Evil Week: One "Six" May Not Be The Number Of The Beast... But It Sure Is Sinister

We find ourselves returning to team territory for another Evil Week entry.  But in an odd serendipity, it seemed like I REALLY focused more on "teams" for this week, maybe because I'm holding a lot of the singular villain topics close to my chest.  But today's entry proved to be SO special of a creation, that it wasn't just thrown into a regular title run.  Oh sure... The individual elements of the team were first introduced in a series-format, but it took the book's first ANNUAL to make partners of those that normally were solo operators.  ... And from they way they operated, I would say these guys could show the Defenders a thing or two about operating as a "non-team" throughout their history!

For the very first "Amazing Spider-Man" annual, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko fashioned an epic story that placed Peter Parker against six of his deadliest foes, who decided their collective might could SURELY crush the sarcastic wall-crawler!  Let's talk about who made the cut!

• Doctor Octopus: Otto Octavius was once a genius scientist, until an experiment with neural-controlled metal arms and explosive elements went awry.  The arms were thus fused to Otto's mental controls, and the failure of his experiment caused him to seek a life of crime and supremacy.  By the by, Doc Ock is usually the defacto "leader" of the Sinister Six's appearances.
• Electro: Max Dillon's one lucky guy.  Normally, when us regular schmucks come across a live power line, we are FRIED.  End of story.  See you at the funeral home.  But he ends up being electrically charged, and uses his newfound power to seek a life of crime and fortune.
• Vulture: Adrian Toomes could well serve as an advocate for "Senior Citizen" validity, because while he was WELL past the prime of his life when he started his... repeat after me... life of crime and fortune, his mechanical prowess led him to inventing a suit that featured mechanical wings to allow him flight, and enhancement to his physical prowess.  You go, you golden oldie!
• Mysterio: Quentin Beck was a special effects wizard, but unlike today's environment, where if you just learn some computer art programs, you could rake in BIG bucks in the film industry, apparently practical effects work wasn't enough for Quentin, and so he sought the life of... ahem... crime and fortune.  (And the life of wearing a helmet that has often been joked about resembling a "fish bowl".)
• Sandman: Flint Marko is another lucky dog.  If we were fleeing from police pursuit, and wandered onto a nuclear testing site that had an ACTIVE experiment taking place... Our families would be LUCKY to even have enough left of our bodies to store in a coffin!  But not Flint.  His body was infused with the nuclear energies, and combined with the desert sand, making him a living being of minerals that could shape-shift and alter density.  
• Kraven the Hunter: Sergei Kravinoff started off as a big game hunter.  Then he discovered a potion that, when drank, would enhance his physical abilities... because being a poacher with your BARE HANDS is more "honorable".  ... And I'll just say don't get too used to seeing Kraven show up in latter incarnations of the Sinister Six.  His main Spider-Man storyline, "Kraven's Last Hunt", wasn't named that way because it was "catchy".

Doc Ock decided that the combined might of these villains would be more than enough to crush Spider-Man.  So Peter's Aunt May and Betty Brant are kidnapped at random, while Spider-Man has to tackle the Sinister Six.  The kidnapping portion of the story is pretty darned HILARIOUS.  Doc Ock proves to be the utmost gentleman of a host, according to Aunt May.  (See?  I TOLD you she was evil!  She ENJOYS being in the company of people that could snuff her "Crypt Keeper" self out in a heartbeat!)  Doc Ock's plan, though... Well... For such a smart guy, it lacked a certain wisdom.  You would ASSUME sending all of Spidey's foes out against our hero at once would seal their victory.  But nope.  TOO OBVIOUS for Ocky.  Instead, he makes Spidey run a location-by-location "gauntlet" with the Sinister Six members to piece together where May and Betty are kidnapped.  Also, along the way, we are graced with AWESOME one-page spreads of battle sequences, and cameos by darn near EVERY Marvel hero working at the time!

At the conclusion of this annual, can you believe it took the Sinister Six nearly TWENTY YEARS to reappear in any fashion?  That's actually a fairly impressive time-span for a concept to remain dormant in comic books, PERIOD.  But David Michelinie and Erik Larsen made a summer bi-weekly "Amazing Spider-Man" run the relaunching period for the Sinister Six.

"Amazing Spider-Man #334-339" was the "Return of the Sinister Six".  No kidnapping plots, this time out, but a general design to rule the world was all that Doctor Octopus needed to give his compatriots the drive to join up against Spider-Man.  But with Kraven being busy... um, being dead... we had demonized Jason Macendale as the Hobgoblin filling in the spot.  (In a way, he was kind of like the Sammy Hagar or that guy from Extreme to the Sinister Six's Van Halen.)  Many interesting events of note take place in this storyline:

• The return of the one-page spreads of battles, and character cameos, that were featured in the first annual.
• Aunt May's long-time lover, Nathan Lubanski, dying from a heart-attack during a battle with the Vulture.  (Or, as I prefer, choosing death over a remaining life-span with May Parker.)
• Sandman not quite seeing eye-to-eye with Ock's plans.  Remember that this was a span of time where Sandman was well on the path of righteousness, and he had to have LOVED ONES threatened by Doctor Octopus to join in the alliance.

However, that last thread, when allied with Spider-Man after Sandman has had enough, was the ultimate downfall of the reborn Sinister Six.  We did NOT have to wait an additional twenty-some years for their return after this defeat.  All we needed was Todd McFarland to fly the coop on his solo "Spider-Man" book to justify Erik Larsen granting us a sequel to that "Amazing" event.

