Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #102

Last issue, Spider-Man awakened to find himself in between Morbius and the Lizard, both with the intention of killing him! The Lizard attacks Morbius and the two trade blows, as Spidey sits back to regain his strength. As the two fight, neither seems to have a clear advantage, until Morbius knocks the Lizard into one of the lab’s machines, electrocuting him and knocking him out! Morbius goes to feed on the Lizard and Spider-Man drives him off. Morbius escapes into the night, in order to find someone else to feed on, but not before Spidey places a spider-tracer on him! The Lizard then awakens, now with Curt Connors’s mind back in control! He then starts to change back to Connors but only gets about halfway. Connors realizes that Morbius must have done something to him when he bit him, before he turns back into his Lizard form once more. Spider-Man attempts to concoct a cure for both of them, as Connors and the Lizard keep vying for control of their shared body. During a lucid moment, Connors realizes that Morbius must have injected him with an enzyme, one they need to complete their cure, and they head out to find him!

Meanwhile, Morbius makes it to Manhattan right around dawn. He finds refuge in a boarded-up cellar in order to sleep and wait for night to fall again. Morbius then dreams about how everything came to be. Not long ago, he was a Nobel-prize winning scientist named Michael Morbius. Afflicted with a deadly illness, he and his partner Nikos had been working on ways to cure him using vampire bats, all the while keeping their work a secret from Morbius’s love, Martine. They then set out on a ship for one last attempt, and though Morbius tries to dissuade Martine from coming, she tags along anyway. Morbius spends a final night with Martine before he and Nikos attempt what could possibly be their last chance at curing him. Nikos bombards Morbius with electricity, in conjunction with the bats, which ends up drastically changing him! Now essentially a vampire, Morbius lashes out in animalistic instinct and kills Nikos. Realizing what he’s done and, thinking himself now too dangerous to be around people, Morbius dives into the ocean with the intention of taking his own life. However, Morbius’s animalistic side takes over again, imbuing him with a renewed will to live which eventually brought him to the ship we met him on last issue.

The night passes and the sun sets again, just as a poor wanderer stumbles across Morbius in his resting place. Morbius awakens and feeds on the man, whose cries for help go unheard. Elsewhere, Spider-Man and the Lizard swing along in search of Morbius. Mid-swing, the Lizard’s mind takes over once again and he nearly falls to his death before Spider-Man catches him. With Connors now back in control, he realizes the switches are getting more and more frequent and they need to find Morbius, before it’s too late for both of them! Meanwhile, Gwen ponders her last interaction with Peter over the phone, trying to convince herself that she’s overreacting. She calls Aunt May to see if she knows anything about Peter heading out of town, but Aunt May confirms that Peter didn’t tell her anything. Thinking this confirms her worries that Peter doesn’t want to see her anymore, Gwen falls into silent sobs. The Daily Bugle also has their own problems, as J. Jonah Jameson tells Robbie that, if things don’t change soon, there may not be a Daily Bugle soon!

Some time later, Spidey and the Lizard finally find Morbius and Spidey is able to stun him. Connors then extracts the enzyme from Morbius’s blood and adds it to their serum, which does the trick in curing him! Before Spider-Man can take it, Morbius reawakens and swipes the vial, planning to drink it to replace the enzyme that was taken from him! Spidey chases after Morbius and in their scuffle, Morbius ends up smacking into a bridge and falling into the ocean. Stunned, Spidey attempts to snag him with his web, but only manages to get the vial, as Morbius sinks into the ocean! Feeling like he failed Morbius, Spider-Man lets Connors administer the serum to him. It has the desired effect, and Spider-Man’s four extra arms vanish. Spider-Man ponders if maybe they all have monsters inside of them; he was able to conquer his, but Morbius wasn’t so lucky, and perhaps…that’s what he wanted!