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The Amazing Spider-Man (1963-1998)
Amazing Spider-Man (1963-1998) #9
The Man Called Electro
Meet the super-powered villain Electro! Does the web-slinger have to power to stop him!
Meet the super-powered villain Electro! Does the web-slinger have to power to stop him!
25 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 1964
About the author
Stan Lee
7,578 books2,363 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 18, 2023
meu casal
October 15, 2019
J.J.J. ha una leggera fissazione per l'Uomo Ragno...
August 21, 2022
This was a huge step up from the previous issue. There is a reference to the fight with Flash, when it seems like Flash might be willing to just talk to Peter. But Peter giving him the cold shoulder means Flash is not willing to let his guard down. We get this whole thing where Jameson gets the Bugle to report that Electro is Spider-Man, without any evidence, and Peter later goes along with it and sells photos that look like evidence so he can help Aunt May while she's in the hospital. It's a real personal dilemma for him. And I appreciate how this issue teaches readers that they shouldn't believe every single thing they read right away, and that they should be willing to question certain things. Also, it seems that Betty might be closer to Peter's age than I initially thought? She mentions having to leave school the previous year to get a job, but I'm not sure if that proves whether or not she's an adult. It's kinda confusing, and I'm not sure how to feel about the ending sort of rooting for her and Peter to be a thing. It's certainly tough to get invested when one has the hindsight of his later relationships.
July 7, 2019
AMAZING FANTASY 15, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1-10 (Spider-Man's First Arc)
Peter Parker is easily one of the greatest creations in the history of comic books. Even if you threw out every other plot element besides the character himself, you'd still have a character story that deals with so much poignant emotional and psychological conflict.
The dialogue is what really makes this. Stan Lee divides Peter Parker's dialogue into 3 distinct styles: Peter Parker's thoughts, Peter Parker's words, and Spider-Man's words. This structure says a lot about our protagonist; Peter Parker's words are presented in a very introverted and articulate manner. Spider-Man's words, conversely, are presented in a very extroverted and sarcastic manner. This presents the central conflict of the character, in that Spider-Man is a cathartic part of Peter's psychology; he is everything Peter is afraid to be, but can be behind the security blanket of a mask.
The only truth to the character is his thoughts, as he tightly controls the presentation of Peter Parker to hide suspicion he could be Spider-Man. This plays even further into the notion of Spider-Man being a cathartic release for him, in that his thoughts are designed as this fusion of Peter's intellect and Spider-Man's wit. Peter Parker's spoken words lack much of the wit which is present in his own thoughts. Spider-Man presents all of that wit, because he has more freedom to do so; behind the security blanket of a mask, there's less consequence.
And this plays into the deeper theme, of "Great Responsibility" coming with "Great Power." Because there is no physical consequence to himself. But his choice of how he uses this newfound freedom and newfound power has consequences for others... which, as iconic as they are, I won't dare spoil here. These consequences affect his romantic equal Betty Brant, his loyal to a fault Aunt May, the think-tank editor J. Jonah Jameson, or the city of New York as a whole and its perception of him; even if these consequences don't necessarily affect him directly, they still create a whole plate of intimate character conflicts that have nothing to do with spandex villains. The villains simply create a plot of his actions, where these ongoing conflicts resulting from his actions are his character evolution.
Peter Parker is easily one of the greatest creations in the history of comic books. Even if you threw out every other plot element besides the character himself, you'd still have a character story that deals with so much poignant emotional and psychological conflict.
The dialogue is what really makes this. Stan Lee divides Peter Parker's dialogue into 3 distinct styles: Peter Parker's thoughts, Peter Parker's words, and Spider-Man's words. This structure says a lot about our protagonist; Peter Parker's words are presented in a very introverted and articulate manner. Spider-Man's words, conversely, are presented in a very extroverted and sarcastic manner. This presents the central conflict of the character, in that Spider-Man is a cathartic part of Peter's psychology; he is everything Peter is afraid to be, but can be behind the security blanket of a mask.
The only truth to the character is his thoughts, as he tightly controls the presentation of Peter Parker to hide suspicion he could be Spider-Man. This plays even further into the notion of Spider-Man being a cathartic release for him, in that his thoughts are designed as this fusion of Peter's intellect and Spider-Man's wit. Peter Parker's spoken words lack much of the wit which is present in his own thoughts. Spider-Man presents all of that wit, because he has more freedom to do so; behind the security blanket of a mask, there's less consequence.
