Web of Spider-Man (vol. 2) #2
Gauntlet Origins: Electro
Max Dillon was a line worker who worked only for his personal gain. One day when one of his co-workers was in medical distress while up repairing a line. Max only agreed to go up and rescue him for a bonus. After getting his co-worker down, Max was involved in a freak accident when lightning suddenly struck the electrical pole he was still attached to. Instead of being killed, Max was suddenly flowing with energy and felt stronger than ever.[1]
Not long after this a Stark Industries truck is transporting materials across town when suddenly the battery on their vehicle dies. When the man driving behind them comes out and offers his help, the passenger of the Stark truck is quick to raise his non-lethal weapon, not trusting anyone after a number of hits on Stark shipments and the theft of expensive transistors. This Good Samaritan is actually Max Dillon, who has been robbing Stark Industries to boost his limited abilities. The process of draining a car battery and using his electrical powers to knock out the driver and his guard significantly drain Dillon’s supply of electricity, leaving him weak. He desperately needs to boost his power levels but knows that he’s on the brink of shattering his current limitations.
Returning to his home on Long Island, Max keeps on thinking of an equation: 4-30KV/CM. It’s the number of kilovolts he wants to be able to absorb because it will exceed the electrical field of the atmosphere. It has become a bit of a holy grail to him, as it will turn him into his own conductor so he can hurl electricity from his bare hands. With the stolen components, Dillon has constructed a device that will use the power grid to draw the power he needs to reach this goal. Exposing himself to a powerful electrical charge, Max gets a feeling that is better than sex and drugs combined. However, as he charges himself with electricity, he suddenly becomes aware of someone in his apartment, but they are moving faster than he can see. Wanting to stop this intruder, Max unleashes a powerful bolt of electricity stunning the intruder. He is surprised to see that it is a seemingly normal looking young man wearing a green costume. This turned out to be Quicksilver, a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. He is soon joined by the Scarlet Witch and their leader, Magneto, who was drawn here because his control of magnetism detected a change in the electromagnetic field coming from this location.[2]
Angered by this intrusion, Max begins charging up and demands to know what these people are doing trespassing in his home. Unimpressed by this display, Magneto uses his own powers to restrain Dillon with his own mechanical devices. With Max restrained, Magneto demands to know what Max is, and when he tries to get smart is choked until he talks. Max explained the accident that gave him his powers. Magneto is impressed, theorizing that the lightning that struck him, awoke something that already existed, something buried deep inside. However, Magneto doesn’t think he’s a mutant, nor does he think that Max is a human, but suspects that he is something entirely different. Dillon, takes offense at being called a mutant and challenges Magneto to let him free and call him one to his face. Magneto reiterates that Max is not a mutant, but he will be persecuted as though he was one and offers him a position in his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Magneto asks Dillon to consider what they could accomplish by combining their powers, saying that they could reshape the world. By this point, Max has managed to develop enough electricity to blast himself free. He angrily rejects Magneto’s offer as it would mean becoming subservient to Magneto. He tells the three intruders that people pushed him around his entire life and now that he has these powers he will make everyone pay. Hearing Dillon’s rant convinces Magneto that there is nothing here for them. When Quicksilver fears that Charlies Xavier may try to recruit Max Dillon instead, Magneto dismisses the idea that Xavier — or anyone else for that matter — will notice such a little man. As he walks out, he muses that fate must be quite the comedian if Max is the person it decided to give such incredible power.
A short time later, Max relocates to an apartment Woodside in Queens. However, this doesn’t keep the debt collectors at bay as Johnny Pro, a bookie has broken in to wait for Max to come home and demand the money he owes in gambling debts. When Max arrives, Johnny mocks him for being a small-time loser, and having found his newly made Electro costume makes fun of its design. In response, Electro unleashes a powerful electrical blast from his hand that kills Johnny Pro instantly. Checking his voltmeter, Max is happy to see that he is generating 4-45 kv/cm and realizes that he’s finally ready for the big time.
Recurring Characters
Electro, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver)
Continuity Notes
This sequence was taken right from the page of Electro’s first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #9.
