Goblin Slayers - main image

ANTI-SPIDER SQUAD

Membership: Baxter, Commander Gannon, Gary Groby, McNulty, Morales, Ruiz, Simmons, Lieutenant Singh, Thurston, other members of the NYPD, Goblin Slayers (robotic Spider-Slayers)

Aliases: Arachnid Vigilante Task Force, Spider-Slayer Squad, Code: Blue Mandroids, Anti-Spider Patrol, Goblin Slayers

Purpose: Protect New York City from the menace of Spider-Man

Affiliations: J. Jonah Jameson (founder, possessor), Theodor Haskell, Miguel O'Hara, Norman Osborn (hacker/controller), Zachary Pratchett (chief), Avengers

Primary enemy: Spider-Man (Peter Parker);

Secondary enemies: Chameleon (Dmitri Smerdyakov), Doctor Octopus (aka Spider-Man; Otto Octavius), Electro (Max Dillon), Hydro-Man (Morrie Bench), Jackal (Miles Warren), Noelle, the Queen of Spider-Island (Ana Soria) and her army of spider-mutate Manhattan inhabitants, Rococo, Scorpion (Mac Gargan), the Sinister Six (Boomerang/Fred Myers, Beetle/Janice Lincoln, the Living Brain, Overdrive, Shocker/Herman Schultz, Speed Demon/James Sanders), Spider-Man (Miguel O'Hara) of Earth-928, Spider-Slayer (Alistaire Smythe), Sylvius, Trapster (Peter Petruski)

Base of Operations: Secret base in New York City, New York

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#592 (December, 2008)

the original members of the squad

History:
(Amazing Spider-Man I#592) - The Squad was secretly created by J. Jonah Jameson when he became mayor of New York City, with the purpose to take down Spider-Man.
    On their first mission, they quickly intervened when Jameson struck a silent alarm while he was speaking with Spider-Man in his office. They also shot at Spider-Man who avoided their bullets and flung himself out of the window.

(Peter Parker#1 (fb) - BTS) - Jameson substituted the commander of the squad.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#602/604) - Understanding that the Anti-Spider Squad needed superior firepower and special abilities to capture Spider-Man, Jameson bought some Mandroid armors for the Squad. The Arachnid Vigilante Task Force led by Lieutenant Singh ambushed Spider-Man but didn't succeed in capturing him. However thanks to the hero they saved Manhattan from a bomb.

(Peter Parker#1 (fb) - BTS) - The team was substituted.

(Peter Parker#1) - The new Anti-Spider Squad, led by Commander Gannon consisted of Baxter, Groby, Simmons, Thurston and other members.

   The new tactic of Jameson consisted in a thorough surveillance. He had hundreds of video-cameras installed throughout the city, and had them connected to the Anti-Spider Squad headquarters.
    When Spider-Man appeared on their monitors the team mobilized, and, with an armored van, reached the Web-Slinger in Manhattan and tried to capture him, even shooting. Spider-Man easily joked with them, exposing how Jameson was spending the tax dollars for his own personal vendetta.

Commander Gannon, Baxter, Groby, Simmons, Thurston (Peter Parker#2) - Gannon and the rest of the Squad were scolded by Jameson, who gave them one month to capture or kill Spider-Man.
    Gannon relied on the surveillance network system, but Spider-Man sabotaged the main cable of communication, rendering it useless for more time than how much Gannon had to complete the mission. So Gannon changed tactics, putting the Spider-Girls, Spider-Man fans, under surveillance.

(Peter Parker#3) - The Squad spied on the girls, hoping that they would lead them to Spider-Man. Their secret headquarters was luckily discovered by Peter Parker, while accompanying Mayor Jameson as a photographer, and he recognized Groby, learning that the Squad was keeping tabs on the Spider-Girls.
    Facing the fact that his tactic was not working, seeing the deadline of his firing becoming closer and closer, Gannon decided to take hostages to draw Spider-Man out.