And this plays into the deeper theme, of "Great Responsibility" coming with "Great Power." Because there is no physical consequence to himself. But his choice of how he uses this newfound freedom and newfound power has consequences for others... which, as iconic as they are, I won't dare spoil here. These consequences affect his romantic equal Betty Brant, his loyal to a fault Aunt May, the think-tank editor J. Jonah Jameson, or the city of New York as a whole and its perception of him; even if these consequences don't necessarily affect him directly, they still create a whole plate of intimate character conflicts that have nothing to do with spandex villains. The villains simply create a plot of his actions, where these ongoing conflicts resulting from his actions are his character evolution.
January 6, 2021
The cover of ASM #9 promises "the defeat of Spider-Man" with the introduction of Electro. Spoiler; lies! Though it is another issue were a villain knocks out Spider-Man yet chooses not to de-mask him, I think canonically this is the second time now.
Electro's powers seems to have varied and changed over the years and here the list is quite extensive... he exclaims he can "control anything that operates electrically", whilst also is able to zap guns out of people's hands (but not electrocute them), climb iron beams "by means of electric rays" like "a magnet", use his electric power "like a mine detector" to locate a hidden safe in an apartment, if you touch him you get electric shock (but his electric doesn’t seem to pass through things he touches, unless he wishes it), use electricity to knock down brick walls, create electrical barriers, turn sand to glass but... doesn’t mix well with water. Talk about being overpowered with a dumb weakness ..
This issue is one of many, many ASM's with a side plot of a seriously ill Aunt May; at this point May has been ill more times than Spidey's has refilled his web cartridges. It became such a trope that the writers moved onto injuring (or killing off) people close to May (no names mentioned, avoiding spoilers). In ASM #9 May is so ill she needs to go hospital (for an operation no less) but Stan Lee never goes into details of why or what the illness is, guess people in the 60's just suffered from being old. Also how does Betty Brant hear about May being hospitalised before Parker goes to visit? Was May ahead of the times and updating her FaceSpace status to "ill in hospital [again] lol".
NB In an amusing opening scene a bunch of armed men give up to the police as they see Spider-Man approaching, as the police gather them up they realise too late that they gave up prematurely; Spider-Man was just swinging by.
Electro's powers seems to have varied and changed over the years and here the list is quite extensive... he exclaims he can "control anything that operates electrically", whilst also is able to zap guns out of people's hands (but not electrocute them), climb iron beams "by means of electric rays" like "a magnet", use his electric power "like a mine detector" to locate a hidden safe in an apartment, if you touch him you get electric shock (but his electric doesn’t seem to pass through things he touches, unless he wishes it), use electricity to knock down brick walls, create electrical barriers, turn sand to glass but... doesn’t mix well with water. Talk about being overpowered with a dumb weakness ..
This issue is one of many, many ASM's with a side plot of a seriously ill Aunt May; at this point May has been ill more times than Spidey's has refilled his web cartridges. It became such a trope that the writers moved onto injuring (or killing off) people close to May (no names mentioned, avoiding spoilers). In ASM #9 May is so ill she needs to go hospital (for an operation no less) but Stan Lee never goes into details of why or what the illness is, guess people in the 60's just suffered from being old. Also how does Betty Brant hear about May being hospitalised before Parker goes to visit? Was May ahead of the times and updating her FaceSpace status to "ill in hospital [again] lol".
NB In an amusing opening scene a bunch of armed men give up to the police as they see Spider-Man approaching, as the police gather them up they realise too late that they gave up prematurely; Spider-Man was just swinging by.
June 9, 2023
Bibi May sedang sakit dan harus dioperasi, sehingga Peter tidak bisa berpatroli menjadi Spider-Man sesering mungkin karena harus menjaganya dan mendapatkan uang segera untuk membayar biaya operasi. Namun, di luar sana, Electro sedang melakukan aksinya. Dengan kekuatan listrik yang ia miliki, ia menggunakannya untuk merampok bank.
J. Jonah Jameson sebagai pemimpin di Daily Bugle, meyakini bahwa Electro adalah Spider-Man. Sebab, ketika Electro melakukan aksi jahatnya, Spider-Man tidak muncul untuk menangkapnya. Mengetahui hal itu, Peter merasa tidak terima, tetapi ia masih belum bisa menghentikan Electro karena kondisi Bibi May yang belum sembuh. Lantas, ketika operasi untuk Bibi May segera dilakukan, Peter langsung mendatangi Jonah untuk meminjam uang. Tentu saja, Jonah menolak keras. Untuk mendapatkan uang, Jonah meminta Peter agar mendapatkan bukti foto bahwa Spider-Man adalah Electro. Dengan terpaksa, karena ingin mendapatkan uang secara cepat, Peter pun melakukannya.
