CARLTON DRAKE

Real Name: Carlton Drake

Identity/Class: Human; former human mutate

Occupation: CEO of the Life Foundation

Group Membership: Life Foundation (Ms. Caputo, Dr. Collins, Dark Suits, Mr. Gabriel, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Macvay, Mr. Pullman, Spearhead/Mr. Carson, Roland Treece, many others)

Affiliations: Absent Throne (Bedlam, Meridius), Brand Corporation, Mr. Chakane, Friends of Humanity (Senator Arthur Krane, others), Jonas Hale, Justin Hammer, Kelner Scientific Innovations (Dr. Dana Harwood, others), Madness (Corwin Jones), Protectors, Sphinx (Anath-Na Mut), Stane International, Symbiotechs, Tac Squad, numerous security personnel;
   formerly the Chance (Nicholas Powell), Jury (Bomblast/Kenneth Parmenter, Firearm, Ramshot/Sam Caulkin, Screech/Max Taylor, Sentry/Curtis Elkins), Sneak Thief, Spoiler, Strike Agents (Trevor Cole, Donna Diego, Leslie Gesneria, Ramon Hernandez, Carl Mach), General Orwell Taylor

Enemies: Chance (Nicholas Powell), Gunplay (Miho Mikashi), the Jury (Bomblast/Kenneth Parmenter, Firearm, Ramshot/Sam Caulkin, Screech/Max Taylor, Sentry/Curtis Elkins), Archer Lyle, Toshiro Mikashi, Nova (Richard Rider), Paladin, Silver Sable (Silver Sablinova), Sleeper (Hank Hensley), Sneak Thief, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spoiler, Tri-Sentinel, Venom (Eddie Brock), Venom (Dylan Brock)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Homo Arachnis, Mr. D, Sar

Base of Operations: Headquarters of the Life Foundation on the Ildefonso Archipelago;
   formerly Life Foundation Bunker #14 in Washington D.C.;
   formerly a bunker in the Mojave Desert;
   formerly Life Foundation HQ at the Endicott Building in Uptown, New York City, New York;
   formerly Sanctum Maximus and other survival compounds in New Jersey

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#298 (March, 1988)

Powers/Abilities: Carlton Drake is an unscrupulous businessman with vast knowledge on symbiotes. He believed at some point in the collapse of society, which led to the creation of the survivalist Life Foundation and most of the mutates and weapons he had others create over the years.

   As Homo Arachnis Drake had turned into a spider-like monster with eight extremities and a carapace that could absorb vast amounts of radioactivity and withstand physical damage from bullets and energy weapons. In this form he possessed superhuman strength (he could easily deal with the Jury and could hold his own against Venom). He had acid spit that could melt down human bodies into liquid he could slurp up with ease.

Height: Unrevealed (5'11"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (160 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Gray (sometimes dyed black or brown)

History:
(Amazing Spider-Man I#299 (fb) - BTS) - Carlton Drake was a big-wig on Wall Street believed to be involved in political manipulation and insider stock deals.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#298 (fb) - BTS) - Carlton Drake was also the head of the Life Foundation.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#299 (fb) - BTS) - At some point Drake withdrew support for an agricultural research project at Empire State University even though it would have been a valuable tax write-off. Drake gave no reason for the withdrawal and kept the rent-free lease on several hundred acres of prime forest land in Northern New Jersey.

   Drake's Life Foundation started building a survival community on the forest land. They planned to sell condos at the community to the rich and famous after the collapse of society they believed in. They hired a private army for protection.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#298 (fb) - BTS) - Roland Treece, the head of Treece International and a board member of the Life Foundation, informed Drake about the mercenary Chance and his unique modus operandi of always wagering his payment against his success. Drake called Chance to give him a job for a wager of $20,000.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#298) - Drake headed a meeting of the Life Foundation's board of directors at the Endicott Building. Mr. MacVay criticized Drake's hiring of Chance because he was afraid he could draw too much attention to the Life Foundation. Drake told him that Chance was recommended to him and that he was sure he could act with subtlety. Moments later Chance knocked on the window, contradicting Drake's argument immediately. Drake still went through with hiring Chance to steal a secret shipment of Euro-Arms for the Life Foundation. Chance was hesitant at first because he didn't want to work for terrorist, but Drake assured him that the weapons would only be used for the defense of civilians. Drake raised the wager to $25,000 and Chance took the job. As soon as Chance was gone Drake told Ms. Caputo to deduct the price for a new carpet from Chance's fee in case he succeeded because Chance had burnt a hole into the target upon leaving.

