SPIDER-BANDITS
Membership: Frank, Herbie, unidentified third member (maybe Patrick)
Purpose: Crime
Affiliations: Cat (Shen Kuei), Death Hand (Simon Bretnor), Fu Manchu, Jade Claw (Suwan), Midnight Sun (M'Nai), Razor-Fist (Douglas Scott), Scorcher (Steven Hudak), Shadow-Stalker, Shockwave (Lancaster Sneed), Spectrum (Joe Biden), Black Jack Tarr, Tiger-Claw, Topaz (Cynthia Rossini)
Enemies: Lu Chang, Domino (Neena Thurman), Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Old Man Logan (James Howlett) of Earth-21923, Shang-Chi
Base of Operations: New York City, New York
First Appearance: Giant-Size Spider-Man I#2 (October, 1974)
Powers/Abilities: They underwent basic training in Kung Fu, used dart gun that shot darts with a spider-venom derivative and web-shooter guns.
History:
(Giant-Size Spider-Man I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Fu Manchu had three men trained in Kung Fu and equipped with Spider-Man themed outfits and weapons. They were meant to lure Shang-Chi into a fight with Spider-Man.
(Giant-Size Spider-Man I#2) - As part of the ruse the Spider-Bandits hunted down the elderly Lu Chang, who had learned that Spider-Man had formed an alliance with Fu Manchu. Coincidentally (or not) Shang-Chi was nearby when the Spider-Bandits attacked Lu Chang in an alley. Shang-Chi asked them to let the old man go and leave, but the Spider-Bandits' overconfidence in their Kung Fu got the better of them. While claiming to work for Spider-Man they attacked Shang-Chi only to be battered by him with ease because they talked too much and lacked his skills. After Herbie and one other Spider-Bandit had failed, Frank, the third Spider-Bandit, pulled out a dart gun to kill Chang. Shang-Chi recognized the smell of spider-venom on the dart and barely avoided it, but one dart hit Chang. Shang-Chi blocked the other darts with a wooden box. Frank switched to his web-shooter gun, but Shang-Chi easily avoided the web and disarmed Frank. The Spider-Bandits had enough and ran away, leaving Chang in the care of Shang-Chi as planned.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Domino III#5 (fb) - BTS) - Topaz (Cynthia Rossini) hired former enemies of Shang-Chi, including Death Hand, Jade Claw, Midnight Sun, Razor-Fist, Shadow-Stalker, Shockwave, Spider-Bandit, Black Jack Tarr, Tiger-Claw and others. They had orders not to kill Domino, but to hurt her by killing Shang-Chi.
(Domino III#5) - They all surrounded Shang-Chi and Domino at the Jett Club in Hong Kong where Shang-Chi had gone out for a dance with Domino.
Domino aided Shang-Chi against Spider-Bandit and his allies. When Domino hit Razor-Fist a few times he ran from her, charging at Cat and Spider-Bandit. The villains soon charged all at Domino, but when Shang-Chi convinced her to trust her mutant luck powers again she accidentally took out Shockwave and Shadow-Stalker before easily defeating Midnight Sun and Tiger-Claw with a knife and lemon. The rest of the villains, including Spider-Bandit, took a step back when Domino walked past them with two drinks she had mixed for herself and Shang-Chi.
(Dead Man Logan#2) - Two of the Spider-Bandits worked with Scorcher and Spectrum. They were attacked by Hawkeye and Old Man Logan, who were looking for information on the whereabouts of Mysterio (Quentin Beck). One of the Spider-Bandits told Hawkeye that they were not snitches.
Comments: Created by Len Wein & Ross Andru.
The main image is from an article at the back of Domino III#6 (November, 2018) that also describes their original appearance, identifying the Spider-Bandit clearly as one of the characters in Giant-Size Spider-Man I#2.
I am not 100% sure, but maybe more than one Spider-Bandit was involved in the Domino story. There were a bunch of additional characters in the shadows and it wouldn't surprise me if the other two were among them.
Two of the Spider-Bandits were identified as Frank and Herbie (Herbert). I assumed the third to be named Patrick because it would complete the name of popular sci-fi author Frank Patrick Herbert. We can't ask Len Wein anymore, but maybe he was a fan of Herbert.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Spider-Bandits should not be confused with:
images:
Domino III#6, Domino's Notes (main)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#2, p7, pan5 (original appearance)
Dead Man Logan#2, p15, pan2 (Spider-Bandits, two and three)
Appearances:
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#2 (October, 1974) - Len Wein (writer), Ross Andru (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Domino III#4-5 (September-October, 2018) - Gail Simone (writer), David Baldeón (artist), Chris Robinson (editor)
Dead Man Logan#2 (February, 2019) - Ed Brisson (writer), Mike Henderson (artist), Chris Robinson (editor)
First Posted: 12/01/2021
Last updated: 12/01/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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