt May, and new found admiration from Liz Allan at school, much to Flash Thompson’s chagrin.

Once Peter gets better, he’s ready to tackle Doctor Octopus again. Doc Ock decided to take a page from Namor’s playbook: he released a bunch of animals from the zoo and is now causing random mayhem all over the city to get Spider-Man’s attention.

Their fight takes them to an abandoned sculpture studio, where they inadvertently start a fire. Peter barely escapes and Octavius gets trapped under a statue. He gets rescued by firefighters and arrested again, while raving that Spider-Man didn’t defeat him, the fire did.

We finish with the introduction of Mysterio. Formerly a stunt performer turned special effects supervisor, Mysterio figured he could imitate Spider-Man. He developed the gadgets necessary and embarks on a life of crime, putting the blame on Spider-Man - to the point Peter thinks he’s leading a double life!

(He even checks out a psychiatrist, but figures it would be a bad idea to let his mouth run off around the wrong person.)

Jameson is having a good time. He reprints his editorials detailing how Spider-Man is a menace and partners with Mysterio for an exclusive, when he challenges Spider-Man for a fight on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Having uncovered the secrets of becoming Spider-Man, Mysterio decides to build a costume of his own and become a hero/secret villain under his own name. The fishbowl helmet allows him to see without being seen and he develops a thick gas that also interferes with Peter’s spider-sense.

Mysterio wins the first fight, but Peter wises up for round two and gets Mysterio monologuing into a recorder, clearing his name, before defeating him.