Spidercide

SPIDERCIDE

Real Name: "Peter Parker"

Identity/Class: Human mutate (cloned from Peter Parker)

Occupation: Criminal, killer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: The Cabal of Scrier;
   formerly the Jackal (Miles Warren), the Jackal's mutated animal creatures, Scarlet Spider (Reilly), Spider-Man (Parker)

Enemies: Mark Ewing, Helix (Carago), the Jackal (Miles Warren), the New Warriors (Firestar, Justice (Astrovik), Nova (Rider), Powerpax, Speedball (Grobe), Timeslip, Turbo (Musashi), Zero-G), Scarlet Spider (Reilly), Spider-Man (Parker)

Known Relatives: The Jackal (creator), Peter Parker (genetic source), Ben Reilly, Guardian, Jack, Kaine, other fellow clones

Aliases: "The Assassin with my face", "Freakface", "Spiderslime", "The Third Peter Parker", "The Ultimate Spider-Clone"

Base of Operations: The Jackal's laboratory (location unrevealed);

formerly the Jackal's laboratory, somewhere in the Catskills

First Appearance: (In stasis pod) Amazing Spider-Man I#399 (March, 1995);

(Full appearance as clone of Peter Parker) Spectacular Spider-Man II#222 (March, 1995);
(As Spidercide) New Warriors I#61 (July, 1995)

Powers/Abilities: He first possessed all of Spider-Man's powers and knowledge, but lacked the understanding to use them. Spidercide soon regained his memories and full access to his powers. When his madness reached its peak, a trigger was activated, giving him limited control over his mass and density. Those powers were amplified by the Jackal during his transformation into Spidercide and he then had the ability to control his body at a molecular level and transform into liquid and hardened forms. His webshooting ability was also internalized at this point, and he gained the ability to shift between his Peter Parker and Spidercide forms. He was given an unidentified teleportation device by Scrier.

History: 
(Amazing Spider-Man I#399) - Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider confronted the newly resurrected Jackal in his Catskills lab and were shown a third Peter Parker in a stasis pod. The Jackal teased that the third Parker might be the real Peter Parker, held in suspended animation for five years.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#222) - After a fight between the Jackal, Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider left the Jackal's lab in ruins. Seemingly abandoned, Kaine searched through the Jackal's computer files for proof of the identity of the true Peter Parker. Accidentally activating what he believed was a self-destruct fail-safe, the pod that contained the third Peter Parker instead rose and opened. The third Parker slipped away during a fight between Kaine and the Jackal (who had not actually abandoned the lab). Wandering further upstate, the clone was eventually picked up by a trucker while hitchhiking, unable to remember how he got there, where he was going or what his name was.

(Web of Spider-Man#123) - Later that night, the third Peter Parker got out at a New York truck stop and, wracked with confusion, slept behind a dumpster and managed some degree of comfort,but  a group of thugs approached the third Parker. Acting on instinct, he swiftly defeated them, intensifying his confusion.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#400) - Disheveled and slumped over on a bench, the third Peter Parker tried to make sense of his thoughts. A police officer approached, telling him he'd been sitting there for two hours and should go home. When the third Parker told him that he didn't know where to go, the officer replied that he should have thought of that before drinking himself into a stupor. Asked for his I.D., the third Parker freaked out and leapt away, terrified by who he might be.

(Spider-Man I#57) - His jumbled memories led him to the Queens neighborhood where Peter Parker had grown up, and the third Peter Parker found himself in the path of a runaway criminal. Acting on instinct once again, he stopped the criminal using his mysterious powers. A man chasing the criminal tried to congratulate him but the third Parker continued on, remembering something about power and responsibility. Perched on a rooftop overlooking the city, he realized where he should go.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#223) - Now 24 hours after his emergence from the stasis pod, the third Peter Parker spotted a Daily Bugle headline announcing Peter Parker's arrest. Stunned that a suspected serial killer looked exactly like him and vaguely remembering the name "Peter Parker", the third Parker continued toward his mission, unaware that the enigmatic Scrier was following him.

   The third Peter Parker, desperate for something to stir his memory, arrived at the warehouse where the burglar who had killed Uncle Ben Parker hid out in. Recognizing it as the place that defined his life, the third Parker realized where to go for answers. As he entered a cemetery, images of Aunt May and Uncle Ben, the spider bite that gave Spider-Man his powers, as well as scores of other memories, flooded the mind of the third Parker. Kneeling in front of May and Ben Parker's headstones, the third Parker realized who he was.

(Web of Spider-Man#124 (FB) - BTS) - The third Peter Parker left the cemetery and went to the Parker home in Forest Hills, Queens.

