SVEN

Real Name: Sven ??

Identity/Class: Human (1950s)

Occupation: Cleaning

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: O'Toole

Enemies: Spiders in general, a lady-spider

Known Relatives: Leif (father), unidentified mother

Aliases: Spider-killer (self appointed)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed

First Appearance: Marvel Tales I#105 (February, 1952)

Powers/Abilities: Sven had no special powers. He had arachnophobia, an extreme fear of spiders. 

History:

(Adventure into Fear (fb) ) - Sven was a normal boy who sometimes got bad marks at school. As punishment his parents locked him up in a small dark closet. There Sven touched webs and was touched by many spiders which crawled over him. This experience crated in him a phobia of spiders.

(Adventure into Fear) - Once grown up Sven worked as a cleaning man in a factory. He was a good worker, but he had trouble clearning at places with spiders and webs.
    One day director O'Toole forced Sven to clean a room full of spiders. Sven overcame his fear and finished the job, finding deep pleasure in killing the spiders.
    That evening Sven celebrated his victory in the nearest bar. He boasted to Charlie the bartender about his victory and his hate for spiders when a woman approached him. The lady offered ten dollars to Sven to clean her closet full of spiders. Sven, a little drunk, accepted. He followed the lady to a dark house. There he entered in the deep, dark closet and fell down several feet till he got entangled in a giant web. The lady appeared again in the form of a giant spider and claimed that spiders can hate too and started approaching him.

Comments: Created by Fred Kida (art) and other unreferenced artists.

Sven was very likely killed. The lady-spider could be linked to a lot of other spider-related characters, see below, and could be used again in other Marvel stories.

This story was originally printed in Marvel Tales I#105.

I wonder if Lady-Spider could be Arachne, who Athena changed into a spider and condemned her eternally to spin, and to draw from her own body the thread with which to weave her web.
--Gammatotem

Profile by Spidermay.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Sven has no known connections to

• Sven, Stockholm, drug addict and possible dealer, friend of Ankhi @ Muties#5
• or any other "Sven" character

Leif has no known connections to

• Leif, Asgardian, @ Thor I#352
• or any other "Leif" character

Mr. O'Toole has no known connections to

• Quentin O'Toole, Punisher's ally, @ Punisher II#8
• Leila O'Toole, aka Plasma, maternal niece of Living Pharaoh/Monolith @ Marvel Comics Presents I#24
• or any other "O'Toole" character.

The unidentfied lady, a giant-spider, has no known connections to:

• The giant spider in the Tower of the Elephant, killed by Conan @ Conan the Barbarian I#4
• Omm, the spider god of Yezud, a giant spider also killed by Conan @ Conan the Barbarian I#13
• Giant tarantulas, created by Barlonius, @ Conan the Barbarian Annual I#6
• The giant spider used by Vincentius to capture his victims @ Conan the Barbarian I#48/2
• The giant spider killed by Conan in a cavern in the jungles of northern Kush @ Savage Sword of Conan I#73
• another giant spider met by Conan in Zamora @ Savage Sword of Conan I#77
• the Many-Legged-One, worshipped by the Bamulas in the Hyborian Era @ Conan the Barbarian I#101
• The Sons of Reimos, giant demonic spiders led by the Reimos @ Conan the Barbarian I#141
• Kah-Tah-Dhen, Mother of Spiders, a giant spider considered a god near Shushan, @ Savage Sword of Conan I#183
• another giant spider near Mesonia also killed by Conan @ Savage Sword of Conan I#185/2
• Zath and its spawn, the spider god of Yezud, a giant spider related to Omm, also killed by Conan @ Savage Sword of Conan I#210
• The giant spider in the City of Shadows, also killed by Conan @ Conan the Barbarian I#217
• another unnamed spider which served the Colonel @ Monster of Frankenstein#6
• Shelob, a spider-demon @ Spirits of Vengeance#11
• The extradimensional Araknoids are a race of magical Spider-People @ Knights of Pendragon II#6
• Warr led a group of Spiders in the 21st century of of Earth-691 @ Amazing Adventures II#37
• The Spider-Thing, which was actually Donna Garth mutated by Richard Ricard @ Tales of the Zombie#2/9
• The Spider Clan of Peru, who are enemies of the Snake Clan, and worship at the Temple of the Great Weaver @ Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual 2001
• The extraterrestrial Daddy Wronglegs, showed up during Maximum Security @ Marvel Knights I#5
• Long-Legs of Dinosaur World was also referred to as the Spider God @ Devil Dinosaur#2
• or any other giant spider.

Leif and his wife

    Leif was Sven's father. 

   Leif and his wife where rather stern at educating Sven. One day Sven took home his report card with bad marks. Leif wanted to whip his son with his belt, but Sven's mother invented the punishment with the closet. Despite Sven's crying and shouting they kept him in the closet.

--Adventures into Fear#11/2

Mr. O'Toole

    Mr. O'Toole was Sven's boss.

   He noticed that Sven was very efficient at doing his job, with the exception of places with spiders.
    He listened to Sven's explanation and sympathized with him. He nonetheless forced him to do his job in a room filled with spiders.

--Adventures into Fear#11/2

Charlie

    Charlie was a bartender. 

--Adventures into Fear#11/2

Unnamed "lady-spider"

    The "lady-spider" was a giant, black female spider, with the special ability to shapeshift into a beautiful human female. 
    She was intelligent and could speak like a normal human.
    Like spiders she could weave webs and used them to capture her prey.

    Her lair was in an apparently abandoned block.

    The giant female spider posing as an attractive woman met Sven in a bar. She heard what he claimed, about his arachnophobia, his hate and kis spider killings. Seeking revenge she lured him in her lair and captured him.

--Adventures into Fear#11/2

images: (without ads)
Adventures into Fear#11/2, p4, pan4 (Sven, full body)
Adventures into Fear#11/2, p4, pan2 (Sven, head shot)
Adventures into Fear#11/2, p2, pan6 (Leif and his wife)
Adventures into Fear#11/2, p1, pan3 (Mr. O'Toole)
Adventures into Fear#11/2, p5, pan2 (Charlie)
Adventures into Fear#11/2, p6, pan6 (giant spider)
Adventures into Fear#11/2, p5, pan4 ("lady-spider")

Appearances:
Marvel Tales I#105 (February, 1952) - Fred Kida (artist)
Adventure into Fear#11/2 (December, 1972) - reprint
    {prima apparizione Italiana: L'Uomo Ragno#117 Editoriale Corno (24 ottobre 1974)}

Last updated: 09/04/11

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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