The Dillon Family Tree

Here's another family tree I was inspired to pump out after completed my last post: The Dillon Family Tree! Electro is one of Spider-Man's most iconic enemies and has always been a personal favourite of mine. So, as you can imagine I was pleasantly surprised when not only did we get an Electro-themed MC2 character, but we also learned she was indeed related to the original.

Maxwell 'Max' Dillon first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #9 but we didn't get much insight into his life or personal history until Amazing Spider-Man #422. It's in this issue that we learn pretty much everything we could want to know about what makes Max the man he is: a man with great potential who never really tried to push himself. Max was born in Endicott, New York but his father Jonathan Dillon made them move frequently as result of being fired often. Jonathan was a tightly wound man prone to violent outbursts who abandoned his young family when Max was around 8 years old. This event caused Max's mother, Anita Dillon to become overprotective of her son, actively discouraging him from taking risks even when he reached adulthood. When Max announced his plans to go to college to pursue a career as a scientist or electrical engineer, Anita discouraged him, insisting he lacked the intelligence and discipline. Clearly, Max never stood a chance.

Just three weeks before Max's twenty-fifth birthday, Anita passed away. Six months later, Max married Norma Lynn, a secretary he met working at the local electric company. Max went from job to job until he became a lineman, and rather than pursue a management position or his dream of being an engineer, he stayed where he felt safe. Refusing to settle for a man with no ambition, Norma left Max who threw himself into his work-the only thing he had left. It was while (selfishly) doing his lineman job that Max would gain his electrical powers.

Fast forward to the MC2 and an unnamed female villain clad in an Electro-inspired costume makes an appearance in Spider-Girl #51. This particular issue has the distinction of being the only one written by someone other than Tom Defalco and the gang. Written by Sean McKeever with art by Casey Jones, the issue was commissioned as a fill-in issue in the event a deadline couldn't be met but after sometime, it was published regardless. While this issue was published directly after the big anniversary issue #50, it obviously does not follow these events with the collected digests placing the story between Spider-Girl #35 and #36. None of this is strictly relevant, but I felt a little context might help. The aforementioned Electro-styled villainess who briefly appears goes unnamed, though Spider-Girl does point out the apparent connections to Electro and jokingly refers to her opponent as 'Electra', quipping that it's already taken.

We wouldn't learn anymore about this character until she was re-visited by Tom and Ron in Spider-Girl #81 in what has to be one of the best stand-alone issues of the series. We learn that years ago Max fell in love with a woman named Marilyn, though the two never married. They had a daughter together named Allison Dillon who was born with similar electrical powers. Sadly, Max and Allison were never able to make physical contact due to their 'electrical auras' causing one another extreme pain. Marilyn told Max to stay out of Allison's life and he obliged, later winding up in prison. While there, Marilyn died, leaving Allison to be shuffled between foster homes, eventually donning a costume and starting a life of crime like her father before her. Only recently learning of Allison's situation, and apparently having served his time, Max reaches out to the Avengers to obtain help from his old enemy Spider-Man. With Spider-Man and Spider-Girl's help, father and daughter are reunited and fight through the pain of their electrical auras, finally overcoming the barrier between them.

As a sidenote, I found references to Max having a sister but this seems to ignore established continuity.As near as I can tell this 'sister' only appears in the Spider-Man: Web of Shadows video game.The last thing left to mention is the unusual instance of Allison being mistakenly referred to as Samantha Dillon in Spider-Girl #100. Or maybe Samantha is her middle name?!

That's about it for this one. Hopefully we'll see more of this electrified family someday. Until I can maintain a regular schedule for this blog, I remain

frogoat