(Web of Spider-Man #124) - He entered Peter Parker's bedroom, laid out just as he remembered it. The frustration of the recent death of Aunt May and the time he believed lost from being in suspended animation caused the third Parker to lash out, destroying a table. Gathering himself, the third Parker set out to figure out who the "impostor" with his identity was. Later running into Mary Jane while she fled from Kaine, the third Parker asked for her help.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#401) - Trying to explain to Mary Jane that he was not the man she married but that he was still the real Peter Parker, the third Parker leapt to Mary Jane's defense when Kaine caught up to them. Outmatched, Kaine bested the third Parker who blamed his poor reflexes and coordination on his time in suspended animation. As he leapt away, the third Parker realized that he needed to focus on protecting Mary Jane.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#401 - BTS) - The third Peter Parker donned a Spider-Man suit.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#401) - Entering the Parker home, the third Peter Parker unmasked himself to prove to a frightened, gun-wielding Mary Jane that he was the real Peter Parker and ready to protect her from Kaine. Recognizing that this was not her husband, Mary Jane drew the gun on him. He told her to listen to her heart and realize that he's the real Peter Parker, stopping when Mary Jane fired at a picture behind him. Distracted long enough for Kaine to knock him out, the third Parker was left unconscious by the front doorway. Awakened by the Scarlet Spider sometime later, the two Spider-Men were stunned by the arrival of another Peter Parker.

(Spider-Man I#58) - The two Peter Parkers came to blows, held apart long enough by the Scarlet Spider to figure out what happened to Mary Jane. Passing out again from the blow to the head Kaine gave him, the third Parker was left behind while the other Peter Parkers began a search for Mary Jane. Waking soon after their departure, the third Parker caught up and followed them into Kaine's underground lair. He took over the search and led the attack on Kaine, slipping away to follow Mary Jane who left the others to find a way out. He tried to reassure her that he was the real Peter Parker, but the arrival of the other Peter Parker, who Mary Jane recognized as her husband, sent the third Parker into a fury. Tearing off his mask, he announced to the others he was going kill them all.

Freakface(Spectacular Spider-Man II#224) - His madness causing a genetic trigger to activate within him, the third Peter Parker's body began to shift and transform. Kaine told Peter and Mary Jane that the third Parker was a killing machine engineered by the Jackal and to get away while he handled it. Both Kaine and the Scarlet Spider fought the third Parker, whose face began contorting while his body became able to stretch and expand. Still believing himself to be the real Peter Parker, the third Parker blamed the Jackal for doing something to his DNA to cause this and that he won't be cured unless he destroyed the Jackal's enemies first.

    Dubbed "Freakface", the third Parker focused on the Scarlet Spider, trying to crush him with enlarged fists. Having an opening, Kaine flattened Freakface with a piece of debris. Emerging larger and more enraged than before, the Scarlet Spider and Kaine led Freakface aboveground, aided by Peter Parker who used his webbing as a slingshot to shoot steel girders at Freakface. Still claiming to be the real Peter Parker, Freakface lifted a propane truck to throw at his enemies. Surmising that Peter Parker and the Scarlet Spider would still try to reason with their foe, Kaine threw a car at the propane truck, causing an explosion that seemingly destroyed Freakface.

(Spider-Man Unlimited I#9) - Scrier gathered Freakface's proto-plasmic remains and enclosed them in a glowing sphere.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#225 (FB) - BTS) - Scrier restored the third Peter Parker to his pre-Freakface appearance, removing their encounter from his memory and implanting a teleportation device in him.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#225) - The third Peter Parker arrived at the Jackal's new lab. The Jackal remarked that he was expecting him.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#226) - The third Peter Parker and the Jackal watched the news of Peter Parker's murder charge exoneration on TV. The third Parker was disgusted by what he saw as smug self-satisfaction and wondered why they couldn't just get rid of Peter Parker and Ben Reilly and let the world know he was the real Peter Parker. Later, ready to begin mass-production of his Carrion Virus, the Jackal prepared to send the third Peter Parker to procure a necessary isotope from the Genetech Research labs, presenting him with his own costume.

(Spider-Man: The Jackal Files) - Information on Spider-Man's allies and enemies were cyber-mnemonically downloaded into the third Peter Parker's brain. Using the opportunity to "tweak" the third Parker's genetic code to give him the ability to control his physical make-up on a molecular level, the Jackal told the third Parker that he had done what 10,000 years of evolution would do to Spider-Man and that he was now the perfect Peter Parker, the ultimate Spider-Clone. Rising from the Jackal's "operating table", the third Parker morphed into his costume. Told to kill all their enemies, to basically commit "Spider-Cide", the Jackal settled on that as a name for his creation.