   Chance succeeded and met with Drake in his office at the Endicott Building during a blackout that didn't affect the building due to private power supplies. Drake asked Chance to sign a cash receipt, which Drake claimed was for internal bookkeeping. Chance unknowingly stepped on a stun plate and was knocked unconscious by an adequately calibrated electric charge. Drake was glad to hear from his bodyguard that Chance had survived because he still needed him alive for the moment.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#299) - Drake was in the back of a truck with the stolen ammo, the unconscious Chance and a few members of the Life Foundation. They were heading to the Life Foundation's Sanctum Maximus in New Jersey. Spider-Man tried to ride atop the truck because he followed a Spider-Tracer he had placed on Chance and knew that he was inside the trailer, but he was spotted and a police officer ordered him to get off the truck. He overheard the driver tell the police officer that the truck was transporting "building supplies" for Carlton Drake.

   The truck arrived at the Sanctum Maximus and entered the hidden community. Mr. Gabriel was afraid what Chance would do to them when he woke up, but Drake assured him that he knew what he was doing and that Chance would be a key element in the success for the Sanctum Maximus venture.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#299 - BTS) - Drake had the Life Foundation's private army armed with the weapons stolen by Chance. At the same time he planned to equip the Life Foundation with duplicates of Chance's weapons in case their private army ever turned on them.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#299) - Drake had Chance secured in a chair inside one of the finished buildings in the hidden community. Drake pointed out the unfavorable position Chance was in and asked him to reveal to them how his wrist blasters and ankle jets worked because the Life Foundation's scientists were unable to find any trigger. Drake assumed that Chance was somehow cybernetically linked to his weapons and asked him to follow their demands as long as he was still undamaged, but Chance was too mad at Drake for tricking him to give away any information.

   Drake fled with Mr. Pullman in a helicopter after Chance, who had been freed by Spider-Man, attacked the Life Foundation's private army. They were seemingly gone when Chance blew up the Sanctum Maximus with the stolen ammunition.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#321 (fb) - BTS) - The Life Foundation started building another survival compound with stores and condos at another location in North New Jersey. Because they lost customers they switched to targeting yuppies. They hired mercenaries and turned them into the subservient, superhumanly strong Protectors.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#320 (fb) - BTS) - Foreign agent Chakane contacted the Life Foundation to get their help in a conspiracy against Symkaria.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#320) - Carlton Drake met with Mr. Chakane at a champagne reception at the Waldorf Astoria held by the Life Foundation. They were secretly watched by Paladin.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#320 - BTS) - Peter Parker noticed them leaving and followed them.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#320) - Drake left with Chakane in a limo with diplomatic license plates. They were secretly followed by Paladin and Spider-Man to an import car dealership in Brooklyn where Paladin attacked them. Spider-Man interfered when Paladin tried to kidnap Chakane, which allowed Drake and Chakane to escape while Paladin and Spider-Man had to deal with the Life Foundation's army.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#321 (fb) - BTS) - Chakane arranged for accommodations for Sabretooth to hide at the Life Foundation's facilities in New Jersey after the assassination of the Symkarian king.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#321) - Drake held a board meeting of the Life Foundation. He believed their current operation had been compromised after Spider-Man attacked the shipping company train yard owned by them. It was suggested to Drake to abandon the Life Foundation's current project, but Drake was against it because it could still work out. Expecting where Spider-Man and his allies would attack next Drake ordered Mr. Pullman to contact their new installation to activate the Protectors, a new defense against hostile factions, for a field test.

