With the film rights to Spider-Man being in the hands of Marvel Studios, it's in their best interest to push more Spider-Man books! And boy, have they ever! Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Spidey, Venom: Space Knight, Carnage, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Silk, they have more Spider-Man books then spiders in my basement. And it's really webby in my basement. But one element of the Spider-Man lore seems missing and I'm here to pitch their return. Say goodbye to The Sinister Six and read my comic book pitch for "The Spectacular Six"!
Since 1964, The Sinister Six have been one of the stand-out parts of Spider-Man history. They've switched rosters and were even forcibly led by Spider-Man once! Granted that was when Doc Ock was using Spidey's body, but ya know. Comics. With such a long history, it's surprising the team isn't being utilized currently, especially when Spider-Man is one of the few characters who's villains hate him enough to team-up. But not all villains are evil, and that's where my idea comes in. I propose a heroic version of this team, one that banks on redemption.
Set in New York (duh) sometimes hero/usual villain Sandman posts an add for "The Spectacular Six! Come apply now". Seeing this in the paper, Peter Parker (The Amazing Spider-Man) asks fellow superhero Cindy Moon/Silk to go to this meeting and make sure Sandman isn't up to anything illegal. Silk finds several others at this meeting; Doctor Curt Connors (The Lizard), Herman Schultz (The Shocker), Michael Morbius (Morbius The Living Vampire), and Silver Sablinova (Silver Sable). Flint Marko (Sandman) announces to the guests that he wants to start a team of heroes to make up for what he's done. Each of them joins The Spectacular Six for their own reasons. Silk joins to keep an eye on these villains, but also because she starts like having friends who share the superhero lifestyle. The Shocker was formally the big mob boss of New York until Black Cat took his mantle and he fell into obscurity, he was so fed-up with the antics of criminals he decided-in his old age-to use his talents for justice. Curt Connors joins because he is trying to tame his Lizard form and thinks being a hero could help. Morbius joins to reestablish his scientific partnership with Connors. Silver Sable joins simply to bring respect back to the Sable Family name, but secretly stays because her dead husband-The Rhino-was a friend of Sandman and being around him eases the pain of The Rhino's death. Together, The Spectacular Six become small-town celebrities and inspire petty criminals to turn over a new leaf. Over time, Silk learns Sandman honestly wants to do good. His entire life he's been led on by other people, manipulated and never given what he truly wants. His daughter is under Child Protective Services and he doesn't want that to change. "I'm going to be a hero until she turns 18. And if or when she decides to meet me, well, I'm going to make sure the man she meets is a man she can be proud of". Sandman says, "After all, it's Spidey's always yammering about. With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility. My responsibility's just a little different".
The first story arc "Scratch The Sinister" would have the team go up against Electro and Hydro-Man, two of the first people Sandman tried to recruit. Since Electro and Hydro-Man's powers work in synch, Sandman tries to teach the team better ways of working together, but to no success. It's only after Connor's starts controlling his rage that he's able to properly come up with a working plan.
The second arc "The Coils of The Steel Spider" would force The Six into working with Crime Boss Black Cat to find and capture Oliver Osnick, a former vigilante known as Steel Spider who's been murdering Black Cat's goons. Steel Spider had been forgotten in prison after he was arrested for breaking The Superhuman Registration Act a few years back. When he got out everyone he cared about forgot about him or moved on. In his spite, he stole and he murdered and replaced his torn-off arm with a coil-arm and became a more savage Steel Spider. Though he seems redeemable, Osnick is defeated by The Six and agrees to seek help. Black Cat holds her end of the bargain and gives a piece of her territory to Silver Sable, who in turn transforms that area of crime into one of community.
The third arc (and the last I'll mention) would be "Hands of The Grave-Digger". A supernatural villain revives The Rhino and uses him as a minion to rob people of their souls. While Silver Sable must bury her feelings for Rhino and lead the remaining team, Sandman locks himself up with Morbius. Turns out the rise of a supernatural villain has spiked Morbius's lust for blood, though he doesn't need it to live he simply has a craving for it. Since Sandman's body is sand he's the only person who can be around Morbius and help him kick his desire for blood. By the end of the arc Rhino is given a proper burial, Morbius recovers from his desires, and Spider-Man legitimately believes Sandman is on the right path. Little do any of them know another Sinister Six is coming, and one of them will be their latest member. Suspense!
