Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964)
by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
Electro joins the Sinister Six in his third appearance.
This is in line with most of the team: Doctor Octopus, Vulture and Sandman also had 2 prior appearances, while both Mysterio and Kraven only showed up once before this.
Notably, out of the six Electro is the ONLY villain who had faced a different hero: everyone else only fought Spider-Man.
You would expect this would make Electro more respected by the others, but the fact that he fought Daredevil is not acknowledged.
Since this retrospective is dedicated to the times Electro fought OTHER heroes, I’m not going to review this one. Just keep in mind that Electro is basically interchangeable with any member of the Sinister Six who isn’t Doc Ock.
Despite Octopus being very straightforward with the concept behind the Sinister Six… join forces to fight their enemy… they DON’T attack Spider-Man together.
Once again Electro needs to power himself with an external source…
…and once again he’s defeated, although not with water this time.
The issue is also notable for featuring splash pages of Spider-Man fighting each villain; this was rare in general in 1964 and unprecedented for Spider-Man, since I don’t think Ditko ever liked doing splash pages.
Overall, Electro doesn’t get to DO much here.
Historical significance: 10/10
It’s the Sinister Six!!!
Silver Age-ness: N/A
Does it stand the test of time? N/A
Not a real review so no scores, but it’s a classic that every true Spider-Man fan must read at some time. Although it might the origin of some Aunt May hate, because she’s just terrible in this.
I’m convinced that in this issue Aunt May is at least 95 years old…
…and she 100% has dementia.
Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965)
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Like basically everyone who existed at the time, Electro crashes the wedding of Reed and Susan.
No point in discussing this cameo, other that I’m pretty sure this is the only time Jack Kirby draws Electro.
Daredevil Annual #1 (1967)
by Stan Lee & Gene Colan
Spider-Man’s first Annual featured a team composed of his worst enemies.
Daredevil’s first Annual ALSO did the same thing… but Daredevil has so few decent villains at this point that has to count Electro.
In fact, the first Daredevil villain that is spotted joining the team is his worst one by a wide margin: The Matador.
Considering that, if exclude the Fantastic Four cameo, the last time we saw Electro was with the Sinister Six… I have no doubt that he decides to found the Emissaries of Evil as an ego boost.
Yeah the parallels to the Sinister Six annual are EXTREMELY blatant, down to having splash pages of Daredevil fighting his villains.
Including defeating The Matador with his butt apparently, because why would The Matador deserve more dignity than this?
Just like I did with he first time they met, I have to stress what a TERRIBLE choice for a Daredevil villain Electro is.
He can’t even hit him with LIGHTNING when he’s AT BLANK POINT RANGE!!!
In fact, the ONLY way he manages to actually hit Daredevil is when he’s distracted by The Matador’s cape.
I should stress that the cape has no special properties whatsoever.
And it’s here that this story loses any possible chance to turn Electro into a good villain for the series.
How am I supposed take him seriously when he can’t even kill Daredevil after knocking him down?
Also, a rare critique of Gene Colan who is otherwise the only saving grace of this trainwreck… has Electro been lifting, or is that a hunchback?
Something else that makes it hard to take this issue seriously: not only is Daredevil STILL ALIVE after that shock, but he ALSO has trouble with his super-senses…
…which he fixes by slamming his head against the roof.
Even with his hand cushioning the blow… COME ON!!!
The next recruit is The Gladiator, who Electro has recruited through the Maggia… the Marvel equivalent of the mafia (although, weirdly enough, the mafia ALSO exists).
Also: The Gladiator thought that Electro was only a legend… WHY???
The Gladiator is definitely a step up from The Matador, although he’s several years before he becomes an interesting character.
His deep psychological issues have not been introduced yet: he’s just an enforcer with sawblades on his wrists.
But at least he’s not The Matador.
The next recruit is Stilt-Man, who I strenuously defend because he’s NOT a bad villain.
He’s just ridiculous, which does NOT mean that he can’t be dangerous! In fact, out of all the legit Daredevil villains that Electro recruits, I would say that Stilt-Man is far and above the best one.
Which admittedly is more of a case against the rest than one in favor of Stilt-Man.
Is Electro Doctor Frankenstein now??? He’s not a super-scientist, he’s just an electrician!!!
While at this point the Daredevil series has VASTLY improved over the last time Electro met him… it’s still painfully repeating the same exact subplots over and over again.
It’s always weird to see how skinny Foggy used to be.
Daredevil is right. If you don’t make fun of The Matador, I will lose my respect for you.
I can’t blame him for popping pills for this fight. Would YOU want to meet The Matador without being high?
I would recommend picking up this issue just to look at some gorgeous Gene Colan artwork.
That’s certainly a better selling point than the last member of the team: Leap-Frog.
Only Gene Colan could make this fight exciting. It’s almost making me forget we are talking about Leap-Frog.
Unlike the Sinister Six, the Emissaries of Evil are smart enough to eventually attack Daredevil together.
Unfortunately… they are so incompetent that they STILL miss with a lightning blast AT POINT BLANK RANGE.
HOW IS DAREDEVIL ALIVE???
He’s tied up while facing a guy who can electrocute him and one who has SAW BLADES ON HIS HANDS, how are they missing???
Last time, Electro lost because Daredevil dropped a curtain over him.
Still a less embarrassing defeat than this.
Times Electro failed to electrocute Daredevil at close range: 3
This is the first smart thing you ever said, Electro. Daredevil ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT be able to defeat all of you at once!
Times Electro failed to electrocute Daredevil at close range: 4
Pretty sure this is not how Electro’s powers work anywhere else.
The only reason why Karen didn’t quit her job is that Matt Murdock is hot, right?
I can’t imagine he pays her enough to put up with his shenanigans.
Historical significance: 0/10
Sadly, the Emissaries of Evil do come back. Still not enough to qualify for a 1/10.
It’s also, bizarrely, the last time Electro appears in the 60s.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
HOW IS DAREDEVIL ALIVE???
Does it stand the test of time?
If you only look at the artwork: 8/10
If you actually read the story: 0/10
Gene Colan is just on fire here. Which is a disappointment because it means he wastes 39 pages of high-octane swashbuckling adventure to a fight that involves The Matador.
There is no Sinister Six story that acknowledges Electro has been part of a similar team.
I have a hunch about how that conversation might have gone.
DOCTOR OCTOPUS: Now that the Sinister Six are back, my plan to defeat Spider-Man is…
ELECTRO: hold on, Octopus, I should be the leader this time. I have experience of being the leader of a supervillain team!
SANDMAN: Oh really? Which one?
ELECTRO: The Emissaries of Evil!
MYSTERIO: Doesn’t Magneto lead that one?
ELECTRO: That’s the Brotherhood. We fought Daredevil!
KRAVEN: A worthy opponent! Never heard of such a team, who did you lead into battle?
ELECTRO: Stilt-Man, Gladiator and Leap-Frog!
EVERYONE ELSE: …
ELECTRO: And the Matador.
EVERYONE ELSE: …
ELECTRO: So Octopus, you were saying about your plan?
Bonus: we have a short story that explains how Stan Lee and Gene Colan create the story.
All the Stan Lee haters that claim he was some kind of monster that took credit for writing everything while never doing any actual work forget that he put out stories like this one, which goes out of its way to point out how much heavy lifting the artist did.