   Drake with Chakane at his side and surrounded by the monstrous Protectors welcomed Paladin, Silver Sable and Spider-Man at the Life Foundation's new survivor community after they broke in. He then sent the Protectors against them. Drake retreated to an office with Chakane and two guards and watched the battle between the Protectors and the intruders, but Silver Sable found them. She shot Drake in the arm and then interrogated Chakane. Silver Sable and the others left Drake and Chakane behind at the facility after Sable had gotten from Chakane what she came for.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#321 - BTS) - Sable planned to contact the authorities, but was sure that the Life Foundation would get rid of any incriminating evidence against them before the authorities arrived.

(Venom: Lethal Protector II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Drake hired Kelner Scientific Innovations to find a way to gain control over Venom.

(Venom: Lethal Protector II#1) - Drake contacted Dr. Harwood via video call to learn about her progress. She informed him that her formula was undergoing final animal tests, but he warned her not to proceed too quickly because if she failed she would end up as a test subject herself.

   She later informed Drake that the formula was finished. Drake reminded her that there was no way to pretest it on the target, but she was confident that Venom would be soon under Drake's command (it was actually a formula to eliminate the symbiote's weakness against sonic attacks and he had to sign a contract in #2 with the Life Foundation to get it...and he rejected it because of some side effects and ended up killing Harwood in #3).

(Amazing Spider-Man I#351 (fb) - BTS) - Under Drake's command the Life Foundation collected all pieces of the destroyed Tri-Sentinel and brought them to the newest survivalist community hidden inside a mountain in New Jersey. There the Tri-Sentinel regenerated, was reprogrammed for the Life Foundation's purposes as defense for their future clients and a bit of Antarctic Vibranium was put in its control center as a fail-safe measure.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#351) - Nova and Spider-Man followed the truck with the Antarctic Vibranium to the Life Foundation's mountain community and found the Tri-Sentinel inside. Drake confronted them and activated the Tri-Sentinel to test it against them. Unfortunately for him the Tri-Sentinel rejected his Life Foundation programming and reasserted Loki's prime directive to destroy everything. Drake was shocked and tried to control the robot, but it didn't respond and neither did the fail-safe. Drake begged Spider-Man to stop the robot before it killed them all.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#352) - After the Tri-Sentinel blew a hole in the side of the fake mountain, Drake ordered his men to delete all files on the computers and destroy the mainframe to assure that nothing could be found to incriminate them. Drake was mad that the Life Foundation once again had to abandon expensive resources due to Spider-Man.

   Drake was packing up his files when he was informed that Dr. Collins found out that the demonstration disk was missing. It was in the same room where Nova was apprehended. Drake knew that there was enough evidence on the disk to send him to prison, so he sent the Tac Squad after Nova. They were ordered to retrieve or erase the disk and Nova as well if he resisted (they only erased the disk and actually helped defeat the Tri-Sentinel).

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#26/1) - Carlton Drake participated in a boardroom meeting with Justin Hammer, Jonas Hale, representatives of Stane International, the Brand Corporation and others at a hidden installation. Sphinx (Anath-Na Mut), the chairman at the meeting, was informed that Speedball had been caught and would soon join the other test subjects.

(Spectacular Spider-Man Annual I#12/1) - Carlton Drake attended another meeting with Sphinx and representatives of several corporations.

(Web of Spider-Man Annual I#8/1) - The meeting continued and Drake was present...and the storyline ended with Sphinx getting his butt kicked by a bunch of heroes in the final issue of the crossover.

(Venom: Separation Anxiety#2 (fb) - BTS) - Drake convinced the future hosts of Venom's symbiote spawn that Venom was the enemy.

(Venom: Lethal Protector I#3) - Roland Treece had Venom transported to a Mojave Desert bunker owned by the Life Foundation for a supposed meeting. Venom ended up trapped behind a firewall when Drake introduced himself to him as the man whose idea it was to bring Venom to this bunker after Treece suggested that he could be of use to them. Drake wanted Venom's offspring.

(Venom: Lethal Protector I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Four symbiote spawn were removed from Venom.

(Venom: Lethal Protector I#4) - Drake was present when the final symbiote spawn was removed from Venom while he explained how they got the idea when they learned that Carnage was a spawn of Venom. Drake hoped the Life Foundation could obtain and control Venom's other spawn by combining them with volunteer security personnel and turning them into guardians for their clients.

