The Golden Revenger

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

We first learn of our mystery villain's handiwork when Spider-Man comes across a mugging of his friend from the "Daily Bugle," Gloria Grant. The problem is that the group of men has been mysteriously drugged--and one of them happens to be Gloria's cousin, Ramôn!

Back at Gloria's apartment, Ramôn tells of a masked man in a suit of gold, who took his group into the back room of a club and sprayed them with something that made then lose consciousness. And Gloria has even more disturbing news about the man:

As Spidey swings to the club, Gloria places a call to a Harlem social worker she's heard of--and soon, Spider-Man is joined by the Falcon at the club, where our villain stands revealed:

Not to be confused with another villain of the same name, our perp here--a.k.a. Midas, "the Golden Man"--appears to be using the nightclub as a front for his operations, whatever they are.  And he's quick to take advantage of our heroes' confusion by siccing his armed henchmen on them.

Yes, good luck with that:

Midas has escaped; but with a little *ahem* persuasion, Falc learns that the club is owned by philanthropist Harrison Merriwell--so the facts aren't adding up as far as pinning everything on a man who donates so generously to worthy causes. But he's the only clue they've got, and so they pay a visit to his estate, where they're caught by surprise and taken captive (Spider-Man apparently only received the Acme® spider-sense with that bite). When they awaken, they find themselves face to face with Midas once again, who keeps the chit-chat to a minimum:

Spidey and Falc escape the villain's trap--and when they race upstairs to confront him, they discover that Midas is Merriwell--just not Merriwell the benefactor:

Once the dust settles, we learn along with Merriwell the true motivations of his brother, though it seems a rather flimsy foundation for a story:

Simply put, why would Midas bother with hooking kids on drugs? Why the racist angle? Unless Midas had planned to reveal his identity, or frame Harrison for his activities, how would anything he's been illicitly doing amount to revenge on either his brother or the charities he donates to? Thankfully, Midas was a one-hit wonder whom we never encountered again. Frankly, it seems we had little reason to encounter him at all.