DEATHWEBDEATHWEB
Membership: Antro, Arachne, Therak
Purpose: agents of the Manipulator; scientific pursuit
Affiliations: Mike Clemson, Commission on Superhuman Activities, Conclave, Valerie Cooper, Wilson Lambert, Manipulator, Carter Napier
Enemies: Avengers West Coast, Rachel Carpenter, Elizabeth & Walter Cornwall, Count Nefaria (Therak only), Michael Galvan, Wilson Lambert, Carter Napier, Spider-Woman (Carpenter)
Base of Operations: a lab beneath Thompson Biochemical Industries, Silicon Valley, California
First Appearance: Avengers West Coast#82 (May, 1992)
History:
(Spider-Woman II#2 (fb)) - Val Cooper, acting head of the
Commission, organized a top scientific team--Dr. Carter Napier,
Dr. Sylvie Yacqua, Hashi Noto-- to try to create a new breed of
super-heroes that would serve the government. Based on Yacqua's
recommendation of the drugs found in the plants in the Amazon
jungle, Yacqua and Noto were dispatched there, led by the guides,
Walter & Elizabeth Cornwall, they gathered a number of
chemicals designed to give a subject spider-like powers. Seeking
a physically fit and loyal test subject, Cooper recommended Julia
Carpenter, an old college associate of hers, as well as the
daughter of the Cornwalls. Cooper convinced Carpenter to come
work for her, and the scientists transformed her into Spider-Woman.
(Spider-Woman II#2 (fb)) - After Spider-Woman left the government service, the Manipulator secretly met with Yacqua, Noto, and the maintenance man, Theo, convincing them to take spider-serum variants, transforming them into Arachne, Antro, and Therak, respectively. The Manipulator paid and threatened Napier to keep silent while he took his three new mutates, now Deathweb, to work for him. However, the Manipulator had altered the spider serum with which they were injected such that they would require periodic treatments with an antidote or they would die.
(Avengers West Coast#82) - Antro teleported Deathweb into a wooded area in Avengers Compound, from which they observed Spider-Woman before teleporting away again.
(Avengers West Coast#84 (fb) - BTS/86(fb) - BTS) - Allegedly, Liberty party vice-presidential candidate Wilson Lambert hired Deathweb to assassinate his running mate, Michael Galvin, so that he could take his place and gain his supporters as presidential candidate.
(Avengers West Coast#84) - Deathweb slew Daily Globe attorney Henry Drummond and reporter Walt Weston to prevent them from revealing information on Michael Galvin or Wilson Lambert. Upon investigating and attending a Liberty Party rally, the Avengers West Coast (Hawkeye, Iron Man (Stark), Scarlet Witch, USAgent, Wonder Man)--joined by Spider-Man--were confronted by Deathweb.
(Avengers West Coast#85) - Deathweb held their own against the Avengers, but eventually grabbed Rachel Carpenter and teleport away with her. Spider-Woman (followed by Spider-Man) tracked down Mike Clemson to seek the Commission on Superhuman Affairs' support. However, the Manipulator appeared, along with Deathweb (with Rachel hidden away somewhere), and demanded that Spider-Woman slay Spider-Man, or Arachne would kill Rachel.
(Avengers West Coast#86) - Deathweb and the Manipulator teleported out of Clemson's base as it exploded during the fight between Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, after which Deathweb teleported into Avengers Compund and left a telemodule through which the Manipulator revealed that he had Rachel and tried to use her to keep the Avengers away from Galvan and Lambert. However, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman survived the explosion, too, and used a Spider-Tracer to track down and rescue Rachel. Deathweb managed to ambush and kill Galvan before the Avengers could stop them, but they were then defeated and captured by the Avengers. Lambert took up Galvan's platform and then denounced Deathweb, but Arachne stated that they had been working for Lambert, causing him to lose all of his supporters.
(Spider-Woman II#1) - Deathweb slew Carter Napier, then Therak followed him to ambush Spider-Woman and her daughter and parents. Spider-Woman narrowly managed to fight off Therak.
(Spider-Woman II#2 - BTS) - Spider-Woman sent her parents and daughter into the Amazon rainforest to hide out from Deathweb. However, after learning Deathweb's origins from Val Cooper, she realized she was sending them into a trap and went after them.
(Spider-Woman II#3) - Deathweb and the Manipulator ambushed and captured the Cornwalls and Rachel Carpenter, threatening to kill Rachel unless the Carpenters led them to certain plants which contained additional chemicals sought by the Manipulator. Spider-Woman located them, but was ultimately defeated and captured by Deathweb, who obtained the rest of the plant samples they sought.
(Spider-Woman II#4) - The Manipulator tested out his new serum on Spider-Woman before administering it to Deathweb, who doubled in power. Spider-Woman eventually broke free and joined with Clemson in locating Deathweb and the Manipulator in their Silicon Valley base, where she pushed the Deathweb, forcing them to exhaust themselves, as their bodies had not yet had a chance to adjust to their new power levels. The barely conscious Therak incapacitated the Manipulator, angered over being used, as well as the constant threat of dying from the antidote, etc.
