CRIME-MASTER
Real Name: Nicholas ("Nick") "Lucky" Lewis, Sr.
Identity/Class: Normal human
Occupation: Mob boss
Group Membership: His gang
Affiliations: Dozens of his thugs, Dr. Bartholomew
Carson (unwilling pawn), Gordon "The
Terrier" Savinski, The Super Squad,
The Vulture;
formerly The Green Goblin.
Enemies: Wilson Fisk, Fredrick Foswell, Green Goblin, Spider-Man
Known Relatives: Nick Lewis Jr. (son)
Aliases: Lucky Lewis
Base of Operations: New York City
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#26 (July, 1965)
Powers/Abilities: The Crime-Master had no super human abilities, but had a large number of thugs that took orders from him, and used a gun.
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Eyes: Dark brown
Hair: Black
History: (Untold Tales of Spider-Man#20 (fb)) - Lewis was a gangster who sought to control all the gangs of New York. He eventually rose to have quite a large influence over the gangs.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man#12 - BTS) - The Terrier was sent by Lewis to keep tabs on Betty Brant, because her brother had massive debts to the mob.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man#15 - BTS) - Lewis wished to seize control of the Daily Bugle from J. Jonah Jameson. Lewis ordered the Terrier to threaten and blackmail J. Jonah Jameson on his behalf, but the plan failed due to the defeat of the Terrier by Spider-Man.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man #20) - Lewis arranged for the Vulture to be broken out of Prison. To repay the debt, the Vulture was to kill Wilson Fisk, whom the Lewis saw as a threat to his own power, since Fisk was quickly gaining more and more power within New York crime circles.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man #23) - With the emergence of so many super villains, Lewis thought that a normal criminal must stand out in order to take control of the gangs. He subsequently donned a mask and called himself the Crime-Master. The Crime-Master schemed to take control of the New York mobs by means of a new break-through in the world of neurophysics. A brilliant physicist, Dr. Bartholomew Carson had developed a special chip, called the cerebra-chip, which could make the common thug like a zombie, making them feel no pain, giving them enhanced strength, and having them follow orders blindly. Crime-Master kidnapped Dr. Carson's daughter and blackmailed him into implanting the cerebra-chips into his thugs, calling them the Super Squad. He then sent his thugs to rob a bank. However, before Crime-Master could benefit much on this new crime technique, Spider-Man defeated his thugs and foiled his scheme. However, the Crime-Master's identity remained a mystery.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man#25) - Following the downfall of Lucky Lobo's gang, the Crime-Master saw the new void as an opportunity to gain more power over the New York gangs. He formed an alliance with the Green Goblin, whom had discovered the Crime-Master's identity. As a part of their alliance, Green Goblin agreed to share his identity with Crime-Master, although he gave him a false one. The Crime-Master and Green Goblin planned a crime in which they would send some of their thugs to steal an experimental Seismic Ray Device. However, Spider-Man interfered and the Green Goblin decided he needed to intervene for their caper to work. The Green Goblin's actions and showing off made the Crime-Master doubt the effectiveness of his alliance with the Goblin. As a result, the Crime-Master decided to break his alliance with the Goblin.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#26) - The Crime-Master told off the Green Goblin, effectively breaking their ties to each other. Then, the Crime-Master dropped by a small gang and made it perfectly clear that he was taking over the crime rackets and they had better fall in line or else. He continued to threaten and coerce gangs all over the city into following his orders, through shows of force or other means. The gang leaders started to get nervous, some refusing to follow Crime-Master and some not knowing what they should do. One gang openly defied the Crime-Master, and as a result, he broke into their hideout, shot their boss, and beat up on a few of the thugs until they agreed to acknowledge Crime-Master as their leader. With the knowledge of what the Crime-Master would do to those who defied him, a few other gangs fell in line as well.
Later on, the Crime-Master went to Fredrick Foswell's apartment, intending to kill Foswell before the reporter could expose him. However, Crime-Master did not find Foswell at his apartment, but instead found Spider-Man. Crime-Master started shooting at Spider-Man, but Spider-Man dodged until Crime-Master ran out of bullets. But before Spider-Man could press his advantage, Crime-Master fired some gas at Spider-Man, which made it nearly impossible for him to breathe. While Spider-Man was choking, Crime-Master managed to knock Spider-Man off of the top of the building they were fighting on. Crime-Master then went to attend a meeting he was holding with all the leaders of all the gangs now under his control. The Crime-Master announced that now, he was the boss.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#27) - Before Crime-Master could take time to revel in his leadership of the New York gangs, Green Goblin burst in with an unconscious Spider-Man, and all the gang leaders present told Crime-Master that they would only take orders from the Goblin, not the Crime-Master. Crime-Master was none too happy about this, but before he could properly object, Spider-Man broke free, the cops showed up, and the Crime-Master was forced to flee to avoid capture.
Later on, Crime-Master was perched atop a building across from the Daily Bugle. He spied Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, and Fredrick Foswell all in a room in the building and planned to shoot and kill all three of them from a distance. However, before he could fire a single shot into the Daily Bugle, the cops showed up. Crime-Master had a shoot out with the police and was shot and killed in the ensuing gunfire.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Crime-Master has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook.
Clarifications: Should not be confused with
images: Amazing Spider-Man I#27, page 1 panel 1
Amazing Spider-Man I#26 (July, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (writer/artist)
Amazing Spider-Man I#27 (August, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (writer/artist)
Untold tales of Spider-Man#20 (April, 1995) - Kurt Busiek & G.L. Lawrence (writers), Pat Olliffe (pencils), Al Williamson (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Untold tales of Spider-Man#23 (August, 1995) - Kurt Busiek & Tom DeFalco (writers), Pat Olliffe (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Untold tales of Spider-Man#25 (September, 1995) - Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern (writers), Ron Frenz (pencils), Bob McLeod (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 12/26/2004
Last updated: 12/26/2004
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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