(Peter Parker#4) - Masked and disguised, the Anti-Spider Squad kidnapped the three Spider-Girls. Once in an abandoned warehouse, the cops threatened the girls in order to lure Spider-Man in a trap, but Spider-Man arrived sooner than they thought. He freed the girls, who also took a video recording of Gannon while pointing his gun to the head of one of the girls. Once webbed, Gannon confessed that he was desperate, but that he would not have hurt the girls.
    Gannon and the rest of the Squad resigned.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#614) - Three Anti-Spider Squads supported Spider-Man with a sabotaging mission against Electro.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#648) - The Anti-Spider Squad was used to provide security for Jameson and his wife Marla Jameson during the invasion of Octobots in New York City.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#653/1) - During the attack of Alistaire Smythe and his swarm, some Code: Blue automated Mandroids intervened to protect Marla Jameson.

during Spider-Island(Amazing Spider-Man I#667-669, 671 / Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire) - J.J.J. had put thirty percent of the city's budget into the Spider-Patrol, a huge sum. But when all the people of Manhattan developed spider-related superpowers the Spider-Patrol became a much needed, brilliant idea. For several days the Spider-Patrol fought against the spider-monsters controlled by the Queen. 

(Amazing Spider-Man I#674) - After Spider-Island, the Anti-Spider Squad was dispatched to find the last mutated in Manhattan. They were under the order of Zachary Pratchett, chief of Police.

(X-Factor I#218) - Two NYPD Mandroids intervened to protect Jameson from three super-soldier women. They were overpowered.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#685) - The Anti-Spider Patrol was employed in full force in the streets of New York to prevent plunder and anarchy, during Doctor Octopus' threat to destroy the ozone layer.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#699) - Some NYPD Mandroids that protected the Raft were attacked and defeated by Hydro-Man, Scorpion and Trapster.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#700) - The Anti-Spider Squad led by Singh, and helped by Spider-Man, assaulted Doctor Octopus' secret base. They fought Hydro-Man and Scorpion, but in the end they only arrested Trapster.

(Superior Spider-Man#1) - The Squad intervened to stop the Sinister Six alongside other officers of the NYPD, but the criminals were too powerful. Spider-Man saved some officers but the Six escaped with the loot.

(Avenging Spider-Man#16) - A giant spider went on a rampage in the center of New York. The Anti Spider-Squad Mandroids intervened, but they were not able to do very much. The situation was solved by Spider-Man and the X-Men.

(Superior Spider-Man#29 (fb) - BTS) - Jameson paid Alchemax to build a new series of Spider-Slayers. Miguel O'Hara was working for Alchemax under the name of Michael O'Mara, and was one of the scientists that build them.

(Superior Spider-Man#30 (fb) - BTS) - Norman Osborn, who worked in Alchemax as well under the identity and with the face of Mason Banks, hacked the Spider-Slayers systems in order to take control of them later.

(Superior Spider-Man#28) - The Green Goblin unleashed his Goblin Army all over New York. To face the crisis, J. Jonah Jameson presented the new Anti-Spider Patrol, a fleet of Spider-Slayers he renamed Goblin Slayers.

(Superior Spider-Man#29) - Jameson unleashed the Goblin Slayers to capture the superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavius). They reached Spider-Man at the Empire State University and their enhanced strength overwhelmed him, but Spider-Man 2099 used a remote control to stop them, overriding Jameson's remote control. Unfortunately, Norman Osborn's hack overrode even O'Hara's, and he took control of the entire fleet of robots.

(Superior Spider-Man#30) - Superior Spider-Man left Spider-Man 2099 to fight the team of Spider-Slayers alone. Web-slinging over the city he saw that the Spider-Slayers heavily contributed to the chaos and violence already created by the Goblin Army. Spider-Woman, Black Widow, Wolverine and Wraith tried to stop some of them.

