TABLET OF DEATH AND ENTROPY
Classification: Mystic tablet
Creator: Unidentified Lemurians during the Hyborian era
User/Possessors: Kingpin (Wilson Fisk), Mr. Negative, presumably many others over the ages;
merely possessed it: Overdrive, Detective Willowby, presumably many others over the ages
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#547 (March, 2008)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: On the tablet was a biochemical formula for the blood-based poison Devil's Breath. It is unknown if anything else of importance was written on the tablet.
History:
(Amazing Spider-Man I#547 (fb) - BTS) - The Tablet of Death and Entropy was written in Lemuria during the Hyborian era (see comments).
(Spider-Man: Swing Shift#1 - BTS) - Overdrive stole the tablet from the museum, but before he could bring it to Mr. Negative, he was stopped by Spider-Man.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#546 (fb) - BTS) - The tablet was stashed in an evidence vault.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#546/1) - Crooked Detective Willowby stole the tablet and sold it to Mr. Negative in Chinatown.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#547 (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Negative had it translated.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#547) - Mr. Negative used a formula on the tablet to create the poison called the Devil's Breath with the blood of Bruno Karnelli. Negative planned to use it to kill the Maggia's whole Karnelli family, but Spider-Man had followed Bruno since he had been kidnapped and once interfered with Negative's plans. Mr. Negative's henchmen the "Inner Demons" fought Spider-Man, who destroyed the tablet during the battle. Mr. Negative didn't care as he had already made a copy of the inscriptions and left with the finished Devil's Breath poison to kill the Karnelli family.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#59) - Mister Negative explained to Wilson Fisk that the Tablet of Life and Time and Tablet of Death and Entropy were both needed to resurrect a person. Mayor Fisk agreed to all of Mister Negative's demands to get the Tablet of Death and Entropy from him.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#63 - BTS) - Baron Mordo made an alliance with Wilson Fisk to eventually get his hands on the Tablet of Death and Entropy as soon as Fisk didn't need it anymore.
(Giant-Size Spider-Man: King's Ransom#1) - Fisk used the Tablet of Life and Time and Tablet of Death and Entropy to resurrect his son Rose (Richard Fisk).
Comments: Created by Dan Slott, Steve McNiven & Dexter Vines.
The Tablet of Death and Entropy is the evil twin of the Tablet of Life and Time.
Though it wasn't stated I assume the Tablet of Death and Entropy was created around the same time as the Tablet of Life and Time, which according to Spider-Man: Lifeline#1 was during the Hyborian age. Maybe this tablet was created to counter the Tablet of Life and Time, which would mean it was created after the latter one, but still during the same era.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Tablet of Death and Entropy has no known connections to
The Devil's Breath has no known connections to:
The Devil's Breath was a deadly poison created from blood. It was only deadly for blood-related relatives of the blood source used for the poison.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#547) - Mr. Negative created the Devil's Breath from Bruno Karnelli's blood and later used some of it to kill several members of the Karnelli crime family at a meeting by pumping it into the ventilation system of the building. Spider-Man couldn't save them.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#548) - All Karnelli's died except for Carmine Karnelli, who had been adopted. Mr. Negative later used more of Devil's Breath to kill the rest of the family -- their children and women. He set up a bomb at the circus the children and women visited and Spider-Man saved them. Angered by Spider-Man's interference, Mr. Negative demanded Spider-Man's blood in exchange for one of the children. Spider-Man gave Mr. Negative a blood sample (obviously to create a poison to kill Spider-Man's family) and Mr. Negative spared the child's life and escaped.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#620) - Mr. Negative ordered the Inner Demons to pack up some canisters full of Devil's Breath, ready to use against Spider-Man. They took it to the Empyrean Theater where they ran into a trap set up by Mysterio (Beck). When Spider-Man entered the fight Mr. Negative used the Devil's Breath on him, but Spider-Man avoided breathing during the fight. He jumped out a window when the Silvermane robot's body exploded and survived the Devil's Breath assault on him. He returned with a gas mask provied by Carlie Cooper to stop Mysterio, but he distracted Spider-Man by claiming to be his cousin (he would've been affected by Devil's Breath if he was), and escaped after kicking Spider-Man in the groin.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#621) - Carlie Cooper had acquired a sample of the Devil's Breath gas capable of killing Spider-Man and was planning to break it down and re-create it in the NYPD's lab. Meanwhile Spider-Man and Black Cat broke into Mr. Negative's headquarter. While Spider-Man was knocked outside Black Cat entered Mr. Negative's private office and switched Spider-Man's blood in Mr. Negative's safe with pig's blood, so Mr. Negative would not be able to create more Devil's Breath to use against Spider-Man.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#664) - Mr. Negative used Devil's Breath against Spider-Man during a fight against Anti-Venom (Brock), but it had no effect on him because the new Devil's Breath was created with pig's blood. Mr. Negative and the Inner Demons still escaped when Negative used cyanide instead of Devil's Breath.
--Amazing Spider-Man I#547 (Amazing Spider-Man I#547-548, 620-621, 664
images: (without ads)
Amazing Spider-Man I#547, p14, pan3 (main)
Giant-Size Spider-Man: King's Ransom#1, p38, pan6 (Tablets of Life and Time and Death and Entropy used)
Amazing Spider-Man I#548, p2, pan2 (Devil's Breath)
Appearances:
Spider-Man: Swing Shift#1 (June, 2007) - Dan Slott (writer), Phil Jimenez (pencils), Andy Lanning & John Dell (inks), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#546 (February, 2008) - Dan Slott (writer), Steve McNiven (pencils), Dexter Vines (inks), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#547-548 (March, 2008) - Dan Slott (writer), Steve McNiven (pencils), Dexter Vines (inks), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#620 (April, 2010) - Dan Slott (writer), Marcos Martin & Javier Pulido (artists), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#621 (April, 2010) - Dan Slott (writer), Michael Lark (pencils), Stefano Gaudiano (inks), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#664 (August, 2011) - Dan Slott & Christos Gage (writers), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#59 (April, 2021) - Nick Spencer (writer), Marcelo Ferreira (pencils), Wayne Faucher (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#63 (June, 2021) - Nick Spencer (writer), Federico Vicentini (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
Giant-Size Spider-Man: King's Ransom#1 (July, 2021) - Nick Spencer (writer), Rogê Antônio with Carlos Gómez & Zé Carlós (artists), Nick Lowe (editor)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
First Posted: 12/06/2008
Last Updated: 07/08/2024
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