Electro

First Appearance and Origin - Amazing Spider-Man #9

by Steve Ditko, 1964

Max Dillon was a electrical lineman. One day, he was struck by a lightning bolt. The lightning strike combined with the presence of the high-voltage wires gave Max the ability to generate, store, and control electricity. He spent all his money developing a fully equipped electrical lab to hone and strengthen his abilities. When his money ran out, he turned to crime to support himself.

On his first outing, he robbed an armored car. He fired lightning bolts from his fingertips to subdue and disarm the guards and made off with the cash. Later, he robbed a bank by shocking the guard into unconsciousness, overloading the silent alarm, and manipulating the electric impulse of the vault's time lock to cause it to spring open. He escaped by using electricity to scale a nearby skyscraper and made off with a fortune.

Despite his success, Electro's greed caused him to want more. Spider-Man caught up with while robbed an apartment, but Electro stunned him with an electric shock. Thinking Spider-Man was dead, Electro escaped.

Realizing he could use some help, Electro broke into a downtown jailed and freed the prisoners to be his flunkies. Spider-Man arrived on the scene prepared. He wore rubber shoes and gloves to protest himself from Electro's blasts. As the two fought, Spider-Man hatched a plan. He doused Electro with water from a firehose. The water short-circuited Electro's electrical abilities, and Spider-Man left him and the prisoners for the authorities.