Ketika mengambil foto Electro, Spider-Man sempat melawannya, tetapi ia kalah karena tidak mengantisipasi aliran listrik dari Electro. Beberapa hari kemudian saat operasi Bibi May berhasil dan Peter tidak harus sering menjaganya, Peter akhirnya kembali menjadi Spider-Man dan segera menghampiri Electro untuk menangkapnya. Tentunya, dengan persiapan yang matang supaya ia tidak kalah akibat tersengat listrik.
Spider-Man menemukan Electro di penjara ketika Electro sedang membebaskan para tahanan. Dengan petarungan yang sengit, Spider-Man berhasil mengalahkannya. Di sisi lain, Jonah yang meyakini bahwa Spider-Man adalah Electro, harus gigit jari ketika mengetahui momen tersebut.
J. Jonah Jameson sebagai pemimpin di Daily Bugle, meyakini bahwa Electro adalah Spider-Man. Sebab, ketika Electro melakukan aksi jahatnya, Spider-Man tidak muncul untuk menangkapnya. Mengetahui hal itu, Peter merasa tidak terima, tetapi ia masih belum bisa menghentikan Electro karena kondisi Bibi May yang belum sembuh. Lantas, ketika operasi untuk Bibi May segera dilakukan, Peter langsung mendatangi Jonah untuk meminjam uang. Tentu saja, Jonah menolak keras. Untuk mendapatkan uang, Jonah meminta Peter agar mendapatkan bukti foto bahwa Spider-Man adalah Electro. Dengan terpaksa, karena ingin mendapatkan uang secara cepat, Peter pun melakukannya.
Ketika mengambil foto Electro, Spider-Man sempat melawannya, tetapi ia kalah karena tidak mengantisipasi aliran listrik dari Electro. Beberapa hari kemudian saat operasi Bibi May berhasil dan Peter tidak harus sering menjaganya, Peter akhirnya kembali menjadi Spider-Man dan segera menghampiri Electro untuk menangkapnya. Tentunya, dengan persiapan yang matang supaya ia tidak kalah akibat tersengat listrik.
Spider-Man menemukan Electro di penjara ketika Electro sedang membebaskan para tahanan. Dengan petarungan yang sengit, Spider-Man berhasil mengalahkannya. Di sisi lain, Jonah yang meyakini bahwa Spider-Man adalah Electro, harus gigit jari ketika mengetahui momen tersebut.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2025
A breath of fresh air amidst a long run of Silver Age Marvel comics that I didn't enjoy much. This #9 issue shows why Spider-Man is the stand out superhero among his partners in this 60s era.
Spider-Man has to constantly weigh in well-thought-out moral and action dilemmas such as choosing between helping the police catch criminals or attending his sick aunt. One memorable moment from this issue is when Peter .
And for this very reason, the spotlight also falls on J. J. Jameson. While his obsession with portraying Spider-Man as the bad guy is ridiculous (and hilarious), his point of Spider-Man being a potential threat is not unreasonable at all. Having a powerful teenager take on dangerous villains with the approval of the police/government, while convenient, is not always reliable (see Amazing Spider-Man (1963-1998) #4, where Peter intervenes before a crime happens and realizes that Spider-Man is not outside the law, something that could limit his agency to save the world). This nuance makes J.J. Jameson a super interesting character that reminds us about the issues of legitimating centralized power.
With great power truly comes great responsibility, and reading these early Spider-Man comics is a fun way to explore these timeless and universal themes.
Spider-Man has to constantly weigh in well-thought-out moral and action dilemmas such as choosing between helping the police catch criminals or attending his sick aunt. One memorable moment from this issue is when Peter .
And for this very reason, the spotlight also falls on J. J. Jameson. While his obsession with portraying Spider-Man as the bad guy is ridiculous (and hilarious), his point of Spider-Man being a potential threat is not unreasonable at all. Having a powerful teenager take on dangerous villains with the approval of the police/government, while convenient, is not always reliable (see Amazing Spider-Man (1963-1998) #4, where Peter intervenes before a crime happens and realizes that Spider-Man is not outside the law, something that could limit his agency to save the world). This nuance makes J.J. Jameson a super interesting character that reminds us about the issues of legitimating centralized power.