(Superior Spider-Man#31) - New York was on fire. Dozens of Spider-Slayers darted through the skies, fighting the police and helping the Goblin Army. The Avengers fought many of them, but to a standstill. Tiberius Stone used this performance to sell the robots to the highest bidder. Spider-Man 2099 defeated the team of Spider-Slayers but one, who was shooting at him, when the amazing Spider-Man (Peter Parker) arrived and took it down. While the Spider-Slayers flooded on the Avengers and other superheroes, Spider-Man confronted the Green Goblin at the Alchemax building. When the building exploded, the signal driving the Spider-Slayers ceased, deactivating the robots.

Comments: Created by Mark Waid (writer), Mike McKone (pencils), Andy Lanning (inks).

    The robotic Spider-Slayer squad may or may not have been built from previous Mandroid models. Even if their shape was similar to the Mark X, the "Goblin-Slayers" were completely robotic and were not exoskeletons nor armors. They had elements coming from Spencer Smythe's first Spider-Slayer, and it had been said that Alchemax built them, so it is very likely that the robots did not contain Mandroid technology, therefore they could not be considered Mandroids. Nonetheless they were an Anti-Spider Squad, even if not formed by NYPD members.

Profile by Spidermay.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Anti-Spider Squad/Spider-Slayers/Goblin Slayers are probably connected to the Spider-Slayers, built by Spencer Smythe--Amazing Spider-Man I#25

The Anti-Spider-Squad has no known connection to:

Lieutenant Singh has no known connections to:

McNulty has no known connections to:

Morales has no known connections to:

Ruiz has no known connections to:


Lieutenant Singh

    Lieutenant Singh was the leader of the Arachnid Vigilante Task Force and an officer of the NYPD.

    He and his team took their job seriously. They tried to apprehend Spider-Man on two occasions, but when he saved them and Manhattan from the bomb set up by Chameleon they realized that they were chasing a hero, so the whole team tried to transfer to other units. Jameson ordered Haskell to deny them the resignation.

--Amazing Spider-Man I#602 (602, 603-BTS, 604, 700


McNulty

    McNulty was an officer of the NYPD and member of the Anti-Spider Patrol.

    MCNulty was mobilized alongside the rest of the patrol to contain the riots ensuing after the Jackal transformed the people of New York into Spider-Man-like beings. In the resulting chaos he was aided by his mutated colleague Carlie Cooper and she recognized her.

--Amazing Spider-Man I#668 (667-BTS, 668





Morales

    Morales was an officer of the NYPD and member of the Anti-Spider Patrol.

    During Spider-Island Morales and another of his team tried to stop Shocker, shocked about his transformation into a monster. They were severely beaten, but Spider-Man and Carlie Cooper arrived to stop the criminal.

--Amazing Spider-Man I#669 (667-BTS, 669


Ruiz

    Morales was an officer of the NYPD and member of the Anti-Spider Patrol.

    During Spider-Island, the Anti-Spider Squad in the emergency command held back Spider-Man while he tried to help a spider-mutated Jameson. The bestial mayor attacked Alistaire Smythe. Ruiz, in a Mandroid suit, held Spider-Man who could not prevent Jameson from wounding Alistaire Smythe.

--Amazing Spider-Man I#670


Goblin Slayers

Classification: Robots

Creator: Alchemax (Miguel O'Hara, Norman Osborn and others)

Appearance: The Goblin Slayers were robots whose superior part of the body was very similar to the Mandroid Mark X.

Powers/Abilities/Functions: Robots with a physical strength greater than the previous Anti-Spider Squad Mandroids, they showed a blaster rifle on the left arm and multiple mini-missile launchers on the right wrist. They didn't rely on a human pilot inside the shell, but followed the instructions of a software. They were remotely controllable. Improvements were probably borrowed from Smythe's Spider-Slayers technology, as in previous models of the NYPD Mandroid (breast display, camera, microphones, external audio).