The pull of the book would be seeing the character's play off of each other. You have a underachieving villain (Shocker), a hero with a lot to prove (Silk), a man who fights his inner demon (Lizard), a vampire trying to ignite his humanity (Morbius), a mob-boss with no motive to return to crime (Silver Sable), and an ex-con who's doing everything he can to be a good person (Sandman). Their development and interactions would bring out the true cores of these characters and what potential they have. I like Sandman, I like The Sinister Six, and I really like redemption stories. With a team like this, Marvel could put both old and new characters to good use while keeping the personality Spider-Man books are known to have. Maybe J. Jonah Jameson could be their advertizing agent! Hope you like this idea as much as I do!
Thanks for reading!
Set in New York (duh) sometimes hero/usual villain Sandman posts an add for "The Spectacular Six! Come apply now". Seeing this in the paper, Peter Parker (The Amazing Spider-Man) asks fellow superhero Cindy Moon/Silk to go to this meeting and make sure Sandman isn't up to anything illegal. Silk finds several others at this meeting; Doctor Curt Connors (The Lizard), Herman Schultz (The Shocker), Michael Morbius (Morbius The Living Vampire), and Silver Sablinova (Silver Sable). Flint Marko (Sandman) announces to the guests that he wants to start a team of heroes to make up for what he's done. Each of them joins The Spectacular Six for their own reasons. Silk joins to keep an eye on these villains, but also because she starts like having friends who share the superhero lifestyle. The Shocker was formally the big mob boss of New York until Black Cat took his mantle and he fell into obscurity, he was so fed-up with the antics of criminals he decided-in his old age-to use his talents for justice. Curt Connors joins because he is trying to tame his Lizard form and thinks being a hero could help. Morbius joins to reestablish his scientific partnership with Connors. Silver Sable joins simply to bring respect back to the Sable Family name, but secretly stays because her dead husband-The Rhino-was a friend of Sandman and being around him eases the pain of The Rhino's death. Together, The Spectacular Six become small-town celebrities and inspire petty criminals to turn over a new leaf. Over time, Silk learns Sandman honestly wants to do good. His entire life he's been led on by other people, manipulated and never given what he truly wants. His daughter is under Child Protective Services and he doesn't want that to change. "I'm going to be a hero until she turns 18. And if or when she decides to meet me, well, I'm going to make sure the man she meets is a man she can be proud of". Sandman says, "After all, it's Spidey's always yammering about. With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility. My responsibility's just a little different".
The first story arc "Scratch The Sinister" would have the team go up against Electro and Hydro-Man, two of the first people Sandman tried to recruit. Since Electro and Hydro-Man's powers work in synch, Sandman tries to teach the team better ways of working together, but to no success. It's only after Connor's starts controlling his rage that he's able to properly come up with a working plan.
The second arc "The Coils of The Steel Spider" would force The Six into working with Crime Boss Black Cat to find and capture Oliver Osnick, a former vigilante known as Steel Spider who's been murdering Black Cat's goons. Steel Spider had been forgotten in prison after he was arrested for breaking The Superhuman Registration Act a few years back. When he got out everyone he cared about forgot about him or moved on. In his spite, he stole and he murdered and replaced his torn-off arm with a coil-arm and became a more savage Steel Spider. Though he seems redeemable, Osnick is defeated by The Six and agrees to seek help. Black Cat holds her end of the bargain and gives a piece of her territory to Silver Sable, who in turn transforms that area of crime into one of community.
The third arc (and the last I'll mention) would be "Hands of The Grave-Digger". A supernatural villain revives The Rhino and uses him as a minion to rob people of their souls. While Silver Sable must bury her feelings for Rhino and lead the remaining team, Sandman locks himself up with Morbius. Turns out the rise of a supernatural villain has spiked Morbius's lust for blood, though he doesn't need it to live he simply has a craving for it. Since Sandman's body is sand he's the only person who can be around Morbius and help him kick his desire for blood. By the end of the arc Rhino is given a proper burial, Morbius recovers from his desires, and Spider-Man legitimately believes Sandman is on the right path. Little do any of them know another Sinister Six is coming, and one of them will be their latest member. Suspense!
The pull of the book would be seeing the character's play off of each other. You have a underachieving villain (Shocker), a hero with a lot to prove (Silk), a man who fights his inner demon (Lizard), a vampire trying to ignite his humanity (Morbius), a mob-boss with no motive to return to crime (Silver Sable), and an ex-con who's doing everything he can to be a good person (Sandman). Their development and interactions would bring out the true cores of these characters and what potential they have. I like Sandman, I like The Sinister Six, and I really like redemption stories. With a team like this, Marvel could put both old and new characters to good use while keeping the personality Spider-Man books are known to have. Maybe J. Jonah Jameson could be their advertizing agent! Hope you like this idea as much as I do!
Thanks for reading!
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