"Spider-Man #18-23" was deemed PROPER "Revenge of the Sinister Six".  This was basically Doc Ock SCHOOLING his former allies, and making them his "lunch boxes".  You see, the story began with the other Sinister Six members deciding Doc's too much of a jerk to keep going, and they decide to ally themselves against him.  But Otto's no dummy, and to show off why it's not the best of ideas to cross him, he kills off Sandman's foster family.  ... Because killing off of loved ones is a PRETTY excellent recruitment policy.  Cowed by Ock's display of savagery, the Sinister Six reforms... to a point.  Once Ock gets his hands on adamantium "arms" to bond to, he quells any resistant voices by turning Sandman into glass.  This storyline then ramps up the threat, with Ock ordering the rest of the team to lay siege to various organizations to gather a weapons stockpile of terrestrial... and EVEN extraterrestrial... powers.  (The latter comes in a dimensional device that allows Doctor Octopus to fill the group ranks with six members again, in the giant monster called Gog.)  One thing that IS different about this crossover is that the Marvel Universe is NOT just putting in cameos on Spidey's pursuit of justice.  Nope, Ghost Rider, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Nova, and some loser known as Solo ALL team up to stop the menace that Doc Ock and crew present.

After these initial storylines, my knowledge of the Sinister Six legacy becomes a bit "fuzzy", and this is where I turn to Wikipedia to name drop a few permutations:

• Apparently a piece of the "Clone Saga" involved a Hobgoblin-helmed "Sinister Seven".  I can dig the alliteration.
• This version of the group I AM... unfortunately... familiar with, consisting of a non-reformed Sandman, a second Mysterio, a second Kraven the Hunter, Electro, Vulture... and the WAY overplayed at this point Venom.  Can I get a, "Who cares?"?
  
• There were also, apparently, periods involving a "Sinister TWELVE" under the command of Norman Osborne, and another Sinister Six being formed during "Civil War".  (Hey now!  I was only aware of that event giving birth to the Thunderbolts, and I REFUSE to link that awesome concept to another half-baked Sinister Six incarnation!)

We, as readers, basically had to wait until Spider-Man's reality was, in the words of the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air", flipped-up turned upside down.  And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, and tell you all about how the Sinister Six reformed under a dying Doctor Octopus.  The line-up does have a little bit of shuffling, but it does keep to some established Spider-Man names, such as:

• Chameleon: Kraven's half-brother, master of a million disguises and deceptions, and handily one of the least interesting Spider-Man villains to my reckoning.  
• Rhino: Not sure if his real name was EVER given, but basically an average guy is bonded to a rhino body suit, giving him immense strength.

And yes, did I say Doc Ock was DYING?  Seems that years of being pummeled upon by Spider-Man have taken their toll on everyone's favorite multi-limbed wonder.  What's interesting about the new continuity Sinister Six is they DID show up united for one adventure, but then they spread their influence into other Marvel corners of the universe, eventually building power and resources until the "Ends of the Earth" Spider-Man event.  Basics boil down to this: Doc Ock convinces the world that he's come up with a scientific breakthrough that can speed up the global warming effect, BUT if he wishes to, he can actually REVERSE the accumulated ozone layer damage if his demands are given into.  Spidey and the Avengers take issue with that, but the world is MUCH more complicated than when the Sinister Six began scheming, so the world governments tend to grumble about not just PAYING Doctor Octopus his demands, and the intervention of these "superheroes".  But intervene they do, and the world is set aright.  At least... for a little while for Peter Parker.

Minds are swapped, Peter Parker kind of "died" in the body of Otto Octavius, and Otto lived on to become the "Superior Spider-Man".  And in a vicious bit of irony, the Otto Spidey had to do battle with ANOTHER Sinister Six group.  ... Though in reality, to call them a legit "threat" would be rather laughable. 

I would also be loathe to not mention that the shadow of the Sinister Six ALSO touched the "Ultimate" Marvel Universe, with one major change to the group being Norman Osborne, as the Hulk-ish Green Goblin, being a major group figurehead.  This version of the Sinister Six ALSO managed to succeed where their regular Marvel counterparts failed: they KILLED that universe's Peter Parker.  Yep.  Dead as a doornail, and not returned as of yet, since I KNOW Miles Morales is still the "Ultimate Spider-Man".

Much like yesterday's entry about Bane and Doomsday, the Sinister Six have reached into the world of multimedia influence.

For example, they figured into a story-arc in the 1990's "Spider-Man" animated series.  This team was a mish-mash of two versions of the Sinister Six, with the Shocker being a new wrinkle on the team.  But the Aunt May kidnapping plot DID carry over... along with Doc Ock's general leadership.  But their ultimate mastermind was Wilson Fisk, AKA The Kingpin.

They EVEN rated their own video game title for the Nintendo Entertainment System.  ... Such a shame that the game was rather lousy.  But as a runner-up prize, the members of the Sinister Six DID also appear in the video game adaptation of the "Spider-Man" animated series. 

Sometimes you want, as a reader, satisfying one-on-one confrontations with arch villains against their heroic counterparts.  But as the Sinister Six proved, sometimes it's just more FUN when normally solo operators pool together their resources to attempt squashing an arachnid they mutually despise!