Spider-Man: The Six Arms Saga
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The Six Arms Saga is a story arc from the popular Marvel Comic Spider-Man, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Gil Kane. It spans the issues Amazing Spider-Man #100–102 (1973).
The story arc is mostly remembered for Spider-Man's striking aesthetics, swinging through the city with four extra arms.
TAGLINE: No cop-out! Spidey is really awake! He HAS six arms!
Contents |
Plot
Peter Parker has had enough of being Spider-Man. Peter feels miserable about all the anguish he's had to endure. His best friend Harry Osborn has become a junkie, and his close friend Captain George Stacy died in his arms. Stacy's daughter Gwen Stacy – Spidey's girlfriend – wrongly blamed Spider-Man for this. Peter has a fatal thought: for Peter Parker to live, Spider-Man must die!
So, Spidey brews up a chemical cocktail intended to terminate his spider powers. Peter takes the cocktail and falls into a troubled sleep in which he fights all his enemies, while enduring excruciating side pains. When he wakes up, he notices a ghastly thing: he has six arms! The potion increased his spider powers rather than nullifying them!
He then visits his only possible confidant, Dr. Curt Connors (alias the Lizard) and fights a vampiric villain called Morbius. Although the stress of confronting Morbius makes Connors transform into the Lizard, using an enzyme Morbius "infected" the Lizard with when he bit him – causing the Lizard to retain Connors' mind after the transformation – both brew an antidote that turns both Connors and Spidey back to normal.
Alternate Versions
Ultimate Marvel
In The Ultimate Clone Saga, a Clone of Spider-Man with Six arms and a variant Black Costume surfaced. When unmasked, this clone also had more spider-like physical features, such as fangs around his mouth, additional eyes and brown spiky hair along his entire face. The Variant Cover for Ultimate Spider-Man 100 was based on that of Amazing Spider-Man 100, in which the Saga takes place.
What If?
An issue of What If? had asked "What If Spider-Man had Kept his Six Arms." Morbius is killed before a cure for Spider-man's mutation is found. After a fight with the Lizard, Spider-Man is advised to see Professor X. Spider-Man ends up in a scuffle with X-Men members Angel, Beast, Cyclops, and Iceman until Professor X and Jean Grey break it up. Professor X then examines him with Cerebro and learned that Spider-Man's mutation is permanent. Spider-Man then visits Mister Fantastic for a second opinion. Mister Fantastic also states that the mutation is permanent. When Thing came in announcing that Doctor Octopus is holding hostages at City Hall demanding to see Spider-Man. Spider-Man easily took down Doctor Octopus with his six arms. Afterwards, Mister Fantastic summoned Spider-Man back to present his latest invention...four arm sheaths that will keep the extra arms invisible (as long as they are worn) when Peter Parker is in his civilian outfit. Years later, Aunt May died of natural causes. Spider-Man has become a celebrity for the handicapped as he fought Electro, Mephisto, Sandman, and Thanos. Spider-Man also prevented the death of Gwen Stacy at the hands of the Green Goblin as well as participating in the Secret Wars where his alien costume soon resulted in the creation of Venom whom Spider-Man also defeats.
Other Media
Television
In Spider-Man (1994 TV series), the Six Arms Saga was reinvented as the Neogenic Nightmare, where the transformation was not caused by Peter's attempts to remove his powers, but as a result of his body mutating further from the original spider-bite. After his attempts to ask Professor X and the X-Men for help developing a cure meet with failure, Spider-Man turned to Doctor Crawford for aid, only for his initial attempt at a cure to first make him grow the four new arms and subsequently to mutate into the Man-Spider. Thanks to the collaboration of Kraven the Hunter and the Punisher, Spider-Man was cured of the mutation and returned to normal. When the Vulture attempted to drain Spider-Man's youth and power in a later encounter, Doctor Connors reprogrammed the device to absorb the defective genome that had caused the mutation originally, resulting in the Vulture mutating into a Man-Spider and forever curing Spider-Man of the mutation.
Notes
- Harry Osborn was revealed as being addicted to drugs in ASM #96–98.
- George Stacy was killed in the bedlam when Spider-Man fought Doctor Octopus in ASM #90 Gwen Stacy was killed by the Green Goblin, not Doctor Octopus.
