Regrettably for the Circus, Rick Jones was one of the victims of their capers, and his involvement led to the involvement of the Hulk, as Rick briefly had telepathic control over the Hulk. He resisted the Ringmaster's hypnotism when the Ringmaster tried to bill him as 'The Monster of the Age', leading to the Circus' arrest. After a brief stretch in prison, the Circus visited New York City, where they battled both Spider-Man and Daredevil. The Ringmaster was briefly able to hypnotise Spider-Man. The Circus' core members later briefly operated as the Masters of Menace, a name thought up by Princess Python, after being released from prison and throwing the Ringmaster off the team, replacing him with the Clown. They were again captured by Spider-Man.