ANTI-MAGNETIC INVERTER
Classification: Terrestrial technology
Creator: Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
User/Possessors: Spider-Man
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#2/1 (May, 1963)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: The anti-magnetic inverter was a cylindrical hand-held electronic device which was originally built to nullify magnetic fields. It was later modified to reverse the polarity of an electrical field.
History:
(Amazing Spider-Man I#2/1) - Following his first encounter with (and defeat from) the Vulture (Adrian Toomes), Spider-Man figured out how the villain's power of flight worked -- he had a hunch that the Vulture had discovered a way to harness magnetic power. Peter Parker then spent "long hours" building the anti-magnetic inverter. During his next battle with the Vulture, Spider-Man activated the device, which disrupted the Vulture's power so that he couldn't stay aloft.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#7) - Following his escape from prison, the Vulture modified his wings so that they could change magnetic poles instantly, and the anti-magnetic inverter would not work against him again. Once more meeting Spider-Man while he was on a robbery spree, the Vulture let the web-spinner get close to him and activate the anti-magnetic inverter. The Vulture feigned defeat and spiraled downward, but then swooped back up and pummeled the wall-crawler, proving that the device was no longer effective against him. Spider-Man was then forced to come up with alternative method to defeat his avian adversary.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man#11 (fb) - BTS) - Peter Parker hid the anti-magnetic inverter in a closet, in a box of old radio parts (so Aunt May wouldn't wonder what it was if she chanced across it).
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man#11) - When Electro and the Eel (Leopold Stryke) joined forces and blackmailed New York City from a power station on the waterfront north of Coney Island, Spider-Man modified the device and attached it to the Eel. It reversed the polarity of the electrical field of the Eel's costume, causing the Eel and Electro to stick together like magnets. The two criminals were kicked into the water by Bluebird, which caused their powers and the inverter to short out. The villains escaped, and the anti-magnetic inverter was presumably lost in the waters.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Waitaminnit! He's only a public high school student, yet he knows how to build an anti-magnetic inverter??!! Holy deus ex machina, Batman! That Parker kid's a genius! I wonder why he was never an intern at Stark Industries?!
Profile by John Kaminski
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Anti-Magnetic Inverter has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Amazing Spider-Man I#2, p12, pan6-7 (main image)
Untold Tales of Spider-Man#11, p23, pan5 (used against Eel)
Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man I#2 (May, 1963) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (artist)
Untold Tales of Spider-Man#11 (July, 1996) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Pat Olliffe (pencils), Al Vey & Pam Eklund (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Last Updated: 06/07/04
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