(Venom: Lethal Protector I#4 - BTS) - The maturation of the symbiotes was accelerated and they were merged with top security personnel and sent out to San Francisco to test them against local authorities.

(Venom: Lethal Protector I#4) - Drake gloated about what was going on to Venom, who was still imprisoned in a sonic bubble. Drake waited for the final symbiote spawn to mature so it could be merged with a guard. He was shocked when Venom managed to free himself by pushing his exposed arm through the sonic bubble and tossing a guard against the controls, which short-circuited them. Venom's escape was quickly thwarted by the other guards' sonic weapons. Drake was glad that he had given the order to carry these weapons and then told the guards to activate the auxiliary sound cage and use safe decibel level this time. He began to wonder if he even needed Venom alive anymore.

   Drake wasn't pleased when Spider-Man attacked the bunker. He ordered to remove the Venom symbiote from Brock, which seemingly killed the symbiote and Brock.

(Venom: Lethal Protector I#4-5) - Drake then informed Spider-Man via video screen that there was no need to continue his assault on this Life Foundation property because Venom was dead.

(Venom: Lethal Protector I#5) - Spider-Man didn't trust Drake and wanted to see Venom's corpse for himself, which bothered Drake even more than the fact that Brock had actually just passed out. Spider-Man mocked Drake, who ordered to bring Brock to the dissection lab, keep his symbiote for study and send the symbiotes Strike Agents to kill Spider-Man as their final test.

   Drake watched the battle between Spider-Man and his symbiotes on a screen and seemed enthusiastic. Everything fell apart when Brock joined the fight, merged with the Venom symbiote once again and then helped Spider-Man seemingly destroy the symbiote spawns by using the Life Foundation's ray previously used to mature the symbiote spawns (they survived). Drake then ordered Mr. Gomez to begin the auto-destruct procedures for the bunker and eliminate all traces of the Life Foundation's involvement. Drake escaped in one of the Life Foundation's flying crafts before the whole facility was blown up.

(Venom: Separation Anxiety#2 (fb)) - Drake oversaw the reintegration of the symbiote spawns to the original Strike Agents, but when they abandoned the Life Foundation when Drake planned to use them in ways that went against their value systems.

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#3 (fb) - BTS) - Carlton Drake got cancer. When he learned of Toshiro Mikashi's Arachnis Project he financed his research. Drake saw it not only as a means to cure his cancer, but to turn humans into something better that could survive the nuclear apocalypse.

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#1 (fb) - BTS) - Drake and Treece set up a hidden Life Foundation bunker in Washington D.C. and hired numerous agents including Spoiler, the Dark Suits and their close associate General Taylor's Jury while using Treece's Diggers and other technology.

   They had agents like the Spoiler steal valuable items from museums and other places in the area for the post-apocalyptic future (their intention was to keep them safe). Spoiler was eventually promoted.

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#1) - A coughing Carlton Drake with Roland Treece and Orwell Taylor at his side hired Sneak Thief and gave her a new outfit. She changes in front of them because she didn't mind to give them a free show. Drake reiterated that her first job was an audition. He sent her to steal a 500 year old vase from the Williams University antiquities collection. Sneak Thief assured Drake that she wouldn't fail.

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#1 - BTS) - Dark Suits attacked one of Mikashi's students, who had found the disc containing the files on the Arachnis Project. The used the incomplete Arachnis formula, which resulted in a total molecular breakdown of his body. Spoiler was sent after Sneak Thief to observe her. She failed and Spoiler was going to terminate her...(but she escaped due to distractions from Spider-Man and Warrant only to be caught by a Digger, which all happened next issue).

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#3) - Drake and Treece were mad at Taylor for using a Digger to extract Sneak Thief. Taylor promised to tell the media that the Digger was a stolen unit and that the Life Foundation had nothing to do with its activity in Washington. Drake then asked about the progress of the Arachnis Project because his time was running out. Taylor revealed that Misashi had been brought to the bunker to finish the project only to get threatened by Treece because it wasn't finished already. Treece later ordered the Jury to capture Spider-Man, who was trying to help the Musashis.

