Dr.
ERIC SCHWINNERDr.
ERIC SCHWINNER
Real Name: Dr. Eric Schwinner
Identity/Class: Human, scientist
Occupation: research scientist; chief operating officer for GARID
Affiliations: employee of GARID (Galannan Alternative
Research for Immunization Development);
formerly employed by General Techtronics;
Paul Contoni (Dryrot), Calvin Falconer (security at
GARID), Bill Galannan (employer),
Peter Parker, Monica Staphos (former co-workers);
possibly John and Jonah Jameson (see comments)
Enemies: Tendril
Known Relatives: none
Aliases: That scientist guy from Amazing Fantasy#15
Base of Operations: GARID, Portland, Oregon
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy I#15 (August, 1962)
Powers/Abilities: Schwinner is a highly intelligent, and extensively trained in the field of radiation therapy.
History:
(Amazing Fantasy I#15) - Schwinner ran the demonstration for
General Techtronics Laboratories East, which was attended by the
young Peter Parker. During the demonstration, a small spider
dropped down from the ceiling, passed through the radiation beam
produced by their Isotope Genome Accelerator, and fell upon
Parker's wrist, biting him as it died. Parker nearly fainted from
the shock and burning sensation that the bite had caused.
Schwinner and his colleagues joked that their experiment must
have unnerved young Parker. Little did they realize the
significance of what they had just been witnessed.
(Spider-Man: The Final Adventure#1) - Now working for GARID on the West Coast, Schwinner hired Peter Parker as a research assistant. Schwinner felt that he had no choice but to shut down a branch of Monica Staphos' research when she began testing it on people. When she went behind his back and continued the testing, he threatened her job.
(Spider-Man: The Final Adventure#2) - Schwinner held a meeting of the GARID department heads after Tendril, a former patient of Staphos, escaped. Schwinner wanted to go to the police, but the company's owner, Bill Galannan insist they try to handle it internally (putting security head Calvin Falconer on it), rather than attracting negative public attention to GARID. When Tendril publicly attacked others, Schwinner decided to go to the police the following morning, but continued his research to try to work on a cure for Tendril, that would allow him to be more easily captured. Schwinner's work allowed Parker to gain a hypothesis on the root of the problem, and Schwinner revealed the involvement of the Isotope Genome Accelerator.
(Spider-Man: The Final Adventure#3) - Spider-Man convinced Staphos' first test patient, Paul Contoni, aka Dryrot, to return to GARID for testing that might cure both he and Tendril. Schwinner and Parker worked all through the night. Having completed their theoretical work, they prepared to test it on Contoni, using the Isotope Genome Accelerator.
(Spider-Man: The Final Adventure#4) - Spider-Man captured Tendril and returned him to GARID, and both Parker and Schwinner presided over the use of the Isotope Genome Accelerator to cure the pair. Tendril fought the process and died, while Contoni was returned to normal. In addition, Peter Parker was exposed to the energies of the Isotope Genome Accelerator, and temporarily lost his powers as a result.
(Spectacular Spider-Man II#235) - Peter Parker returned to Manhattan. He called Schwinner and informed him of his final decision, thanking him and telling him it had been a pleasure to work with him. Schwinner tried to convince Pete to stay on, but to no avail.
Comments: Created by Stan "The Man"
Lee and "Sturdy" Steve Ditko.
Real Name provided by Fabian Nicieza.
While not definitive for Reality-616, What If? I#7 reveals the Schwinner of realities-78227 and -78327 was an associate of Jonah and John Jameson, respectively. As those realities were supposed to be the same as -616 up to the point of divergence of the Science Exhibit (or, more correctly, the decisions leading Jonah and John Jameson to attend), it stands to reason that Eric Schwinner-616 is also an associate of these two.
Some people have a problem
with the proposed mystic explanation to Spidey's background as
given by JMS in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man.
Not I! I find it contradictory to nothing, and
I find it a fresh source of extremely interesting stories. Now if
only I could get them to bring in Omm!! It's a tragedy that Marvel gave up the rights to the
Conan stories.
Peter David first established in a novel (The Ultimate Spider-Man, perhaps) that the U.S. Atomic Research Center, at which Dr. Octopus was mutated, was actually the same as the one in which Peter was mutated. He actually ret-conned it so that it was Octavius giving the experiment, and both he and Peter were irradiated simultaneously. John Byrne took the idea (or came up with the same one on his own) and ran with it, bringing it into mainstream comics in the pages of Spider-Man: Chapter One. However, that series went over like a led zeppelin (not the band!), and it is no longer considered continuity.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
not so much
GENERAL TECHTRONICS
The laboratory which conducted the radiation experiment that mutated the spider that bit Peter Parker. The specific apparatus used was an Isotope Genome Accelerator. That same device was later used by Dr. Monica Staphos in a failed attempt to cure Necrotizing Fascitis, but instead resulted in the mutation of Dryrot and Tendril. It was later used to cure Dryrot, and it temporarily neutralized Spider-Man's powers.
--Amazing Fantasy I#15 (see below)
The Accelerator was seen again in Spider-Man:
The Final Adventure#2, as well as behind the scenes in a
flashback that same issue, and then in Spdm: TFA#3+4
General Techtronics has
since been claimed as the predecessors of two separate companies:
GARID and Tri-Corp. However, the explanation is quite simple,
believe it or not. The laboratory was not actually named until
decades later when the story was retold in Spectacular Spider-Man
II#60/2. In fact, it was named General Techtronics EAST,
indicating that there was a General Techtronics West. So, at some
point after the initial story, the West Coast branch was bought
out by GARID. Schwinner and his radiation machine went with the
West Coast branch. The East Coast branch, either renaming itself
or coming under new ownership, became Tri-Corp, for which Peter
Parker briefly worked.
See? Easy!
Last updated: 01/29/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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