Appearing in "Chemistro!"
Hero for Hire #12
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Annabelle Crawford (First appearance)
- Noah Burstein
- Claire Temple
- Dave Griffith
Antagonists:
- Chemistro (Curtis Carr) (First appearance) (Origin revealed)
Other Characters:
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
- Mainstream Motors (First appearance)
- Horace Claymore (First appearance)
- Jack (First appearance)
- Howard (First appearance)
- Daily Bugle
- Manny Redmond
- Lord (Invoked)
Races and Species:
Locations:
Items:
- Spider-Man's Suit and Web-Shooters
- Alchemy Gun (First appearance)
Synopsis for "Chemistro!"
Hero for Hire #12
As Luke Cage is busy fighting Spider-Man (A story told in Amazing Spider-Man #123) a new villain appears in New York: Chemistro, who is trying to destroy the Mainstream Motor's offices, during which he injures employee Annabelle Crawford.
Cage learns of the incident when Annabelle ends up in Noah's clinic, and her boss Horace Claymore who wants to hire Luke Cage to deal with Chemistro. Meanwhile, Chemistro returns to his home where he recounts the events that led to his career as a costumed criminal: How in his civilian guise as Curtis Carr he was working for Mainstream Motor's where he invented the alchemy gun. However, when Claymore wanted to claim it as company property. Angered, he quit his job and worked out and developed the Chemistro identity to get revenge against Claymore and his company.
Meanwhile, at the Daily Bugle office, Phil Fox arrives to try to sell J. Jonah Jameson on the information he has on Luke Cage being a con. However, having had just dealt with Cage personally (in the aforementioned Spider-Man story), the angry Jameson kicks Fox out of his office, not wanting to publish any stories that would give Cage publicity. Disappointed, Fox decides to use the information he knows some other way.
While the next day when Chemistro attacks a Mainstream Motor's board meeting, Luke Cage is there to stop him, however during the fight Chemistro manages to escape. Returning to his office at the Gem, Luke Cage finds Phil Fox there waiting for him. Fox informs Luke that he knows the truth about Luke's past. He tries to blackmail Luke into robbing a bank for him, but Luke refuses and throws him out of his office, Fox vowing to get revenge against Luke.
Three days later at a public exhibition of Mainstream Motor's test track, Chemistro strikes again and battles Luke Cage. During the fight, Chemistro shoots his foot with his alchemy gun, turning it into steel so he can get an edge in fighting Luke Cage. However, when the effects of the alchemy gun wear off, Chemistro's foot crumbles away, crippling him. Realizing what he's done to himself, Chemistro surrenders over to Luke. After all is dealt with, Phil (who is a spectator in the crowd) taunts Luke, who only ignores Phil and walks away.
Notes
- Compared to the original, new panels and text have been added to pages 1 and 11. The original story’s page 10 has been removed (which previously included J. Jonah Jameson), and two panels have been removed from page 31.