The Sting(s) Of The Scorpion!

 

Having recently looked in on the goings-on of the Scorpion, resurfacing following his incarceration by the insidious Mister Kline, let's now look back over seven years prior to those events, to when Mac Gargan began his career as the tailed villain--courtesy of the checkbook of J. Jonah Jameson, who also finances a hard-working yet under the radar scientist named Farley Stillwell to make use of a new serum that will hopefully give Gargan powers greater than Spider-Man's. In so doing, Jameson begins a misguided but nevertheless illegal operation of hiring hitmen to take out Spider-Man.

At the risk of skipping ahead, Gargan wasn't in our roundup of covers which declared the title character(s) to have met DEFEAT!, but defeat is just what befell the web-spinner more than once when he went up against the power of the Scorpion.

(Magnanimous of Stan Lee to give his artist top billing in the credits, only to then enlarge his own name and emblazon it in red, eh?)

As we've overheard, in addition to his impressive strength, Gargan has been given an artificial tail which has a kick of its own when utilized properly. Fortunately, his "creator" as well as his benefactor are insistent that he take the time to practice sufficiently, so that his tail acts almost as a part of him. In truth, it will become a powerful appendage that would often catch his enemies off-guard and allow him to claim or reclaim the advantage.

But what of Spider-Man? Is Gargan really the stronger of the two? Decisively.

Interesting--according to Jameson here, he's tried something like this before. Who can shed some light on the subject?

You'd think that along with Jameson, Stillwell would also be doing cartwheels. But unlike others who in the future will be only too happy to be commissioned by Jameson, this doctor has a conscience, and races to undo the effects of his serum on Gargan--assuming his patient is receptive to the idea, though that ship appears to have sailed.

Regrettably, Stillwell dies in his attempt to reach Gargan--which is when Spider-Man arrives for Round Two, though only to receive more punishment from the fists and the tail of the Scorpion.

Jameson's soul-searching comes too late, as Gargan has clearly recognized him as a liability that must be eliminated. And so we're soon witness to a violent scene at the offices of the Daily Bugle, even as Spider-Man struggles to regroup and make another attempt to stop his foe. This time, however, he remembers that there's more to being Spider-Man than duking it out with an opponent. (Better late than never, pal--we didn't fork over 12¢ to see a guy in a spider-suit not use his powers.)

The Scorpion returns nine issues later, where we learn that not only is Jameson still a loose end for Gargan, but also that the successful incarceration of prisoners at a "jailhouse" hinged on the level of credulity inherent in its staff.

(Whoops! Looks like you've been demoted, Mr. Ditko!)

What to do, what to do? When it comes to saving his own skin, Jameson is more resourceful than most--particularly when he can put out an extra edition of the Bugle at a moment's notice to light a fire under someone, even when not taking into account the fact that a hero doesn't need to be conned into doing the right thing. Too bad that things happened to work out fine for the Scorpion, but not so much for Jameson.

While definitely a deadly conflict, this encounter between Spider-Man and the Scorpion comes across as more of a ruckus than a full-fledged battle with so much on the line, thanks to Jameson's antics as well as Spidey keeping one eye on reporter Ned Leeds scoring personal time with Peter Parker's girlfriend, Betty Brant. With the arrival of the police, however, the party's over, though it goes without saying that Spider-Man isn't keen on letting the Scorpion get away scot-free.

Eventually, Spider-Man is able to maneuver the Scorpion over the Hudson River, where the two plummet to finish their fight. And if you were thinking that Spider-Man won't be able to deliver any of his usual barbs while battling an opponent underwater, how long have you been reading comics?

Gargan's defeat--defeats--of Spider-Man have probably been relegated to trivia by this time, especially considering how often he's been bested by the wall-crawler since. Still, the character went on to make numerous appearances over the years, even taking high-profile gigs as part of Egghead's Masters of Evil as well as becoming the new Venom in Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers.

COMING UP:
This villain gets one HELL of a makeover.