Sinister Six

Sinister Six
File:Sinister six1.jpg Marvel Age Sinister Six
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Amazing Spider-Man
Created by	Stan Lee Steve Ditko
In-story information
Base(s)	New York

The Sinister Six are a group of supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe, who serve as a collection of Spider-Man's greatest foes. The original incarnation of the Sinister Six was organised by Doctor Octopus and appeared in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1965).

History

After suffering three defeats in a row from the wall crawler, Doc Ock realised he required assistance from others in order to defeat Spider-Man. He got in touch with every known supervillain Spider-Man had crossed paths with and only five responded: The airborne assassin Vulture, the electrifying Electro, wild Kraven the Hunter, illusion master Mysterio and the dangerous Sandman. Knowing he'd never be able to keep the team together for long, Doctor Octopus quickly formulated a battle plan that would give each of the villains personal glory and Spider-Man an early death. Each individual member of the Sinister Six would battle Spider-Man in a carefully chosen location, until the point where the wall-crawler was no more.

Not every supervillain answered to Doctor Octopus' call, including Doctor Doom (who was busy trying to destroy the Fantastic Four) and the Green Goblin who wanted to destroy Spider-Man on his own.

Spider-Man himself had his own problems, as he had somehow lost his powers and prepared to return to normal life as a teenager. While blaming himself for the death of his Uncle Ben, Spidey lost his balance and fell down the side of a building, landing and clinging to a flagpole. As Peter returned to his normal life as a student and a freelance photographer, he was unknown to the fact that the Sinister Six realised the Daily Bugle secretary Betty Brant played a large role in Spider-Man's life and kidnapped her, along with an innocent bystander - Aunt May. It was then left to the Vulture to spill the beans to J. Jonah Jameson, warning him to inform Spider-Man that Betty was being held hostage along with Aunt May and if he wanted to see them alive, he'd have to battle the Sinister Six.

Despite not having his powers, Peter put on his Spider-Man costume and went to fight Electro at an electrical plant. During the battle, Peter somehow regained his superpowers (It was speculated to be a mental thing, caused by his own self-loathing for the loss of his uncle, which he got over when facing a life-or-death situation) and easily defeated Electro. Spidey then battled against Kraven- who confronted him with some wild cats- and defeated this foe too. After defeating Mysterio, Sandman and the Vulture, Spidey went up against Doc Ock, who lured him into an enormous fishbowl. The two foes battled and Spider-Man was victorious.

Many years later, the villains all escaped prison and went to get revenge on the wall-crawler. However, times had changed as Kraven had committed suicide, so the Hobgoblin took his place. A variation known as the Sinister Seven was formed by Mysterio to fight Kaine, a defective clone of Spider-Man that was killing villains, including Doctor Octopus and the Grim Hunter (Kraven's son). Eventually Sandman and Mysterio II (the original had died) formed a new version, with Venom temporarily replacing Doc Ock. The Sinister Six were defeated again (Ironically, Venom subsequently went on to attack the various members of the Sinister Six, nearly killing the Sandman and badly injuring Electro and Kraven before he and his symbiote were briefly separated from each other).

However, Norman Osborn who was revealed to not be dead returned to his role as the Green Goblin and resurrected the Sinister Six, in the form of the Sinister Twelve, minusing Dr. Octopus who was in custody, and Venom was now fused with the Scorpion.

Sinister Six Line-Up

The original lineup of the Sinister Six consisted of Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, The Sandman, The Vulture. Years later the team reformed; The Hobgoblin filled the spot of Kraven, who by that point had taken his own life. The alien called Gog, the Beetle, Scorpion, the Shocker and Venom and Kraven's son and namesake have all been members of the Sinister Six.

In the 1990s animated series, the Sinister Six was called the Insidious Six. Network executives apparently felt that the word Sinister was too menacing sounding for a children's program. The Insidious Six was formed by the Kingpin and consisted of Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Chameleon, Rhino, Scorpion, and Shocker. Mysterio was later replaced by the Vulture.

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe an Ultimate Six consisting of The Sandman, Doctor Octopus, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, and Green Goblin (who tried to recruit Spider-Man as their sixth member) went up against Nick Fury and the Ultimates after the villains escaped the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison they were held in after each had been defeated by Spider-Man and arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D. for illegally altering their genetics codes. Spider-Man temporarily fought for The Green Goblin, believing he had kidnapped Aunt May. When Captain America informed Spider-Man otherwise, Spider-Man turned and helped defeat the Ultimate Six.

In the Age of Apocalypse 10th anniversary limited series, Mister Sinister assembles his own group dubbed the Sinister Six. This group is unrelated to the more established lineup of criminals, however. It consists of Cloak, Dagger, Sonique, Soaron, Phoenix, and an unnamed member.