(OHotMU 2006#3) - Deathweb were imprisoned, their powers reverted to normal levels and their poisonings were appearently cured.
(Iron Man Annual 1999 (fb) - BTS) - Count Nefaria had Therak broken out of jail and brought to his Sicilian Base, where he would periodically drain his ionic power to refuel his own.
(Iron Man Annual 1999) - Nefaria drained another sample from Therak.
(OHotMU 2006#3) - The other members of Deathweb remained in prison.
COMMENTS: Created by Roy & Dann Thomas, David Ross, and Tim Dzon.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connections to:
Antro has no known connections to:
Arachne should be distinguished from:
Therak has no known connections to:
Hashi Noto. A Japanese former graduate student, he was one of those assembled by Val Cooper to form superhuman agents. He was honored to serve in the group and equally happy to take a large payment and receive powers. His power brought about the defeat of Deathweb at the hands of the Avengers, when the Scarlet Witch managed to alter his energies so that he teleported the group exactly where she wanted, and the Avengers ambushed them.
His power was seemingly based on the "trapdoor" spider, as he could teleport himself and others. He could teleport groups of people at a time, and make jumps over large or small distances, generally with rapid frequency, though he could be exhausted by overusing his power. His teleportation power caused him pain, which was palliated by a suit of armor, which also allowed him to fire various types of venom blasts (usually an acid spray) from its "mandibles."
--Avengers West Coast#82 (Spider-Woman II#2(fb), AWC82, 84-86, [Spider-Woman II#1,2], 3, 4
Dr. Sylvie Yacqua. Born a Pacqui Indian, in Peru, she was one of those assembled by Val Cooper to form superhuman agents. She also was happy to take the payment to become a superhuman agent. She performed most of the actual murders of the group.
She could fire both physical and psychic webs from her wrists, though she wore special gauntlets to ease the pain from doing so. She could extend a spike from her gauntlets which was covered in a potent form of spider venom, which was generally fatal within seconds.
--Avengers West Coast#82 (Spider-Woman II#2(fb), AWC82, 84-86, [Spider-Woman II#1, 2], 3, 4
Theodore "Theo" Davros. The former maintenance man in the building in which Spider-Woman was empowered, his lack of intelligence, experience, and generally creepy disposition didn't stop the others from agreeing to use him as their test subject, and he became the most powerful of the group. At some point after their defeat, he became a prisoner of Count Nefaria, who used his ionic powers to refuel his own from his base in Sicily.
Therak was-about eight feet tall, with six arms, 6-8 eyes, and generally a hairy, spider-like appearance. His powers were ionically based, and he had great superhuman strength (Class 100?, enough to overpower Wonder Man) and durability. After being amplified by the Manipulator, he grew to 15' tall, though it is not completely clear whether his (or the rest of the group's) powers remained at that amplified level.
(Iron Man Annual 1999 (fb) - BTS) - Count Nefaria had Therak broken out of jail and brought to his Sicilian Base, where he would periodically drain his ionic power to refuel his own.
(Iron Man Annual 1999) - Nefaria drained another sample from Therak.
(Avengers III#33 (fb)) - Nefaria continued draining Therak's ionnic energy.
--Avengers West Coast#82 (Spider-Woman II#2(fb), AWC82, 84-86, Spider-Woman II#1, [2], 3, 4, Iron Man Annual 1999 (fb) - BTS, Iron Man Annual 1999, Avengers III#33 (fb)
images:
Avengers West Coast#84, p30 (group);
Avengers West Coast#85, p15, panel 3 (Antro face);
Spider-Woman II#1, p18, panel 3 (Therak face);
Spider-Woman II#2, p9 (w/o ads), panel 3 (normal Antro &
Arachne);
p19, panels 3+4 (normal/transforming Therak)
Spider-Woman II#3, p16, panel 4 (Arachne face);
Appearances:
Avengers West Coast#84-86 (July - September 1992) - Roy & Dann
Thomas (writers), Dave Ross (pencils), Tim Dzon (inks), Nel Yomtov
(editor)
Spider-Woman II#1-4 (November 1993 - February 1994) - Roy & Dann
Thomas (writers), John Czop (#1-2) & Steven Ellis (#3-4) (pencils),
Fred Fredericks (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Iron Man Annual 1999 (1999) - Kurt Busiek & Joe Casey (writers),
Terry Shoemaker (pencils), Bud LaRosa & Terry Shoemaker (inks),
Bobbie Chase (editor)
Avengers III#33 (October, 2000) - Kurt Busiek (writer), George Pérez
& Paul Ryan (pencils), Al Vey (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 06/26/2004
Last updated: 10/06/2013
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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