

In ancient Egypt, one of the most aggressive of evil magicians, Kotep, the Scarlet Sorcerer, is defeated in battle with an opponent, and his own demons strike him with a cursing ball of fire that puts him in suspended animation, his mummified remains lasting through the passing centuries and becoming an exhibit at a New York university and the object of a professor's obsession.
On his first night at work at the Daily Bugle, Peter overhears talk of a fake medicine racket engineered by a rotund mobster called the Kingpin.