Hammerhead

Amazing Spider-Man #157-#159

by Ross Andru, 1976

Hammerhead was seemingly killed when a nuclear reactor exploded during his fight with Dr. Octopus. Though Octopus lives, he is haunted by images of Hammerhead's "ghost" vowing revenge.

Octopus believes that he can destroy Hammerhead's apparition with atomic energy, and he heads over to Brookhaven Laboratories. Once there, he assembles a mechanism to destroy Hammerhead's ghost. Spider-Man arrives and starts to trash Octopus' equipment until Hammerhead's image terrorizes Aunt May. Then, Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus work together to re-assemble the particle accelerator and blast Hammerhead's image with it.

Instead of destroying Hammerhead's ghost though, the energy blast restores Hammerhead's physical form and brings him back to the land of the living. It turns out the Hammerhead wasn't killed in the nuclear reactor, he was simply knocked "out of phase" with reality. Octopus' atomic blast restored Hammerhead. A battle royale between Octopus (and his crew), Hammerhead (and his crew who just arrives at the scene), and Spider-Man erupts. The battle ends with Hammerhead taking Aunt May hostage and fleeing the scene in a helicopter. Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus agree to team up once more in order to save Aunt May.

The unlikely allies confront Hammerhead at his turnstile table hideout last scene in Amazing Spider-Man #114. Hammerhead leaves Aunt May behind and again tries to escape via helicopter. This time, Doctor Octopus takes down Hammerhead's helicopter with some well thrown garbage cans. Once again, Hammerhead is seemingly killed when his helicopter crashes into the Hudson River with a fiery explosion.

A gunfight erupts between Hammerhead's and Octopus' crews. After Spider-Man takes Aunt May and escapes in a supply plane, Hammerhead attacks Doctor Octopus inside the reactor control room. The battle causing the reactor to explode destroying the island and seemingly killing both Dr. Octopus and Hammerhead.