Hydro-Man’s first appearance! During a New York City heatwave, Morris Bench is transformed into a being of water. Hydro-Man blames Spider-Man for this phenomenon, and he’s traveling through sewers, hoses, sinks, and showers to find the wall-crawler responsible! Spider-Man vs. his most unusual villain yet!

The Coming of Hydroman!

This issue opens where the previous one finished, with Spider-Man and a shipping crew placing an experimental generator into the ocean. As they do so, an electrical cable starts sparking, and in the chaos a worker named Morris Bench is knocked overboard. Spider-Man dives in to save him, but once back on board, Morrie notices that he can't seem to get dry.

Back on land, Peter Parker is called up by J. Jonah Jameson, who asks him to take photos of the effects the recent heat wave of the city is having on people. Peter in turn calls Debbie Whitman, and asks her to accompany him, turning it into a date of sorts.

Over in a bar, Morrie Bench is rejected by Sadie Frickett, a woman hanging out in the bar. After she leaves, Morrie spontaneously turns to water. After a moment, he manages to pull himself back together, and decides to get revenge on the people who are responsible for him getting his powers, since he doesn't like them. Morrie then goes on a rampage across the city, looking for Spider-Man. Whilst visiting the Daily Bugle with Debbie Whitman to deliver his photos, Peter Parker hears about Morrie, whom has been dubbed Hydro-Man. He then changes to Spider-Man and goes in search of Hydro-Man.

After a brief fight with Hydro-Man, which he loses, Spider-Man returns to the Daily Bugle as Peter Parker, and whilst giving some photos to J. Jonah Jameson, says that Spider-Man wants Jonah to print a challenge to Hydro-Man, asking to meet him on a certain building at a certain time. Jonah agrees to, and so the next day Spider-Man once more faces Hydro-Man. This time, however, Spider-Man is prepared, and uses things such as washing and newspapers to absorb some of Hydro-Man's water. As Hydro-Man keeps becoming more and more dehydrated, he eventually ends up evaporating due to the current heat wave hitting the city, turning into steam and dissipating in the air.

Notes

• Features the Hostess Fruit Pies ad, Captain America In "Fury Unleashed!"
• Mary Jo Duffy's assistant editor credit taken from letters page header.