(New Warriors I#61 (fb)) - Spidercide webslinged to the Genetech Science Facility in Bayville, Long Island, on Saturday, May 17th, at 5:04 am. He disabled the phone lines and security cameras and dispatched the security guards. Tearing steel walls apart with his bare fists, Spidercide took Genetech's supply of Riconucleic Nanocontagium and left.

(New Warriors I#61) - Webslinging back to the Jackal, Spidercide's spider-sense alerted him to the arrival of the New Warriors, called in by Genetech to recover the Riconucleic Nanocontagium. Spidercide lead the young heroes into a one of the Jackal's labs disguised as an abandoned apartment building. Turbo, Speedball and Powerpax of the Warriors were attacked by mutated animal creatures resembling an alligator, a bat, and a tiger. Spidercide went after Justice, who encased him in his TK field. Extending his left arm through the field, Spidercide knocked Justice down and fled the lab. The Jackal's creatures degenerated soon after.

(Spider-Man: Maximum Clonage Alpha) - Sitting unassumingly on a park bench in Springville, Pennsylvania, Spidercide activated the Carrion Virus and within minutes the every man, woman and child in the town was dead. Taking little pleasure in his actions, Spidercide rejoined the Jackal and left Springville. Monitoring the bio-hazard team onsite via radio, the Jackal overheard word of a survivor and told Spidercide turn their van around. Sent to capture the survivor to learn what the flaws in the Carrion Virus were that kept him alive, Spidercide "suited up" and followed the survivor. The New Warriors were sent to track the survivor as well, and Spidercide decided to stay in the shadows while they did his work for him.

    The Scarlet Spider arrived, and believing him to be associated with Spidercide, the Warriors attacked, giving Spidercide an opening to ambush the survivor. Seeing Spidercide fighting the survivor, the Scarlet Spider and the Warriors stopped fighting and went after him. While the Warriors dealt with containing the survivor, the Scarlet Spider fought Spidercide, learning that Spidercide was Freakface. Slipping away after the Warriors stopped the Springville survivor, Spidercide, disguised as a Project: PEGASUS helicopter pilot, spirited away with the survivor (later named Helix), now held in stasis.

Spidercide attacks the Jackal

(Amazing Spider-Man I#404) - Following a lead that took him to the Jackal's new lair, the Scarlet Spider was surprised to find Spider-Man already there, doubly so when Spidercide ambushed and tried to drown the Scarlet Spider by shape-shifting into water. Freeing himself and shattering Spidercide's form (setting him back as long as it took him to reform), the Scarlet Spider, Spidercide and Spider-Man were joined by the Jackal and Kaine. Slipping away while the Scarlet Spider attacked the Jackal, Spidercide encountered Scrier, unable to recall exactly why he knew him but sensing a connection and Scrier unlocked a clarity in Spidercide. After Scrier's sudden exit, Spidercide rejoined the others and threw the fallen Scarlet Spider into a room swarming with scores of Spider-Man clones.

(Spider-Man I#61) - Spidercide stood by while the Jackal sent Spider-Man to track down the first Gwen Stacy clone. While the Jackal remarked on Spider-Man's gullibility, Spidercide cracked a smile.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#227) - After discussing the mystery of the Springville survivor with the Jackal, Spidercide slipped away to send the Jackal's data on the Carrion Virus to Scrier. His treachery discovered, the Jackal activated Spidercide's clone degeneration fail-safe only to learn that Scrier had removed it during Spidercide's reconstitution. Spidercide morphed his arms into a spiked ball and tried to kill the Jackal. Kaine stopped Spidercide, but experienced a precognitive flash that gave Spidercide an opening to grab a piece of debris and impale Kaine with it. The Scarlet Spider leapt at Spidercide, sending them into another section of the lab and thrust Spidercide into an electrical apparatus, the effect of which stopped Spidercide and set off every electrical system in the lab.

(Spider-Man: Maximum Clonage Omega) - Awakened while the Scarlet Spider dealt with the active proto-plasmic remains of the Jackal's cloned Spider-Man army, Spidercide teleported away, arriving atop the Daily Bugle with Scrier. They confronted the Jackal, set to release the Carrion Virus. Spidercide morphed his fingers into over-sized talons and attacked the Jackal.

(Spider-Man: Maximum Clonage Omega/Conspiracy#1) - The Jackal and Spidercide's fight plunged them through the roof of the Daily Bugle and through several floors, including the city news room. They landed in J. Jonah Jameson's office.

(Spider-Man: Maximum Clonage Omega) - The fight continued into the Bugle and was joined by the Scarlet Spider. Distracted by a weakened ceiling, the Scarlet Spider was knocked across the room by Spidercide, who slammed the Jackal into a wall. The Jackal used a concealed gun to dissolve the wall, sending them plummeting to the streets below. The Scarlet Spider managed to snag both of them with web-lines, but Spidercide, in an attempt to get to the Jackal, cut his line, falling to his apparent death. Following the Jackal's similar demise and the deactivation of the virus, Spidercide's remains were collected in a stasis chamber where he'd be held until it was determined if he was still a threat.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man: Back in Black) - Spidercide was pronounced dead.

