CHARLIE WEIDERMAN

Real Name: Charles A. Weiderman

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Criminal, killer;
    formerly scientist, researcher

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Harry Osborn;
   Formerly Peter Parker, Tony Stark

Enemies: New York Fire Department, New York Police Department, Rich (last name unrevealed), Sheila (last name unrevealed), Spider-Man (Parker), Teddy (last name unrevealed), unnamed classmates (see comments)

Known Relatives: Unnamed father (deceased), unnamed mother (deceased) (see comments)

Aliases: "Buttwipe", "Captain America", "Charlie Weinerman", "Obi-Wanna-Be", "Second Molten Man", "Whiney-Man"

Base of Operations: Mobile in the USA;
    formerly Forest Hills, Queens, New York;
    1423 Clementine Avenue, Manhattan, New York.
    Rental Structure, Terminal Row Industrial Park, New York (see comments)

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man II#515 (February, 2005)

Powers/Abilities: Prior to the accident that grafted his Vibranium skinsuit to his body, Charlie Weiderman possessed an above average intelligence and below average athletic skills. Following the accident, the Vibranium skinsuit enhanced Charlie's natural abilities, giving him the stamina to run great distances without fatigue and enhancing his strength to the level where Charlie could lift an SUV. It also had a damaging effect on his mind, causing irrational behavior almost immediately after bonding to his skin. The skinsuit could withstand gunfire and flames with no ill effects, and was able to vibrate through Spider-Man's webbing.

History: 

(Amazing Spider-Man II#515 (fb) - BTS) - Several months before Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, Charlie Weiderman's father was transferred to Forest Hills, Queens, and Charlie enrolled at Midtown High. Around that time, Charlie's father beat him up.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#515 (fb)) - Charlie was tripped while taking his seat on his first day of school, and was called "Weinerman" and "Whiney-Man" by a group of bullies, including Rich and Teddy. Later, at lunch, he tried to sit with Peter Parker, but was rebuffed when Peter noticed he was drawing the bullies' attentions away from him.

   Charlie continued to be bullied in the hallways and during P.E. During a volleyball game, Peter deliberately served to Charlie, aiming for and hitting Charlie's chest and face. Peter later apologized to Charlie in science class while Charlie was working on a home-made "super soldier serum" composed of vitamins, steroids and other things.

   After three more weeks of work, Charlie tried his serum and wound up in the hospital, having had to have his stomach pumped. The hospital called the experiment a suicide attempt. When Charlie was well enough, he returned to school and the bullying resumed.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#516 (fb)) - No matter how long he waited after school to go home, or which route he took to go home, the bullies still caught up with Charlie. Having a black-eye to show for his most recent beating, Charlie felt he'd had enough. Peter asked why he wouldn't go to a teacher (if the bullies were disciplined, they would have gone after Charlie harder than before) or his parents (they pretended not to see anything wrong with Charlie and he went along with it.) Charlie told Peter something would have to make it stop and a few days later, he came to school with a pocket knife. Peter noticed Charlie about to pull it out and "tripped" into him, causing him to drop the knife.

    Some time later, Charlie slashed the two of the bullies' car tires and raced to Peter's house for protection. Charlie claimed innocence and was stood up for against the bullies by Peter's Uncle Ben. When the bullies left, Ben asked Charlie if he slashed the tires, and sensing Charlie was lying when he said he didn't, Ben forbade Peter to see Charlie, saying he'd at least have respected Charlie if he'd told the truth.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#517 (fb)) - Seeing that Charlie was gazing longingly at Sheila, a Midtown High cheerleader, Rich took Charlie over to introduce him. Telling Sheila he thought she was beautiful, Charlie was deflated to learn Rich and Sheila were a couple, and was humiliated when Rich pinned Charlie and tore his gym shorts off. The cheerleaders mocked and laughed at Charlie, who ran to the locker room and began sobbing.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#518 (fb)) - Charlie's dad got a new job in a different town. Peter came to see Charlie off, reassuring him that things will be better at the new school and that things were going to change for the two of them, not knowing how they would, but that they had to.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#515 (fb)) - Charlie's father died, leaving a small inheritance for Charlie. He attended the funeral and used the money to buy equipment and rent lab space. Realizing that the best way to make money was a military contract, Charlie conceived of a substance that would coat soldiers making them impervious to harm, but encountered difficulty when his canine test subjects died from a lack of oxygen.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#515) - Hearing that Peter Parker was teaching at Midtown High, Charlie approached him, hoping to have Peter go over his notes, and to use him as a reference during an interview with Tony Stark (citing Peter's high profile former employment at Tricorp as a reason why he wanted to drop his name.) Peter was unsure why Charlie had such faith him, but Charlie remarked that it was because Peter had always been such a good friend to him.

