Biography of Spider-Man, 1966
The following is a biography of Spider-Man for the year of 1966.
Biography
Kraven, out of Africa
With Aunt May's condition finally stabilized, Peter began to focus on getting back to his studies. When he returned to school, Peter found that the other students resented him, perceiving his recent absence and silence as arrogance. Harry Osborn and popular girl Gwen Stacy in particular singled him out. One night, while watching the news, Peter learned of a bogus Spider-Man attacking J. Jonah Jameson in the street. Peter was enjoying some time to himself after the stressful ordeal saving May, but after several days of the impostor harassing Jameson and public opinion turning against him, Spider-Man was forced to get to the bottom of the issue. He went to Daily Bugle headquarters, where he quickly found the impostor, who fled and led him to the roof of a condemned apartment building. The impostor revealed himself as Kraven the Hunter, returned from a forced exile in Africa. Kraven was determined to undo his past defeats and claim Spider-Man's mask as a trophy. They fought through the building, but opportunistic gangsters from the street came in and attacked Spider-Man, distracting him and giving Kraven the upper hand. The two fought through the densely packed condemned buildings as Spider-Man dispatched the other criminals. Spider-Man eventually won their hand-to-hand battle, wrapping Kraven in his web and leaving him for the police. Kraven, honorable in his own way, confessed to his Spider-Man disguise, exonerating the hero. Peter decided not to take photos of the Kraven fight to the Daily Bugle, nervous about seeing Betty Brant again—unbeknownst to him, Betty had just left her position at the Bugle.[1]
The unreformed Molten Man
While patrolling the city, Spider-Man heard a gunshot from inside a jewelry store. He went inside to confront the culprit, who turned out to be a remarkably strong man. The robber pummeled Spider-Man until the shopkeeper yelled for the police, prompting him to flee empty-handed. Reading up on the attempted heist later, Peter learned that the criminal crushed the shopkeeper's revolver in his bare hand. He had an inkling that the fight felt familiar, and that the man's punches felt metallic, so he went with his hunch that the criminal was the Molten Man in disguise. Mark Raxton had in fact recently received a suspended sentence for good behavior, and had immediately returned to a life of crime. Spider-Man went to Raxton's last known residence, where he had since returned. Lacking any evidence to apprehend him, Spider-Man planted a tracking device on Raxton's lapel. After several days of fruitless tracking, Spider-Man followed Molten Man in disguise one night back to the same jewelry store, where Raxton attempted to break into the safe. Spider-Man confronted him, and the two fought. Spider-Man eventually got the better of him with some strong metal cord, and tied him up with photographic evidence for the police to take him away. Peter went to the Bugle to sell some of his photos, but got caught up talking with Betty Brant's replacement. Betty had left behind a signed, framed photo that Peter had given her. Peter speculated that she'd married Ned Leeds and moved away with him to the west coast, and threw the photo in the trash.[2]