--Superior Spider-Man#28 (28, 29, 30, 31


images: (without ads)
Superior Spider-Man#28, p6, pan5 (Goblin Slayers)
Amazing Spider-Man I#592, p10, pan5 (the first Anti-Spider Squad)
Peter Parker#2, p24, pan6 (Gannon, Baxter, Groby, Simmons and Thurston)
Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire, p2, pan 1 (NYPD Anti-Spider Patrol, while JJJ was hiring Heroes)
Amazing Spider-Man I#604, p17, pan1 (Lieutenant Singh in his armor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#668, p6, pan2 (McNulty)
Amazing Spider-Man I#669, p20, pan2 (Morales)
Amazing Spider-Man I#670, p24, pan1 (Ruiz)
Superior Spider-Man#31, p7, pan1 (Spider-Slayer menacing Spider-Man 2099)


Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man I#592 (December, 2008) - Mark Waid (writer), Mike McKone (pencils), Andy Lanning (inks), Stephen Wacker & Tom Brennan (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#602 (October, 2009) - Fred Van Lente (writer), Barry Kitson (pencils/inks), Rick Ketcham (inks), Stephen Wacker & Tom Brennan (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#604 (November, 2009) - Fred Van Lente (writer), Barry Kitson (pencils/inks), Rick Ketcham & Joe Rubinstein (inks), Stephen Wacker & Tom Brennan (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#614 (February, 2010) - Mark Waid (writer), Paul Azaceta (artist), Stephen Wacker & Tom Brennan (editors)
Peter Parker#1-2 (May-June, 2010) - Bob Gale (writer), Patrick Olliffe (artist), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Peter Parker#3 (July, 2010) - Bob Gale (writer), Patrick Olliffe (pencils/inks), Livesay (inks), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Peter Parker#4 (August, 2010) - Bob Gale (writer), Patrick Olliffe (pencils/inks), Serge LaPointe (inks), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#648 (January, 2011) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Carlos Cuevas (inks), Stephen Wacker & Tom Brennan (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#653/1 (March, 2011) - Dan Slott (plot), Fred Van Lente (script), Stefano Caselli (artist), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#654 (April, 2011) - Dan Slott (plot), Fred Van Lente (script), Stefano Caselli (artist), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Spider-Man: Emergence of Evil - Jackal & Hobgoblin (October, 2011) - Jim McCann (writer), Patrick Scherberger (pencils), Mark Pennington & Jamie Mendoza (inks), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grünwald (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#667 (October, 2011) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Carlos Cuevas (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#668 (October, 2011) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#669 (November, 2011) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Carlos Cuevas (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Venom II#7 (November, 2011) - Rick Remender (writer), Tom Fowler (artist), Tom Brennan & Stephen Wacker (editors)
Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire (December, 2011) - Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning (writers), Kyle Hotz (writers), Robert Almond (inks), Veronica Gandini, Jay David Ramos (colors), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#670 (December, 2011) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#671 (December, 2011) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Carlos Cuevas & Victor Olazaba (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#674 (January, 2012) - Dan Slott (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
X-Factor III#218 (June, 2012) - Peter David (writer), Emanuela Lupacchino (pencils), Guillermo Ortega (inks), Matt Milla (colors), Jody Lehup & Nick Lowe (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#685 (July, 2012) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#699 (February, 2013) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#700 (February, 2013) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Superior Spider-Man#1 (March, 2013) - Dan Slott (writer), Ryan Stegman (artist), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Avenging Spider-Man#16 (March, 2013) - Chris Yost (writer), Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), Dave Curiel (colors), Tom Breevort, Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Superior Spider-Man#28 (July, 2015) - Dan Slott (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), John Dell (inks), Stephen Wacker & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Superior Spider-Man#29 (August, 2015) - Dan Slott (plot), Christos Gage (script), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), John Dell (inks), Stephen Wacker, Nick Lowe & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Superior Spider-Man#30 (September, 2015) - Dan Slott (plot), Christos Gage (script), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), John Dell & Terry Pallot (inks), Nick Lowe & Ellie Pyle (editors)
Superior Spider-Man#31 (October, 2015) - Dan Slott (plot), Christos Gage (script), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), John Dell & Terry Pallot (inks), Nick Lowe & Ellie Pyle (editors)


First Posted: 01/04/2018
Last updated: 04/20/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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