Comments: Created by J.M. DeMatteis and Mark Bagley

In the Life of Reilly series chronicling the 1994-1996 Clone Saga, editor Glenn Greenberg noted that it appeared Tom DaFalco appeared to have been pushing for Freakface to become the character's official name and that "my belief was that once Peter #3 was revealed to be just another clone, he should have been disposed of as quickly and as permanently as possible." Greenberg added, "I can't remember ANYONE liking the name "Spidercide," but it still ended up being used."

The Jackal moved into his second lab in Spectacular Spider-Man I#222, but -- as far as I know -- its location was not revealed. It shouldn't be confused with the Jackal's first lab, which was destroyed in Spider-Man I#56, or his decoy lab from New Warriors I#61.

Spidercide received a half-page profile in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man: Back in Black. His first appearance is listed as Spider-Man: The Jackal Files, which shipped after New Warriors I#61. Spider-Man: The Jackal Files is Spidercide's first appearance chronologically, however.

Spectacular Spider-Man II#222 is the first regular issue of Spider-Man I got, so it holds a special significance for me. I was a little worried that rereading these issues would ruin that feeling for me, but they hold up better than you'd think they would. That said, I completely understand why folks don't look back kindly on the Clone Saga and why Marvel seems to go out of its way to pretend it never happened.

Many thanks for K-Vort for the Conspiracy and Spider-Man: The Jackal Files scans.

Profile by G Morrow.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Spidercide has no known connections to

images: (without ads)
Spider-Man: The Jackal Files, p26, pan1 (Spidercide)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#225, p30, pan3 (Third Peter Parker)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#224, p1, pan1 (Freakface)
Conspiracy#1, pgs2-3, pan1 (Spidercide vs. the Jackal)

Other Appearances:
Spectacular Spider-Man II#222 (March, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Sal Buscema (pencil breakdowns), Bill Sienkiewicz (finished art), Mark Powers (editor)
Web of Spider-Man#123 (April, 1995) - Terry Kavanagh (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), Randy Emberlin (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#400 (April, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spider-Man I#57 (April, 1995) - Howard Mackie (writer), Tom Lyle (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#223 (April, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Sal Buscema (pencil breakdowns), Bill Sienkiewicz (finished art), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Web of Spider-Man#124 (May, 1995) - Terry Kavanagh (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), Randy Emberlin (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#401 (May, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spider-Man I#58 (May, 1995) - Howard Mackie (writer), Tom Lyle (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#224 (May, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Sal Buscema (pencil breakdowns), Bill Sienkiewicz (finished art), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spider-Man Unlimited I#9 (May, 1995) - Tom Lyle (story), Ron Lim, Ron Garney and Tod Smith (pencils), Palmer, Emberlin, Tuohy, Milgrom, Palmiotti, Janson, DeLaRosa, Hudson (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#225 (June, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Sal Buscema (pencil breakdowns), Bill Sienkiewicz (finished art), Eric Fein (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#226 (July, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Sal Buscema (pencil breakdowns), Bill Sienkiewicz (finished art), Eric Fein (editor)
New Warriors I#61 (July, 1995) - Evan Skolnick (writer), Patrick Zircher (pencils), Andrew Pepoy (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Spider-Man: The Jackal Files (August, 1995) - Todd DeZago (writer), Roger Robinson, various (pencils), Jim Amash, various (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Spider-Man: Maximum Clonage Alpha (August, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (plot), Todd DeZago (script), Ron Lim (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#404 (August, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (plot), Todd DeZago (script), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spider-Man I#61 (August, 1995) - Howard Mackie (story), Tom Lyle (art), Chris Ivy (inks), Danny Fingeroth (one in a million)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#227 (August, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Sal Buscema (pencil breakdowns), Bill Sienkiewicz (finished art), Eric Fein (editor)
Spider-Man: Maximum Clonage Omega (August, 1995) - Tom Lyle (story), Robert Brown, Roy Burdine, Mark Bagley & Tom Lyle (breakdowns), Sam DeLaRosa, Randy Emberlin, Roy Burdine, Al Milgrom & Scott Hanna (finishes), Danny Fingeroth & Bob Budiansky (editors)
Conspiracy#1 (February, 1998) - Dan Abnett (writer), Igor Kordey (artist), Kelly Corvese (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man: Back in Black (February, 2007) - Mike Fichera (head writer/coordinator), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grünwald (editors)

First Posted: 11/25/2007
Last updated: 09/22/2013

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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