Spider-Man Imposters (list)

Spider-Man imposters

Chameleon - first in Amazing Spider-Man I#1; again, during Pursuit, assumed Spidey's face, even though he wasn't near anybody, he was just babbling alone; and again in his "death story" (I'll buy THAT for a dollar), he assumed the identity of both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, actually impersonating him @ Webspinners#10-12.

Corbett, Ron - He trained for the '84 Olympics and was so agile he earned the nickname "Spider-Man." His parents were present at a bank robbery foiled by Spidey, but his mother was taken hostage, and when his father tried to protect her, he was shot and killed. In turn, Ron blamed Spidey for his dad's death, yadda yadda, and (in this issue) sets out to ruin Spidey's name by impersonating him @ Web of Spider-Man#21.

Doppelganger- A native of the Dimension of Manifestations used by the Magus (Adam Warlock foe) as one of his hundreds of dopplegangers of the heroes to distract them while he amassed further power. The Spider-Man doppelganger (or more likely the inert Manifestation-Body--the native of the Dimension of Manifestations likely returned to its home dimension to gain a new form after its previous one was skewered) was imbued with mystic energy by Demogoblin, and was one of the few to continue to exist after the defeat of the Magus, @ Infinity War#1.

Fusion (Markley) - did so in order to besmirch the original's name, and to draw him out into conflict, @ Peter Parker: Spider-Man#30.

Human Torch (Johnny Storm) - impersonated Spidey to rattle the Sandman way back in Strange Tales I#115.

Jansen, Hans - Dutch fan of Spider-Man, made costume similar to his idol, fought criminals in Amsterdam. When news reached NYC of this crimefighter, JJJ sent Peter Parker to the Netherlands to get the story. Spider-Man tracked down his "protege" and convinced the non-powered Hans to quit after he nearly died crimefighting @ Superhelden agenda '89-'90.

Kraven - first in Amazing Spider-Man I#34; again in his last hunt, to prove himself a better Spidey (in the black and white costume), @ Amazing Spider-Man I#293.

Master of Vengeance - to gain--vengeance--against Spidey and frame him for brutality and murder @ Spider-Man#32, 33.

Mysterio-first in Amazing Spider-Man I#13.

Mysterio's employee, Phil - a guy named Phil associated with Mysterio assumed Spidey's secret identity in public. It's a wonder that no super-villains showed up to whack his head off. @ Spider-Man Unlimited#4.

Noletti, Marc - a former lock picker who found the Spider-Man costume while robbing Peter Parker's apartment. He used it to commit a crime, but was then captured by the police and blackmailed into going after a gang called the Barons @ Spectacular Spider-Man II#114.

Prowler - Hobie Brown, unwittingly saved Spidey's secret ID in with an impersonation @ Amazing Spider-Man I#87.

Reilly, Ben (aka the Peter Parker clone and the Scarlet Spider) - He was actually believed to be the original Spider-Man for some time, and took over that role until his death, @ Sensational Spider-Man II#0.

Spider-Man robot - a creation of Kang, was used to deceive the Avengers in Avengers I#10. It later developed temporal powers and became a threat on its own in Spider-Man Team-Up#4.

Spider-Men impostors (David, Mike and a third, unnamed one) - Three actors hired by a man whom Spidey nicknamed "Brown Raincoat" to carry out what they thought were publicity stunts while dressed as Spider-Man. In fact they were actually committing robberies, designed to incriminate the real wall-crawler. "Brown Raincoat's" employer in turn proved to be JJJ (who probably didn't intend for genuine crimes to be committed.) @ UK Spider-Man Annual (1983).

Spider-Woman (Mattie Franklin) - posed as Spider-Man when the original briefly retired @ Amazing Spider-Man II#1.

Thompson, Eugene "Flash" - Amazing Spider-Man I #5.

Trapster - to fool the Fantastic Four. Note that the Frightful Four captured Spidey by having Electro impersonating the Human Torch, and then tried to take out the Fantastic Four by having the Trapster impersonating Spidey, @ Spectacular Spider-Man II#42 and Fantastic Four I#218.

If we want to count the Spidey newspaper strip... there was the guy (whose last name was Garcia, I think) who posed as Spidey to try to get the reward offered to the web-slinger by JJJ if he would reveal his identity.
There was the flunkie working for Harvey (correct first name?) Hooper, the crooked toy manufacturer who tricked Spidey into revealing the secrets of his web-shooters and such and using his disguised goon to rob jewelry stores as Spidey.

Also, in the recently completed strip story, Pete actually impersonated Spidey himself! That is, in order to relieve the pressure of the huge reward offered by JJJ to anyone who could discover Spidey's identity, Pete disguised himself with a wig and false mustache and created the identity of Joey Wilson. He got a job in the Bugle mail room, then intentionally let Jonah catch him changing to Spider-Man. Jonah told the world that Spider-Man was Joey Wilson only to later discover that Joey Wilson did not exist.

Thanks to the guys at Spider-Fan for putting this list together.

Profile updated/edited by Kyle Sims with info provided by Loki

Last updated: 02/04/04

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters