"THE COMING OF THE SCORPION!"
Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: Steve Ditko/Inker: Steve Ditko/Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: Steve Ditko
Synopsis: J Jonah Jameson's hatred of Spider-Man compels him to enlist the aid of Dr Farley Stilwell, a geneticist, to create a super-powered enemy strong enough to beat the wall-crawler. The result...the Scorpion...
Review: The Scorpion is one of my all-time favourite villains. If I was creating a top five, he would probably sit just outside it, which just goes to show how good Spidey's rogues' gallery is, how stiff the competition when it comes to picking your favourites. I love everything about the Scorpion: his costume, which Ditko models on Spider-Man's own, his deadly tail, the fact that he's essentially an evil version of Spider-Man - once again, strengthened by Ditko's design - and that his origin is tied so closely to Jameson's actions, leading to some great moments not just within this issue, but for subsequent writers and artists to explore when the character is brought back. I will admit that I think some of those subsequent artists improved on the initial design, making the Scorpion's tail longer and with a more menacing, pointed tip rather than the stubby one that Ditko gives him, but the fundamentals of Steve's original are still there, and I love how Ditko draws the guy: the constantly wide-eyed, power-crazed look on his face, and the dynamic poses he pulls when battling Spider-Man; it's just awesome.
This issue features perhaps the most brutal fights in the entire Ditko era, as Spidey and Scorpey duke it out across the rooftops, and finally in Jameson's office when Scorpion decides to kill the esteemed publisher to protect his own identity. Remember the shady character that was following Peter at the end of last issue? Well, that was Mac Gargan, hired by Jameson to find out how Peter gets such good photos of Spider-Man, but in this issue JJJ dispenses with that plan pretty quickly once he learns about Stilwell's experiments, and ropes Gargan into taking part to become the Scorpion, and tear Spidey limb from limb, which he almost does. We've not yet seen Spider-Man's costume torn and wrecked so thoroughly before; it's covered in tears and holes by the end of the issue, which isn't surprising considering the incredible beating he takes whilst fighting the Scorpion, including being thrown into a water tower and left for dead. Of course, this being Spider-Man, he refuses to give up, and vows to track down and defeat the Scorpion, no matter the cost. It's always great to see an action sequence take place in the Bugle offices, and this issue is no exception, even if this final confrontation is pretty brief; it's particularly satisfying to see Spidey rip the Scorpion's tail off after the hell the villain has put him through.
There's a little bit less of the usual personal drama in this issue, with most of the focus being on the dramatic battle between Spider-Man and Scorpion, but for once, this doesn't bother me so much. Perhaps because I just love the Scorpion so much, or because Ditko's fight scenes here are some of his very best, but I can happily have most of the story dedicated to a knock-down, drag-out fight. The personal drama that we do see is fairly tame, consisting of little more than a few Aunt May scenes and Ned Leeds leaving for Europe, allowing Peter and Betty to potentially rekindle their relationship. It seems rather odd to introduce Ned as a rival for Peter and then ship him off to another continent within two issues, but oh well. The best character moments unsurprisingly come from Jameson, who ends up cheering for Spider-Man during the final fight, if only because he knows that the Scorpion plans to kill him. Of course, having his life saved does nothing to soften him, and on the final page, he's once again swearing to take down the web-head forever. Some people just don't have a concept of gratitude.
Another absolute classic from Lee and Ditko. From the noirish opening scenes of Peter being tailed by Gargan, to the final battle between Spidey and Scorpey, this is a top notch issue. The Scorpion immediately establishes himself as one of the web-head's best adversaries; he's such a brilliant villain that it's a wonder why Stan chose not to include him in a Spider-Man comic again once Ditko departed ASM. Scorpion appears once more in Issue #29, before promptly disappearing and not coming back until Issue #145, under writer Gerry Conway (although he appeared a few times in Captain America). Perhaps Stan just didn't like the character, or perhaps Ditko was particularly pleased with the Scorpion and Stan just wanted to spite him. He certainly does that with the credits in this issue, by consenting to put Steve's name first for once, but keeping his own name in the biggest, boldest type. It was around this time that the two of them really started to argue with one another about...well, practically any topic you'd care to mention, before communication broke down completely and Stan refused to even come out of his office whenever Steve would drop his pages off at Marvel. It's truly incredible that with all the conflict going on behind the scenes - including a total lack of communication after a while - that Lee and Ditko were able to produce not just this great issue, but the bevy of great issues to come.
Rating: 5/5
Next time, Spidey once again trades jibes with the Human Torch as they take on the Beetle...
No comments:
Post a Comment