Ringmaster (Earth-8107)

THE RINGMASTER
(of Earth-8107)

Real Name: Unrevealed (see comments)

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Earth-8107) human

Occupation: Criminal, ringmaster

Group Membership: Carnival of Crime ("Strong Man," others including acrobats and a phony Spider-Man)

Affiliations: Carnival of Crime (acrobats, phony Spider-Man, "Strong Man"), a carnival barker; formerly Gorgon

Enemies: Betty Brant, Gorgon, Mortimer, May Parker, Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Top Hat"

Base of Operations: New York City, New York, USA

First Appearance: Spider-Man cartoon episode, "Carnival of Crime" (November 7, 1981)

Powers/Abilities: The Ringmaster had access to hypnotic gas as well as various bits of technology, mostly involving mind control.

Height: 6'1" (presumably-see comments)
Weight: 190 lbs. (presumably-see comments)
Eyes: Black
Hair: Black

History: (Spider-Man cartoon episode - "Carnival of Crime" ((fb) - BTS) - The Ringmaster, using one of his acrobats, executed several daring robberies disguised as Spider-Man.

(Spider-Man cartoon episode - "Carnival of Crime") - Addressing the assembled criminal members of the Carnival of Crime, the Ringmaster boasted that he had devised the crime of the century, to wit using special hypnotic gas to convince the crowd that Spider-Man was stealing gold. He continued to boast of his genius, unaware that Peter Parker had slipped unnoticed into the tent the meeting was being held in and changed into his Spider-Man costume. Spider-Man subsequently appeared and mocked the Ringmaster, who ordered his men to attack. An acrobat posing as a phony Spider-Man shot a web line into the tent pole but the true Spider-Man snagged the phony's line with his own webbing, shaking the phony loose from the tent pole. Spider-Man snagged him with webbing as he fell.

Next, the Ringmaster sent the twin acrobats after Spider-Man. Launching themselves up via trampoline, the acrobats flew headlong into a giant web Spider-Man created, which bounced them back down into the trampoline. The Ringmaster then ordered "Strong Man" to stop the interloping hero. "Strong Man" managed to tear the pole down with his bare hands but Spider-Man webbed the man's hands together and used him as a makeshift trampoline. Landing in front of the Ringmaster, Spider-Man swore to stop him. In response, the Ringmaster reached into his hat and pulled out a remote. With one press of a button, he opened all the animal cages in the Carnival. He then smugly asked Spider-Man if he was going to fight him or save the people from the animals, forcing Spider-Man to flee the tent when Spider-Man heard Betty Brant's cries for help. With Spider-Man distracted, the Ringmaster gloated about his plan to rob the Federal Bank.

Later at the Bank, the Ringmaster directed his men to attack the guards. The acrobats easily bound the guards while the Ringmaster exposed them and Mortimer to his gas, convincing them that Spider-Man robbed the gold shipment. Taking the gold back to the Carnival, "Strong Man" oversaw the gold being loaded into a machine that turned the bars into lengths of pipe, which were then fashioned into a cage and disguised. With the gold now hidden, the Ringmaster transported the gorilla Gorgon, an attraction at the Carnival, into the new golden cage. When Spider-Man arrived, the Ringmaster tricked the wall crawler into Gorgon's cage. With the hero being batted around by Gorgon, the Ringmaster left, bragging about how much gold he had to sell. Within his trailer, the Ringmaster quickly sold the gold over the phone, but his glee was short-lived as Spider-Man lifted the entire trailer up and dumped him and his men into Gorgon's cage. The Ringmaster placated the animal with a small bunch of bananas but the gorilla quickly devoured them all. In fear, the Ringmaster and his men were huddled at the far end of the cage as Spider-Man promoted them like a typical carnival barker.

Comments: Created by Creighton Barnes, Doug Booth, Francis X. Feighan, Donald F. Glut, Jack Hanrahan, Christy Marx, Larry Parr, Jeffrey Scott and Marvel Productions, Ltd. (see Appearances list for list of artists involved).

The Ringmaster is presumably the same height and weight as his 616 counterpart but no name is given outside of the Ringmaster

According to a few online sources, the Ringmaster was voiced by Regis Cordic.

Funny aside, we see Captain America's face on a few balloons. The freak show apparently employed Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus and the Phoenix, judging from the posters in front of the tent.
or at least, acrobats or Carnival workers posing as them to bring in a crowd. - Proto-Man

It should also be noted that the acrobats with the Carnival of Crime resembled Earth-616's Great Gambonnos and "Strong Man" could be a counterpart to Earth-616's Bruto the Strongman/Bruce Olafsen. -Proto-Man

Profile by David Lawrence.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Earth-8107's Ringmaster has no KNOWN connections to:

Ringmaster (Maynard Tiboldt), leader of the Circus of Crime & this Ringmaster's Earth-616 counterpart @ Incredible Hulk I#3
The Ringmaster of Death (Fritz Tiboldt), leader of a criminal circus circa the 1940s @ Captain America Comics I#5
or any other "Ring," "Master" or circus-themed characters

The acrobats

Seemingly identical twins who both possessed great agility, the acrobats committed crimes at the behalf of the Ringmaster. The two praticed their jumping skills, which tipped off Peter Parker, who followed them into the Carnival of Crime tent. They were then ordered to attack Spider-Man when he investigated the Carnival. They were presumed arrested with the rest of the Carnival.