Easily Marvel Comics’ most recognisable superhero, unsuspecting teenage nerd Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and learned the meaning of power and responsibility in August 1962. Since then, the Amazing Spider-Man has featured in cartoons, movies, videogames, and countless comic books. To coincide with his day of celebration, I’m dedicating every Monday of August to everyone’s favourite web-head!
Story Title: “The Man Called Electro!”
Published: 12 November 1963 (cover-dated: February 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Steve Ditko
The Background:
After his success with the Fantastic Four, Stan Lee (Marvel’s editor and head writer at the time) continued his winning streak with teenage superhero Peter Parker/Spider-Man, whose debut in Amazing Fantasy #5 was a best seller. To capitalise on his subsequent popularity, Marvel had Spider-Man headline other comics and match wits against some of comics’ most colourful and memorable villains. Former electrician turned supervillain crook Maxwell “Max” Dillon was transformed into Electro in this, the ninth issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, thanks to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Unlike most of Spider-Man’s villains, Electro was a simple man who turned to crime after his accident, relishing the incredible power bestowed upon him. While initially a small time nuisance, Electro became a founding member of the Sinister Six, received more than one power boost over the years, and even destroyed the Daily Bugle office building! Electro received a dramatic redesign in Marvel’s Ultimate comics, one that influenced his much-decried live-action debut in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Webb, 2014), and featured prominently as a low-level threat in various Spidey videogames and cartoons. Electro also got a notable redesign when he returned to live-action in 2021, got a significantly reworked backstory for his appearance in the 1990’s Spider-Man cartoon, and has secured his place as one of Spidey’s most recognisable villains.
The Review:
The first electrifying (heh) tale of Electro starts with a typical day in New York City for Spider-Man. To the amazement of the startled bystanders, the web-slinger is seen leaping from rooftop to rooftop presumably on a matter of life and death. As a bunch of crooks shoot it out with New York’s finest, the tense stalemate seems to end when Spidey swings overhead. However, both parties are stunned when the young superhero simply passes by without intervening. Arriving in Queens, Spider-Man races through the streets, changing to his civilian identity as he goes, and arrives at his childhood home, where his sickly Aunt May lies in bed. Peter dotes on his grateful old aunt, delivering her the medicine she so badly needs but, as she sleeps, worries over her frail condition and the severity off her illness. While the troubled youngster begins his nightly vigil, the man once known as Max Dillon garbs himself in a garish green and yellow costume and charges his incredible electrical powers in anticipation of his debut as Electro. Seeking to challenge himself, Electro targets an armoured car carrying a gold shipment. When the armed guards mock him, Electro proves his power by zapping their wrists with “electric shocks” and surrounding them with a ring of electricity, terrifying them into giving in to his demands for the gold. The next morning, Peter’s alarmed when the doctor tells him that Aunt May is worsening and must be admitted to hospital (though, naturally, the old dear is more concerned with Peter’s health). Peter’s so distracted by his aunt’s deteriorating condition that he appears aloof at school, ignoring his classmate’s taunting and giving Eugene “Flash” Thompson the cold shoulder when the arrogant knob tries to reach out to the troubled teenager. Peter’s mood lifts later that day when Aunt May’s condition improves, and when he finds Betty Brant sitting with his old aunt. Betty notes that Peter seems to be bottling up his emotions and putting on a calm façade and, when he swings around the city as Spider-Man, his inner monologue reveals a boy desperate to raise the cash needed for his aunt’s operation.
Peter’s issues only worsen as a rainstorm sweeps the city, ruining any chance of taking decent photos of Spider-Man and getting cash from his tight-fisted employer, J. Jonah Jameson. Speaking of the grouch, we jump to the next day to find Jonah getting some figures from the Forest Hills Bank, meaning he’s at ground zero when Electro attacks! Toying with the accountant and Jonah with his electrical bursts, Electro brazenly rips open the vault with his powers, grabs a bag of cash, and scales a building across the street thanks to magnetising his hands and feet! Naturally, Jonah sees this (and Electro’s familiarity with him and having spotted Spidey swinging past moments later) as proof that Electro is Spider-Man in disguise and immediately prints a scathing headline, and loudly shouts his accusations at anyone who’ll listen. Predictably, many New Yorkers believe Jonah’s claims despite the lack of proof, which only exacerbates the stress Peter feels about his aunt’s operation. After Jonah refuses Peter’s request for a loan, Peter realises he can cash in if he captures Electro and immediately swings out as Spider-Man in search of the crook. After a couple of false alarms, Spidey’s spider-sense alerts him to Electro’s presence and he finds him searching for a hidden safe using his bizarre powers. After snapping some pictures, Spidey leaps into action, barely dodging Electro’s bolts and temporarily blinding him with his webs. However, Spidey receives the shock of his life (literally) when he grabs Electro and is zapped by a burst of electricity so powerful that it knocks the youngster unconscious. When he recovers, Peter successfully dupes Jonah with doctored photographs, getting the money he needs but finding himself wracked by guilt and shame for stooping to such measures. Elated to have the “proof” he so desperately wanted, Jonah prints a story confirming that Spidey is Electro, shocking the civilians and taking the heat off the real Electro.
