Good cover! That first iteration of Scorpion’s tail just seems so underwhelming in light of later ones. I mean, I came in with Todd McFarlane putting a blade on it. He’s the Scorpion, why on Earth can’t he sting? Maybe that seemed too violent in 1964. This one’s in pretty good shape, too! Much nicer than most of my older ones. Off-white pages, even. The credits offer an interesting bit to think about…
I believe the generally accepted story is Ditko began doing the strip 100% by himself and refusing to speak to Stan around ASM 27. We’re pretty close to that, so the tensions that led to it are probably well underway, and one assumes this business about credit is a manifestation of far less playful goings on behind the scenes. Like Kirby, Ditko was bristling at the idea that he was coming up with the lion’s share of the story only to see Stan credited as “writer.” Unlike Kirby, Ditko was by all accounts a prickly and idiosyncratic guy, so while Jack didn’t get fed up enough to start looking for an exit strategy until the late 60s, Ditko’s already mad. In fact, as early as 1963, he’s doing work for rival publisher Charlton, kind of on the low, where he can have more control over his work. He would create many famous characters there that would eventually be bought by DC, most famously the characters who would later serve as the basis for Watchmen, like Captain Atom, Blue Beetle and The Question. And he was doing Captain Atom in 1964, at the same time as Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Hulk, and so on at Marvel. So we can assume things are already sour between him and Stan, but they’re at least still speaking, at this point.
The next day, Peter heads out to go do see Betty at The Bugle (Working on a Saturday), and of course, that guy’s still following him. At Peter’s destination, JJJ sees an article about a Dr. Farley Stillwell, who can cause “artificial mutations in animals,” and has an idea. Downstairs, the guy following Peter sees him go into The Bugle and decides he can go report to his boss.
Ned sure went to Europe a lot over the years, even before it got him killed. Well, JJJ & Gargan go see Stillwell. One thread I don’t think anyone’s ever pulled is Gargan seems to have been in JJJ’s employ much longer than this one job. He’s later always referred to as a private eye JJJ hired, but what else could they have been up to in the past? Anyway, Stillwell shows off his crazy experiments, like a fish that breathes air and a rat that breathes water, and then JJJ tells him he wants to try his experiments on Gargan. Stillwell says it could be dangerous, but Gargan is weirdly ok with being turned into a monster. JJJ says he wants to turn Gargan into someone who could beat Spider-Man, and Stillwell suggests a Scorpion. But he wonders what his process might do to a human’s mind. But JJJ has promised both Stillwell and Gargan a whopping $10,000 to create and become this unholy abomination, and they’re way into it. $10,000! So we see Gargan being blasted by some unidentified energy. Then…
Gargan doesn’t seem particularly scorpion-ish without the suit. What about a scorpion just means getting really strong? Well, anyway, Ned’s plane has just taken off, and Betty says he’ll be gone 6 months. Peter drops her off at home, and then, becoming Spider-Man, rushes back to The Bugle to see what JJJ was up to. JJJ is waiting for him, and being weirdly nice, which is obviously a trap, so Spider-Man leaves immediately. However…
Spidey just instantly knowing that guy’s supposed to be a scorpion despite a lack of pincers or anything is funny to me. But speaking of…
That is absurd. Thankfully, Scorpion’s powerful cutting fingers is not something that hangs around. We cut away to Stillwell doing some more research on the process he put Gargan through, and discovering that his strength will only increase, but that he will also be driven crazy. He regrets what he’s done (Duh!) and scrambles off with an antidote, then it’s back to the fight. Trapped in his own web, Spider-Man is being badly beaten, and is then thrown through a water tower, landing in a heap amid the debris.
The consequences of mad science come around pretty quickly in these comics. Scorpy steals the loot and takes off. JJJ wants Betty to call Stillwell for him, but he’s not answering. Spider-Man wakes up and vows to stop Scorpion. And Stillwell finds Scorpy on the street, and tries to get him to take the antidote. Instead, Scorpy slaps him in the face with his tail and starts scaling a building. Stillwell says he can’t live with the knowledge that he’s responsible for The Scorpion.
As they punch it up, we’re told Scorpion’s transformation is complete. He’s reached his maximum strength, and is also “the embodiment of all that is evil!” Back at his office, JJJ’s informed of Stillwell’s death and Scorpion’s crime, and begins to realize he’s unleashed a menace far greater than Spider-Man. But… no one knows. Stillwell is dead and Scorpion’s too dangerous to get close to. So for now, his guilt is just that. Back at the fight, Spider-Man is once again losing, and realizes he’ll have to change strategy as, as he tends to do lately, Ditko includes a panel recreating the splash. Soon, Spider-man’s down for the count again, and Scorpion thinks he needs to go kill JJJ so no one will ever know his secret identity. Which… doesn’t seem all that pressing, really but it lets Spider-Man live. He’s awakened by Betty yelling for help in JJJ’s office.
Spider-Man employs the classic “web up the eyes” bit, then gloops a bunch of his liquid webbing on his foe’s feet, and while Scorpion is totally out of it, Spidey rips the tail right off his back. With his primary advantage gone and his feet still stuck to the floor, he finds himself getting really worked over by Spider-Man.
It appears someone called Michael Lee wrote their name on this page. I got your comic, Michael! And so, The Scorpion is set loose on the world, but mostly just on JJJ. It’s funny how Scorpion actually increases JJJ’s resolve to destroy Spider-Man. No lesson learned! We’ll end this post as we began, with idle speculation about the deteriorating Lee/Ditko partnership.
Stan’s need to mention Ditko arguing with him doesn’t read like the gentle ribbing he hopes it will with hindsight. And things will not get better with next issue. But we won’t see that this block.