Tarantula (Marvel Comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tarantula is the name of a number of mostly unrelated fictional characters appearing in publications from Marvel Comics.
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[edit] Clay Riley
The Tarantula is a Zorro-like western era villain equipped with a scourge and has a mysterious Mexican accent. He first appears in Ghost Rider (volume 1) #2 (April, 1967).
[edit] Anton Miguel Rodriguez
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Anton Miguel Rodriguez, known as the Tarantula, is a latino supervillain dressed in red stretch costume with a black tarantula on its chest. He's equipped with poisonous stings attached to his soles. He was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #134 (July 1974).
[edit] Fictional character history
As a revolutionary terrorist and government operative, Anton Miguel Rodriguez was expelled from his small organization after murdering a guard without reason during a robbery. This is when Anton went on to the other repressive side of the government where they created the identity of the Tarantula for him and to serve as his country's counterpart to Captain America. He has clashed with Captain America and Spider-Man and the Punisher.
He was eventually hired by the Brand Corporation to kill Spider-Man. In an attempt to bestow him with spider powers, he was injected with a mutagenic serum and placed in an electrolyte bath. Unfortunately for Rodriguez, Will o' the Wisp disrupted the mutagenic process, causing Tarantula to start transforming into an actual giant tarantula.
Rodriguez remained relatively humanoid at first (at the least, he functioned on a bipedal level). However, after several more skirmishes with both the Wisp and Spider-Man, he rapidly continued to mutate into fully arachnid appearance. Horrified and disgusted with what he had become, he leapt off of a tall building, begging for the police officers gathered below to kill him. In a hail of gunfire, Rodriquez struck the street below and died.
[edit] Powers and abilities
In addition to being a great athlete with incredible agility and leaping skills and being excellent in hand to hand combat, Anton wore gloves with retractable razor blades and boots with retractable razor sharp points loaded with drugs that would render his victim unconscious. When he was mutated into a giant Tarantula like creature he gained superhuman strength and the ability to adhere to surfaces. Also just before his death he gained the ability to shoot organic webbing from his backside.
[edit] Luis Alvarez
The next Tarantula (real name Luis Alvarez) wore a costume identical to that of Rodriguez and was also a government operative but not given to terroristic activities. He acted more as a death squad/government enforcer. He teamed up with the Punisher during the EuroHit story, more specifically in Punisher (2nd series) #64-67. Eventually he was caught by the Jury and had his neck broken by Whysper.
[edit] The New Tarantula
The new Tarantula is Maria Vasquez and debuted in the New Heroes for Hire on-going series which spun out of Civil War. Even Misty Knight, her team leader knows nothing about her history. Tarantula has a bad attitude and is highly skilled using the blades on her wrists and the toes of her boots. She indicates that she enjoys inflicting pain. If instructed not to kill, she will seriously injure an opponent, to the chagrin of her teammates. She has been observed licking her bloody blade after slicing through an enemy in Heroes For Hire, volume 2 #1. Maria has also been shown to be highly intelligent with knowledge of biology and engineering (Heroes For Hire, volume 2 #2).
[edit] Ultimate Tarantula
Writer Brian Michael Bendis stated in Wizard Magazine that an Ultimate version of Tarantula is set to appear in the "Clone Saga" arc of Ultimate Spider-Man.[1] Although the story arc has introduced several new spider-powered characters by Ultimate Spider-Man #100, none have been identified as the Tarantula.