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#4) - With Spider-Man captured Treece informed Drake that Mikashi would not be able to finish the Arachnis Project and suggested to use whatever was inside Spider-Man's blood to complete the project faster. Drake was against Treece's plan and got mad because he knew how deadly Arachnis still was, but Treece suggested injecting it because Drake was dying anyway. Drake eventually agreed to go through with Treece's changed plan because he didn't want to die.

   Drake and Treece had Mikashi later brought before them. Drake asked Mikashi if Treece was correct that mixing the Arachnis Project with Spider-Man's blood would purge him of cancer and grant him Spider-Man's powers, but Mikashi assured him that it would just kill him. Instead Mikashi revealed that he was able to isolate the genetic data comprising the shell to expunge cancer cells from host bodies that morning. Project Arachnis was finished and Drake gloated that he would be the first of Homo Arachnis, a new breed of humans capable of surviving the nuclear holocaust. Drake still wanted to go through with extracting a portion of Spider-Man's brain, but Mikashi suggested to not accidentally screw up the working Arachnis formula again. Mikashi promised Drake that the formula could be injected in one hour. Mikashi begged Drake to let him and his daughter go, but Drake first wanted to see if the formula even worked. Drake ordered Spoiler to bring Mikashi's daughter Miho to the detention block and had Treece take him to his quarters.

   After the Jury turned on the Life Foundation and Spider-Man escaped to cause even more trouble, Drake ordered Treece make arrangements for exfiltration from the bunker. He needed Treece to warm up a shuttle bird and transfer all their bank accounts to liquid assets. He then asked Treece to prepare the injection, unaware that Arachnis was actually an imbibed elixir. Treece didn't care because he hoped to take over the Life Foundation after Drake's death. He injected Drake with Arachnis and Drake mutated into the monstrous Homo Arachnis. He knocked out Treece and ripped open the door to his quarter when Spoiler knocked on his door.

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#5) - Homo Arachnis crashed with Spoiler right through a wall and lands in front of Spider-Man, Mikashi, the Jury (minus Screech) and some Dark Suits. He spit his acid saliva at one the Dark Suits and slurped up his melted remains. Spider-Man tried to escape with Mikashi and barely avoided Homo Arachnis' acid saliva, which dissolved the wall. The Jury started firing at Homo Arachnis, who considered it quite ironic that they were finally working together again. Homo Arachnis brought down the ceiling to cut off their only way out. The Jury and Spoiler continued their assault against the monstrous Homo Arachnis, but he easily resisted their weapons and took them down one after another. Spoiler fled after Homo Arachnis ripped out a steam pipe and used it to take out Bomblast with scalding steam. Spider-Man saved Firearm from Homo Arachnis by webbing up the monster's mouth and prevent him from spitting acid on Firearm. Homo Arachnis ripped off the web, but was attacked by Spider-Man, who was barely able to avoid Homo Arachnis' claws. Mikashi caused a chain reaction in the base's reactor to start a 20 minute self-destruct sequence, which angered Homo Arachnis because he had not ordered it. He took off to save the facility and escaped from Spider-Man and the Jury through a freight elevator.

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#6 - BTS) - Mikashi's formula in Homo Arachnis' body mixed with the ambient radiation near the reactor core and he mutated further.

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#6) - Even more powerful than before Homo Arachnis was sure he would survive the base's explosion unlike the traitorous Jury and his other opponents. He still wanted to make sure that they couldn't escape and attacked them again. Spider-Man saved the helpless Bomblast from Homo Arachnis' acid saliva. Screech arrived to help his team and took his shot against Homo Arachnis, who promised to kill him like his brother. Screech worked together with Spider-Man against Homo Arachnis and they were soon joined by the other members of the Jury and Sneak Thief. They at least managed to take down Homo Arachnis temporarily when the ceiling came down on the monster. Venom (he was there too) got back to his feet, but instead of taking his revenge on the Jury he decided to go after Homo Arachnis because the former Carlton Drake was a bigger threat to the countless innocents. The floor beneath them collapsed and they dropped to a lower floor. Spider-Man, the Jury, Gunplay and Sneak Thief followed them down, but Venom knocked Homo Arachnis into an explosion all by himself. Everyone besides Homo Arachnis escaped the bunker, which blew up.

