The Amazing Spider-Man #156
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAmazing Spider-Man #156 is the issue where two of Peter Parker's earliest civilian relationships converge in one consequential event: the marriage of Betty Brant — Peter's first serious girlfriend — and Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds, a union decades in the making that had been building since Amazing Spider-Man #18. The wedding itself carries enormous retroactive weight because Ned would later be brainwashed into serving as a stand-in Hobgoblin and ultimately murdered in Berlin, making this issue the last glimpse of the couple at their most optimistic. Peter's role as Ned's best man — watching his own former flame marry a man who will become entangled with one of Spider-Man's deadliest rogues — gives the issue a bittersweet dramatic irony that only deepens the further into the Bronze Age continuity a reader travels. The issue also introduces Mirage (Desmond Charne), a disguise-obsessed villain whose career was brief but whose debut here exemplifies the era's fondness for wedding-crashing set-pieces as a storytelling device.
In "On a Clear Day, You Can See...The Mirage!", Peter and his friends are at the wedding of Betty and Ned when the celebration takes a sudden turn—enter the enigmatic villain Mirage, whose sudden arrival threatens the joyous occasion. Written by Len Wein and brought to life by Ross Andru’s dynamic art and Mike Esposito’s sharp inks, this 1976 issue delivers a tense, unexpected twist on a classic moment, all capped by John Romita’s iconic cover.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Writer-editor Len Wein scripted the issue during his celebrated run steering the title in the mid-1970s, with Marv Wolfman listed as editor-in-chief on the Grand Comics Database's production record. Interior pencils were handled by Ross Andru, inked by Mike Esposito with Dave Hunt on backgrounds, colored by Glynis Wein, and lettered by Gaspar Saladino, while John Romita Sr. contributed the cover — a typical division of labor for Marvel Bronze Age production. The issue's on-sale date was February 10, 1976, carrying a May 1976 cover date, and it was produced during Marvel's brief regional price-test period, which is why a 30-cent cover-price variant with starburst trade dress was simultaneously distributed alongside the standard 25-cent edition.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Mirage (real name Desmond Charne), a retired actor turned costumed thief who exploits elaborate disguises — including a Daredevil suit — to commit robberies.
- Story title: 'On a Clear Day, You Can See...The Mirage!' — written by Len Wein, penciled by Ross Andru, inked by Mike Esposito (with Dave Hunt on backgrounds), cover by John Romita Sr.
- The wedding of Betty Brant and Ned Leeds is consummated in this issue; Mary Jane Watson serves as Betty's maid of honor, and Peter Parker serves as Ned's best man.
- Doctor Octopus appears in a cameo at the issue's close, disguised as a Bowery derelict; he reveals himself to Aunt May and asks for her help — a cliffhanger that continues into issue #157.
- Retrospective significance: Ned Leeds was later retroactively identified as a brainwashed stand-in for the Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley) before being murdered in Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1 (1987), making this wedding issue a cornerstone of one of the most tangled storylines in 1980s Spider-Man continuity.
- Mirage's next appearance after this issue was Marvel Two-in-One #96; he was subsequently killed alongside seventeen other villains by the Scourge of the Underworld in Captain America #319 (1986).
- A 30-cent cover-price variant exists, part of Marvel's April–August 1976 regional price-test program.
- The story was reprinted in Marvel Tales #133 (November 1981) and later collected in the Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection Vol. 9: Spider-Man or Spider-Clone? (2023), among numerous international editions.
Cast · 14 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Comic Reader #127 (1976), L'étonnant Spider-Man #58 (1976), The Amazing Spider-Man #156 (1978), L'Uomo Ragno [Collana Super-Eroi] #205 (1978), Edderkoppen #8/1978 (1978), Spindelmannen #8/1978 (1978), Strange #120 (1979), Die Spinne #7 (1980), Marvel Tales #133 (1981), El Hombre Araña / El Asombroso Hombre Araña #152 (1983), Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man #16 (2014), Marvel Comics Digest #1 (2017), The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus #5 (2021), Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection #9 (2023), Hämähäkkimies #4/1980, Σπάιντερ Μαν [Spider-Man] #382, Σπάιντερ Μαν [Spider-Man] #42, Σπάιντερ Μαν [Spider-Man] #68, The Amazing Spider-Man #12
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