While gloating in his secret lair, Electro ruminates on his origin. Some time ago, Max Dillon, ordinary electric lineman, was a selfish ass who refused to help an endangered co-worker unless he was paid for his time. After rescuing his co-worker from a high-tension pole, fate saw Max struck by lightning; incredibly, rather than being killed, Max found himself transformed by the electricity. Realising he could generate and control the element, Max experimented with his powers, constructing a harness to perpetuate his electrical charge and learning to toss lightning bolts. Back in the present, Electro breaks some prisoners out of jail to recruit some muscle for his operation and, though he’s compelled to intervene when he learns of the jailbreak, Peter’s forced to stay at the hospital while Aunt May goes into the operating theatre. Though the prisoners refuse to listen to Electro’s warnings and clash with the guards and cops, Spider-Man’s absence only strengthens belief that he and Electro are the same man. Thankfully, Aunt May’s operation is a success, much to Peter’s relief. However, when he insists on taking pictures of the riot, Peter’s shocked when Betty accuses him of thrill seeking. Still, free from the worry about his aunt, Peter leaps into action as Spider-Man, much to Jonah’s chagrin, and slips on rubber gloves and shoes to negate Electro’s powers. After easily manhandling the violent inmates, Spidey tackles Electro, using his scientific know-how to redirect Electro’s lightning bolts with a steel chair and landing a solid left hook. After receiving a quick power boost, Electro grabs a discarded gun and demonstrates his awesome power by turning a flurry of sand Spidey kicks at him into glass! Even with his rubbers, Spidey finds Electro’s attacks too aggressive, forcing him to think on his feet and use a nearby water hose to short circuit Electro. Afterwards, Peter smugly downplays Jonah’s threats to fire and sue him for selling him fraudulent pictures by selling him pictures of the fight between Spidey and Electro. Additionally, not only is Aunt May still doing well but Peter and Betty resolve to work through their misunderstanding and explore their feelings for each other by the story’s end.
The Summary:
For a story titled “The Man Called Electro!”, Electro is more of a secondary concern here. Instead, the primary focus is on Aunt May’s mysterious and worrisome illness. It’s possible that a previous issue detailed exactly what was wrong with her, judging by Peter’s internal monologue, but she’s definitely in a bad state here. Aunt May’s so ill that Peter’s forced to ignore both regular street crime and a prison riot to bring her medicine and be by her side. However, he’s more disturbed by the depths he sinks to pay for her operation. After being surprised by Electro’s incredible power, Peter’s left without any photographs of the super-powered crook and forced to super-imposed himself over the pictures he does have, providing Jonah with “proof” that Spidey is Electro and leaving Peter filled with shame at being so deceitful. Sadly, this aspect isn’t explored beyond a few panels. On the one hand, I’m glad as I could easily see it leading to an unnecessary recap of Uncle Ben’s death. On the other hand, seeing Peter shun his responsibilities and forced down such a dark path could’ve made for good drama. It’s still here, obviously, as both Betty and even Flash note Peter’s changed demeanour, but I’ve seen Peter in similar situations before where he worried himself into a fever and was driven into a panic attack or blind rage from his various dramas. Jonah is on top form here, forcing misshapen jigsaw pieces to fit his narrative of Spider-Man turning to crime as Electro and publishing his wild claims without any proof. Not that half of New York requires proof, though, as the disturbingly fickle and easily swayed civilians find themselves doubting the web-slinger simply based on a sensationalist headline. This issue really hammers home how devoted Peter is to Aunt May and how much she cares for her nephew. While she mollycoddles him a little too much for his age and disregards her own health in favour of his, Peter ignores everything (from his studies to his responsibilities as Spider-Man, to his peers and even Betty) to care for her and to get her the help she needs, even if it is unclear what’s wrong with her and what operation she underwent (I assume it was something to do with her heart).
These factors aid in Electro slipping under Spider-Man’s radar for a while. It’s only when the Daily Bugle prints scandalous headlines that Peter gets investing in tracking down the super-powered crook, and he ensures his aunt’s welfare before tackling Electro again. Electro has incredible power: he can super-charge his body to electrocute on contact, toss lightning bolts, magnetise his hands and feet to climb walls, and basically manipulate anything with an electrical current. Garbed in an elaborate costume that’s both ridiculous and iconic, Electro’s nearly inexhaustible powers means that, on paper, he should be a formidable foe. Indeed, Spider-Man’s reflexes barely avoid Electro’s attacks, which strike with (presumably) lightning-fast speed, and Spidey dons rubbers to protect against Electro’s current…and even then, he struggles to ward off Electro’s whip-like lightning in the finale. However, rather than being a significant threat, Electro sticks to his working-class roots and resorts to petty crimes. Limiting himself to knocking off armoured vans and banks, Electro’s all about the cash, which he spends kitting out a vast lab to super-charge his body. It isn’t until he starts making headlines that Electro assembles a crew and, though he demonstrates his powers in the prison break, he doesn’t have a commanding enough presence to sway the inmates (at least, not until they turn to him for protection from Spider-Man). Most tellingly, after being defeated by a simple water hose, Electro is unmasked by the wall-crawler…who naturally has no idea who he is, setting up the long-running thread of Electro being a nobody with extraordinary powers that he doesn’t use to their full potential. However, he makes for a visually interesting villain, and I enjoyed the well-balanced focus on drama and action in this story, especially regarding Aunt May and Jonah. Though I would’ve liked to see Peter’s shame explored further, it was amusing seeing Jonah publicly humiliated and then readily accepted Peter’s next set of photos as real after being duped the first time. I also liked the suggestion that there’s more to Betty than we (and Peter) realises and that Spidey was forced to think on his feet to find was to counter and subdue Electro’s otherwise awesome powers.
My Rating:
Great Stuff
Did you enjoy Electro’s debut story? Are you a fan of the villain and, if so, what are some of your favourite Electro moments and stories? Would you have also liked to see Peter’s shame explored in more detail? What did you think to Electro’s origins and the way he utilised his powers? Would you be so easily swayed by one of Jonah’s headlines? Where does Electro rank in your tier list of Spidey villains? Share your opinions on Electro in the comments, support me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other Spider-Man content.
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