(Venom V#4 (fb) - BTS) - Meridius helped restore Carlton Drake to his former self. (see comments)

(Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#6) - Later that night Carlton Drake dug his way out of the ground. He had secretly survived the explosion due to the Arachnis formula, which, as planned, absorbed the radiation of the explosion and his cancer before it fell off. He was in the process of removing the last remains of the Homo Arachnis shell from his right arm. Carlton Drake felt younger and revitalized, but he was bit miffed that he had not only lost Arachnis, but also the treasures the Life Foundation had stolen. He felt humiliated by Venom and his new healing ability had been completely depleted. There was no way to replicate Mikashi's work because all the data to cure cancer was lost. Drake walked away vowing to get his revenge on Spider-Man and the Jury.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Venom V#2 (fb) - BTS) - Drake's Life Foundation was reinvigorated by "concerned" benefactors (it was Meridius).

   The Life Foundation sent in soldiers armed with their high-tech weapons and attacked a motel where they successfully eliminated Venom host Eddie Brock. Afterward the Venom symbiote bonded with Eddie's son Dylan and escaped. The Life Foundation worked closely with local authorities to gain access to camera footage from the incident, which then made the news all over the country.

   Following the attack Drake helped Senator Krane get a speech concerning the symbiote threat on all news feeds as well.

(Venom V#2) - Carlton Drake had meeting with Senator Arthur Krane, who, even though he didn't like Drake personally because he seemed enamored with symbiotes, was impressed by what Drake had done for him and considered the Life Foundation the only real authority on symbiotes. In case Krane won the congressional seat he promised Drake a chance to define symbiote policies in the future because he didn't trust other corporations like Alchemax. In return Drake offered Krane access to anything they learned about symbiotes. Drake then gave a progress report on their hunt for Venom, whom he now considered an easy target because he was bonded to a child after Eddie Brock had been eliminated.

(Venom V#3) - Drake met with Mr. Carson, the leader of the squad he had sent after Venom. Drake talked about what they learned about symbiotes over the years and that they needed to capture Venom and change it into something else. He was aware that Carson needed something to gain an advantage over the Venom symbiote and offered him the new Spearhead armor. He then sent Carson with his team to an abandoned industrial estate in New York City where Dylan Brock and Venom were apparently hiding.

(Venom V#4) - Drake contacted Spearhead after the Venom symbiote escaped atop a truck after getting hit by a blast from Spearhead's spear. Drake told Spearhead to wait and watch to see what the symbiote did next because they were playing the long game.

   After the Venom symbiote made it back to Dylan Brock, who had been captured by Liz Allan and Alchemax, and bonded with him, Meridius met with Drake to tell him that the changes in the Venom symbiote was turning it into something new. Drake still didn't understand what Liz Allan was in all this, but Meridius told him to just trust him because he had saved Drake, who now had to play his role in Meridius' game by pushing the symbiote to its limitations while Liz kept pushing Dylan beyond his. Meridius' symbiote mass then turned into Bedlam in front of Drake because he wanted Bedlam to scare Dylan a little bit.

(Venom V#6) - After Venom and Sleeper escaped Alchemax, Liz Allan made all of Alchemax's resources available to Senator Krane's symbiote task force. At a press conference with Allan and Krane, the latter informed the public that the Life Foundation will consult the government on matters of symbiote policy going forward. Drake watched the press conference and was glad to hear that they were now in charge. He ordered Carson to find him a team to build a new Jury while their benefactor (Meridius)'s agent Bedlam was in pursuit of Venom.

(Venom V#11) - Spearhead found Dylan Brock injured and without the Venom symbiote after his fight with Bedlam and delivered him to the Life Foundation Medical Research Hub. Carlton Drake listened as Spearhead explained to him that they could've gotten to Dylan earlier if not for Sleeper. Doctors had patched up Dylan, but he had no brain activity. Drake got mad because Spearhead got him a brainless husk without a symbiote. Drake called Spearhead incompetent, ordered him to move the boy to Ildefonso and find the wounded Venom symbiote.

