Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #133

The Molten Man melts right through the wall of the hospital, looking for Ned Leeds! He fends off those stupid enough to try and stand up to him and finds where Ned is in the patient registry. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the hospital, an intern finds Peter collapsed in the hallway. Just as he’s about to discover Peter’s Spider-Man costume under his shirt, the intern is called away by a scream, planning to send someone back for Peter. Peter regains consciousness and changes to Spider-Man, quickly discovering the Molten Man as the source of all the commotion. Spidey sprays Molten Man with a high-pressure hose, causing the whole place to be enveloped in steam! Spidey uses his spider-sense to locate Molten Man in the blinding steam but Molten Man breaks through the wall once more and escapes! Just as the steam clears, Spidey finds himself surrounded by cops, forcing him to flee the scene as well.

Spider-Man swings back to Mary Jane’s apartment where he overhears Liz telling Mary Jane what’s been going on with her. Liz reveals that the Molten Man, Mark Raxton, is her stepbrother and when Spider-Man stopped him the second time, she got a job as a nurse to be close to him at the hospital. As his condition deteriorated, Liz took care of him, often the only person he saw. Eventually, he had enough and scared her off, escaping shortly after. Liz then reveals that the Molten Man is dying, his body slowly being consumed by his own heat! Peter then comes back in as himself and Liz thanks him for being so welcoming, after all the time it’s been. The next day, at the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson demands that Peter go and get photos of a warehouse theft across town. When Peter gets there, the workers are less than helpful. He waits until they go on lunch and breaks into their record room, learning that some radioactive material was stolen, confirming that Molten Man was responsible. Spidey is then discovered, forcing him to knock out the guards and escape.

Recognizing the pattern of Molten Man’s thefts, Spidey predicts that he’ll hit the Science Museum next, for another meteor there, in order to recreate the alloy that originally turned him into the Molten Man. Spidey is spot on, and catches Molten Man in the midst of stealing the meteor. Still feeling the effects of the radiation from earlier, Spidey gets stunned as the Molten Man flees. Molten Man dons a fireproof disguise and slips aboard a subway, with Spidey hot on his heels. Spidey hangs onto the side of the subway as inside, Molten Man starts to burn right through his disguise, panicking the other passengers! Molten Man lashes out in frustration, and Spidey makes his presence known. The two end up tumbling off the subway and onto a bridge where they continue their fight. Getting worse by the second, Molten Man stuns Spidey, forcing Spidey to distract him by hurling the Molten Man’s bag with all his materials off the bridge. Molten Man leaps into the water to retrieve them and the water erupts with steam, seemingly dissolving Molten Man for good!