Spectacular Spider-Man #238
Suicidal Tendencies
Four Days Ago
On a deserted stretch of road in New Jersey, an accountant is lost in thought about his job, when his car is suddenly attacked by the Lizard.
Today
Curt Connors has flown back home to Florida in order to get away from the Lizard creature that has been stalking him for some time. Although he is out of New York City, Florida is suffering from the pollution and human apathy he found so repellant in Manhattan. When he returns home, there is a note waiting for him from his wife, Martha, telling him that their son Billy will be home late after school. When Billy finally gets home, he doesn't stay long as he decides to go out and play with his friends, leaving Curt alone once more. Retiring to his lab, Connors begins thinking about his life totally changed. Years earlier he was medic in the military. During a conflict overseas his arm was injured by enemy fire.[1] It wasn't long afterward that he was informed that his arm had become infected with gangrene and had to be amputated.[2] After he had recovered, he returned home and happily reunited with his wife and son. He then began researching lizards in the hopes of learning how to duplicate their ability to regrow lost limbs and apply it to human beings, particularly so he could grow back his lost arm. His first human test backfired when Connors drank the formula, turning himself into the Lizard for the first time.[3]
Three Nights Ago
In Fairfax, Virginia, a large family is woken by the sound of something in their backyard. When Sal, the man of the house, goes to check it out he tells his wife and children to go back to bed. When the Lizard walks out of the shadows, Sal and his family are horrified by the creature, prompting his wife to call 911 for help.[4]
This Evening
Billy still hasn't returned home leaving Curt to worry about where his son can be. He sits down and begins watching television. As he watches a news story about Sentinels invading New York City, he thinks about how dangerous the world has become.[5] He tries to keep himself under control, reminding himself that he is no longer taking his medication. This causes him to think back to a few months ago and what caused all of this additional stress...
Months Ago
Hiring on a lab assistant named Aldo, Curt Connors was attempting to flush out the unique fluids in his brain that triggered his transformation into the Lizard. Using lizards as test subjects, they failed to find a cure, as the serum caused horrible mutations in their test subjects. When Aldo suggested that their experiments weren't pure enough, Curt realizes that his anti-anxiety medication have been affecting the results of their tests and he needs to purge the drug from his system. Things turned tragic when Aldo ran an unauthorized test on a severed lizard tail with Curt's DNA causing it to grow into a humanoid lizard. The creature mortally wounded Aldo and escaped.
Earlier Today
In Georgia, there is news about horses that were slaughtered by something eye-witnesses were calling some kind of monstrous lizard. The media has been following the pattern of strange attacks as they travel south down the east coast of the United States. Watching the news is Ben Reilly, who makes the connection and realizes that this is the Lizard creature he recently fought and that it is heading to Florida, the home of Curt Connors. Reilly decides to head down to Florida to help Curt before someone gets hurt.
Later That Evening
When Billy Connors gets home, Curt is furious that the boy was out past his curfew. He becomes furious at the boy, but stops short of harming Billy. Connors is horrified by his anger and begins to fear what kind of monster he has become. Suddenly, the Lizard monster comes crashing through the window. Grabbing Billy, Curt then rushes the boy to the relative safety of his lab. When the Lizard creature tries to break in, it is attacked by Spider-Man who knocks it into the bushes. That's when Spider-Man hears the audible snap of the monster's neck. Suddenly, Curt Connors -- having become the Lizard again -- emerges from the bushes with the dead body of his attacker in its scaled clutches.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Lizard (Connors), Lizard (creature), Martha Connors, Billy Connors, Brent Cole, Sal Buscema
Continuity Notes
This story depicts the conflict in question as being somewhere in Southeast Asia and that his arm was injured by enemy bullets. These facts contradict other stories such as Amazing Spider-Man #6 and Web of Spider-Man Vol 2 #6. The location and how Connor's arm was injured should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, as they are always depicted conflict that happened in the recent past relative to the date the story is published. Likewise are the cause of injury as modern warfare has evolved.
This contradicts Web of Spider-Man Vol 2 #6, which depicts Connors waking up from a coma after his injury and was unaware that his arm was amputated until that moment. However, each version of events is recollected from two different people whose memory of events could be embellished or be of questionable credibility.
Connors first became the Lizard in Amazing Spider-Man #6.
"Sal" is actually Sal Buscema who was a long-running artist for Spectacular Spider-Man artist, this being his last issue. His appearance here should be considered a factual reference, as Marvel Comics creators are exempt from the topical reference rules of Earth-616. All creators exist in the modern age in their relative prime.
This portion of the story takes place during the events of X-Men Vol 2 #55 when Onslaught took control of Sentinels to lock down Manhattan.