    Charlie attended his interview with Tony Stark who, although wary of the quality of Charlie's notes, awarded Charlie the necessary funds to purchase Vibranium for use in his tests, due in large part to Peter's endorsement. Charlie procured the Vibranium and rented a large lab space. Charlie failed to submit a status report to Stark Industries believing they would pull his funding if they understood the full extent of his tests. Peter arrived at the lab, first surprised by the amount of funding Charlie got by citing his involvement, then became furious upon learning that Charlie had sped up the skinsuit process by using a shortcut in the Vibranium preparation. Threatening to tell Stark the truth about the project but giving Charlie an opportunity to come clean himself, Peter left. Desperate for a result, Charlie started the process, causing a massive explosion that decimated the lab and coated Charlie in the skinsuit.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#516) - Police officers and firefighters arrived soon after to contain the site. Charlie was discovered by several firefighters and regained consciousness. Worried that anyone would find out about the explosion his testing caused, Charlie threw one firefighter into the debris, causing a collapse that killed two firefighters and enveloped Charlie. Out of options, Charlie went to Peter's apartment, donning a hat and coat to conceal his altered appearance. Explaining what went wrong, Charlie suggested they blame the accident on Spider-Man. Peter told Charlie the best thing he could do now would be to turn himself in and take responsibility for his actions, and get help freeing himself of the skinsuit. Irrationally accusing Peter of wanting to take credit for his work, Charlie told Peter he'll help him get out of trouble or he would kill everyone around him.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#517) - Peter calmed Charlie down. Not wanting to stop his experiments, Charlie formed a plan with Peter to get as much of Stark's money as they could before the assets were frozen. He snuck back to his home to get his check book but his TV was tuned to the continuing coverage of the lab explosion. Infuriated to see Rich and Sheila, now married, talking about how despite Charlie's oddities, they reached out to him as friends, Charlie noticed Rich's father's house in the news footage. Remembering its location, he went there, sneaking into the bedroom where he ambushed Rich and rammed his hand through Rich's chest.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#517 - BTS) - Charlie also murdered Sheila before leaving.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#517) - Arriving at the bank to give Peter the checks, Charlie was instead greeted by Spider-Man, who exposed Charlie's disguise and tried to get Charlie to stop. Believing Spider-Man was out to get him just like everybody else, Charlie tore through all obstacles to get to him. Charlie began to suspect that Spider-Man had been sent by Peter Parker. Spider-Man webbed Charlie up, but he vibrated through the webbing and threw an SUV, distracting Spidey long enough for Charlie to get away. Charlie headed right for Aunt May's home in Forest Hills, Queens, and broke down the door on his arrival.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#517 (fb) - BTS) - Charlie burned down most of the old Parker home, then went to Peter and Mary Jane's midtown apartment and proceeded to burn that down too.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#518) - Waiting in the burning apartment, Charlie was surprised by Spider-Man's arrival, but managed to gain the upper hand by grabbing Spider-Man and threatening to hold him in the building while he burned alive. Spider-Man used his webbing to pull a chunk of ceiling on Charlie and tore a hole through the floor to escape.