With great power truly comes great responsibility, and reading these early Spider-Man comics is a fun way to explore these timeless and universal themes.
November 26, 2017
Well, after a disappointing issue #8, Stan and Steve delivered in issue #9. Electro was the villain. A veteran lineman, he was electrocuted, which gave him power to Barnes electricity.
But this story was more than Spider-Man conquering a villain. Here we have Aunt May seriously ill and in need of an operation. That cost $1000, which the family doesn't have.
We have Betty siting vigil with Aunt May. Betty and Peter flirt. But we also learned Betty has a past.
Here we have J. Jonah once again going after Spider-Man. He publishes photographs of Electro and Spider-Man and makes the specious claim they are the same person.
Peter seeks to rectify all this. He sets up his camera for automatic. He then fights Electro. Of course, he wins. Aunt May pulls through. Peter sells photographs to J Jonah, and the future is bright with Betty.
But the best part of this is the art. Really digging how Spider-Man is drawn and the unique angles that are used to display him. I think that is what sets this apart from other comic books.
The letters are still there. Still like them but think they will go away.
But this story was more than Spider-Man conquering a villain. Here we have Aunt May seriously ill and in need of an operation. That cost $1000, which the family doesn't have.
We have Betty siting vigil with Aunt May. Betty and Peter flirt. But we also learned Betty has a past.
Here we have J. Jonah once again going after Spider-Man. He publishes photographs of Electro and Spider-Man and makes the specious claim they are the same person.
Peter seeks to rectify all this. He sets up his camera for automatic. He then fights Electro. Of course, he wins. Aunt May pulls through. Peter sells photographs to J Jonah, and the future is bright with Betty.
But the best part of this is the art. Really digging how Spider-Man is drawn and the unique angles that are used to display him. I think that is what sets this apart from other comic books.
The letters are still there. Still like them but think they will go away.
December 2, 2020
Di nomor sembilan ini, musuh Spider-Man adalah Electro, manusia yang punya kemampuan menyimpan dan menghasilkan listrik dari tubuhnya lalu mengubahnya menjadi senjata mematikan. Tapi yang menarik dari komik ini adalah justru kehidupan pribadi Peter Parker. Remaja cerdas ini tidak seperti superhero lainnya yang tidak pernah punya masalah keuangan. Diceritakan dalam komik ini bahwa Bibi May sakit dan butuh biaya. Keadaan ini membuat Peter Parker berusaha menangkap Electro untuk mendapatkan uang hadiahnya. Tidak banyak tokoh superhero utama dalam komik yang menjadi pemburu uang jasa. Sisi lain kehidupan Peter adalah Betty Brant, perempuan yang bekerja sebagai sekretaris Jonah Jameson. Setelah muncul sekilas-sekilas di beberapa episode sebelumnya, Betty banyak mendapatkan porsi peran di komik ini dan bisa dikatakan 'resmi' menjadi pasangan Peter.
December 3, 2023
This one had a loophole in the plot's timeline that bothered me a bit. Other than that, it was another excellent story of Peter's personal domestic issues intersecting with his superhuman alter-ego, Spiderman. J Jonah Jameson was finally brought down a notch in the ego department, which was very satisfying!
March 28, 2024
Stan Lee was really on fire. A new villain every issue, even if the original Electro design has really fallen out of fashion.
And Peter's private drama is finally getting moving after the dramatic start.
It's hard to believe that the spider ray used to be a thing.
And Peter's private drama is finally getting moving after the dramatic start.
It's hard to believe that the spider ray used to be a thing.
October 5, 2020
It was cool but the origin wasn't really great.
December 9, 2020
[2,5] There were some good developments, Electro just isn't exciting imo. His design is pretty bad too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2022
This one was great! Spiderman fights electro, and that would be exciting and all, but we also see him at many crossroads in his personal life and that's always the most exciting part!
September 16, 2023
INSTANT CLASSIC!
July 20, 2025
J.J.J. ha una leggera fissazione per l'Uomo Ragno...
July 24, 2022
Title: El superhéroe que podrías ser tú
Stars 5.0
Stars 5.0
February 17, 2023
Electro comes on to the scene in this issue, and he doesn't make as impressive a debut as some of the other main villains. It's good though, still enjoyable enough for fans to race through at a fair pace.
March 14, 2016
March 2016
3.75
single issue
JJJ is such an ass, can't help but love him a little bit though.
3.75
single issue
JJJ is such an ass, can't help but love him a little bit though.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews