Picking right up from last issue, Peter Parker notices
that a mysterious figure keeps following him around. Back at home, Peter waits
until the man leaves, presumably to report to his boss, before switching to
Spider-Man and in turn tail him! Spider-Man is unable to learn anything and is
forced to distract the man with a bat made out of webs, allowing Spidey to
swing back into his room without being seen. Peter accidentally bumps into the
wall, however, alerting Aunt May, who he gives a quick excuse to. The next day,
Peter heads to the Daily Bugle, while trying not to do anything to arouse his
follower’s suspicions. At the Bugle,
J. Jonah Jameson sees a report about a Dr. Farley Stillwell, a brilliant scientist
who has been able to successfully cause mutations in animals, and gets an idea
that this man can help him with his Spider-Man problem.
As Peter gets to the Bugle, the mysterious man
following him decides to go report to his boss, who is none other than Jameson
himself! Jameson had hired the man, named Mac Gargan, to find out how Peter
takes the amazing photos that he does, but tells Gargan that he has a better
use for him and they depart. Meanwhile, Peter runs into Betty Brant and
Ned Leeds and Betty tells Pete that Ned will be out of town for months on an
assignment, to Peter’s secret joy. We then cut to Dr. Stillwell’s laboratory,
where Jameson proposes the idea to run his experiments on Gargan, turning him
into a being capable of stopping Spider-Man. Though reluctant, Stillwell feels
he can’t turn down the money Jameson is offering him. He imbues Gargan with
energy, increasing his strength, and builds for him a mechanical tail and suit,
transforming Gargan into the Scorpion!
After Peter and Betty see Ned off at the airport,
Peter switches to Spider-Man to pay Jameson a visit, to see if he can find out
what Jameson’s connection to his follower is. Jameson seems too welcoming
though, secretly trying to stall Spider-Man until the Scorpion gets there,
causing Spider-Man to swing off. However, the Scorpion does arrive right at
that moment, and the two begin to fight, with Jameson spectating. Scorpion lays
into Spidey, as Spidey quickly realizes that Scorpion is likely even stronger than
he is. Spidey flips back, covering Scorpion in his webs, but Scorpion is able
to easily rip through them, throwing the remaining strands at Spider-Man,
tangling him up. Scorpion is able to use this opportunity to soundly defeat
Spider-Man, throwing him into an old water tower, as back at his office,
Stillwell discovers that Scorpion will become more evil and dangerous over
time, and rushes out with an antidote to try and cure him.
Scorpion realizes how powerful and free he feels,
abandoning Jameson’s mission for him, as he jumps down to rob an armored car.
Spider-Man awakens and heads off to go tackle Scorpion again. Meanwhile,
Stillwell catches up to Scorpion and tries to convince him to take the
antidote, which Scorpion refuses, climbing up a building to escape the man.
Stillwell foolishly tries climbing up after Scorpion but ends up falling to his
death, unable to hit Scorpion with the antidote. Spider-Man shows up too late
to save Stillwell and tackles Scorpion again, as Scorpion becomes more and more
unhinged. Back at the Bugle, Jameson hears of Stillwell’s death, wracked with
guilt over his involvement in all of this. Scorpion is able to stun Spider-Man
once again, as he heads off to take care of Jameson, the only one who still
knows who he is!
Spider-Man collects himself once more and rushes to
the Daily Bugle, to stop Scorpion from killing Jameson. Spidey swings in
through the window, dodging around Scorpion’s tail strikes. Spidey webs
Scorpion in the face, blinding him, before also webbing his feet to the floor,
restricting his movement. Spidey is then able to rip Scorpion’s mechanical tail
right off him. He then uses a combination of his spider sense and agility to
dodge Scorpion’s blows and lay into Scorpion, eventually defeating him. Spidey leaves
Jameson to stew in the irony of being saved from the one he created, by the one
he wanted to stop. After the battle, Flash Thompson chides Peter for his
roughed-up face, causing Peter to almost lose his temper against Flash. Our
story ends with Jameson doubling down on his self-imposed mission to stop
Spider-Man, as Peter takes on the arduous task of sewing up his damaged
costume, blissfully unaware of Jameson’s involvement in the whole affair!