Dr. Octopus has had his mechanical arms surgically removed but he is still able to control them mentally and summons them to break out of prison. He recruits five other enemies of Spider-Man — Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, the Sandman and the Vulture into a group called the Sinister Six. They separate to six locations to wear Spider-Man down in separate battles. Meanwhile, Spider-Man has suddenly lost his powers. When Aunt May and Betty Brant are taken prisoner by the Sinister Six and deposited with Dr. Octopus, Peter resolves to save them without powers in a battle with Electro. When Electro attacks, his powers return. Realizing the power loss was psychosomatic from recent guilt over Uncle Ben’s death, he quickly defeats his foe then continues to defeat Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio and his X-Men robots, the Sandman and the Vulture. He reaches Dr. Octopus’ castle and fights him in a water-filled tank. Although only Dr. Octopus is equipped with breathing apparatus, Spider-Man wins and rescues Betty and Aunt May, who is perturbed at the “rescue,” since she enjoyed Dr. Octopus and considers Spider-Man uncouth.
Includes, “A Gallery of Spider-Man’s Most Famous Foes” (14 pages), with pin-ups of the Burglar, the Chameleon, the Vulture, the Tinkerer, Dr. Octopus, the Sandman, Dr. Doom, the Lizard, the Living Brain, Electro, the Big Man, the Enforcers, Mysterio, the Green Goblin and Kraven the Hunter, “The Secrets of Spider-Man” (9 pages) in which Spider-Man explains his power, pin-ups (5 pages) “Peter Parker as Spider-Man”, “Peter Parker’s Favorite Heel and Heart-Throb (J. J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant cameos), “Peter Parker’s Classmates” ( Flash Thompson, Liz Allan, Mr. Davis & Mr. Warren cameos), “Peter Parker’s house” (May Parker cameo), “Guest Star Page (Hulk, Human Torch,Thing, Mr. Fantastic & Invisible Girl cameos), and “How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man” (3 pages), a tongue-in-cheek tale. (All by Stan Lee, writer, Steve Ditko, artist)
