BERNARD O'BRIEN

Real Name: Bernard O'Brien

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Police officer

Group Membership: NYPD

Affiliations: Peter Parker

Enemies: Burglar, other criminals

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Officer"

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

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy I#15 (June, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Bernard O'Brien was a trained veteran police officer.

Height: 6'0"
Weight: 190 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: White (see comments)

History: (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z HC Vol. 11 - Spider-Man's Friends & Associates entry - BTS) - Bernard O'Brien was born in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York.

(Amazing Fantasy I#15 (fb) - BTS) - Officer Bernard O'Brien responded to a burglary/murder at the home of Ben and May Parker in the Forest Hills community of Queens. The burglar managed to escape into the nearby Acme warehouse and was surrounded by other officers of the NYPD while Officer O'Brien waited at the Parker household.

(Amazing Fantasy I#15) - When the Parkers' nephew Peter arrived home, he saw Officer O'Brien and the police cars and ran up to the scene.

(Spectacular Spider-Man I#60/2) - Seeing Officer O'Brien, Peter asked if something was wrong. Noticing the boy, O'Brien asked if he was Peter Parker and when Peter confirmed he was, O'Brien admitted he had bad news.

(Amazing Fantasy I#15/Spectacular Spider-Man I#60/2/Amazing Spider-Man I Annual#23/2/Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man I#1 (fb)/Amazing Spider-Man IV#801 (fb)) - Officer O'Brien informed Peter of his uncle's tragic passing. Peter asked who killed his uncle and Officer O'Brien informed Peter the guy was being held in the Acme warehouse on the waterfront. He then informed Peter his aunt was in the neighbors' house and watched as Peter walked off. 

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

   Officer Bernard O'Brien has appeared in numerous retellings of the night Uncle Ben was shot, however he remained unidentified in his original appearances until the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe HC Vol. 11 (2009) when he was finally named (in the Spider-Man's Friends & Associates profile).

   Bernard's appearance in Amazing Spider-Man I#275 was literally a reprint of his Amazing Fantasy I#15 appearance. I chose to use the recolored image from that issue as his main image, rather than the red-tinted version from the original issue or its further recolored reprint in Amazing Fantasy#15: Spider-Man! --Proto-Man

   Bernard was mistakenly depicted with red hair and no facial hair in his Amazing Spider-Man I Annual#23 appearance (see image at left). --Proto-Man

    This profile was completed 02/23/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Copeinator123 (with corrections & additional appearances/info added in by Proto-Man).

CLARIFICATIONS:
Bernard O'Brien has no known connections to:

• Obrien, Broodlings of Chthon @ Carnage II#14
• O'Brien, WWII-era FBI agent @ Captain America I#255 - BTS
• O'Brien, LAPD @ Daredevil I#65
• Brady O'Brien, SHIELD agent who tried to break up Parker marriage @ Sensational Spider-Man Annual#1
  
• Jeff O'Brien, NYPD, Sir victim @ Daredevil I#347
• Kathryn O'Brien, former ally of Robert Bethel @ Punisher VII#1
• Matthew O'Brien, Hangman foe @ Bizarre Adventures#31
• Michael O'Brien, formerly the Guardsman @ Iron Man I#82
• Randy O'Brien, New Universe resident @ DP7 I#1
• or any other "Bernard" or "O'Brien" characters or counterparts.

images: (without ads)
Amazing Spider-Man I#275, p16, pan5 (Bernard O'Brien, main image)
Amazing Spider-Man I#801 p1, pan6 (headshot)
Amazing Fantasy I#15 p9, pan4 (side shot)
Spectacular Spider-Man I#60, p35, pan2 (O'Brien turning)
Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man I#1, p1, pan5 (O'Brien & another officer speaking with Peter Parker)
Amazing Spider-Man I Annual#23, p34, pan4 (O'Brien with miscolored hair as he's manhandled by Peter Parker)

Appearances:
Amazing Fantasy I#15 (June, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer, editor), Steve Ditko (writer, art)
Spectacular Spider-Man I#60 (November, 1981) - "Birth of a Legend" story - Roger Stern (writer), Greg LaRocque (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I Annual#23 (September, 1989) - "My Science Project" story - Gerry Conway (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z HC Vol. 11 (2009) - Jeff Christiansen, Stuart Vandal, Sean McQuaid (head writers, coordinators), Mike Fichera (coordination assistant, writer, art refurbishment), Madison Carter, Markus Raymond, Mike O'Sullivan (coordinaton assistants, writers), Ronald Byrd, Michael Hoskin, Eric J. Moreels, Rob London, David Wiltfong, Jacob Rougemont, Gabriel Shechter, Rich Green, Kevin Garcia, Jeph York, Mark O'English (writers), Chris Biggs (writer, art refurbishment), Chad Anderson, Al Sjoerdsma, Anthony Flamini, Jonathan Couper-Smartt, Bill Lentz, Barry Reese, Eliot R. Brown, David Sexton (past writers), Gally Articola, Courtney Via, J. Christopher Schmidt, Michael Gagnon (art refurbishment), Jeff Youngquist, Jennifer Grunwald (editors)
Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man I#1 (August, 2017) - Chip Zdarsky (writer), Adam Kubert (art), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man IV#801 (August, 2018) - Dan Slott (writer), Marcos Martin (art), Nick Lowe, Devin Lewis (editors)

First Posted: 09/03/2021
Last updated: 08/31/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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