The Amazing Spiderman #9

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

The Man Called Electro

This issue marks the first appearance of everyone’s favorite electricity-based villain (besides the Shocker and Living Lightning), Electro. Electro is a former electrician and professional son of a bitch. There’s a flashback sequence on page 11 where Electro, pre-powers, then known as Max Dillon, is asked to save a man who is stranded on a telephone pole. Dillon is a wiz electrician and can climb telephone poles really well. The comic treats these two traits as if they are non-exclusive, but I don’t think they are. If you want to be an electrician but aren’t the best climber, don’t give up on your dreams.

Anyway, Dillon saves the man, but only after he extorts money from him, thus proving his son-of-a-bitchedness. Later, he’s up on the pole and gets struck by lightning while working on the lines, gaining mastery over electricity. He immediately begins a life of crime.

While robbing a bank, Electro has a run-in with J. Jonah Jameson. The two converse as Electro cleans the place out and J.J. is left with the unshakable hunch that the villain is a second identity for Spiderman. In other words, he believes Electro and Spiderman to be the same person.

Jameson wants photographic proof so that he can sell it in the papers and he charges Peter Parker with this task. Of course, Parker knows this is impossible because he is, in fact Spiderman. But there is a second plot line that comes into play.
Aunt May is sick. There are no specifics given, but she is eventually hospitalized and must have some type of surgery. The Parkers are on a tight budget and Peter is stressed about finding the money. He compromises his morals and fakes a picture to make it look as if Spiderman is actually Electro. He thinks to himself, “I hate taking money under false pretenses, but I’ll make it up…somehow.” (Page 11)

There was (maybe still is) a comic series called “What if...” Each months this series gave an alternative history for the Marvel Comics world; What if the Silver Surfer was trapped on Earth, it might inquire, or What if the Punisher killed Spiderman? What if Wolverine was king of the vampires? Seriously. They asked this. I own the issue. It’s actually pretty good.

I don’t know that “What if…” ever covered The Amazing Spiderman #9, but they should. This is a definite crux in Peter Parker’s life. He has been tempted already to fall into villainy. First, he thought about robbing armored cars (Amazing Spiderman #1, Page 3), and then he momentarily entertained joining Doctor Doom (AS #5, Page 5), and in that same issue he nearly let Flash Thompson die because of a petty grudge (Page 11). Now Peter has some stress that is not so petty. Aunt May is seriously ill and he needs quick cash. He compromises his morals and fakes the picture, ripping off the Daily Bugle and misleading all of New York City. Aunt May gets better, he renders Electro unconscious, and everything works out in the end.

But What if…

If Aunt May hadn’t made it through her surgery it would have been a different story. She is the road block to Peter choosing a life of crime. When his mask rips while fighting the Sandman (AS #4, Page 5) and he has an identity scare. He instantly thinks of what would happen to Aunt May, how he would be arrested and she would end up selling shoe laces on the street for ten cents.

Again, seriously. There’s a picture of Peter imagining Aunt May with a sad babushka over her gray hair, standing on the street hocking shoe laces. Seems like a bad business plan.

Without this safety, without Aunt May, Peter would have no reason to hold back his need for violence and competition. He would have no reason to squash his greed. Peter Parker would disappear and a chaotic Spiderman would roam New York City full-time. But she pulls through and he remains a hero. He hasn’t resolved his issues, far from it, but he survived a close call.