PROFESSOR
RICHARD RICARD
PROFESSOR
RICHARD RICARD
Real Name: Richard Ricard
Identity/Class: Human, mad scientist
Occupation: Scientific researcher
Affiliations: Hackman (assistant), Spider-Thing (creation)
Enemies: Donna
Garth/Spider-Thing;
Zombie (Simon Garth, indirectly)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Haiti, a few miles from Port-au-Prince
First Appearance: Tales of the Zombie#2 (October, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: None. Ricard was apparently of genius intellect and skilled in biochemistry and mutation. He had some unhealthy obsession with spiders and had no problem using human test subjects.
History:
(ToZ#2/9 (fb)-BTS) - Ricard developed a serum able to transform a
person into a humanoid spider. However, working out of Haiti, he
found that the women there were not exposed to as many
preservatives and other chemicals, and thus had little drug
resistance. As a result, his serum worked too quickly on them,
and was fatal. He decided his serum would work better on an
American woman, who was exposed to more chemicals on a daily
basis.
(ToZ#2/9) - Ricard paid his sometime agent Hackman to abduct Donna Garth shortly after she arrived in Haiti. Ricard tested his serum on her and it worked--the serum worked more slowly, allowing her body to accommodate the changes--and she was transformed into a giant-humanoid Spider. Ricard was overjoyed as the Spider-Thing rose, and was overcome by its beauty as it embraced him in its web. As the steely webbing wound around his throat, he submitted, as if to a lover's hand exploring his body. He emitted a hoarse, choked, gagging noise, as his eyes rolled upward. A second later, he was dead.
Comments: Created by Steve Gerber and Pablo Marcos.
Who knows what Richard/Ricard's name really was. He was just a plot device for a monstrous interaction between Donna Garth and her father, the Zombie. He was called Richard once, and Ricard once, and then he died.
Donna Garth will eventually get her own entry. This one only deals with the Spider-Thing.
CLARIFICATIONS:
While there is no evidence of a connection, I always like to tie
these things together.
I'd like to see all Spider-related things linked back to Omm.
A former employee of Simon Garth, he used to oversee the operations of his field workers in Haiti. He later worked for Ricard on a number of occasions, procuring human test subjects, against their will. He used some chloroform to abduct Donna Garth for Ricard, but he was mortified when the transformation overtook her. Unlike Ricard, Hackman wisely fled, and was not killed by the Spider-Thing
--Tales of the Zombie#2 (2(fb), 2/9
Spider-Thing
Donna Garth is the daughter of Simon Garth. After traveling to Haiti to investigate her father's disappearance, she was abducted by Hackman and turned into the Spider-Thing by Professor Ricard. After killing Ricard, it sought out food and attacked, slew, and consumed a villager. Following its instincts, it headed towards the villa on Anton Cartier, her father's friend. There it encountered and attacked the Zombie, her father. In a passive-aggressive struggle mirroring their real life conflicts, the Zombie stood by, virtually ignoring her attacks, as the Spider-Thing knocked it to the ground and slashed at its body. It sunk its fangs into the Zombie's neck, but this had no effect, and eventually she exhausted the effects of the chemicals and collapsed, reverting back to her human form.
The Spider-Thing had superhuman strength and durability, and was essentially a humanoid spider, possessing eight limbs, a hair covered chitinous exoskeleton, fangs, lethal venom, and webbing. Like most comic book spider-people the webbing was discharged from the mouth (or hands in the case of other characters), rather than the other end, which would have been less aesthetic.
--Tales of the Zombie#2/9
Last updated: 10/03/04
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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