It should be noted that although they are members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants at the time of this story, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are not actually mutants. This wasn’t revealed until much later in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #5
The Irritable J. Jonah Jameson
Mayor J. Jonah Jameson is in a terrible mood after a press conference and decides to leave his office for the day. When his assistant tells him that he has a meeting with the Board of Education, he tells the assistant to deal with it and then clean out his desk because he is fired. As he goes to his limo, Jonah tells the assistant that anyone else who asks for him for the rest of the day is fired as well.
Inside his limo, Jonah muses that the driver has nothing to worry about other than traffic and finding a radio station. The driver tells him that he has other things to worry about, but Jameson doesn’t care to hear them. That’s when the limo driver reveals that he wasn’t hired by the city and that they are about to have a long chat. Before Jonah can react, the passenger area of the limo is suddenly filled with knock-out gas.
When Jonah wakes up he finds himself tied to the chair in a dark and dingy apartment. His kidnapper, Emil Nason, tells Jonah that he’s going to be there for a very long time. This causes Jonah to bellow about how big of a mistake Nason has made and rhetorically asks if Emil knows who he is. Emil says he knows and turns on the light to reveal that his apartment walls are plastered with Jameson’s anti-Spider-Man editorials from when he worked at the Daily Bugle. Emil tells Jonah that he’s his hero.[1]
Emil Nason tells Jonah that he used to talk about fighting Spider-Man and since being elected mayor he hasn’t done much. Emil, however, offers his assistance. When Jameson asks what he can do, Emil shows him one of the Beetle’s gauntlets which he bought online.[2] and suggests they purchase a bunch of weapons to go after the wall-crawler.[3] Hearing all of this, Jonah says that Emil is out of his mind. This makes Nason to think that Jameson didn’t believe all the things he wrote in his editorials and that he was just trying to sell papers. Suddenly, Jonah collapses in pain and Emil thinks that his is having another heart attack.[4] This is all a ruse to make Emil get close enough for Jonah to take the Beetle gauntlet while Emil is untying him. Jonah grabs a portion of the whall and flings it at Emil, knocking him across the room. He then pulls out his cell phone and considers calling the police but decides against it.
Pinning Emil to the wall, Jonah admits that his time in government has made him start to hate reporters since they have been critical of his administration. However, he used to be a newspaperman and he still believes the words he wrote and it took Emil to remind him of who he was. He likes Nason’s ideas because they are similar to his own, although he thinks Emil took them too far. He decides to change that and asks Emil if he owns a suit.
Later, Jonah returns to the mayor’s office and tells his assistant that he’s no longer fired, joking that he’ll likely be fired every Tuesday and Thursday. He tells the assistant that he’s going to be working for Emil Nason from now on, his new advisor. He then quips that Emil thought he could kidnap J. Jonah Jameson, unaware that he got the situation backwards.
Recurring Characters
J. Jonah Jameson
Continuity Notes
Jonah worked at the Daily Bugle almost his entire working life until he ran for mayor of New York City and won in Amazing Spider-Man #591. He had been writing editorials critical of Spider-Man since Amazing Spider-Man #1.
This gauntlet is from Abner Jenkin’s original Beetle armor which he wore from Strange Tales #123 until Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #58.
Emil mentions how the Beetle has fought Spider-Man “a few times”, that’s putting it mildly. Spider-Man has fought the Beetle on 17 occasions at the time of this story, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #21, 657, 94, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #16, 58-60, Spider-Man/Human Torch #4, Amazing Spider-Man #280-281, Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #17-18, Spectacular Spider-Man #164, Deadly Foes of Spider-Man #1-4, Spider-Man Family: Amazing Friends #1, Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #12/Web of Spider-Man Annual #8, Lethal Foes of Spider-Man #1-4, Spider-Man: Web of Doom #1-3, Spider-Man: Power of Terror #1-3, and Spider-Man Unlimited #9 and 12.
At the time of this story, Jonah had a series of heart attacks prior to becoming mayor. The first was in Amazing Spider-Man #546 and the next in issue #554. In issue #557, it was revealed that Jonah suffered an aortal rupture that required extensive surgery.
