No longer one with the Venom symbiote, Gargan returns to his first costumed identity.
The moment I've been waiting for has finally arrived. Mac Gargan will become the Scorpion once again. Mac Gargan first appeared back in Amazing Spider-Man #19 as a private investigator hired by J. Jonah Jameson to follow Peter Parker. Jameson wanted to know how Parker managed to get so many shots of Spider-Man in action. Jameson soon pulled him off this assignment when he found out a scientist was conducting experiments and was able to create a serum that could make a human stronger than Spider-Man. Gargan jumped at the chance to make money. The problem was, the longer he had the serum in his system, the stronger he got and he also ran the risk of losing a sense of right and wrong.
Obviously Gargan refused to take an antidote to reverse the process. He killed the doctor and became part of Spider-Man's rogue gallery. Despite his new deadly abilities, Gargan seemed to be fated to constantly be defeated by Spider-Man. In Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #9, the Venom Symbiote suit joined with Gargan. Becoming Venom changed who he was. As Venom, Gargan was simply a replacement for Eddie Brock. His long standing vendetta against Jameson seemed forgotten. He had a little rise in power in becoming one of Osborn's Dark Avengers but still didn't do anything extraordinary. After the downfall of Norman Osborn, Gargan was incarcerated and had the symbiotic suit removed. Where did that leave Gargan? == TEASER == Now Mac Gargan is the Scorpion once again. This isn't a step back for him as Alistair Smythe has given him a cyborg upgrade. He now has a form of scorpion-sense (Smythe informed Gargan that scorpions can detect when creatures brush the hairs atop its pincers). He already had super strength and speed and now has an upgraded tail and claw. Will he finally be a match for Spider-Man?
The other nice thing about this current portrayal is Mac Gargan is shown to possess some intelligence. He was never close to being a genius but as a private investigator, he should have been able to come up with more of a plan when facing Spider-Man. Teaming up with Smythe and his other Spider-Slayers, Peter Parker's Big Time luck is about to end. There's also Jameson's luck that will be tested. As the current mayor of New York City, if it became public knowledge that he was responsible for the creation of the Scorpion and all the deaths at this hand, Jameson stands to lose everything.
If we're being honest, we know at the end of the day, Spider-Man will figure out how to outwit Scorpion, Smythe and the the slayers. What matters is that Gargan is the Scorpion once again. There never really was a need for him to become Venom. It might have given him a slight edge and made him a little more respected as a Spider-villain but he quickly fell into the typical "I want to eat your brains" mode. I'm all for characters evolving but it shouldn't be at the expense of who the character was at their core. Mac Gargan is the Scorpion. With his new suit and experiences he's had recently, let's see him climb the ladder in becoming one of Spider-Man's more serious and deadly villains.
Scorpion was my personal favorite Spidey villain. I'm glad to see Mac back to his core and I think that these upgrades along with Slott's writing will make him a great villaing for ol'Web-Head to face. I mean he's a Scorpion, whcih are a big threat to spiders, and with this new "Scorpion sense" I think he may just be a match for Spider-Man.
I hate The Scorpion, he's got to be one of Spider-Man's lamest villains though I like Mac Gargan as Venom but still Eddie Brock is the definitive Venom.
I hope we are going to have a well written scorpion this time. I trust Slott. He will make a great job with Gargan. I really like the idea of scorpion sense as well. =]
Gargan as Venom never bothered me, it just felt like a wasted opportunity. I was hoping it'd be a mix of Scorpion and Venom, an original look for the symbiote. Instead he just looked like the regular Eddie Brock-variety Venom. Just a wasted opportunity for a cool new costume.
He wasn't that much of a good villain when he was Scorpion, he just seemed to be a guy who wanted to get recognition from everyone. However, he has nearly punched Spider-Man's clock a couple of times.
I really liked Him as Venom, but I like him as a bad guy in general, so I'm happy they are bringing him back in, and i dig the new look. Plus the new military venom sounds like a sweet and fun read to me, gonna check that out for sure
I agree with a previous comment that the costume is very much like the scorpion 2099 in Shattered Dimensions. It would be interesting if we saw some of that private investigator intelligence. It may make him a more formidable villain.