(Venom V#12 - BTS) - Following Drake's order Spearhead and his men took Dylan Brock to a helicopter on top of the building, but Sleeper (hosted by Hank Hensley) and Archer Lyle freed him.

(Cult of Carnage: Misery#1 (fb) - BTS) - Drake sent Spearhead as the Life Foundation's emissary to Alchemax as support for their Guardsmen.

   Drake bought a considerable amount to Alchemax stock.

(Cult of Carnage: Misery#1 - BTS) - Carlton hired dishonorably discharged Marine Corps member Corwin Jones, who worked as a Guardsman at Alchemax, and paid him handsomely to steal the symbiotes.

(Cult of Carnage: Misery#1) - Carlton Drake had a meeting with Liz Allan at Alchemax HQ in New York City and informed her of his stock acquisition. He told and her team not to worry and that he was mostly interested in their research-and-development division, but Allan assured him that the company was not for sale. He later told Allan in private that he was actually interested in symbiotes and didn't like it that she shut him out after Spearhead helped her acquire Dylan Brock. He wanted her symbiote samples, but Allan had no intent to give them to him. Drake suggested that the symbiote business could bankrupt her and that he would pick up the pieces if it did.

(Cult of Carnage: Misery#1) - Using his own upgraded technology and drones Corwin went through the other Guardsmen and Spearhead and stole the symbiotes from Alchemax. Liz Allan got badly injured, but bonded with a combination of the Carnage and Anti-Venom symbiote to survive and become Misery.

(Cult of Carnage: Misery#2) - At a secret Life Foundation facility Drake got mad at Corwin because he had injured Liz Allan. He reminded him to stay away from her in the future. When Corwin asked Drake what he was going to do with the symbiotes, Drake showed him a Guardsman armor powered connected to the symbiotes. He told Corwin that he needed someone to wear it. Corwin took the opportunity to bond with the symbiotes to become Madness because he was terminally ill anyway.

(Cult of Carnage: Misery#2 - BTS) - Liz Allan found Corwin Jones and confronted him about getting hired by Drake, but Corwin already knew that she was bonded to symbiotes like him because he had bugged her lead scientist Dr. Steven's wheelchair. A fight broke out.

(Cult of Carnage: Misery#3) - Madness (Corwin Jones) delivered Misery (Liz Allan) to the Life Foundation. Carlton Drake was impressed. Corwin heard something, but Drake assured him that there was no way that anyone could break into the facility, unaware that Queen Cat (Lily Hollister) was watching them from a ventilation shaft.

   Drake allowed Jones to oversee his own experiments at the Life Foundation. Jones suggested using braindead soldiers and turning them into cyborgs bonded to symbiotes. Drake liked the result and congratulated Jones on the Symbiotechs, but wanted them monitored for any side effects.

(Cult of Carnage: Misery#5) - Misery (Liz Allan) threatened Drake's life in his office while he tried to talk his way out of the situation by telling her how successful he was at weaponizing in a controllable way with the Symbiotechs. Misery didn't care and suggested to just blame Madness (Corwin Jones) for Drake's murder unless he assigned all patents to Alchemax, which would take credit for the Life Foundation's accomplishments. Drake agreed to the deal and when Spider-Man, who had come to the island along with Spearhead to find her, entered the office, Drake and Liz Allan were shaking hands. She apologized for her absence and claimed that she had come to the island to talk business with Drake.

Comments: Created by David Michelinie, Todd McFarlane & Bob McLeod.

Considering Carlton Drake's proclivity to smoke all the time in his appearances before Spider-Man: Arachnis Project, I assume that he was suffering from lung cancer. We probably won't ever see him smoking again (for various reasons)!

