| "The Six Arms Saga" | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofThe Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1, 101 (Oct 1971), art byGil Kane | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Publication date | September – November1971 |
| Genre | |
| Title(s) | The Amazing Spider-Man #100–102 |
| Main character(s) | Spider-Man Morbius, the Living Vampire The Lizard |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Stan Lee Roy Thomas |
| Penciller | Gil Kane |
| Inker | Frank Giacoia |
| Letterer | Art Simek |
"The Six Arms Saga" is astory arc featuring the popularMarvel Comics characterSpider-Man, written byStan Lee and drawn byGil Kane. It spans the issuesThe Amazing Spider-Man #100–102 (1971) and features thefirst appearance andorigin story ofMorbius, the Living Vampire. The story arc is mostly remembered for Spider-Man growing four extra arms, and for a subsequentWhat If...? stating that keeping the arms would have allowed Spider-Man to saveGwen Stacy and defeatThanos himself.
The Six-Armed Spider-Man appears inSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.[1]
Peter Parker has recently experienced a lot of misery in his life: his best friendHarry Osborn has become ajunkie, his close friend CaptainGeorge Stacy died in his arms, andGwen Stacy – Peter's girlfriend – wrongly blamed Spider-Man for her father's death. He creates a serum to remove his spider powers, after which he then falls into a troubled sleep in which he fights all his enemies, while enduring excruciating side pains. The dream ends with George Stacy's spirit imploring Peter to keep protecting New York as Spider-Man, stating that his powers are both a blessing and a curse. When he wakes up, Peter realizes that the serum has unintentionally augmented his powers, giving himfour additional arms.
After rejecting an invitation to a movie from Gwen, and a late-night photo assignment from theDaily Bugle, Peter, as Spider-Man, callsCurt Connors for help, who offers him hissummer house as refuge. Elsewhere,Michael Morbius is found stranded in the ocean by a boat and taken aboard, only for numerous passengers to mysteriously disappear. When the crew confronts him, Morbius attacks them and flees. As night falls and the crew goes to sleep, Morbius, now resembling avampire, returns and feeds on their blood, but is overwhelmed by guilt and attempts to kill himself by jumping into the ocean. He washes ashore and stumbles upon Connors' house, which he enters before falling asleep. Meanwhile, Spider-Man is working on curing himself in Connors' lab when he smashes a test tube in frustration, causing Morbius to be awakened by the noise and attack. As the two fight, Connors arrives and the stress of being attacked by Morbius causes him to transform into the Lizard.
Morbius and the Lizard fight over who will kill Spider-Man. Morbius manages to bite the Lizard before escaping. An enzyme in Morbius' blood allows Connors to temporarily regain control of his mind, and he joins forces with Spider-Man to track down Morbius, believing that his blood can help cure them both. Meanwhile, Morbius reflects on how he became a vampire following a failed experiment that he, his fiancée, Martine Bancroft, and his assistant worked on to cure Morbius' rare blood disease; he killed his assistant before jumping into the ocean, not wanting to hurt Martine. As Spider-Man and the Lizard search for Morbius, Gwen andAunt May worry about Peter, as they haven't heard from him in a while, andJ. Jonah Jameson reveals toRobbie Robertson that theDaily Bugle is facing financial problems. Eventually, Spider-Man and the Lizard find Morbius and defeat him, but the vampire ends up falling into the river and disappears. Nonetheless, Spider-Man managed to retrieve a blood sample from him, which he uses to cure both himself and the Lizard.
In theUltimate Marvel version ofClone Saga, aclone ofSpider-Man has six arms and a variant black costume surfaced. When unmasked, this clone is revealed to also have more spider-like physical features, such as fangs around his mouth, additional eyes and spiky hair along his entire face. Thevariant cover forUltimate Spider-Man #100 was based on that ofThe Amazing Spider-Man #100, in which the saga takes place.
In theMutant X universe, Spider-Man still has six arms. For unexplained reasons, he has taken to calling himself Man-Spider instead of Spider-Man. Moreover, the chemical he consumed apparently altered his DNA, since his clone (who is killed byMadelyne Pryor within the series[2]) also has six arms.
Deadpool encounters a version of Spider-Man in a universe which he refers to as "an Age of Apocalypse" (nottheAge of Apocalypse). In this reality, a six-armed Spider-Man becomes Pestilence,Horseman of Apocalypse, with poisonous fangs and engages in cannibalism.
An issue ofWhat If? had asked "What If Spider-Man had Kept his Six Arms?". Morbius is killed by sharks (they were attracted to the blood on Morbius' clothing when he landed in the water) before a cure for Spider-Man's mutation is found. After a fight with the Lizard, Spider-Man is advised by Dr. Curt Connors to seeProfessor X. Spider-Man ends up in a scuffle withX-Men membersAngel,Beast,Cyclops andIceman until Professor X andJean Grey break it up. Professor X then examines him with Cerebro and learns that Spider-Man's mutation is now permanent. Spider-Man then visitsMister Fantastic for a second opinion. Mister Fantastic also states that the mutation has become permanent. When theThing comes in announcing thatDoctor Octopus is holding hostages at City Hall demanding to see Spider-Man, Spider-Man easily takes down Doctor Octopus with his six arms. Spider-Man gains enormous popularity and is the nationally recognized spokesperson for the physically challenged, thereby provingJ. Jonah Jameson wrong in his assumption that Spider-Man would be considered as a freak. Afterwards, Mister Fantastic summons 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 has died of natural causes and Peter begins his full-time career as a superhero. His extra limbs give him augmented strength and agility. Spider-Man also prevented the death of Gwen Stacy at the hands of theGreen Goblin as well as participating in theSecret Wars where his alien costume soon resulted in the creation ofVenom whom Spider-Man also defeats. The story ends with Peter accepting the situation in which he was responsible for and making the best of it.
In the run-up toSpider-Verse, after learning that something is crossing dimensions to kill Spider-Men, theSuperior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus' mind in Spider-Man's body) assembles a team of the more ruthless surviving Spider-Men to oppose this threat, including a six-armed Spider-Man wearing a costume perfectly adapted to his condition.[3] During the storyline, this version of Spider-Man accompaniesSpider-Man Noir to a world where the spider-bite left Peter in a coma, with the six-armed Spider-Man using the serum that gave him his extra arms to cure Peter of his mutation for good, guessing that Peter's mutation being so new would make it more receptive to the serum.[4] However, the six-armed Spider-Man is later killed during a trip to 2099 with Lady Spider andSpider-Man 2099 when he is caught and fed on by one of the Inheritors.[5]
The six-armed Spider-Man appears as a playable character inSpider-Man Unlimited.[citation needed]
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