I love returns of old Villains. It's a great time for new readers to hop in too, considering they're probably at least somewhat familiar with the character already.
I didn't hate Gargan as Venom, he was just a different take on the character. However, I'm glad he's returning to his Scorpion persona. I'm also digging the new costume. Scorpion's outfit was always a little goofy, but now he actually looks intimidating. The pincers are a nice touch.
Scorpion is one of my favorite Spider-Man enemies, although I also love many others. But Scorpion was cool because he was set up to be like Spider-Man only better, stronger, faster. I wanted to see Spectacular Spider-Man, the cartoon series, show him. I feel like they were leading up to it. He would have had Doc Ock's mechanical arms (for his tail), genetically altered costume bonded to him like the Rhino's, and genetically enhanced strength, agility, and all that, like Norman Osborn or Spider-Man. He would have been cool to see.
This scorpion sense thing is hardcore, but spidey is imroved with the new costumes a lot. The insect army could beat him, but the webhead has some frends too.
Scorpion as Venom just didn't work. Venom is either a diabolical monstrosity or possibly a questionable anti-hero (it's at least been done before), but Venorpion just ended up turning them both into a joke.
Does it seem to anyone else that Marvel isn't creative, anymore? It seems to have a DC mindset of making a drastic change and change it back in 6 months. From Spider-man, Captain America, to Wolverine, it's getting pointless to try to keep up. AofA was great, but it brought on even more alternate reality additions.
Now I am interested in the Spider-Man comic books again. Mac Gargan as Scorpion is indeed good news. The story sounds good with Jameson as Mayor, and Scorpion running around, yes, there could potentially be some consequences for JJ's actions if it gets revealed as you say G-Man. Sounds promising and finally exciting again!
I'm not just interested in the Gargan taking on the Scorpion mantle again and he future rematch with Parker (and hopefully his new costume), but also this whole thing about there being a new Venom coming too. I'm not just interested in what goes down between him and Pete, I wanna know if they will be smart enough to use Gargan and Brock as a way to build up the new Venom and Carnage as a sort of a Hunt for the Symbiote story line. Come on imagine Pete stuck in a three way deathmatch between the new Scorpion, the new Venom, and Anit-Venom(or whateva Brock is calling himself now).
I'm a big Scorpion fan but I'm not big fan of constant armor upgrades. He's already stronger than Spider-Man with all of the same abilities save for the Spider-Sense and web-fluid. It seems to me that Marvel has tried to make him more appealing to readers and fans of Spider-Man, over the years, by giving him ridiculous armor to wear. (Don't get me wrong, I like this new look, but it undermines the potential of the character.) He doesn't need anything more than the abilities that he was first given. He was Spider-Man's counterpart with an extra appendage that comes out of his ass . . . he needs nothing more.
For me, before there was Venom, there was Scorpion, a character to bring pinnacle physical challenge to Spider-Man creating a classic battle. He's a character that has been treated with little respect and now he's running with the Spider-Man equivalent of the Revers because no one thinks that he can take on the Spider alone!
Scorpion is to Spider-Man in the same way as Sabretooth is to Wolverine, as The Thing is to the Hulk, as Ultraman is to Superman, he is a character that should inspire stories of colossal combat, not constantly dressing for failure.
" Well he finally has pincers from the look of it, so he finally looks the part. Glad to see him back in green. "
Yeah,.. Mac Gargan as Venom?.....nah,....
I didn't even KNOW who scorpion was at first, of course you couldn't miss Venom, or Doc Oc (not from the movies but these guys are authentic villains) I would think he's one of the first villains that didn't really offer a challenge, common thug (as it was with Rhino or even the Sandman? except Sandman can't be TOUCHED, which i thought was a challenge) enhanced by a suit. However,... i feel that Scorpion is to Parker what Sabretooth is to Wolverine.
..saying Gargan didn't do anything as Venom is crazy. This cat obviously hasn't read his Thunderbolts. The relationship between him and the symbiote did a lot for his character's development.
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