Meridius alluded to restoring Drake when he was a "mangled creature, less than human," which fits with what happened during Arachnis Project. This is a retcon because Drake claimed that everything went according to plan at the end of the series, but there was also this weird scene where Venom went into a room to fight Homo Arachnis, returned alone and told Spider-Man that their work was done, but it wasn't because Homo Arachnis was not dead as we saw later. Did Meridius influence Venom at this point or was Drake actually dead and Meridius saved him after dying?

I wonder if he is completely human again or if there is still something floating around in his blood that makes him more than human.

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Carlton Drake has no known connection to:

images (without ads)
Venom V#3, p2, pan1 (main)
Amazing Spider-Man I#298, p12, pan4 (first appearance)
Amazing Spider-Man I#321, p6, pan3 (dyed black hair)
Amazing Spider-Man I#351, p17, pan4 (black suit)
Venom: Lethal Protector I#3, p22, pan5 (dyed brown hair)
Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#4, p6, pan5 (in wheelchair)
Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#4, p23 (Homo Arachnis, first form)
Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#6, p8, pan4 (Homo Arachnis, further mutated)
Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project#6, p23, pan6 (healed)
Venom V#3, p4, pan2 (white hair, head shot)
Cult of Carnage: Misery#2, p11, pan4 (new project)

Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man I#298-299 (March-April, 1988) - David Michelinie (writer), Todd McFarlane (pencils), Bob McLeod (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#320-321 (September-October, 1989) - David Michelinie (writer), Todd McFarlane (artist), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#351 (September, 1991) - David Michelinie (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Randy Emberlin (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#352 (October, 1991) - David Michelinie (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Sam de la Rosa (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#26/1 (1992) - David Michelinie (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man Annual I#12/1 (1992) - David Michelinie (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Web of Spider-Man Annual I#8/1 (1992) - David Michelinie (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Venom: Lethal Protector I#3 (April, 1993) - David Michelinie (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Al Milgrom & Sam de la Rosa (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Venom: Lethal Protector I#4 (May, 1993) - David Michelinie (writer), Ron Lim (pencils), Al Milgrom & Sam de la Rosa (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Venom: Lethal Protector I#5 (June, 1993) - David Michelinie (writer), Ron Lim (pencils), Sam de la Rosa (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spider-Man: Arachnis Project#1 (August, 1994) - Mike Lackey (writer), Andrew Wildman (pencils), Stephen Baskerville (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Spider-Man: Arachnis Project#3-6 (October, 1994 - January, 1995) - Mike Lackey (writer), Andrew Wildman (pencils), Stephen Baskerville (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Venom: Separation Anxiety#2 (January, 1995) - Howard Mackie (writer), Ron Randall (pencils), Sam de la Rosa (ink), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Venom: Lethal Protector II#1 (May, 2022) - David Michelinie (writer), Ivan Fiorelli (artist), Devin Lewis (editor)
Venom V#2 (February, 2022) - Ram V (writer), Bryan Hitch (pencils), Andrew Currie (inks), Devin Lewis (editor)
Venom V#3 (February, 2022) - Ram V (writer), Bryan Hitch (artist), Andrew Currie (inks), Devin Lewis (editor)
Venom V#4 (March, 2022) - Ram V (writer), Bryan Hitch (pencils), Andrew Currie (inks), Devin Lewis (editor)
Venom V#6 (May, 2022) - Ram V (writer), Bryan Hitch (pencils), Andrew Currie & Wade Von Grawbadger (inks), Devin Lewis (editor)
Venom V#11-12 (November-December, 2022) - Ram V (writer), Bryan Hitch (pencils), Andrew Currie (inks), Devin Lewis (editor)
Cult of Carnage: Misery#1-2 (July-August, 2023) - Sabir Pirzada (writer), Francesco Mortarino (artist), Devin Lewis (editor)
Cult of Carnage: Misery#3 (September, 2023) - Sabir Pirzada (writer), Francesco Mortarino (pencils/inks), Oren Junior (inks), Devin Lewis (editor)
Cult of Carnage: Misery#5 (November, 2023) - Sabir Pirzada (writer), Francesco Mortarino (pencils/inks), Victor Nava & Belardino Brabo (inks), Devin Lewis (editor)

First Posted: 10/19/2023
Last updated: 10/19/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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