Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #173

Following right from last issue, Spider-Man is at the mercy of two armed cops in a hospital supply room! The cops tell Spidey not to move or they’ll fire. When Spidey tries shooting his webs, one of the cops makes good on that promise, shooting at Spidey and grazing his shoulder! Surprised, Spidey takes out the two cops and runs outside where he’s attacked by two surprisingly well-trained doctors! Spidey is able to throw the doctors off of himself and escape, all the while thinking about how he needs to find Molten Man! Speaking of whom, on the other side of town, Molten Man sneaks into a pharmaceutical lab and starts a fire to distract the guards. With the guards distracted, he finds a lone lab technician and forces her to complete the antidote he’d concocted for himself with the chemicals he took from the hospital. Once the antidote is complete, the lab tech injects Molten Man with it and he feels himself returning to normal! Now just regular Mark Raxton again, he apologizes to the lab tech for his threats and starts to head out, promising no one will ever have to fear the Molten Man again. Unfortunately, Raxton’s relief is short lived as the reaction almost immediately reverses itself, turning him into the Molten Man again, even worse than before!

Meanwhile, Liz has just been released from jail, accompanied by Harry, Mary Jane, and Flash. While Liz remains tight-lipped after the others try to figure out what happened, the police suddenly pull up beside them, asking to speak with her. Harry attempts to defend his fiancée, but they clarify that they need Liz’s help! Molten Man is threatening to destroy the pharmaceutical lab unless he’s able to speak to Liz! Though Harry is reluctant, Liz agrees to go with them. Back with Spidey, he makes it back to his apartment after having seen Dr. Connors about his wounded shoulder. He spots a letter from ESU and opens it to find out it’s a warning that he won’t be eligible to graduate that year due to his low grades! Though having expected this at some point, Peter is still bummed about it, when he receives a call from Robbie alerting him about the situation with Molten Man. Peter stealthily arrives at the lab to see Molten Man screaming about wanting to see Liz. Liz agrees and heads up to talk with Mark, while Peter slinks off to sneak in as Spider-Man.

Inside, Liz reaches Molten Man, who warns her about getting too close, and reveals that he’s dying, and he doesn’t want to die alone! Elsewhere in the building, Spidey sneaks in through the A/C system and tries to sneak up on Molten Man while he’s distracted talking to Liz. Unfortunately, a loose ceiling tile gives away Spidey’s position, and Molten Man gets the first hit in on him. Spidey spins himself some web boxing gloves in order to safely attack Molten Man, but he ends up punching Raxton into some tanks of liquid oxygen, causing the whole place to explode! Once the smoke clears, Spidey checks on Liz, who slowly starts to regain consciousness. Molten Man keeps attacking Spidey, preventing him from getting Liz to safety. Eventually, the whole side of the building collapses and Molten Man stuns Spidey, and begs Liz not to leave him, as he doesn’t want to die alone! Liz loses her balance, and Spidey catches her before she can fall, lowering her safely down to the street below. The fire grows worse, preventing Spidey from getting back to Molten Man. As Raxton stands at the top of the building, he pleads one last time not to let him die alone, as he overheats and the entire building collapses around him! With Raxon seemingly dead, Liz runs off, feeling as if all of this was her fault, as Harry calls after her, telling her not to leave him alone as well!