    Getting out of the apartment fire, Charlie found himself surrounded by police officers. Throwing a car at them, Charlie grabbed a street light to use as a weapon, surprised to find Spider-Man swinging from it. Outmaneuvering Charlie, Spider-Man caught two cars with his webs and sandwiched Charlie between them. Capturing the mess with webbing, Spider-Man lifted Charlie and the cars to the Stark Industries offices. He then pushed Charlie into a pressure chamber, forcing the Vibranium into a solid state. Immobilized, Charlie was wheeled away while doctors assured Peter Parker and Tony Stark that they would be able to get through enough of the suit to keep Charlie alive. While Peter and Stark discussed removing the skinsuit completely, tears fell from Charlie's frozen eyes.

Comments: Created by J. Michael Straczynski, Mike Deodato, and Mark Brooks

Charlie's bullies don't seem to have been pre-existing characters, nor do they bear strong resemblances to the gang that harassed Peter Parker in other high school stories (one bully that I thought might've been Flash Thompson was later identified as "Rich").

Elsewhere in the Appendix, Charlie is referred to as "Skin Deep" for the story arc featuring the character. He was not referred to by this name in the actual story, and was identified as Charlie Weiderman in the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2005 (in which he received a full-page profile).

In the aforementioned Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2005, Charlie's mother is listed as 'presumed deceased'. Charlie's mother isn't referred to directly in the story, but a brief mention of Charlie's "folks" implies she was alive in the flashbacks. She may also be the unidentified woman at Charlie's father's funeral and/or the woman seen moving boxes in the flashback in Amazing Spider-Man #518.

Charlie's lab is first referred to as being located in the Terminal Row Industrial Park, then at the Delancey Industrial Park, then just in a "local industrial park".

Peter refers to Charlie as the "Second Molten Man" in Amazing Spider-Man II#582, but it probably shouldn't be considered an official name for the character (especially since he appears to be rid of the suit for good).

Profile by G Morrow.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Charlie Weiderman has no known connections to

• Charlie, another Midtown High student, friend of Flash Thompson, bully @ Amazing Spider-Man I#17
• Molten Man, aka Mark Raxton, similar looking Spider-Man ally/foe with similar powers @ Amazing Spider-Man I#28
• any other "Charlie" or "Charles" or similar looking characters

Charlie's father

Charlie Weiderman's father never had many friends or much money. He believed in his son's scientific abilities. However, he beat up his son on more than one occasion. He also kept, and possibly used, steroids, which were later stolen by Charlie. When they moved away, Charlie's father gave his son a chance to say goodbye to Peter Parker.

A little over two years ago, Charlie's father died. He left behind a small inheritance for Charlie, who was one of the few to attend his father's funeral.

Amazing Spider-Man #518 (Amazing Spider-Man #515 (fb) - BTS, Spider-Man #518 (fb)

images: (without ads)
Amazing Spider-Man II#517, p22, pan1 (main image)
Amazing Spider-Man II#518, p21, pan1 (Charlie as teen)
Amazing Spider-Man II#515, p17, pan4 (Charlie as adult)
Amazing Spider-Man II#517, p19, pan2 (Skinsuit close-up)
Amazing Spider-Man II#518, p19, pan4 (Charlie's father)

Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man II#515 (February, 2005) - J. Michael Straczynski (writer), Mike Deodato and Mark Brooks (pencils), Joe Pimentel and Jamie Mendoza (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man II#516 (March, 2005) - J. Michael Straczynski (writer), Mike Deodato and Mark Brooks (pencils), Joe Pimentel and Jamie Mendoza (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man II#517 (April, 2005) - J. Michael Straczynski (writer), Mike Deodato and Mark Brooks (pencils), Joe Pimentel and Jamie Mendoza (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man II#518 (May, 2005) - J. Michael Straczynski (writer), Mike Deodato and Mark Brooks (pencils), Joe Pimentel and Jamie Mendoza (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man II#582 (March, 2008) - Dan Slott (writer), Mike McKone (pencils), Andy Lanning & Kris Justice (inks), Klaus Janson (Art on Page 22), Stephen Wacker (editor)

First Posted: 11/26/2007
Last updated: 09/07/2009

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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

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