why isn't electro a bigger villain to spidey than he is now?

**Xorn** · 03-18-2008, 05:43 PM

guys got potential. still, there are only very few stories that get it.
but electro in theory is really powerful, if you think about it. he could be a living emp of sorts and could give every hero a run for his money.
we have seen glimpses in New avengers and millars MK Spidey, but seriously, he could be much higher on the villain hierachy.
so what do you say? also what are your favorite stories feat. electro. I have a soft spot for the spidey and x-man crossover drawn by steve scroce almost ten years back right after the clone saga

**Matt Jay** · 03-18-2008, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by Xorn

guys got potential. still, there are only very few stories that get it.
but electro in theory is really powerful, if you think about it. he could be a living emp of sorts and could give every hero a run for his money.
we have seen glimpses in New avengers and millars MK Spidey, but seriously, he could be much higher on the villain hierachy.
so what do you say? also what are your favorite stories feat. electro. I have a soft spot for the spidey and x-man crossover drawn by steve scroce almost ten years back right after the clone saga

I like Electro alot, but I think Bendis hit the nail on the head in an issue of USM when Parker calls him a "one-trick pony". There's not much you can do with a guy whose sole power is hurling electric bolts. Although Millar definitely injected some versatility, and I'd love to see that picked up elsewhere.

**Amos Moses** · 03-18-2008, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by Matt Jay

I like Electro alot, but I think Bendis hit the nail on the head in an issue of USM when Parker calls him a "one-trick pony". There's not much you can do with a guy whose sole power is hurling electric bolts. Although Millar definitely injected some versatility, and I'd love to see that picked up elsewhere.

I thought Bendis raped alot of Spidey's villains in USM, Electro included.

**nick maynard** · 03-18-2008, 05:49 PM

id really like to see him get some respect from newer villains for being one of the old guys.

**Matt Jay** · 03-18-2008, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by Leroy Brown

I thought Bendis raped alot of Spidey's villains in USM, Electro included.

Even Doc Ock? Green Goblin? Ultimate Enforcers are much better than their 616 counterparts ever were. Same with Elektra. I disagree.

**NickT** · 03-18-2008, 05:50 PM

When you make him as powerful as you say, he stops being a Spidey-level villain. Spider-Man is a pretty low level hero within the MU.

**Lord Jermaine Retail** · 03-18-2008, 05:54 PM

The best Electro story in my opinion is the sequel to the Sin Eater Saga in Spectacular Spider-man. An excellent story that you need to find and read somehow right now. You can get Sin Eater in the Wizard Greatest Spider-man stories of all time hardcover.

Anyways aside from the sequel being a stark reminder to Spider-man of what he can do to a normal person when he unleashes on them, it also featured the normally mundane and boring Electro making a discovery about Spider-man's powers and capitalizing on it while Spider-man was distracted by what was happening elsewhere in his life. Electro had him down for the count. He lost of course, but he had him for a brief period.

I love Electro, but he's just not going to be a major heavy. He'll have moments sure. Break Out was totally logical. He took a job for money without reading any of the fine print, didn't maintain a low profile, and folded with the quickness under pressure. Which is fine. I really, really didn't like his handling in Marvel Knights Spider-man though and pretty much ignore it.

**Xorn** · 03-18-2008, 05:55 PM

no, he is no one-trick pony, if a writer can't tell more than one story with a villain, than they are either lazy or not that creative. as I said, electro could be damn near uber-powerful. he could potentialy rid all of the city from electricity, destroy large portions of the electric communication and stuff. look at the real world events, what happens when there is a major blackout in America? people are afraid, do you have those pictures in your head, when NY had some problems with their electric power? hell, I have a problem, when the power is out for like five minutes once every few years. moreover, I find it problemetic that electro most of the time is beaten by characters who would use rubber gloves or such . there is more to it than just some crazy sparks.

**Lord Jermaine Retail** · 03-18-2008, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by NickT

When you make him as powerful as you say, he stops being a Spidey-level villain. Spider-Man is a pretty low level hero within the MU.

He is extremely powerful, but also a terribly small thinker and generally unimaginative. And with Spider-man so many of his villains are kept from moving on to becoming real threats because it just becomes so very personal with them. They could go fight Daredevil and win or they could take just one more crack at Spider-man because of that thing he said about their mother or whatever.

**Humphrey_Lee** · 03-18-2008, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by NickT

When you make him as powerful as you say, he stops being a Spidey-level villain. Spider-Man is a pretty low level hero within the MU.

Pretty much exactly. If he "power bumps" to where he in honesty could be, he becomes an Avengers villain rather than a Spidey villain. Of course, that would work fine now with Spidey actually being an Avenger...